Start a 'blog' on Substack - The coffee and croissant analogy ☕️ 🥐

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do/ with your one wild and precious life?”

Mary Oliver

This post is for beginners on Substack and compliments this one which is full of resources for those starting out here and shaping what feels good.

I wanted to write about using Substack as a ‘blog’ because the energy on Substack has often been described as very ‘old school’ blog energy. Blogs take the pressure off somehow… they can be experimental and shift topics as much as we change our socks!

They can also be PLAYFUL. Want to write about your love for tiny penguins? Go for it. Want to call it Sky Blue Flamingoes at Dawn - ok then!

Writing on Substack is Storytelling

This is such an interesting topic for me BECAUSE I see the potential in Substack to be either a blog, a mailing list or both.

Quite simply it’s a space for the stories you want to tell.

There’s also a sneaky relatively unknown secret in that, you can start to create and write here without telling a soul… 🤫.

Do you know people here? Maybe a handful? What a delight that is after being under a social media microscope for our whole career?

Why would you want to create without eyes on your work I hear you ask?

Have you ever been to a retreat? Noted ideas down in your journal on a ‘lazy’ Saturday afternoon? Furiously free written and read it back and thought wow there’s something in that. Daydreamed about being a global best seller one day?

Your creative heart needs SPACE! You can have that here.

Yes Substack is the internet, but it’s also a space where you can turn your light on to a soft warm glow and give yourself time to re-kindle your creative voice.

Want to write about work, love, life, memories, a brand new topic? Great!

Want to delete it after 24 hours? Fine! 🐧

Want a pen name, to be discovered a new? Now we’re talking!

Unless you have professional writing experience or FEEL like a writer, you will need to write a fair few words OUT of your system before you start a new phase.

This is what blogs were used for back in the day; they didn’t show up as fully formed, well researched essays; they just showed up.1

Want to write out a recipe for your Grandma’s fruit scones and link it a poem about when you waited for a bus - lovely!

You might write ‘too much’ or ‘too little’ and then it’s ‘just right’.

🥣 🐻

It’s a feeling, that you’re home, safe, that it’s ok to thread words, art, creative ideas together in a way that makes sense to you.

Embodied experience…

I’ve always written for work; funding bids, project plans, arts sales copy.

I started writing blogs while working for New Writing North in 2014. I was a crap writer but it didn’t matter - I started and I committed to communicating what it was I had to say 10 years ago.

Now my words are read by people in 90 countries here and I’ve published four creativity and business journals. Those earlier blogs were an experiment… let’s not mention the one I called ‘Run with your heart, not with your legs’ 🫣

My current website didn't have a blog function built in which is ONE of the main reasons I started writing over at. Creatively Conscious (it does now).

I also wanted to explore topics outside of ‘typical’ business style blogs. I wanted space to re-discover my creative voice outside of a ‘professional’ environment.

A playground for words!

Having URLs of your work to share on other platforms is SUPER useful.

Think sharing on;

• LinkedIN

• Instagram stories

• Facebook groups

• In another Substack post…

• On your website

• On a link in your instagram bio

And it’s completely FREE to start a “blog” on Substack.

Me and Blogs; the back catalogue

Back in 2022, I could NOT face logging into my wordpress site it was so clunky and cluttered and things were always breaking, the text was re-formatting, I didn’t really know what ads were popping up - oh my days the plug ins - the rogue bullet points - WHAT a headache! I was so busy with arts project management and commissions I had no time or inclination to keep fixing it.

Thankfully for all of us…

A Substack blog is CLEAN, easy to design and there are NO adverts - yay!

I’ve since taught over 3000 people how to use Substack as a mailing list, blog and platform for creative work. The thing I hear the most from my 1-2-1 clients and members here is that Substack is overwhelming.

The second thing I hear is around indecision about how to use it, the third is that it can feel a little elitist. 😅

Keen to learn more, read the rest of the post here over on Substack

Claire

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Hi, if you’re new here I’m Claire.

I’m an Engagement Consultant and Mentor and I live under dark skies in Northumberland with my family. I started my journey with Substack in 2022 and my work here is now read in 90 countries all thanks to Substack!

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1 I’d love you to listen to this podcast episode where I interviewed Best Selling author Cait Flanders who got her first book deal through writing what became a hugely successful blog.

2 Notes is Substack’s ‘in built’ social media network. Despite what I or anyone else tells you there is no ‘right’ way to use Notes - it’s NEW, it’s being shaped by us. You’ll get a sense of the Notes that travel far and stick around for a while… I like the ones that share education, inspiration, collaboration or pretty photos.