Time for Luck!

Reader Update | 8 Months

Winston Malone

Mar 19

Express members - keep an eye out for the paid email coming out this weekend! ~WM

Feeling lucky

Welcome all newcomers! What a crazy time. We jumped up from 80-something members to over 100 in less than 2 weeks. I’m thrilled to the gills, as they say. No one says that? Okay, you’re probably right, but maybe they will now.

Hope you had a great St. Patty’s Day! I was stuck inside doing research for a midterm but it’s probably for the best, puking green beer looks and sounds disgusting right about now. Anyway, I’m in a good mood and wanted to express how happy I am that we’ve got quite the growing indie community here on Substack, and it just keeps getting bigger and better. And for that I am thankful.

Oh, and we opened up for submissions on The Storyletter if you are a writer looking to get published. I look forward to reading your stories!

Walls | Are they a good thing?

I was having a hard time over the past month. I’m better now for the most part, but I think I was having a moment of writer’s block. Actually, I think the more accurate assessment would be that I was running into an invisible barrier, one that has plagued me as a writer ever since I started back in 2008.

This barrier, or shall I say “wall” for the sake of this theme, is part of a constant, almost unwinnable battle that I’ve been losing for the longest time without even knowing I was an active participant in it. The wall isn’t a specific thing. It varies from time to time, morphing and growing in its consumption of everything in its path like The Blob from outer space. But in my case, the wall isn’t a carnivorous amoeboid, but a feeling that creeps in and sabotages the motivation centers of my brain.

Basically, what I’m saying is that I’ve never been able to maintain a constant state of productivity past a three month period. I tend to wax and wane, to flitter over to the next thing that interests me and then move on to the next after that. This is true for my stories. I start the worldbuilding, the outline, the first few chapters and then… my interest sort of withers away.

Until now.

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Starting the Substack has been probably one of the best—if not the best—things I could have done to attempt to solve “the wall” problem. I’ve learned a lot about my writer self over the last few years, and I function better under a combination of two things: deadlines and sense of purpose. Take this post for example, you wouldn’t be reading it right now if I hadn’t arbitrarily decided that it needed to be due on the 18th of every month.

All this to say, I think finding your wall can be a good thing. We each have one in whatever it is we do, and being aware of it is the first step to overcoming it. Who knows, your wall might even be the answer to your own success. The thing that most terrifies you, stresses you out, or pulls you down while you’re trying to stay afloat. That thing. Addressing it head on could help you achieve the results you may have never thought possible. Ryan Holiday expertly tackles these concepts in his book, “The Obstacle is the Way”, which I just finished and highly recommend.

While we are on the subject of walls… The Storyletter does have a small paywall. While the fiction remains free, the extra fun goodies are not. If you’d like to hear me read my stories to you while you drive in your car or walk your dog, or if you’d like to get some behind-the-scenes content explaining where my ideas come from, consider supporting the Substack with monetary donations. This not only helps me, but everyone involved with The Storyletter who gets published and who would like to get published in the future. But know that I appreciate each and every one of you regardless of whether you are a free or paying member. Thank you for your undying support!

The Storyletter XPress Membership options:

Monthly - $2.50 (access to private Discord, submission privileges, SRA podcast, XPress only posts)
Yearly - $25 (same benefits as above, but cheaper)
Founding Member (Yearly) - $100 (XPress member benefits + Guaranteed shoutout in the “Acknowledgements” section)

Crocodilian Update

For those of you still following the ongoing chapter releases of Crocodilian, I am so sorry! I’ll be finishing the next chapter this weekend. That. Is. My. Mission! It’s mostly done, I’ve just been swamped (pardon the pun) with everything happening the past two weeks. It’s also gone through a ton of revisions already and, I must say, it’s getting better with each pass through. I want you to feel like you’re experiencing something of quality worthy of your time, especially since we are nearing the end of the story’s journey. Thank you for being so patient. I think you’re really going to like it. :)

Substacker Highlight

Check out Rosa de Saron C.’s “The Creative Journey” Substack! She writes about everything involving creativity and artistic expression. Her Substack is neatly organized into particular topics which enable you to subscribe to specific interests. I’ve read through a few of her pieces and they are great posts, and very easy to consume in short reading sessions. Let me know what you think!

The Creative Journey

A writer's journey as she shares her experiences in art, photography, culture and travel

By Rosa de Saron C.

Love to see it!

Songs

Disillusioned by A Perfect Circle

Edge of Darkness by Greta Van Fleet (my favorite band atm)

New Way to Read

I have exciting news to share: You can now read The Storyletter in the new Substack app for iPhone.

	Read The Storyletter in the new Substack app
	Now available for iOS

With the app, you’ll have a dedicated Inbox for my Substack and any others you subscribe to. New posts will never get lost in your email filters, or stuck in spam. Longer posts will never cut-off by your email app. Comments and rich media will all work seamlessly. Overall, it’s a big upgrade to the reading experience.

The Substack app is currently available for iOS. If you don’t have an Apple device, you can join the Android waitlist here.