I agree, Substack can be transactional and there are those who use comments and Notes shamelessly to garner attention and subscribers. Anyone who posts a link to their own work in another writers' comment section is highly suspect in my mind. But remember, especially in terms of fiction, we are basically writers writing to other writers (very few plain-old readers) and their comments can be inspiring and constructive. Some commenters are just blowing smoke but they are easy enough to identify.
The point you made about not writing on a time schedule, not writing anything you don't want to write and not posting anything you're not proud of really rings true to me. I always shake my head when I see a writer post a note saying something like: "I wrote 1,200 words today." How many good ones? I want to ask.
Lastly, I loved your strong words regarding AI. People who use it should be shunned.
Yeah the Notes kinda kill me. I always felt like if I wanted to do Substack "right" I'd have to participate in the Notes in a more self-aggrandising or desperate way, but I can't find it in myself to care about doing that. It feels like such an exhausting way to engage with the platform. If it works for others, good on them, but I can't be help but be put off by it.
Thank you for leaving a comment, I'm really glad to hear I'm not the only one thinking these things. And I'd be lying if I said your comment hadn't contributed to me feeling really good about this post even a couple days later
I'm glad you hit the "publish" button.
I agree, Substack can be transactional and there are those who use comments and Notes shamelessly to garner attention and subscribers. Anyone who posts a link to their own work in another writers' comment section is highly suspect in my mind. But remember, especially in terms of fiction, we are basically writers writing to other writers (very few plain-old readers) and their comments can be inspiring and constructive. Some commenters are just blowing smoke but they are easy enough to identify.
The point you made about not writing on a time schedule, not writing anything you don't want to write and not posting anything you're not proud of really rings true to me. I always shake my head when I see a writer post a note saying something like: "I wrote 1,200 words today." How many good ones? I want to ask.
Lastly, I loved your strong words regarding AI. People who use it should be shunned.
Yeah the Notes kinda kill me. I always felt like if I wanted to do Substack "right" I'd have to participate in the Notes in a more self-aggrandising or desperate way, but I can't find it in myself to care about doing that. It feels like such an exhausting way to engage with the platform. If it works for others, good on them, but I can't be help but be put off by it.
Thank you for leaving a comment, I'm really glad to hear I'm not the only one thinking these things. And I'd be lying if I said your comment hadn't contributed to me feeling really good about this post even a couple days later