Reapplying for Best Writer of Watsonville, CA
Reinventing my plans for Substack 2024
I started my Substack at the start of September 2022. It’s been a bit of a slow process getting it off the ground, for a number of reasons.
Honestly, writing itself has been slow lately. I don’t intend to make this a depressing post/ newsletter. But things have been difficult for a while now. 2023 was not kind to me. Though there have been a few things to celebrate, they currently do not outweigh the issues that have risen this year. In short, it’s been hard, and the hard times have siphoned a lot of my energy and passion from writing. I missed a lot of deadlines. There were weeks if not months that I did not reach for a pen or my laptop. Stress at home. Stress for finances. Just not a good time overall.
That said, I don’t intend to stay where I’m at. I want to keep moving forward. Today, Dec 2nd 2023, will mark 2 years since my return to Los Angeles. I tried moving back to my hometown due to previous difficulties, which I wrote about here. I ended up coming back because I wanted to finish what I started. I moved down here in 2019 to further pursue my dreams of a writing career. I am not there yet. But I want to declare my ambition to the world again. I want to write for a living. I want to show my hometown that chasing my dream was worth it. I want to prove myself to them and everyone around me.
Thus, I am reapplying for the title of Best Writer from Watsonville, CA. I want to be the best there is. I want to make my hometown proud. I want to reinvent myself from the struggling artist I currently am to the newly established writer I wish to be. It’s going to take some time, and some more work. But if there’s anything I learned from chasing this career for years, it’s that I cannot let anything stop me. Ever.
And that reinvention is going to start with this Substack. Starting in 2024, I will be using Thoughts from the Writer’s Desk as a newsletter. One of the struggles I’ve had since starting this Substack was knowing exactly how to use it. I’d write an article I’d like to post. But then I’d think of other places I could submit it to. What if a literary magazine might want it? What about my old Medium account, which I’d like to keep active? Substack was one avenue, but what about everything else? These were all things to consider when having all these platforms. It’s more than anything a balancing act of knowing how to best put your work out there. And thus, I think this Substack would act better as a weekly/ monthly newsletter, whether as an avenue for my thoughts at the time (as the name suggests) or as a place to let y’all know how I’m doing. I think that would be the best course of action for it.
In short, moving forward, Thoughts from the Writer’s Desk will be a periodic newsletter, just a place to let you know of any progress I’m making, if any at all. My main articles will be sent out to magazines if not posted on my Medium blog (which I hope you decide to follow). I will do my best to make it a weekly newsletter. But, of course, things can happen and I might have to resort to monthly posts. We’ll just have to see.
I have also made the decision to make my newsletter available for free. There are paid subscription plans available. But I will never force anyone to pay to read what I’m up to. The paid plans are there primarily if one is able to financially support me. Times are tough—a clear understatement. If anyone is able to financially support me so I can stay afloat, I wholeheartedly welcome it. But I will never force anyone to do so. The option is there, but my content will be accessible for the masses. You have my word.
But while we’re on the subject of finances, there will be other ways to support me if one wants. I have a Bookshop page where you can browse through some lists of books I’ve made. As an affiliate, I make a small commission for each sale made through either my main page or if you have my page set up to browse. I’ve made some lists for books on writing, books on filmmaking, and lists for two of my favorite authors Roberto Bolaño and recent Nobel Prize winner Jon Fosse. I have other lists there—which I wish to update, and part of your purchase goes on supporting independent bookstores as well. So you can support me and your favorite brick-and-mortar at the same time. And you’re also treating yourself to books. Really cool. Feel free to check out the site here if you want. The site also comes with gift cards, just in time for the holidays.
(Since we’re talking about books, I’m currently reading an incredible novel by David Bowles titled The Prince and the Coyote. It is a retelling of the legend of Prince Acolmitzli who after having escaped the invasion against his throne reinvents himself as Nezahualcoyotl, or Fasting Coyote. Anyone interested in indigenous Mexican myths and history should definitely check this out).
My Medium articles can also offer me some passive income when my posts reach other readers. I will always make the articles I share through my Substack free for all subscribers. But sharing the articles can also help me reach readers and keep me afloat. So please feel free to share what I share with you.
And there’s always my Ko-fi page as well, where one can donate whatever they’d like, even if it’s just to treat me to my daily cup of coffee.
Thank you so much for sticking with me this whole time. I’m sorry things have been slow. But I hope to make it up to y’all soon. 2024 is going to be different. And it won’t be because I’m waiting for it. It’s because I’m going to make it happen.
Until next time.
I love this - it's honest and real and deeply relatable. Although I wish none of us was in this boat, there is something comforting about knowing that other people also feel really drained and empty sometimes when it comes to writing, and that it doesn't have to define us. Thanks for sharing - I'm excited to see what you'll write next!