is this how you write an introduction post?
on new beginnings and figuring out the course of action
Iβve been mulling over starting a Substack for roughly 2 months now.
2 questions arose immediately;
What could I possibly write about that hasnβt already been said, that hasnβt already been thoroughly discussed by people who actually know what they are writing about?
How on earth am I going to publish anything with no fancy literary degree, no writing related job and no proper knowledge on any literary tools?
Wellβ¦ let me be frank. I probably wouldnβt hit publish on anything with these thoughts crippling and stifling my ideas. So to hell with them!
I remember back in the day when I started my Tumblr I didnβt care about any of these things. I just chose one of the many free templates for my βblogβ and started writing immediately. No thoughts wasted on grammar, punctuation, formatting or the quality of my writing. I wasnβt anxiously asking myself: βIs anybody going to read this? Does my opinion even matter?β. None of that. And to be fair, I really miss that vibe.
I think I must have spent like a solid 2 weeks just thinking about the name of my publication, or if I should write under my real name or a pen name. Isnβt that crazy?
Why canβt I just write for the sake of writing? And worry about who's gonna read all that at some other point? After all itβs not like Iβm writing a paid piece for any literary magazine or a publishing company. These are just going to be some personal ramblings fueled by the 2011 nostalgia of Tumblr.
But on a more serious note, I want this Substack to be about shedding the need for perfection, for control. About letting go of the idea that every piece of text needs to have a βdeeper meaningβ, that my thoughts and reflections need to be perfectly curated for someone to read and like them. I want to be able to freely dive into a plethora of topics without feeling forced to neatly fit into a specific niche. I want to write about the books I read, the media I consume, but also about the struggle of starting life fresh at 30 something, feeling lost and often powerless, and of course about the many lessons that my (seemingly) endless battle with mental health teaches me.
As you can see I have a lot to unpack and I hope to do so on a monthly basis. If any of this speaks to you feel free to leave a like or comment <3
PS: Please excuse the look of my (currently very bare) homepage as I try my best to figure out this whole system :)