Things I Said in Substack Notes This Week and Have More To Say About
A weekly column for connecting further and deeper on topics I care about because the conversations here are just so rich and wonderful
Welcome to Create Me Free where I share all of my deep research into and musings about the complex relationship between art and mental health. While I touch on art as therapy and the benefits of creativity, I really dig into the ways that our mental health symptoms can impact our creative process, content, productivity, medium choice, identity and business.
Some great conversations happen in Notes every week. Here, I round up things I was chatting about with people there and elaborate a bit on them. It’s a way for me to engage more deeply with these conversations, connect people to one another, and share incredible ideas with all of you.
Housekeeping:
I’ve made it so that you can opt out of the types of posts here that you don’t want email notifications for. Learn more here.
I’ve created my Table of Contents where you can see all of my post types and the posts available in each one.
If you enjoy my weekly digests, then you might like the new one that’s all the writing about writing. This one is for paying subscribers.
I am happy that you are here. :)
A FRAMEWORK TO BEGIN:
of The Gorilla Who Wants to Be Santa Claus shared:“Reading Kathryn’s post (highly recommended) led me to open over a dozen new tabs of articles I needed to read. This was a bit concerning because my computer is currently in a disagreement with me over how many tabs I am allowed to keep open at once. However, I read them all, subscribed to some, and took notes as seeds for future posts.”
This is what it’s really all about. All of my roundups are about connecting other people to each other, boosting all of us up, encouraging more reading and writing.
SPECIAL OFFER:
In that vein, I created a special offer that only a few people have taken me up on so far but you’re still invited to do so …
SPECIAL PAY IT FORWARD OFFER!!!
I am so grateful for everyone who participated in the virtual book tour for The Artist’s Mind. They all do terrific work and I want to support that in any way I can. So I came up with this special offer …
Sign up for an annual subscription to any one of them and I’ll comp you one free year to Create Me Free.
Here’s how it works … pick one person below, sign up for their annual PAID subscription, send me an email (Kathryn.vercillo on gmail) letting me know who you signed up with and once I confirm with them, I’ll comp you a free year with me.
THE ONLY RULES ARE:
You must sign up and pay for an annual subscription. Sorry, monthly doesn’t work.
This must be a new subscription, not someone you already have an annual subscription with.
You can’t just cancel it after you get comped. Because that’s not good community building.
A free year gets you all of my content, including my new weekly writer roundups, and possibly some audio content coming in the near future. And since my annual subscription typically costs more than average, you’re getting a better than 2-for-1 deal while supporting other authors here.
Each one offers something completely different. Explore them. Choose the one you really want to support. You can start by seeing what role they played in my virtual book tour here:
The authors to choose from are:
So go check them out, find someone you want to support and make this happen!
I AM CONSIDERING:
Starting a book club reading books by authors who are also writing
… thinking about creative ways to make this beneficial and fun for everyone - special posts, interviews with authors, what else?
I currently have this book stack, which includes my newest book and books from:
- (illustrator)
INSPIRATION:
Inspiration check-in …
I am reading: Self-Made: Creating Our Identities from Da Vinci to the Kardashians
I am watching: 90 Day Fiancé and about to start Succession
I am listening to: Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians
I am listening to: Dear Alana podcast
I am making: collage art books
I am loving: being back in school
I am excited about: autumn vibes.
Update: I ended up watching Inventing Anna and then Beef and then Minx instead of starting Succession. (Yes, I watched all that this week, every episode of each.) And I’ve been reading school stuff so I didn’t get into Self-Made yet.
What is nourishing you this week?!
I SHARED:
I shared a photo of something I noticed on the street on the way to my dentist and asked others to use it as a story/poem prompt. This was so fun and I’ll be doing more of these!
You can see all responses here. A couple I’ll highlight are:
:“He waited, and waited, and waited… leaning outward, craning his neck - had she turned the corner yet? Not quite, just a little farther, and then, finally, she was out of sight. He threw the crutches to the ground, scaled the scaffolding, and climbed in the window.”
made me laugh:“Handicapped parking in a broken society”
I see this as an injured blue collar worker who can’t afford to miss work, so even while on crutches he still arrives, suffers his way up the scaffolding, just to keep bread on the table. (t_t)
“Red bull give you wings”
Thanks to others who joined in the conversation:
, , , ,Love what you’re reading? Pay it forward to all of these terrific writers by sharing:
I LOVED:
is now on Substack with her Love Letters and on the first one I had to comment:“Thank you so much for being here, for sharing your wisdom about how love letters can be a way that we remind ourselves of our own wisdom (and so much more!) and what a bonus to get video readings, notebook pages and even a poem! Love it. I'm here for all of it.”
She’s a writer that I’ve admired for a long time and it’s so fun to get to see some of these other sides of what she is all about. And these love letter lessons are such great reminders for true self-care and loving ourselves and nourishing ourselves.
And she collaborated with
who shared her own love letter and wrote about the process and how it was a way to help her with these feelings:“This self-criticism shows up most fiercely for me when I’m writing, but in the last few years, it has mushroomed. I often feel like I’m beyond capacity in every area of my life, and I worry about disappointing people, both personally and professionally. Illness adds another layer. I’d like to give abundantly, to support friends and loved ones and even strangers in any way I can. But I’m constantly aware of my energy reserves, and sometimes showing up for others in the way that I’d like and caring for myself feel at odds. I find myself frustrated when I can’t do both.”
NOTES ON NOTES:
I often see great conversations in Notes about Notes itself and this week it was kicked off by a post from
who said:“Writers of Notes, we are here for the reader. But where are the readers?
Most of the content I see on Notes is geared toward writers. It’s great content, don’t get me wrong: writing advice, motivation, and sharing each other’s work. As a writer, I’m getting my money’s worth. But as a reader, there isn’t all that much to see.
and ’s recent exchange made me think. Most subscribers coming from Notes are fellow writers, and while that’s great—all writers are avid readers, don’t we also want subscribers who are just readers? People who come to our stuff not to learn, not to compare, not to provide feedback or advice, but to experience. To get lost in the stories we tell.Why don’t we change gears, and start making Notes feel welcome to readers? Why don’t we let it become a place where they can find cocktails of great writing, without the need to subscribe to 1000s of newsletters? Why don’t we start posting Notes with the reader, not our fellow writers, in mind?
If we want Notes to keep working as intended, that is, to keep bringing new readers to our work, I think it’s time we rethink the way we use it.
It’s going to take time, yes, I’m talking about a pretty dramatic shift, but with the way things stand right now, it won’t be long before Notes becomes an echo chamber, with writers pepping each other up and nothing more. We don’t want to get there.
The @Substack team gave us the tools. It’s up to us to use them right. It’s up to us to keep Notes from becoming the new Lit-Tweet.
My response:
This is a “yes, and” for me.
The yes part is that the writers here can only support a limited number of other writers each with subscriptions so if we are seeking more readers for our newsletters then we need to be providing value for those readers in notes.
The “and” part for me is that I do think that writing to the writers here does that to some degree if we do it well. I work hard to promote other writers in my notes, which means that my readers that ARE here can then find and support those writers.
Your experience has been that as a reader you’re not getting much out of it but mine hasn't been that at all. I find so many great things to read here as a result of what people are posting in Notes. That’s worth celebrating for me.
But again I think you’re right that in taking it to the next level, offering more to “just readers” is going to be key.
What I perhaps want to add is that I’m not sure how I personally would want to balance Notes for readers with what I offer in my newsletter. If they’re getting great stuff from me in Notes, do they also want to pay for a subscription? Maybe, maybe not.
“I would love to be stumbling across micro fiction in Notes. Slithers of stories. If there are people already doing this, I'd love to find them.”
I don’t write micro-fiction but I think the point is that I could offer “small bites” content in Notes that would perhaps entice some readers to then subscribe to my longer pieces.
And
said:elaborated well on all of this:“I feel like that's exactly what I'm doing, especially in notes. I think Notes is my place to talk to readers - here's what I'm writing, here's what I'm thinking, here's a picture I made or one that inspired me. The hard part is knowing who my readers are. I assume they're my subscribers, and even though there are maybe 6 or 10 total, I'm talking to them.”
“Thanks for writing this in a nice and collaborative way. I’ve noticed it and disliked it for a while. I’ve also started a chat on this on Substack’s Office Hours (see image below) without much success. I believe it was
who said we don’t find more readers through Notes because there is so much writing out here for readers to be able to discover it all.But I agree with your view: we need to turn this into a place for readers rather than for writers pepping one another out.
What would Notes for Readers look like? Maybe like the narrow aisles of a library where people come to browse, read a bit and get inspired? 📚
And from
:“It’s hard to market the need for an app if the content is already being delivered to your inbox. But I do think the app is worth it when you consider the social aspect.
This thread addresses the notes feature and I think it’s a solid theory. If we used the space to write 6 word stories or post weekly comics or something, we could generate traction to the app that way. Newsletters could suggest it to their readers by stating they have exclusive or early access content on Notes, which is available on the app.
Or something to that effect.
Passive readers (who like content delivered straight to them, read, and then go elsewhere) don’t travel well, but you never know who might venture over.
Personally, I’d love to see a shift like this. The majority of newsletters I follow are recommendations from Notes. It would be a change, but not an unreasonable one.”
Add your thoughts:
I RESONATED:
With
of Monday, Monday in Not So Book Smart who said:“I come here today curious and worried, but also holding it all lightly. Is it my meds? Do they make me more forgetful? Has a decade of phone addiction made me actually stupid? Is it that I don’t have a practice of note taking and I need to be more active about comprehending while I read? Is it that I am just not cut out for this type of learning? Do I sort of not care about dates and details and am a somatic learner of feeling and change but not of facts?”
Oh yeah, @Marlee Grace … feeling all of this as I return at age 43 for an MA in Visual and Critical Studies. Perimenopause, medication side effects, depression symptoms, years of phone scrolling diminishing my attention span … many reasons that I have brain fog, don’t remember things or can’t verbally articulate what I do … all the things. It’s a strange feeling because I was always so “good” at school and the academics came easily to me and yet here I find myself nervous about my (in)ability to discourse in this particular way. On the plus side, IDGAF nearly as much at this age, I’m there to get what I can get out of it and let go of the rest, and I appreciate the little joys of it way more than I used to.
Congrats to Marlee for returning to school.
and are also returning adult students. Anyone else?I RESTACKED:
I CELEBRATED:
Congrats to
whose memoir is now in the Substack library:“65 POSTCARDS is a memoir told in one-minute reads which I wrote and published in real time on Substack earlier this year. It developed as I went along but I kept to the form and the result is 65 postcards telling the story of a girl on the run from the black box of secrets in her head. It’s shocking and funny and daring and it got me thinking about my life in different ways and got these stories out of my head and onto the page. It was well-received! It marked the beginning of my substack voyage (which I'm loving).”
My newest book is in the Buy Indie section of the Substack library.
I WANT TO THANK:
- for restacking my post about double depression and the depression spectrum
- for restacking one of my link digests and adding more to the conversation about artistic tithing
- for sharing my piece on returning to school in the Subscriber Writing Roundup
- for mentioning me in an exploration of The Author Ecosystems: “Kathryn Vercillo does these amazing roundup of interactions she’s had/seen in the past week which I think could be really interesting for a Forest to explore.”
- for restacking my interview with Neil Milton and saying: “this is the best interview that i read on substack. @Kathryn Vercillo asked the right questions, @Neil Milton ‘s answers are simple and unmasked, nothing hidden or to be ashamed of, as pure as his photos.
- of The Writing Mysteries for mentioning my digests as ways of community building here on Substack in a great post called Showing Up and Building Community.
- , , , and for naming me as someone that newbie might want to connect with regarding mental health and creative healing. Check out Elsa’s first post here.
As you can see, I hang out in Notes a lot. I’ve never loved most social media but I’m loving the community and conversations here. Tag me, ask me questions, share things with me there. Let’s connect.
So much to comment on...
Kathryn, you are the Substack equivalent of the rising tide which lifts all boats. You are a natural connecter of people, and I think it is safe to say I speak for many of your readers in saying we love you for it.
- Thanks, as always, for the mentions.
- Succession: I need to watch the last season.
- I must put Edie Brickell on once I move from the deck to escape to the A/C inside.
- As a teacher, I am less excited about the workload of getting back to school, but I am looking forward to the daily interaction with students.
- RE: Notes. It is a place to share good reads and be more casual. I share things I want others to read and small glimpses into my life to create a more personal connection in the community. It is a safe place to share something not worthy of an entire article, yet likely good at creating connection and community. I have been enjoying Notes much more since I adopted this approach. YMMV
In closing, I love the layout of this post. Recently, as I feel like I am becoming part of the community, the scientific me, who loves to measure things, wants to create a spreadsheet of all my activity on Substack.
* Who did I mention, who did I read, who did I restock?
* Who liked my posts, my Notes, commented, or restacked?
This inner scientist is a bit obsessive, but I *don’t* want the feelings of connection to simply wash over me. I want to “slow the flow” and recognize the interactions with intention. I see this as what you are doing here publicly, which returns me to my opening comment about you being 'the rising tide.' You set an excellent example of how we can all be better on Substack.
And for that, I thank you. 🙏❤️🙇🏼♂️
Hi Kathryn- just released my second piece! Would you kindly have time to have a gander? Best wishes-