What I love about writing for you

and how Substack makes this easy for me

Photo by Nick Morrison on Unsplash

I had the pleasure this week of recording a conversation with author mentor and coach, Shelley Wilson, about why I write on Substack and what got me started. And it got me thinking that maybe I should share my thoughts with you, my merry and growing tribe. Thank you so much to all you lovely people who have been with me for some time, supporting me and cheering me on, and welcome to new subscribers who have joined us recently. I’m am honoured you are here with me, keeping me accountable to showing up every week to write.

So, how did it all start? I began playing with Substack in 2022, sharing some of my explorations and experiments in making pigments and ink from plants in my garden. That helped me to find my way around the platform and learn the ropes. In October 2023, I found the core theme that I wanted to write about and started committing myself to a weekly essay. Gathering our bones has been my focus since then.

This is my 90th post (small pat on the back).

What I love about Substack is that it gives me the scope to explore, expand and hone my writing, and also experiment with podcast and video posts, in all in one place. Showing up every week keeps me accountable to my creative self. I’m gathering a body of work, which I can use in a myriad of ways and am receiving gentle feedback as I go along. Substack makes it easy for me to write and there is no complicated algorithm to second guess.

I like to write long form - although I aim to keep my posts succinct. I like that you can come to my ‘home’ page and easily find older posts that you might be interested in. I like that I can find other interesting writers here and it is easy to share their work with you in my posts, or through restacking their posts to Notes, or by recommending those I read regularly.

No platform is perfect, Substack included, but there does seem to be a vibe here of wanting to support each other and wanting to connect to like-minded people and writers. I like that I can go at my pace and I don’t feel hassled or hustled to keep up or post every day, multiple times.

Of course I’d love to grow my readership, and slowly and organically more of my tribe are finding me. I’d love to grow engagement to create more conversation - which brings me to a comment one of my friends made this week about not knowing how to like or comment on my posts. So just in case it isn’t obvious to you, here is how to find the like and comment buttons if you want to use them:

When you receive my post by email, at the very bottom there should be this:

If you are reading on a desktop or laptop, and you click on the ‘like’, ‘comment’ or ‘restack’ buttons, it should automatically take you to the web version of the post. You can then like, add a comment or restack the post to Notes (with or without your own note). And you can share the post if you feel your friends would enjoy it too.

If you are reading on a phone, clicking one of those buttons will likely take you directly to the Substack App (if you have it) where you can also like, comment or share to Notes by ‘restacking’.

When you view the post on the web page you will see these symbols at the top and bottom of the post. On the App version, they float on the screen.

It’s lovely to have likes, but I don’t write for that. It’s lovely to have comments, so that the conversation continues and we can build on the ideas I share and I can learn your thoughts and perspectives.

Primarily I write because I feel called to do so. I write for those who want to reconnect with their essential, indestructible self (their ‘bones’) and their instinct, inner wisdom and insight. For those who are are curious to explore what gets in the way of fully embodying their wise self and are fascinated by myths, stories, nature, creativity, and ancient wisdom, and the insights to be found in this rich vein of exploration.

I write for the one person who needs to read or hear what I’m contemplating in that moment, because they probably contemplating that too and it gives them the nudge or insight that they need. I may never know who that person is or how it has impacted them, and that’s ok. If they get what they needed, that’s all that matters.

My work in the world is to gather insight and wisdom, connect the dots and share it with you. And so far I’ve found no better place to do that than here on Substack.

Have you been thinking about writing on Substack? What’s stopping you if you haven’t already? You might find Beth Kempton’s course Write for Love, Write for Money useful to get you started. It’s free to join (until end of May 2025). Astrid Bracke also has an excellent course on Substack for small business owners. I have done both and often refer back to them.

What better time than this New Moon to set your writing intention and make a start.

For those who are already writing. I invite you to share your Substack link in the comments, then we can come and visit you too.

Until next time… keep your pen flowing, the world needs your voice and your words!

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Join the Bones Tribe

The Bones Tribe is a monthly sacred circle to dig deeper and share thoughts, insights and experiences. We have had some great discussions so far, and we have occasional guests to spice up our conversations. Our next gathering is Monday 28th April (because our usual 3rd Monday of the month falls on Easter Monday). Our topic for April will be the dreams that we are planting and nurturing.

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