Related Recs

🦢

Getting really into writing

What’s stopping you from writing shitty prose on substack??? I don’t fancy myself a writer but I would love to be able to better articulate my points and I think writing consistently helps,,,,,plus It’s a fun little thing to do?

@rodeostaar

Apr 9, 2024

😃

Scavenging scraps of time to write

In university, I needed a really strict environmental setup to even think about starting an essay. I needed my water bottle, a good table in the library, enough sleep, and a full belly. The library had to be quiet, and in more extreme cases, I even brought earplugs. Lately, during my lunch hour at my nine-to-five job, I've been using the time to write, often tucked away or sitting on the floor around the office. I tap away at whatever I can get down, to later return to and edit. I have to take these stolen moments. I'm too hazy in the morning to write, and too tired of looking at screens in the evening. Weekends are often sacred for friends and rest. I think, for many of us, the new habit of writing won’t be glorious, long-haul manic frenzies. It’ll be about taking sips here and there, getting down on the page whatever we can.

@bval

Sep 18, 2024

✍️

writing rut

This!!! Lately I've been in a slump, I've found that setting a 30 minute timer where I put phone on do not disturb, only have my document up on the screen, and write — not editing it as I go just write for 30 minutes straight — has helped. By the end of those 30 minutes I'm usually in a flow and try again for another 30 and so on. I also like collecting quotes or photos (I use Pinterest) that connect to my story. It's a way of grounding me back into the world and a source of inspiration. I used to commute 1 hour back and forth to work everyday and that time in the car by myself is when a lot of the building for my novel took place. So now whenever I'm in the car, it's reflexive almost for me to work out plot lines, dialogue, etc.

@jmeridian

Dec 28, 2024

Top Recs from @zenlikeme

🕯

Honoring your teachers

“We live in a world in which we need to share responsibility. It’s easy to say ‘It’s not my child, not my community, not my world, not my problem.’ Then there are those who see the need and respond. I consider those people my heroes.” — Fred Rogers

@zenlikeme

3d ago

4

📱

Deleting Instagram

I haven’t been on Twitter for years and hardly touch FB, but I had been an active user on Instagram since 2012. I really like taking and sharing photos, and that had always been a fun place to do it. No more. With the changes the content moderation changes they’re making, leaving LGBTQ+ folks vulnerable to be targeted; their rolling back of DEI programs; their willing participation in far-right rhetoric and politics; it’s all too much and I’m out. As if Meta’s platform hadn’t already been increasingly enshittified, this was the final straw to announce how much worse it will get. And you know what? It feels freeing. Better to leave it behind and find new platforms to connect with people.

@zenlikeme

Jan 22, 2025

8

🫙

Getting recruited into an mlm in the peanut butter aisle of The whole foods

The guy got my attention with, “Hey, I like your shoes.” Just like that, he had me. We talked about where I bought the shoes and how I used to work in the shoe industry. He used to work in the beer industry but had recently become independently wealthy because of an investment opportunity he started with a few of his friends. ”You get to be your own boss,” he told me. Your boot could be on your own neck. We’re back to the topic of shoes. He told me it’s a small investment to get started but things are really taking off and I could get in on the ground floor. I could quit my job. Work for myself. Had I ever considered doing something like that? “No,” I said with a shrug. I walked away with my jar of peanut butter. I can’t remember if it was creamy or crunchy. Probably crunchy. Nice guy!

@zenlikeme

Feb 25, 2025

7