So in April this year, at a point of frustration with my near finished manuscript, I decided to bite the bullet and post my memoir in serialised form on Substack. Turns out as a writer, this is one of the best things I have ever done.
A while ago a friend shared a link of Patti Smith reading a poem to her Substack subscribers. She was broadcasting late at night from her dimly lit bedroom in the U.S. No styled or staged background, just a regular room with books lying about, a peace symbol leaning against the wall, a lamp shining at us brightly, throwing light on a low comfy looking bed —our view from the desk where via Substack, she regularly sits to have a chat, do a reading or give some news.
Subscribers? Substack? I’d been hearing the word a lot lately, but what was this thing all about? I signed up to Patti for free, and pretty soon was receiving regular missives direct from her bedroom to my inbox. It was a different experience to watching her clips and posts on Instagram or elsewhere on social media. It felt far more intimate and special — I was completely taken by Patti’s almost motherly, low vibe, late night chat and pretty soon I was hooked.
As a free subscriber I could receive Patti’s clips but if I wanted to comment on her posts and engage with other members, I could sign up for a paid subscription ($50US per year). Cheaper than Netflix by far! Behind the scenes I could get other bonuses like episodes of her new extended prose work, The Melting. which she began writing in the early days of the pandemic.
I took the plunge and joined. Took a deeper plunge and made a few comments on different posts, engaged with other members by liking theirs. Was most active in January 2023 when to mark the Year of the Rabbit, Patti had us totally entranced as she read excerpts from her childhood book, Uncle Wiggily Starts Off by Howard R. Garis. I’ll never forget these precious moments with Patti and Uncle Wiggily, as she so playfully stretched the story out over several sessions leaving us in complete suspense.
Spurred on by this charming experience I developed a thirst for more. All Substack authors recommend their faves and it’s easy to browse your own interest areas. I came across Tim Lott’s Writing Boot Camp. Always interested to see what other writing teachers are doing and keen for tips for my own writing, I signed up. Tim, an award winning British author of fiction and non fiction (who I’m ashamed to say I wasn’t familar with 'til now ) has great essays on different areas of writing craft, an excellent podcast on the art of story called Storyville and much, much more. His generous, provocative, no bullshit approach appealed to me and I was content to remain a free, no extra benefits member until…
A note in my inbox from Tim Lott: ‘Who will become my 100th paid subscriber?’
How could I resist such a call to action? Like entering the chook raffle at the pub, it was a longshot, surely there’d be many others scrambling for the honour.
‘Take me,’ my finger responded, as I pressed the join button, expecting to have missed the boat.
But lo, next day, a notification arrived— the chook was mine!
Now I could comment, take part in discussions, agree/disagree, read chaps, listen to readings and so on.
As with Patti, I’ve been popping in and out — reading, viewing, listening, and depending how much time I have — commenting or not. It’s been very stimulating to say the least.
Since then I’ve started following more authors, buzzing like a little bee from this one to that — Salman Rushdie, George Saunders, Elle Griffin, Hattie Crisell.
Like everything on the internet, it can become all consuming.
Especially this week as I’m launching Writer’s Journey on Substack.
But the chook raffle has a long life it seems, or maybe it is just how this community works. Now I will come to the point of this story —
In a lovely moment of serendipity, guess who wins the prize for being my very first subscriber and recommender on Writer’s Journey Substack.
Tim Lott!
I was his hundredth and he was my first!
And that’s the wonder of Substack!
So far I have posted 17 chapters of the memoir now called Looking For Duras, Finding my Mother — A Mekong Journey . Go over for a look here.
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