Writing is the Worst

Writing is really fucking hard.

I hate it 99% of the time, yet somehow it’s become my day job and I’ve written dozens of posts on this newsletter as some weird torturous extracurricular.

But when I examine the reasons for starting, and to some degree, sticking with this newsletter, I realized it’s because of the 1% that doesn’t suck: Writing with purpose and inspiration.

If I read that I’d be rolling my eyes too, so feel free. But it’s genuine.

Being told what to write, or being handed a deadline, can be one of the worst feelings in the world.

I feel like I lucked out with my job at Rally, finding myself in a position that I was never qualified for, doing things I don’t have a clue how to do competently (does anyone know how to produce a multi-cam podcast? Asking for a friend). And even in that world, I often find the motivation to complete creative tasks exhausting, stressful, and discouraging.

Yet, through this newsletter, I feel completely free. I’ve gone a month without writing a post. I’ve gone weeks writing multiple posts. The only stakeholder (besides the 2.5M subscribers devotedly waiting for my newsletter) is me.

Through this experiment, I’ve found the 1% of writing that doesn’t feel terrible (most of the time).

It’s because I only write when I’m inspired. Only when a story grips me and makes me want to sit down and type into the void for the hell of it.

Cathartic, low stakes, and satisfying.

That’s why I’ve basically done everything wrong when it comes to growing a newsletter, intentionally.

All wisdom dictates finding a niche, honing in on it, and branding yourself as the expert in that category.

I have consciously strayed away from that path. Nobody would advise you to start a newsletter that talks about collectibles, David Bowie, and tennis. It’s objectively stupid if you want to gain the trust of an audience. People want to know what they’re signing up for.

But I really don’t care. I didn’t start this to add another job to my plate, and I don’t intend on turning this into one any time soon. So in the mean time, enjoy the absolute randomness of whatever the fuck I’m interested in writing about on any given day.

Today, I felt like writing about what I write about.