A milestone post

I recently noticed that I have been lucky enough to reach over 100 subscribers on Substack.

The inner monologue part

I have not always known what to write here. I have often worried what I write may not interest people. I also haven’t  always shared poetry in every post , and have worried that is what people expect from me on here. I have worried I am not ‘offering value’. I have worried I don’t write on one single subject with authority like other substack writers do. In summary, I have worried a lot.

My first articles were all titled ‘How to… ‘ followed by a tongue in cheek subtitle that indicated my article would not hold all the answers. I am always fascinated by writers who write with utter assurance that they hold the answers. I also believe most of them. But I am not one of those writers.

So what ever brought you here, thank you for sticking around.  I appreciate it.

The paid subscription question

I decided to make most of my posts free quite some time ago, as I primarily write to connect and I felt I was shutting that down to myself with a subscription for writing ‘without purpose’.

So for now , the paid section gets you access to the newsletters and creative community for people experiencing Peri-menopause. This paid part of the newsletter is in a very fledgling state and that does make it harder to invest time in as I don’t really want to write to myself. 

I may give this question of paid subscriptions more thought in the future but it is good to have the experience of working out how to make things work.

I write all the time

Over the last six months I have also been creating a collection of poetry which has meant that I had to actively tell myself to spend time on that instead of on here. That process is nearing the end phases so I expect I will be here more after that.

I have got a book that is almost ready for a few test readers to see, then I need to work out how to get into the world. Lots of research has already happened in that respect but the finalisation process will be the next phase of work. It is an exciting and nervous time.

I will probably write an article about the whole process once it is out in the world, which may be of interest of fellow poets.

Will THIS letter have a poem then?

Here it is.

People have been reading the words that I write

When I might doubt what I should share

I still press publish

Risking myself in public

Letting my words be perceived by readers

Is the hardest part of writing

Deciding if I can handle the judgement that I am inviting in

I am forever fighting my inner critic

But the artistic desire to connect

Respectfully keeps me in check

Thank you so much for reading and being part of my corner of substack.