Dear Ask Tina, 

I currently write a weekly Substack that I am pretty consistent with. My regularity is something I’m proud of. However, I’m also trying to finish a memoir in essays and aim to publish my creative nonfiction in literary magazines. The problem is that the Substack posts, which are basically blogs, are much easier to write. They are quick anecdotes and observations, hopefully with a message at the end. The literary essays are way more difficult, I could even say tedious to write. I have to delve deep, focus on my senses, write into a question, hoping that maybe I arrive at some sort of answer. 

When I go for walks before my writing time, new Substack ideas pop into my head like kernels in a popcorn popper. When I sit down to write, I have a Substack post idea I want to start writing. But this means that the more difficult flash or literary essays I also want to write don’t get the attention they deserve. I don’t give my literary writing adequate time to develop. 

Any suggestions on how to force myself to write that essay while still keeping a consistent Substack schedule? 

Thanks in advance for your help.  

Stuck on Substack 

Dear Stuck, 

I think most of us spend an awful lot of energy worrying about what we think we should be doing rather than rejoicing in the things we actually want to do. Sounds to me like you enjoy your Substack posts, and you get a sense of accomplishment every time you finish and post one. In short, it feels good because you are keeping a promise you made to yourself. 

However, you also promised yourself that you would write and submit essays for publication in literary magazines. If I’m reading between the lines correctly, that promise is beginning to feel like a form of slow torture. While I’m not suggesting that you eschew all things “hard” in favor of all things enjoyable, I think there might be some merit in easing up on yourself. It’s as if you are trying to force yourself to write while holding anvils in your hands. 

It may be true that discipline is the key to a successful writing career, but you already seem pretty disciplined with your weekly Substack posts! Sometimes it’s all I can do to write this monthly column! So, clearly you have the “write” stuff, that’s for sure. 

So what if you eased up on the weekly requirement you’ve imposed on yourself? Since you’ve already established an audience, is it possible to post every other week? Maybe then you could use the off weeks to focus on essay writing. The ideas that bubble up during your morning walk could be used as essay topics instead. 

Or maybe the answer lies inside your Substack posts. Instead of treating them as separate from more “serious” work, think of your posts and literary essays as partners walking hand in hand. Your Substack posts are likely full of seeds for future essays.

Yes, I know: Substack posts are considered published works, and many literary magazines won’t publish previously published work. I’m guessing, though, that if you re-read every post, you may find some sparks — a line, an idea, a phrase — that could be used to launch a more in-depth essay. Look at earlier drafts before they were polished posts: did you remove an anecdote or idea that could be reborn into an essay? Like Substack posts, essays need messages, too, and there is no copyright on the message itself; there are just different ways of conveying the same message. If you can find inspiration from a Substack post and turn it into an essay — and do that without a self-imposed deadline looking over your shoulder — you might even enjoy the essay-writing process. 

Finally, some armchair psychology: think of yourself as a parent to your writer self. Most of the time, when a parent forces a child to do something they don’t want to do, it backfires. Even if the child does the thing — even if it’s “for their own good” — they may never end up enjoying it and will likely be resentful. Instead, once the forcing stops, the child might even decide to do the dreaded thing on their own and be happy about it. I don’t think we are really that different from how we were as children, so follow your joy. Keep writing your Substack posts — guilt-free — and let the essay ideas come to you naturally. I promise, they will.  

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Do you have a writing-related dilemma? Send your questions to asktina@projectwritenow.org. Selected questions will be featured in upcoming columns, and Tina will ensure her answers offer valuable insights for writers facing similar challenges.