I haven’t posted anything since 2022. It’s been great for my mental health, but I still feel the need to write something regularly for others. I’m a decent writer, capable of producing excellent nuggets of wisdom, and I have a good sense of humor. Still, I don’t want the negative aspects of internet content creation to bite me again.
So, I’m coming up with some rules to inaugurate this Substack:
No Politics Other Than “Politics Makes People Stupid.” This one is hard for me because I’m a politically opinionated person who has followed politics my entire adult life (Note: This doesn’t make me special). Right now, I live in the Washington, DC area, work in political advocacy, and can’t escape politics. But at the same time… I hate politics and what it has done to people. Over the last 10 years, political content has made people needlessly angry, stupid, anxious, and unhappy. I don’t want to contribute to that, even if it wasn’t an oversaturated market that I had nothing to add to.
Posts Should Be No More Than 500 Words. There’s an abundance of good long-form content on the internet, but on self-published platforms, almost everyone would benefit from an editor. I find myself skimming arguments and essays that could have been a fraction of their length. These writers should write a book or submit it to a magazine, so I can take the hard copy and read it while curled up comfortably in a ball. I imagine you’ll be reading me passively, so I’ll respect your time.
Never Write Angry. I have posted on the internet for most of my life (ouch). Sometimes I’ve written as a public-personal journal, once as an amateur columnist, and often as an effort poster. In all formats, I have found myself uncomfortably obsessive with what I’m writing when I’m motivated by anger. The sense of accomplishment I get from the finished product never outweighs the negative emotion felt during the process. I hate that. No more anger writing.
Write About What Interests Me. In today’s algorithm-driven world, content creators of all stripes are pressured into defining their brand. This leads to burn out, derivative content, and boredom. Some people can get into a subject and make a career writing about it. I can’t; I have intellectual ADHD. After about a year or two, I get tired and move on. There’s a graveyard of subjects I can talk about for hours, but don’t because they bore me now.
Don’t Overshare. You’re my readers, not my friends. Social media has poisoned our sense of propriety. My fiancé often shows me cringe-worthy posts from TikTok or other social media, and one of my most common responses is YOU DIDN’T HAVE TO POST THAT. I don’t want to turn into that kind of person. I take being normal very seriously.
Have Fun. Does this need explaining?
I’m sure I’ll create more rules as I go, but I’d rather not violate rule #2.