Thanks for the mention! I wish I could take credit, but "Write from your scars, not from your wounds," is something I learned from a storytelling lecture by The Moth's Catherine Burns. She said it's one of their tenets. (In workshops I'm always sure to give credit, and say, "As they say at The Moth: Write from your scars, not from your wounds.")
Another very generous post, thank you Sarah. I needed to understand this better. So there has been a confluence of a few streams, one pure glacial water, another murky, heavy with silt, and another stained with the tannins of the leaves falling into it. That point of confluence is the new Notes. So now I understand, it’s easier to navigate.
Great article, which was recommended and sent to me by a friend. I shall be re-reading it as I got kind of lost mid-way through and this whole social media charade and game we play befuddles me! Notes seems to me like Twitter/Blue Sky as we all devolve into brief paragraphs rather than longer form writing. So I'm in the middle of an experiment whereby I'm posting a lot to Notes and a lot of brief passages and pictures of my life and experiences. A complete failure to date, but then again, so is Substack for me. Envy is my sin. I put my heart and soul into my longer form writing and get next to zero in terms of likes/re-stacks or even comments. Then I look at the "competition" and they're swimming in the river described here. Overwhelming numbers I couldn't possibly dream of. Then I look at Notes and my envy level shoots through the roof as a simple few words, often incoherent, vacuous balderdash gets thousands of likes. Just like Twitter. Just like every other piece of truncated social media where a punchy paragraph and picture is king, not long form, thoughtful writing. I seem to have gone off topic. It's an endearing trait of mine! Or perhaps looking at my Substack numbers, it isn't. I'll be re-reading this again in the future. Great and interesting article, thanks for posting. Peace.
Thanks for the mention! I wish I could take credit, but "Write from your scars, not from your wounds," is something I learned from a storytelling lecture by The Moth's Catherine Burns. She said it's one of their tenets. (In workshops I'm always sure to give credit, and say, "As they say at The Moth: Write from your scars, not from your wounds.")
Many thanks for sharing, that has totally changed the way I’ll write Notes in future.
Holy crap, really? One note, 20k subs? Wow.
I love this: looking at notes as a genre and using it to improve my writing. I'm going to try one of your prompts now. Thank you!
Another very generous post, thank you Sarah. I needed to understand this better. So there has been a confluence of a few streams, one pure glacial water, another murky, heavy with silt, and another stained with the tannins of the leaves falling into it. That point of confluence is the new Notes. So now I understand, it’s easier to navigate.
I am getting a consultation with you in 2025. Mark my words!
Really helpful, thank you.
How??
Sarah, as someone who is new to notes this is a great help, thank you.
Awesome share…. Thanks.
My favourite Notes are users cracking jokes. If their joke is really good, I will absolutely check out their publication.
I'm impressed - so simple but it makes sense!
Great article, which was recommended and sent to me by a friend. I shall be re-reading it as I got kind of lost mid-way through and this whole social media charade and game we play befuddles me! Notes seems to me like Twitter/Blue Sky as we all devolve into brief paragraphs rather than longer form writing. So I'm in the middle of an experiment whereby I'm posting a lot to Notes and a lot of brief passages and pictures of my life and experiences. A complete failure to date, but then again, so is Substack for me. Envy is my sin. I put my heart and soul into my longer form writing and get next to zero in terms of likes/re-stacks or even comments. Then I look at the "competition" and they're swimming in the river described here. Overwhelming numbers I couldn't possibly dream of. Then I look at Notes and my envy level shoots through the roof as a simple few words, often incoherent, vacuous balderdash gets thousands of likes. Just like Twitter. Just like every other piece of truncated social media where a punchy paragraph and picture is king, not long form, thoughtful writing. I seem to have gone off topic. It's an endearing trait of mine! Or perhaps looking at my Substack numbers, it isn't. I'll be re-reading this again in the future. Great and interesting article, thanks for posting. Peace.
Oh how I love you, Sarah. Thank you for this 💜💜😘
Ok this may seem Meta but if anything deserved to go viral its this post!
Well done
This is a terrific resource, thank you!