The week in newsletters - A fresh start

Anna from Twitter

Welcome to read + write.

For 131 issues, this space has been called “The Week in Newsletters.” Since August 2019, it’s been a home for tips, advice, and examples of newsletters to discover. Good news: those things are still happening, and more.

Starting today, this revamped newsletter will appear in your inbox or on your browser — a mid-length offering, jam-packed with stuff. We’ll have reading recommendations and inspiration from writers, featured newsletters, and news about what we’re building for readers and writers on Twitter.

For you, every Monday.

read + recommendations

Each week, a writer will join us to answer some questions about what they like to read.

Our first guest is an author, professor, and cultural critic. This is David Dennis Jr., author of the forthcoming The Movement Made Us (with David J. Dennis Sr.) and senior writer at The Undefeated.

What’s the thing you read when you want to remember how to write?

Toni Morrison. It’s akin to when I was a kid watching Jordan play basketball and then going out on the court and trying his reverse layups. I know I’ll never look like him or do what the GOAT does, but I can at least pretend for a split second.

You’re at the newsstand and have decided you’re leaving with four magazines. What are you picking up?

I’m gonna go with magazines from different eras: I’m going late-90s Vibe, Early 2000s XXL, Mid-90s Wizard and any issue of OffBeat Magazine, which is the local NOLA music mag.

What’s a newsletter you have continued to happily subscribe to?

Imani Perry‘s newsletter for The Atlantic is a gem. I can’t believe we get Imani Perry thoughts on a weekly basis.

What’s the thing you read when you need to feel something?

Kiese Laymon’s Heavy. It just feels like home and is the bar for what writing can do for all of us.

newsletter time

Every other week, we’ll include a new Revue newsletter (new = under 60 days or five or fewer issues).

#TheIvyEffect

Our inaugural featured newsletter is #TheIvyEffect, by Ivy Barley. A Technical Program Manager at Microsoft, Ivy sends a bi-monthly (and free) newsletter with insights, tips, resources, and opportunities for getting started in tech.

www.getrevue.co

Ivy is in the Twitter Spaces Spark Program for hosts, and the day after Twitter’s #TweetItIntoExistence campaign, she Tweeted at our CEO Parag Agrawal, and now they’re doing a Space together in early February. We asked Ivy to give some advice and encouragement to anyone thinking about starting a newsletter, in under 280 characters:

You don’t have to tick every box before starting; it’s okay to figure things out as you go. Keep a journal handy to document content ideas. To build a loyal audience, let your authenticity shine through as some people will most likely subscribe because of YOU.

write + inspiration

Each week, a writer will join us to answer some questions and give their perspective on writing.

Our second guest is an author, journalist, podcast host, and former Editor-in-Chief of VIBE. This is Danyel Smith, author of the forthcoming Shine Bright: A Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop and host of Black Girl Songbook, a Spotify Original.

What’s a piece of writing advice that’s held true for you?

Just say the thing. In a sentence. It could be four words, it can be fifteen. If it sounds awkward, you can fix it later. Or you can cut it. But if you don’t write the difficult thing in one sentence, then you’re distracted by not having written it, and then it’s hard to write the rest of the things.

What’s the thing you read when you want to remember how to write?

I tend to listen to instrumentals. It’s a language that makes me think — they’re talking to me without words. And I have words!

What do you do with all the writing ideas that pop into your head? Where do they go?

Google Docs and Google Slides are probably the most organized parts of my life.

Is there a thing you’ve written and have actually enjoyed going back and reading?

I feel good about what I wrote in 2020 about Sade, and what I wrote last summer about Natalia Bryant. This one about anthems — songs of home — and the career of José Feliciano brings me joy because I know for certain it made him feel seen.

#TwitterTime

Each week, in addition to hearing from writers, we’ll also give an update about what we’re building for readers and writers at Twitter.

This is an exciting moment as we work to bring Revue (the newsletter product and the brand) into Twitter. It’s also bittersweet for the folks that built Revue from the ground up. Luckily, the team is still here to help us build this thing right. A note from Martijn de Kujiper, Revue co-founder:

One of the reasons we were excited to join Twitter was to better position us to help writers reach more readers, and I’m thrilled to be working on this team to make that a reality. The next few months will be about leveraging the unique combination of Revue and Twitter to create something new and exciting. Watch this space!

wrap up

The goal for this first issue: a little reading, a little writing, and a little Twitter.

We really want to know what you think. We’d also love to know any questions you’d like to see us ask future guests — reply to our Tweets or use #readpluswrite to reach us.

See you next week,

Anna

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The week in newsletters - A fresh start

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