Thanks for your reflections Daniel! Yes, Notes is a wonderful place but has the same (and even deeper) hooks as other social media sites. I thus decided only to use it for restacks of my work, announcement or when I need to ask a practical question - otherwise one could loose a lot of time there...
You touched on another pitfall: numbers. Peco and I had been talking about the pressure that numbers create, and how they detract from the actual writing. We have made some changes in how we approach writing, including writing less often, in order not to be dominated by numbers (surprisingly people don't seem to mind the lower frequency). I still offer all my content for free apart from some educational resources and an online event we have planned. Trying to create bonus writing is tough, and again creates extra pressure. I would likely let this evolve naturally and see where your writing leads you. Keep endeavoring:)
I’m going to aim to find the right balance of having fun and conversations through Notes but not letting it become a distraction but overall will just be using it less. I may consider writing less often if I feel that posting weekly is just too much. But right now I am determined to keep it up for with some breaks and see where things stand when the year is up.
I’m contemplating on offering virtual Bible study groups where the diverse, thoughtful and awesome Christians of various backgrounds can get together and go through scripture together. That might become an offer for any pod subscribers. But I also know that would be quite a challenge now and I should probably wait till the children are older. Thank you for your insight and encouragement!
I have come to the same conclusion as @Ruth Gaskovski said in her comment: "We have made some changes in how we approach writing, including writing less often, in order not to be dominated by numbers (surprisingly people don't seem to mind the lower frequency)."
"Newbie" writers on Substack go through an inevitable evolution of process and content. Adjusting frequency and substance of posts is a natural progression of experience based on real feedback, not just "stats". Based on what I've seen of the feedback you're getting and my own reaction/response to your writing, I would say you're definitely on the right track in your development as a substantial "influence" writer, Daniel.
Headers are a big win in my book--adds a bit of clarity and structure, I am glad you included them and I hope you see a fruitful difference!
You and I don't talk nearly as much as I talk to your brother--but you may or may not know that I am an accountant, so my life is ALLLLLL corporate numbers. And it 100% is kind of...weird. Because I am an accountant for a hospital. We record stats like "how many days a patient stayed in a bed" or "what mix of ailments did we have this month" or "how many elective surgeries did we do". I haven't seen it but I know someone somewhere is recording births and deaths. And that doesn't feel very good. At root of all these numbers are human stories. Human beings. When a family is huddled around the bedside of their grandfather, they aren't wondering "wow he's really been in this bed for a lot of days". They only number they are thinking of is one--one grandfather, one life, one more minute with him while he lives.
I've got something stirring in the ocean-depths of my soul that addresses this corporatism. I've been getting prodded on multiple fronts and now I think I really need to start getting some of these ideas on paper of some kind. Because it takes the *moral* to see the *human*. Seeing someone who did a good job and say "OK now double it"--if they were to take a step back, how ridiculous is that? If I made my dad a clay mug as a child and he said "This is good but what if you made me TWO clay mugs"--that would be pretty sick, right? We have trained ourselves to not see each other as humans.
These are great reflections and you've given me a lot to think about. I've got some work to do myself and I'm starting to allow myself to ask "How" instead of "When". God bless you--and keep going!
I actually really love the headers! Definitely going to make that permanent for the reflections.
I had no idea you were an account. I should have been more upfront in the piece about my bias against numbers. Math was the one subject in school I honestly was terrible at!! But seriously, those types of things are super weird to have to keep track of given what you pointed out. There are actual, made in the image of God, humans behind every number and to have to reduce them to a statistic for business purposes is just... icky. I mean I guess I can understand why it could be useful info for the hospital but icky nonetheless.
The whole, “no go double it” situation actually happened in a meeting we had a few months ago. One of my coworkers sold $100,000 worth of catalog sales which is just insane. And right after they congratulated him and praised him, a manager kinda joking, kinda saying the quiet part out loud said “now go double it”. Which might actually be impossible.
I will be here to encourage you to address the corporatism. That would be a great read or podcast from you.
I am a beginner on Substack. My career has been the reverse of yours: mostly ministry with a few corporate jobs. I agree that the satisfaction comes from relationships. Have you read Dorothy Sayers's essay "Why Work?" from her Letters to a Diminished Church? It addresses God's plan for work to be meaningful in contrast to the world's idea of trading time for money.
Thanks for your reflections Daniel! Yes, Notes is a wonderful place but has the same (and even deeper) hooks as other social media sites. I thus decided only to use it for restacks of my work, announcement or when I need to ask a practical question - otherwise one could loose a lot of time there...
You touched on another pitfall: numbers. Peco and I had been talking about the pressure that numbers create, and how they detract from the actual writing. We have made some changes in how we approach writing, including writing less often, in order not to be dominated by numbers (surprisingly people don't seem to mind the lower frequency). I still offer all my content for free apart from some educational resources and an online event we have planned. Trying to create bonus writing is tough, and again creates extra pressure. I would likely let this evolve naturally and see where your writing leads you. Keep endeavoring:)
I’m going to aim to find the right balance of having fun and conversations through Notes but not letting it become a distraction but overall will just be using it less. I may consider writing less often if I feel that posting weekly is just too much. But right now I am determined to keep it up for with some breaks and see where things stand when the year is up.
I’m contemplating on offering virtual Bible study groups where the diverse, thoughtful and awesome Christians of various backgrounds can get together and go through scripture together. That might become an offer for any pod subscribers. But I also know that would be quite a challenge now and I should probably wait till the children are older. Thank you for your insight and encouragement!
"There is no such thing as contentment..." :: the age in which we live, summed up in a sentence.
Prayers for you Daniel, as you swim against the current of our culture. May God grant you peace and His presence in your Endeavor.
I have come to the same conclusion as @Ruth Gaskovski said in her comment: "We have made some changes in how we approach writing, including writing less often, in order not to be dominated by numbers (surprisingly people don't seem to mind the lower frequency)."
"Newbie" writers on Substack go through an inevitable evolution of process and content. Adjusting frequency and substance of posts is a natural progression of experience based on real feedback, not just "stats". Based on what I've seen of the feedback you're getting and my own reaction/response to your writing, I would say you're definitely on the right track in your development as a substantial "influence" writer, Daniel.
Thank you, Cork. I was glad to get the apology off my chest and am also glad to have your support.
Headers are a big win in my book--adds a bit of clarity and structure, I am glad you included them and I hope you see a fruitful difference!
You and I don't talk nearly as much as I talk to your brother--but you may or may not know that I am an accountant, so my life is ALLLLLL corporate numbers. And it 100% is kind of...weird. Because I am an accountant for a hospital. We record stats like "how many days a patient stayed in a bed" or "what mix of ailments did we have this month" or "how many elective surgeries did we do". I haven't seen it but I know someone somewhere is recording births and deaths. And that doesn't feel very good. At root of all these numbers are human stories. Human beings. When a family is huddled around the bedside of their grandfather, they aren't wondering "wow he's really been in this bed for a lot of days". They only number they are thinking of is one--one grandfather, one life, one more minute with him while he lives.
I've got something stirring in the ocean-depths of my soul that addresses this corporatism. I've been getting prodded on multiple fronts and now I think I really need to start getting some of these ideas on paper of some kind. Because it takes the *moral* to see the *human*. Seeing someone who did a good job and say "OK now double it"--if they were to take a step back, how ridiculous is that? If I made my dad a clay mug as a child and he said "This is good but what if you made me TWO clay mugs"--that would be pretty sick, right? We have trained ourselves to not see each other as humans.
These are great reflections and you've given me a lot to think about. I've got some work to do myself and I'm starting to allow myself to ask "How" instead of "When". God bless you--and keep going!
I actually really love the headers! Definitely going to make that permanent for the reflections.
I had no idea you were an account. I should have been more upfront in the piece about my bias against numbers. Math was the one subject in school I honestly was terrible at!! But seriously, those types of things are super weird to have to keep track of given what you pointed out. There are actual, made in the image of God, humans behind every number and to have to reduce them to a statistic for business purposes is just... icky. I mean I guess I can understand why it could be useful info for the hospital but icky nonetheless.
The whole, “no go double it” situation actually happened in a meeting we had a few months ago. One of my coworkers sold $100,000 worth of catalog sales which is just insane. And right after they congratulated him and praised him, a manager kinda joking, kinda saying the quiet part out loud said “now go double it”. Which might actually be impossible.
I will be here to encourage you to address the corporatism. That would be a great read or podcast from you.
I am a beginner on Substack. My career has been the reverse of yours: mostly ministry with a few corporate jobs. I agree that the satisfaction comes from relationships. Have you read Dorothy Sayers's essay "Why Work?" from her Letters to a Diminished Church? It addresses God's plan for work to be meaningful in contrast to the world's idea of trading time for money.
Thank you for reading, Jerry! I have not read that essay but I would like to! I’ll have to look it up!