What Substacks should I write next?

You decide. Please!

Soooo…

This isn’t your typical post.

This isn’t a post that allows you, dear reader, to sit back and relax and lurk. No, no. I am asking you to open the door...

I am asking you…

I am asking you…

TO COMMENT!

What have I been up to these days? Well, I’ve been sending pitch after fruitless pitch out to magazines. I’ve applied to a couple practical writing jobs (like research summary and college application processing). I’ve been writing a long essay on how the Christian story of redemption plays out on the stage of the female body (with the delusional hope of getting a positive response from First Things). I might be freelancing for the local newspaper (updates on that coming this month).

And I’ve been doing stuff with family and friends, who shall remain happily tucked away in my private life, unavailable for your consumption. (I only do “tell-alls” a few years after the fact, and I don’t feel comfortable telling stories about my child publicly. I want to respect her sense of self.)

That parenthetical statement reminds me of the purpose of this post: to get you…

To comment!

Lol.

Art by Anne Taintor

An example of something you could comment is: “Please tell me why you don’t want to tell stories about your child. I have a child too, and I love telling stories about said child, but I want to hear your perspective.”

Point is, I feel lonely just writing here at my kitchen table to the stench of my own coffee breath. I would have much more fun if you were willing…

To comment!

So, without further ado, please pick something from this list, and put it in the comments. That’s all. No frills. No “please” or “thank you.” Just a simple copy-and-paste.

Scribbleland

1. The Emotionally Retarded Writer Wrecks A Fellow Teen on Pinterest
   Before I’d ever heard the term “internet troll,” I was one.

2. The Pimply Writer Pens Poems & Pines After Pianists
   soOO mUcH HorMoooneS

3. In A Fit of Egotism, The Callous Writer Plays The Field
   Or—In Which The Writer Learns Dating is NOT a Game

4. The Writer Dons Black for Existentialist Tuesday
   And celebrates Valentine’s Day by throwing a cake off a hill

5. In Which The Writer Is Beset by a German Cop
   And two German law students (UGH)

6. In Which The Black Dog Bites
   The time that writing proved dangerous for my mental health

7. The Writer Spends Six Months of Her Pen on Biblical Meditation
   I needed to reset my priorities

8. The Writer’s Life Story in Book/Music/Movie Recs
   Spicy, sappy, and transcendent just about sums it up
   

Freelancing

1. Literary Quotes That Keep Me Hype
   I blast these on my mental speakers

2. Writing + Motherhood = Possible
   Inspiration from Lauryn Hill, J.K. Rowling, Anne Lamott, and other single mom artists

3. 5 Common Lifestyle Mistakes Freelance Writers Make
   No. 1: Don’t pull a Grimes and eat a pure spaghetti diet for months

4. The Ethical Pitfalls of Freelance Content Writing
   It’s tempting to sell your soul to the devil—here’s how to avoid it.

5. Save or Skip? The Run-Down on Writing Resources I Love and Hate
   … And love to hate

6. Why You Should Be Writing for Free
   Play the long game.

7. How Do I Write Articles & Essays? Here’s My Process.
   I’m a sculptor, not an architect.

8. Is It Time to “Niche Down?” My Take on AI & Other Scary Things
   tldr: If you’re a jack-of-all-trades, don’t try to change.

9. Freelancing Update: Ghosting (not the good kind) & My Accountability Group (the best kind!)
   I’m a warrior monkey.

10. Finding Your Voice As A Writer
    My journey towards confidence in my writing.

11. Pros & Cons of Instagram Writing
    I tried it so you don’t have to.

For Other Pubs

1. Who Will Deliver Me From This Body of Death? (First Things)

2. I am the future waiting to be born. (World)

3. Sharing Bread: The First Step towards Healing our Sexually Depraved Culture (subhed: It’s the symptom, not the disease.) (idk)

4. Like Poison Ivy & Virginia Creeper (subed: Eden’s Curse) (idk)

5. George Floyd & The Boston Massacre (American Spectator)

6. The Loneliest Journey (idk)

7. I Ate Bill Gates’ Bagel: Cleaning for the Megarich in Montana’s Yellowstone Club (The Atlantic)

8. Motherhood in Corporate Terms: An Allegory (idk)

And finally, if you are a perennial lurker, I get it. It’s easier to avoid potentially awkward interactions. But I literally don’t care one bit whether you are an ex-boyfriend or my kindergarten best friend whom I haven’t seen in 18 years, or any other form of Potentially Awkward Visitor. I just want you…

To comment :)

(I wonder, did I get my point across?)

Give a girl a boost by saying hi ♡

Cheers,

Amelia