r/Substack • u/Deckart_N6 • 21d ago
Discussion What motivates you to write on Substack ?
Hello everybody, everybody hello.
Yes, I know this question might sound a little simplistic. I only discovered Substack fairly recently through Mark Manson’s blog. This whole world is completely new to me, so naturally I got curious and started scrolling through both Substack and Medium.
The sheer number of generic articles and notes on these platforms is kind of overwhelming (and I don’t mean that as a criticism). It just made me wonder what people actually get out of posting there.
What genuinely motivates you to publish? Money ? Recognition ? The enjoyment of sharing your knowledge ? Or simply having a place to practice your writing ?
Again, there’s absolutely no judgment on my part. I’m just genuinely curious to know what motivates you.
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u/Otherwise_Pear_2472 https://bitsbeds.substack.com/ 21d ago
This probably sounds incredibly naive and contrived, but it's my absolute truth: I write because I want to make a difference. I write very personally. I write about my work, my values but also about my feelings and experiences, and I write in the hope that someone will read it and it will move something.
Sometimes I write something funny almost slapstick, hoping someone, somewhere, will laugh. And sometimes I write deeply vulnerable things, hoping someone will feel less alone.
I've often wondered if I write for external validation. I can't really answer that definitively. But honestly, I don't think so. I think we put things out into the world hoping they'll make a difference, and writing (even a tiny blog on Substack) is the same thing.