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

Aug 27, 2023

Playing with the “generate” tool here today using the prompt “dark haired woman with bangs writing in a notebook” applied to different styles.

This is my weekly free column rounding up things I shared on Notes (and every now and then something poignant in the comments I shared on someone else’s great writing.) I elaborate a little on them, especially trying to emphasize the relationship between art and mental health, which is my specific writing and research niche. (And I believe that all of us are artists and all face mental health challenges to varying degrees.) I hope it also introduces you to writers that you want to get to know better.

If you enjoy my weekly digests, then you might like the new one coming out that’s all the writing about writing. Each week I’ll curate my favorite posts that various people on Substack are writing about writing (and occasionally about reading.) There will be tips and tricks but mostly there will be lots of inspiration. We have an amazing community of insightful writers here and I want to share what they have to offer. This will be for paying subscribers only. And if you prefer to subscribe only to these then that’s an option as well. I’m laying the groundwork now and the first issue comes out the first week of September.

Housekeeping:

I’ve created my Table of Contents where you can see all of my post types and the posts available in each one.
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 am happy that you are here!

A FRAMEWORK TO BEGIN:

Alex Elle

Gratitude Journal

wrote a piece this week called Know yourself. Know your worth that resonated with so many people. It’s about how our creativity isn’t about the number of likes on social media etc. Anyone struggling with that might also like to read my piece: Mental Health Reasons I May Not Read Your Writing … And Please Write it Anyway. From Alex’s piece, I’ll share:

“Keep writing. Keep making art. Keep being authentic. You are not a content machine—and you do not have to be.
Some folks will stay, and some folks will go. With or without social media, you're worthy. Everything you create isn't for Instagram. Everything isn't for everyone—let them leave. Do not take their departure personally. It's probably not.
Your creativity, your art, and your words are your legacy work. Stay grounded in that.”

At first glance, it might seem that my activity on Notes and then taking the time to round that up and elaborate on it here might be detracting from my real work. However, I find that it really enhances my experience sharing with others here on Substack, allowing me to engage more deeply with their work. As a result, I go more deeply into my own work. So, if you’re wondering why I share this stuff here every week, that’s a brief explanation.

INSPIRATION CHECK-IN:

I am reading: Little Earthquakes by Sarah Mandel, a cancer survivor memoir by a narrative therapist who uses storytelling to help herself through the healing process

I am listening to: Joan Osborne 🎶

I am watching: finishing my Oz rewatch, might start Succession next but might switch to an Italian language drama from the practice

I am listening to: Black Girl Gone podcast - true crime stories about missing/murdered Black women whose stories often get lost in the genre

I am tasting: turmeric and coconut are strong flavors in Incorporating right now

I am learning: the ins and outs of my new grad school program as I start orientation

I am grateful: for this current phase of energy which has been so rare for me for so long

I am writing: drafts in my mind while staying busy with other things

What about you? How are you refilling your well this week? Tell me - I really do want to know!

I SHARED:

This arrived in the mail today, one of the few things I requested my mom send off my dad’s stuff that I wanted since he passed. It’s a gift I gave him when I was about 22 … I had recorded some of his stories from life and then typed them up but then I found myself writing a lot more about my life so when I gave it to him I apparently called it a biographical memoir which I had completely forgotten but kind of think is genius. I didn’t read past the first page today. Dad passed at Christmas and I am not quite ready. But I am glad I have it now and look forward to letting it unfold with time.

KateMotleyStories

responded:

“So glad that you recorded and typed theses stories, so you have them now - when you are ready to read them I am sure they will be a comfort. So many people have regrets that they did not gather stories from their elders.”

I do think that they’ll be a comfort. More than that, I think that they’ll help me with my further integration of his death. I am a writer and a storyteller and I learn through stories, and I think that working with this past writing of his stories and mine will help me be able to better navigate the new stages of my own story moving forward. I have some ideas of what I want to do with this creatively - the book I want to turn it into some day - but right now I’m just honoring the slow process of letting it simmer as a step in my grief journey.

As I explained further in answering KateMotleyStories:

My dad got very ill when I was in my late teens and we were told then that he might not live to see us grow into adults. He got two organ transplants, defied the odds, and he lived until I was 42. But it was a life marked with a lot of illness and many times before the end that we thought were the end. There’s a lot of trauma in that but the silver lining is that always knowing we might lose him inspired us to collect those stories and memories regularly.

Note: Underneath the binder in the photo you can see a Richard Polsky book … I love his books “I bought Andy Warhol” and “I sold Andy Warhol too soon” which are about the business of the art world. My father and I often shared books and we saw Polsky speak at a favorite Tucson bookstore (shoutout to Antigone’s books) so I also had Mom send me his copy of one of those books.

I WAS CURIOUS:

I shared what my writing space looked like one day and wanted to see what others’ looked like. So fun! See all the responses here. We saw a cat and a bunny, desks and typewriters, people working in coffee shops and on decks, and a longing from several to have a dedicated space to write.

I ANSWERED:

Tamzin

Resurface

shared/ asked:

To quote
Natalie Eslick
, breathe in.
Monday morning. I’m late to my makeshift balcony desk. My cat is sleeping soundly on the clean laundry hanging on the clotheshorse, after he pulled down what he deemed to be dry enough already.
Enjoying the heat, before it gets too stifling later on. Sounds of birds chirping, city life in the distance, and my fingers tapping the keyboard.
I’d love to know, what writing are you focusing on this week?
I have an article to write for a magazine about an experience I recently had, and I’m doing two interviews for it tomorrow too, with fascinating women.
Otherwise, I hope to find time to work on some guest posts I have lined up (next up,
@Kathryn Vercillo and @Julie Hester)
Holding the energy of ease and focus to write, write, write.

There are some other great responses in the comments. I answered:

Thanks for the mention, the cute kitty, and the reminder to breathe in. It’s particularly poignant for me right now because I am literally having trouble breathing due to air quality here on top of allergies on top of unusual mugginess.

I just changed my computer screensaver to this image which reminds me of the core questions I’m always asking in my work:

As I work on writing this week - an overview of a book I’m reading, more stuff related to my book tour - I am reminding myself to come back to these questions to keep it all in a consistent frame. The actual pieces I write don’t have to be broken down like this but I am working on pulling out the details from those pieces and collecting them in this organized format to aid in future research and writing.

I had already started a “next book” that’s notes compiled from various previous writing I’ve done broken down loosely into this format. However, I have been planning to go back in and refine those categories with the information and ideas that I now have. And I have set the intention to take each piece I publish through a process of breaking it down into this frame and adding it to that document.

A CONVERSATION IN THE COMMENTS:

I enjoyed reading Inspiration Isn’t Enough by

Gina Hogan Edwards

Gina’s Quill

and really especially enjoyed a little conversation in the comments between Gina and I:

Here’s that piece I wrote:

The Research Phase in Writing Feels Like Falling in Love

Kathryn Vercillo

May 28, 2023

The Research Phase in Writing Feels Like Falling in Love

I am buzzy as I write this. Giddy. I used to say that my very favorite feeling in the world was inspiration. In recent years, I’ve realized that cozy is my true favorite but there’s really nothing qu…

Read full story

A DISCUSSION:

Big thanks to

Keeley Rees

who shared that I practice artistic tithing, saying:

“This is such a great idea! Does anyone else do this? I think I’ll have to start, I love the idea of supporting other artists & creatives in this way. Also there’s so much gold in this post, & Kathryn is wonderful.”

Aw shucks. I loved the comments from others in that Note! Seeing how others are incorporating their version of this into their lives delights me. People mentioned a variety of different ways that they do something similar: local bookstore purchases, buying a piece of art from another artist whenever selling one of their own, I won’t quote all of those comments here, but I wanted to highlight a few key points I said in responses to others:

I didn’t come up with the term artistic tithing but I love it and have been using it for so long that I can’t remember where it came from originally. I think it might have been Gretchen Rubin.
For me, the ten percent is an annual calculation of all of my pre-tax earned income. If I broke it down into just what I earn/spend on Substack, well, it’s a lot more than ten percent. And honestly it’s usually more than ten percent anyway. I shared that this is: almost as an act of faith in myself that by supporting the creativity of others, I’m supporting a world that values creativity, and therefore helping to create a world that can support me in it as well. There were times when a lot of the writing work that supported me financially was “content writing” devoid of what felt like any creativity and this approach helped me continue along in that work to reach a point where that’s less true today.
“I am so happy to find others that are doing this. It’s tough to figure out where to put our money but when we think of it in terms of our values, I think it becomes clearer. I believe in the power of supporting art/creativity because it benefits the greater good in ways not too different from charities and politics.”
This can be a really helpful frame that adds anticipation, joy, and celebration to our spending. It switches the mind from “guilty about spending this money on myself” to “so proud that I’m spending this money on supporting other creatives” even though the physical result of what you get and spend is the same.

Shoutout with some extra love for some of the people whose comments/conversations I loved most here (would love if more of you read them and chime in there!):

Kate McDermott
Kevin Alexander
of On Repeat
Lauren Sauder
Gabrielle of Gabrielle’s Substack
Emily Charlotte Powell
Lenaleah McCullough

Love what you’re reading? Tell someone else:

I RESONATED:

With

Ramona Grigg

’s work celebrating that Old Is Good. She writes in part:

“There are many old people who are writing about it and doing it well, but there’s still so much to do. The message isn’t getting out: “Old” is not a four-letter word. “Old” doesn’t mean feeble or feeble-minded or comic relief.”

I restacked that and then added:

I’ve been personally feeling some negative emotions around “old” lately not because I think I am objectively old or because I think there’s anything wrong with being old … I am much happier in my life as I age than I ever was when I was younger. It’s just that my body is changing in ways I’m struggling to adjust to so I’m in that stage where intellectually I embrace aging and physically I want to resist.
In any case, I love celebration of aging and wanted to share a few resource I’ve enjoyed over time in case they're of interest:

Old in Art School, a Memoir by Nell Painter
The Paper Garden: An Artist Begins Her Life's Work at 72 by Molly Peacock
The Gotham Grannies art on Instagram. Note that there’s debate in the craft community about this use of AI and
Louise Tilbrook
of Everyday Knitter has some good points about this but I find the images themselves beautifully inspiring.
Images of Iris Apfel.
Alice Neel's self-portrait in old age and the whole story behind it and her life.

And I am moved to add this section of writing from

Joyce Wycoff

of Gratitude Mojo in a piece about marketing on Substack:

“In the process, I became fascinated … not by the idea of building my own entrepreneurial writing business, (I’m 77, past the desire for fame and fortune) but by the idea of helping other writers build theirs. Which, of course, meant “showing and telling” … learning how to use the elements and features of Substack in conjunction with a marketing plan in order to share those learnings with emerging Substackers.”

And also

Shinjini

Studio Diaries

shared in Creative explorations: Vol #3 a lovely video:

“93-year-old abstract painter Dorothea Rockburne has had solo exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art, DIA: Beacon, and many more galleries. In this short documentary, she welcomes us into her light-filled studio and shares her life-long journey as a painter.”

I RESTACKED:

A portion of It doesn’t have to be your “best” by

Janelle Hardacre

because she has to

“Thank you so much for reading, sharing and commenting with your own responses to this prompt. I’ll be honest, I’m still getting used to real people actually reading my words! There have been mixed emotions for sure, but mainly joy, gratitude and some celebratory kitchen dancing.”

I added the note:

Had a small conversation about this exact thing with @Some Guy here yesterday.
What about you all … do you sometimes get a reaction to your writing and think, “oh, right, actual people read this thing!”
Having been a full time writer for nearly two decades, I know that people somewhere are reading my work … and I even sometimes have a few people in mind as I write that I know regularly read my work … but this still happens for me when someone from my “real life” mentions reading something of mine. I get a weird feeling like, “oh, I wonder what I said in that piece?” … I feel like I share authentically in all areas of my life but also that sometimes my writing life shares different things and I have that moment of “huh, you read that?”

And Janelle responded:

“I totally get this and I'm sure a lot of people will relate. The stakes feel different somehow when you picture someone you know reading and responding to your work vs someone you don't know personally. Probably related to being vulnerable and fear of judgment..
I've heard lots of artists who deliberately create away from their immediate friends and loved ones. I think that's valid! Or it might not even be close people. Might be old work colleagues or something who you'd rather didn't see this part of you.
But there will be other loved ones who can't wait to support you and cheer you on.”

I answered Janelle:

Yes, I think it’s related to the vulnerability. At this stage of my work, I feel like everything’s more integrated than compartmentalized, so my conscious self isn’t afraid and is able to talk myself through it. But there’s an initial more visceral reaction that’s like “uh oh, I shared that thing, someone knows that thing now, now what?”
I definitely support creating away from loved ones for various reasons, especially in the early stages of a project. I think my understanding of this comes from writers like Julia Cameron who remind us that the naysayers can nip a creative project in the bud with their reactions, reactions that usually aren’t about the work but about some fear of theirs around the work. In my own experience, I find that talking too much about a thing before it’s developed leaks a bit of the magic out of it and sometimes means I talk about the work instead of ever doing the work.

What I didn’t think to add in that response was that one of the things I find interesting is that a lot of the people in my “real life” who support my work through things like purchasing my books and contributing to fundraisers, etc. are friends who believe in me but don’t actually read much of my work themselves. My siblings haven’t read most of my work even though they are my best friends. My mom (and previously my dad) reads all of it and my mom has been one of my best supporters over time. So it’s a mixed bag and an interesting one for sure.

I CELEBRATED:

I woke up today to discover I have my tenth paying subscriber. It’s a very long way from my goal of 1000 but it’s a mini milestone that I’m excited about all the same. I am dedicated to this work and so touched and humbled by the various signs (including but not only financial) that the work is resonating with others.

In case you don’t know about it …

My goal is to find 1000 people who are interested in subscribing to this work at a rate of $100 per year. This shows the world that we as creatives believe artists and writers can and should earn six figures. I practice artistic tithing, meaning that at least 10% of my income automatically goes to support other artists, writers, makers, creatives, performers, etc. So if I meet my goal, we keep at least $10000 of that right in the creative community. I also make every effort to continuously encourage, support, share and promote the work of others.

$100 per year feels like a lot. But it works out to less than $2 per week.

If this is something that you believe in, I really need the support of paid subscriptions to be able to keep doing this work that I’m deeply committed to. In fact, I believe in this work so much that I’ve self-funded a year of full-time work here using a business loan. If I don’t reach the above goal by Summer 2024, I may have to revisit things.

I offer a Pay What You Can option starting at $24 per year.

Thanks to those who offered congratulations and celebration with me and comments as well.

Jimmy Doom

shared some transparency around the numbers at

Jimmy Doom's Roulette Weal

to which I added:

Thanks for that. I appreciate when people are transparent about their numbers.
I’ve supported myself with writing for nearly two decades and the marketing part has always been … a friction point for me. I don’t have any shame/fear around self-promoting but I haven’t enjoyed most marketing approaches especially as social media has become such a - well, a whatever it is :) I’ve had that all-too-common experience of doing much more work than a publisher to promote myself while not earning much money in royalties. I’ve had phases of lamenting/resenting that this is such a part of the job of the writer who wants to make money. BUT I’ve come to a place of curiosity around this … how can I best share my work with others in a way that inspires them to support the work?
It’s a huge goal. Who knows where it will land. But aim for the moon and at least land amongst the stars right?

I WANT TO THANK:

Wendi Gordon
of Changing Lives for sharing that she found inspiration in the work of Allegra Chapman after I shared it in one of my newsletters
June Girvin
for restacking my interview of Sue Clancy and saying: “What a gift this interview is! Full of positivity.” Also thanks again to
Sue Clancy
for being so open and for sharing more about the interview experience here.
Andrew Smith
who mentioned me alongside Sarah Fay and S.E. Reid, saying: “I’m also really happy to be surrounded by other encouraging folks who want to help others write better, and who want to amplify the works of other writers.” I feel seen.