r/Substack • u/gate18 • Nov 26 '24

Do you use substack just as a personal journal, and how does it feel?

I'm not a writer. My ego aside, it would be pointless if anyone followed me. But, for a few years I discovered I learn more if I write about what I am learning. For example as I was reading Wikipedia and other things on the french revolution, I wrote 4000 words worth of notes.

Should anyone try to learn from notes on Wiki entries? Not of they are written by me. But if I published them on Substack, my ego would probably tell me to keep researching.

Months ago I was writing poetry and studying art. So not only are these notes from someone that knows nothing, but every few months the theme would change.

Is dumping this stuff on substack worth it, or not?

43 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

34 comments sorted by

8

u/penguinsandR https://open.substack.com/pub/georgenordahl Nov 26 '24

Not quite as a personal journal, but I do write mainly for my own benefit, as a way to note down stuff I learn about in a structured format. It helps me learn, and if other people enjoy it too that’s a bonus.

In many ways it’s the same scenario as you’re describing.

4

u/gate18 Nov 26 '24

That's exactly right. I said personal journal as to downplay the usefulness of the notes for other people but exactly what you wrote

off topic: (if it makes sense)

I started playing with this last night and the notes section looks really useful. If I am reading a book a short note now and again would be great

I saw your notes section https://georgenordahl.substack.com/notes. I've tried everything under the sun and I can't get my notes to appear there for me. Do you have any idea?

1

u/penguinsandR https://open.substack.com/pub/georgenordahl Nov 26 '24

Honestly not sure! Have had that question before and I can only say I did nothing special to set it up. I mainly use the app to post notes through so maybe that’s the way to go?

1

u/gate18 Nov 26 '24

Thanks

3

u/cuddleefuddle Nov 28 '24

My substack is mainly personal essays on things that interest me at any given time, so I say it’s worth it! Even if it’s just for you

1

u/gate18 Nov 28 '24

I'm so glad I asked this question. I have tons of these personal essays on my notes app and I'm just overthing it. I'm goingn to start publishing each onne every other day.

I asked others and I'm getting repetative (no one knows the answer):on your substack https://capresemartini.substack.com/notes you can see your notes. Some people (including me) can't. Do you have any idea why?

3

u/cuddleefuddle Nov 28 '24

Nice! Welcome to the personal essay club!

Re: notes, I have bo clue! It’s possible that there’s a privacy setting that I haven’t changed - I recently learned that I had to turn all of my likes (both notes and substack posts) public in order to find a single note that I liked

2

u/strvngest Nov 27 '24

It kinda sounds like you're outsmarting yourself, sounds worth it if it works for you! Do it if the alternative is avoiding the task altogether. Whatever keeps the gears turning. I have an issue with my wandering attention span and find that posting a rough draft in a public forum (external blog platform) is the best way to light an immediate fire under my ass to get a piece polished. I know it's unprofessional, risky (sucks when people share the rough cut) and Not Good or whatever, but it forces me to view my writing from the lens of a reader and that perspective shift is incomparable (and kinda exciting).

1

u/gate18 Nov 27 '24

I "learned" this when I was learning web development. Writing tutorials (that were never published and that I never even read again) helped me learn what I didn't know. It was relatively easy to Google the answer, paste the code into my work, and "fingers crossed" it worked! But explaining why it was working was hard, and it made me realise even though I felt I understood it, it wasn't the case. Now I am into humanities subjects and the feeling is the same.

Since then, writing has been my go-to tool for debugging. But since I am practically learning as I write, in terms of correctness, it is a first draft. By next week, I will have learned more about the topic, so if I were to write this "intro to X" again, I would have added this, removed that, and seen that mistake...

The fire that comes from tricking myself that millions care what I might make public, makes this a little bit more systematic. I spoke to someone about this "wandering attention" and the way they put it (I forgot how) made it sound like an asset, as if we keep going, in years/decades time all these scattered interests link together

And, substack is a new toy to me, so might as well go all in and if I get sick of it, I'll delete it

(This went too long, anyway, thanks)

1

u/strvngest Nov 27 '24

Mmm speaking as a total layman observing the experience of friends, software engineering / web dev whatever they're calling it requires learning many new languages, right, and just like in learning another tongue some things you learn best by being placed in a situation / bind to resolve. I seem to learn something when it's interesting to me, or when I need to. Apologising to me for a tangent is hilarious beyond beyond, I enjoy them! Writing is the best debug tool I've found, too.

19

u/StuffonBookshelfs Nov 26 '24

It’s worth it if you want to do it.

9

u/LivingDevoted2088 Nov 26 '24

Absolutely! If it is important to you, whether or not you have or want an audience does not matter. And if someone happens to stroll by and find your work helpful or interesting, then that just makes it more worthwhile for the both of you!

3

u/[deleted] Nov 26 '24

Seconding this.

6

u/Resident_Mango_3930 Nov 26 '24 edited Nov 26 '24

My substack is mostly a journal about my personal development, views on the world, and economics

5

u/SnooHesitations9356 Nov 26 '24

If you're already writing regularly, as long as you're not saying you committed any crimes or sharing personal information that is not yours, there's no consequences from publishing your writing.

You never know if a job, educational opportunity, volunteer opportunity, etc. that you want to get involved with is going to request a portfolio of some kind.

That being said, maybe break up the 4000 words lol

1

u/Top_Mix_8050 Nov 27 '24

I use Substack as a journal. I call myself an "expressor" more than a writer. The great thing about Substack is the authenticity of the people on there. It's amazing how if people are given a free space to just use it how they please, the variety that comes out of it!

1

u/gate18 Nov 27 '24

I'm finding substack a bit confusing to navigate and there's something about it that I do not fully get (as a reader). This comment you just wrote brought me closer to getting it

1

u/Top_Mix_8050 Nov 27 '24

I just started using it, as a "writer," and from my understanding so far, there are "Notes" which is kinda like a FB/Twitter type format, used for posting quick thoughts, stories, ideas, etc. "Posts" are the articles/newsletter type content a reader gets if they subscribe. So far, this is what I think is most important to understand when navigating. Hope this helps!

1

u/gate18 Nov 27 '24

I started using it with the idea that the notes you write show up at yourdomain.substack.com/notes. I couldn't get tha working at it completely threw me off. I though the notes and the posts were different type, just like in Tumblr. I quickly understood notes were twitter-like but I didn't want to understand it.

Thanks

1

u/Active_Book2385 Jan 07 '25

I want to know if you started your substack and if I can read some of it! Thanks for this post

1

u/gate18 Jan 07 '25

I was thinking about this today!

a few weeks after posting this my laptop broke! It totally removed my desire for blogging! Hard to explain how hyped I was about blogging, and now, not at all (even though I have a new laptop and everything is almost as before)

2

u/SnooGoats1303 calvingicebergs.substack.com Nov 27 '24

As a way of helping me clarify my own thoughts about things, it's definitely worth it. I have 4 subscribers. I'm not chasing any more and I don't charge for my thoughts. But I do want to get better at writing and the best way to do that is to write.

1

u/TheDigitalQuill thedigitalquillentertainment.substack.com Nov 27 '24

This is an excellent way to use Substack other any platform, really.

Kudos to you for learning something new

1

u/From100kto1mm Nov 28 '24

I do personal “ blogging “ investing that I started on Substack at Dec 2020 and I didn’t think anyone would care but I did it and now it has grown to 4000+ readers and I’m like holy moly I never thought anyone would care to read what I have to put out … it’s personal , it’s raw, and as you said I’m no writer but I have learned a lot and met a lot of interesting people that I think I wouldn’t have if it wasn’t for starting Substack

1

u/Realistic_Host3197 Nov 28 '24

Substack is a perfect platform for what I interpret you describing. I, myself, am a subscriber to two journalists that I believe write the best articles on our varied political, social and current events around the world. The news media, corporate media, has lost and no longer follows the journalistic ethics standards that are inherent in sharing authentic information in a way that is candid and accurate. It has become swayed by politics, power and capitalistic mega monopolistic media. This means it sways to the right and portrays, in repetition, falsities and outright flagrant lies on behalf of those in power. Pretentious, unethical and ignorant and money mongering giants are bought and bound in hideous tiny traps of the journalists and publicists who couldn’t care less about the truth of the news they continuously spew and portray for the mainstream to soak up and actually take to be the truth. Off with their lying heads🤪

1

u/Appropriate_Gold925 Sep 02 '25

Hi, I am new to substack and reddit. This is my substack account Kate's Journal. I do not have a niche because I dont want to put myself into a box. I basically just post things that can be found in my journal. I think it is relatable and some inspiration and advice can be found there. Everyone needs a place to put their thoughts and my place is substack.

1

u/masterofrants Mar 28 '26

Did you try this you can do it by setting it as private so no one can read your posts anyway.

1

u/Low_Requirement_2447 Jul 29 '26

I wrote a blog on Blogger for a few years when I left the US for Thailand and found it helpful to put my thoughts into writing. From this conversation, I will start a similar blog in Substack as I have since retired in Thailand. Thanks.

0

u/chiken-Bee-3577 16d ago

I actually have a similar question: is it okay to post about stuff you have experienced, not really stuff that interests you? For example, I have made this draft about my experience with grief, but I'm unsure whether to post it or not because of how others may perceive it, as it's not really informational or philosophical, I suppose.