"I still post as carelessly and pugilistically as I did when I had 500 subscribers" honestly one of the last standing to do so, hate to lose this in the world
Aw (( Sorry to see you log off. I really like your writing! The thought was more to pleasantly troll you into enjoying the platform. Look forward to reading your writing in The Point, in The Post, and everywhere else!
i'm not wounded or anything and will keep enjoying your substack and the new book review! i just don't think i can do my best work on here until i can charge, which i won't be able to do while i have this job
I liked the impulsive way you posted on Substack, but I also enjoy reading your book reviews in the Washington Post--two very different modes of expressions in your case. Ending the bifurcation of one's writing seems a reasonable thing to do--until the next time you're tempted to drop us a note! I look forward to it.
We'll find you! Wise decision, I'd say, even though I share your love for people who can manage posting-and-writing in tandem. I'm reading your work aloud — about minimalism from ALL THINGS — next week with architecture grad students. Keep going, etc.
A bummer for sure. Count me in favor of a curious disheveled post and against the substack careerists. May we never forget that this place is very... online. Anyway, good luck, will continue to follow along in the point and elsewhere
Sorry to see you go, but I get it. It’s a shame you can’t charge for your newsletter because if you could and you wrote the other kind of stuff you’re referring to, it would do well. My most successful “posts” are basically literary criticism and academic book reviews, which surprises me; when I write autofictiony cultural criticism it doesn’t do much in terms of numbers, although I enjoy writing those essays/stories. One other thing is that I never “post,” everything I publish I put the same effort and care into as if it were being published in a magazine, but I can afford to do that because I have a different job that pays the bills. If my real job were writing, I’d probably use substack way less.
The other thing you point out about feeling the need to respond with a hot take, then wondering why you should respond to someone else, is for me the prime danger of social media. It controls what you think about without you realizing it, so that you end up ignoring your own interests. So far the thing I like about substack is that it hasn’t been captured by this sort of algorithm yet—you can write about something that’s not current at all and there will be readers out there. If you ever decide to come back, write that Merleau-Ponty essay, I think the response might surprise you! Until then I’ll follow your writing elsewhere.
thanks! i think you’re right—i’ve always been optimistic about the appetite of “the public” for stuff like that. at least, that guides my entire approach to public intellectualism. anyway, someday, i hope, i can charge and write some weirder longer stuff
Wonderful post - YES, it was a peek behind the curtains OF YOUR MIND, ha ha. You are a superstar and I will always be alert for your byline, wherever it appears!
Thank you for your work on Substack. I enjoyed following your blog. Happy you wrote to me about advice for someone interested in Substack for their own purposes. Being a bit older, its great to see what interests those younger than myself. Sad though to see you go.....must be the inner oldster, clawing to get out.. ( yes, I wrote that horrific dangling participle ) Good luck,
I will never be able to make any sense of the suggestion that what I write on my Substack-based publication is “posting”, while, say, the review I wrote for the Washington Post a few months back was “writing“. That's a meaningless distinction to me. There are a few more intermediaries in the latter case, but what a weird thing it would be if writing were just posting + intermediation! You, too, could “write“ on Substack too, if you were so inclined. You really could.
Ah, ok, if I couldn't charge I definitely wouldn't be doing it either. Writing = stringing words together (whether you have someone else subsequently changing those words around or not, i.e., an “editor“) + getting money for it!
"I still post as carelessly and pugilistically as I did when I had 500 subscribers" honestly one of the last standing to do so, hate to lose this in the world
<3 i'll try to keep the bitchy energy in my reviews and of course irl
A fine and graceful farewell.
"You might start getting regular emails from me about the most random shit years from now."
I'll cherish the hope!
Aw (( Sorry to see you log off. I really like your writing! The thought was more to pleasantly troll you into enjoying the platform. Look forward to reading your writing in The Point, in The Post, and everywhere else!
i'm not wounded or anything and will keep enjoying your substack and the new book review! i just don't think i can do my best work on here until i can charge, which i won't be able to do while i have this job
Ah, that makes a lot of sense
I liked the impulsive way you posted on Substack, but I also enjoy reading your book reviews in the Washington Post--two very different modes of expressions in your case. Ending the bifurcation of one's writing seems a reasonable thing to do--until the next time you're tempted to drop us a note! I look forward to it.
Good for you, take it easy 🙏
We'll find you! Wise decision, I'd say, even though I share your love for people who can manage posting-and-writing in tandem. I'm reading your work aloud — about minimalism from ALL THINGS — next week with architecture grad students. Keep going, etc.
<333
For what it's worth, I thought you were great at the art of the Post! Wishing you all the best and looking forward to what's to come!! <3
<3 thank you! hopefully i will see you IRL in the coupe sometime soon!
A bummer for sure. Count me in favor of a curious disheveled post and against the substack careerists. May we never forget that this place is very... online. Anyway, good luck, will continue to follow along in the point and elsewhere
Sorry to see you go, but I get it. It’s a shame you can’t charge for your newsletter because if you could and you wrote the other kind of stuff you’re referring to, it would do well. My most successful “posts” are basically literary criticism and academic book reviews, which surprises me; when I write autofictiony cultural criticism it doesn’t do much in terms of numbers, although I enjoy writing those essays/stories. One other thing is that I never “post,” everything I publish I put the same effort and care into as if it were being published in a magazine, but I can afford to do that because I have a different job that pays the bills. If my real job were writing, I’d probably use substack way less.
The other thing you point out about feeling the need to respond with a hot take, then wondering why you should respond to someone else, is for me the prime danger of social media. It controls what you think about without you realizing it, so that you end up ignoring your own interests. So far the thing I like about substack is that it hasn’t been captured by this sort of algorithm yet—you can write about something that’s not current at all and there will be readers out there. If you ever decide to come back, write that Merleau-Ponty essay, I think the response might surprise you! Until then I’ll follow your writing elsewhere.
thanks! i think you’re right—i’ve always been optimistic about the appetite of “the public” for stuff like that. at least, that guides my entire approach to public intellectualism. anyway, someday, i hope, i can charge and write some weirder longer stuff
Good luck and I wish you good health above all.
Wonderful post - YES, it was a peek behind the curtains OF YOUR MIND, ha ha. You are a superstar and I will always be alert for your byline, wherever it appears!
Thank you for your work on Substack. I enjoyed following your blog. Happy you wrote to me about advice for someone interested in Substack for their own purposes. Being a bit older, its great to see what interests those younger than myself. Sad though to see you go.....must be the inner oldster, clawing to get out.. ( yes, I wrote that horrific dangling participle ) Good luck,
G.
Going to seriously miss your posts. But I understand. I hope the grass is soft!
<3
We love your work and we will miss you. Don't stay away too long. www.dgitelman.com
I will never be able to make any sense of the suggestion that what I write on my Substack-based publication is “posting”, while, say, the review I wrote for the Washington Post a few months back was “writing“. That's a meaningless distinction to me. There are a few more intermediaries in the latter case, but what a weird thing it would be if writing were just posting + intermediation! You, too, could “write“ on Substack too, if you were so inclined. You really could.
i could! but i won't! not until i can charge for it, anyway
Ah, ok, if I couldn't charge I definitely wouldn't be doing it either. Writing = stringing words together (whether you have someone else subsequently changing those words around or not, i.e., an “editor“) + getting money for it!