This was really extraordinary and will almost certainly be one of the best essays-on-essays that I've read this year. I loved how much careful knowledge and discipline and integrity (a quality that's hard to define, but is also imo THE most vital and essential thing my favorite writers have!!) is present here.
I also really appreciated everything you said about resisting the hot-take cycle ("Hot take writing quickly becomes exhausting. Heat requires combustion and sometimes we just run out of tinder") and instead writing about the things that feel personally relevant. I really respect how much your writing career has been characterized by writing about your preferred topics (and thereby cultivating an interest in those things among readers); I generally think that more writing should be about showing readers why niche topics are of great interest and value, instead of chasing what the market appears to already value.
I wrote an essay earlier this year that touches on some fairly specific topics (1960s computer art, how artists taught themselves to use mainframe computers for non-military/defense purposes, efforts to preserve '90s web art and trans/queer net art in particular). The whole process of researching and writing it brought me to the same idea you touch in at the end, that "nothing is irrelevant," especially when it comes to bringing all these historical moments and works and ideas into the present. The parts of the past that feel dead and boring and irrelevant are never really that irrelevant, when we start looking at them more closely…and it feels really special to find that relevance and then share it with people through writing!
All this to say…thanks for this—it was so beautiful and instructive! And very much looking forward to the next installment.
I was just literally thinking of posting a note about asking recommendations for writing internet essays ( like for fun / write better way instead of optimizing every single line )
Thanks Kate, helpful writing tips. I come from a commercial marketing background and see a lot of companies trying to become content or publishing companies. They run into this exact issue immediately, often generating hype/news cycle content with no lasting value.
After 12 months, they've made no progress, have no assets, no lasting work, no timeless essays to show for it... And the cycle begins anew on a fresh platform.
Make a documentary, not a reel.
Write an essay, not a tweet.
If you go viral or not.... At least you'll have an essay and a documentary at the end of the year.
I totally feel that! So many content or media companies chase trends for quick monetization, but as a writer, it’s exhausting to constantly keep up. I’d rather take it slow and create deeper, more lasting work—like making a documentary for readers who truly care about the topic and want to dive in with you. Trends boost traffic, but depth builds a legacy.
What a good read. I often fall back (is that tautology?) on writing about the self because it feels like the only thing I have authority to write about; however, you've opened my mind to the idea that researching and writing about niche topics or ideas that interest me - vocal technique, why Virginia Woolf is an incredible writer but just so hard to read etc. - is also a completely valid and valuable contribution. It's been a long time since I had the discipline to write a well-considered essay, but I'm feeling the pull...
Kate - first time I'm reading your words and I so enjoyed this piece.
"nothing is irrelevant" - Wow this is so inviting. gets the creative juices flowing. gives me permission to create anything! it's powerful.
I don't like the hot take industry, I think twitter really exploded that but thankfully I can better avoid those here on substack.
I agree with your words about not understanding something until we have time separating us from that moment. Sometimes I write narrative medicine essays about patients I see in the hospital and I can't write about them until weeks or even months pass so I can sit back and reflect on what occurred. In the moment sometimes it doesn't make sense or I can't connect it to its greater meaning/purpose until later. Time can be very beneficial to writers.
This really resonates — especially the idea of “the feeling trap.” It makes me think about how often proximity or investment to a subject (whether personal, aesthetic, or emotional) blurs the path toward analysis. Sometimes it feels like criticism only begins once enough distance has been built, or refracted through another text or thinker.
fantastic writeup. find myself kinda sick of "craft writing" or whatever on substack but you hit the nail on the head with a lot of the issues (and walls) that i've been running into this past year since i started writing on here regularly, thanks for the thoughts
(also you killed it on trilbilly worker's party like 2-3 months ago or whenever that was)
my "last quarter of 25'" resolution is to write more of the nonsensical research essays i used to as a tween and so much of this essay was perfectly insightful! "If you do have one bullet you really need to unload, try to aim as accurately as possible" - you're right and , in my case, i need to check if the bullet i have is even the bullet i want to use. even small bits like you taking the subway for no real reason - i do that! mostly to read and listen to myself think but it really is a great place to get work done, even if i hate the prices. there's a few lines from this piece that I've written down in my notebook, just to remind myself of the type of writing i want to create and to remind myself that i really should just write whatever i want, because there will always be at least one person who might find it interesting!
This was really extraordinary and will almost certainly be one of the best essays-on-essays that I've read this year. I loved how much careful knowledge and discipline and integrity (a quality that's hard to define, but is also imo THE most vital and essential thing my favorite writers have!!) is present here.
I also really appreciated everything you said about resisting the hot-take cycle ("Hot take writing quickly becomes exhausting. Heat requires combustion and sometimes we just run out of tinder") and instead writing about the things that feel personally relevant. I really respect how much your writing career has been characterized by writing about your preferred topics (and thereby cultivating an interest in those things among readers); I generally think that more writing should be about showing readers why niche topics are of great interest and value, instead of chasing what the market appears to already value.
I wrote an essay earlier this year that touches on some fairly specific topics (1960s computer art, how artists taught themselves to use mainframe computers for non-military/defense purposes, efforts to preserve '90s web art and trans/queer net art in particular). The whole process of researching and writing it brought me to the same idea you touch in at the end, that "nothing is irrelevant," especially when it comes to bringing all these historical moments and works and ideas into the present. The parts of the past that feel dead and boring and irrelevant are never really that irrelevant, when we start looking at them more closely…and it feels really special to find that relevance and then share it with people through writing!
All this to say…thanks for this—it was so beautiful and instructive! And very much looking forward to the next installment.
Omg HUGE praise coming from you Celine! Thank you so much for your kind words. I’m glad the essay was helpful and fruitful!!
As someone who only started writing a few months ago, at age 39, after a lifetime of reading… this was phenomenally instructive. Thank you.
I was just literally thinking of posting a note about asking recommendations for writing internet essays ( like for fun / write better way instead of optimizing every single line )
Thanks Kate, helpful writing tips. I come from a commercial marketing background and see a lot of companies trying to become content or publishing companies. They run into this exact issue immediately, often generating hype/news cycle content with no lasting value.
After 12 months, they've made no progress, have no assets, no lasting work, no timeless essays to show for it... And the cycle begins anew on a fresh platform.
Make a documentary, not a reel.
Write an essay, not a tweet.
If you go viral or not.... At least you'll have an essay and a documentary at the end of the year.
I totally feel that! So many content or media companies chase trends for quick monetization, but as a writer, it’s exhausting to constantly keep up. I’d rather take it slow and create deeper, more lasting work—like making a documentary for readers who truly care about the topic and want to dive in with you. Trends boost traffic, but depth builds a legacy.
What a good read. I often fall back (is that tautology?) on writing about the self because it feels like the only thing I have authority to write about; however, you've opened my mind to the idea that researching and writing about niche topics or ideas that interest me - vocal technique, why Virginia Woolf is an incredible writer but just so hard to read etc. - is also a completely valid and valuable contribution. It's been a long time since I had the discipline to write a well-considered essay, but I'm feeling the pull...
Kate - first time I'm reading your words and I so enjoyed this piece.
"nothing is irrelevant" - Wow this is so inviting. gets the creative juices flowing. gives me permission to create anything! it's powerful.
I don't like the hot take industry, I think twitter really exploded that but thankfully I can better avoid those here on substack.
I agree with your words about not understanding something until we have time separating us from that moment. Sometimes I write narrative medicine essays about patients I see in the hospital and I can't write about them until weeks or even months pass so I can sit back and reflect on what occurred. In the moment sometimes it doesn't make sense or I can't connect it to its greater meaning/purpose until later. Time can be very beneficial to writers.
Thank you for this perspective!
This really resonates — especially the idea of “the feeling trap.” It makes me think about how often proximity or investment to a subject (whether personal, aesthetic, or emotional) blurs the path toward analysis. Sometimes it feels like criticism only begins once enough distance has been built, or refracted through another text or thinker.
This is that rare out loud permission for the flawed, unfinished draft. It’s an act of compassion to write and publish before the words are perfect.
Thank you for doing that
fantastic writeup. find myself kinda sick of "craft writing" or whatever on substack but you hit the nail on the head with a lot of the issues (and walls) that i've been running into this past year since i started writing on here regularly, thanks for the thoughts
(also you killed it on trilbilly worker's party like 2-3 months ago or whenever that was)
This was quite insightful. Thank you very much.
"(Also, in culture writing, too many equate capitalism with ‘the pressure of the market’ which is not the same thing.)"
Would you be willing to expand on this a little? I'm not sure what you mean.
Loved and appreciated this advice ! Inspiring to someone just starting to explore writing !
my "last quarter of 25'" resolution is to write more of the nonsensical research essays i used to as a tween and so much of this essay was perfectly insightful! "If you do have one bullet you really need to unload, try to aim as accurately as possible" - you're right and , in my case, i need to check if the bullet i have is even the bullet i want to use. even small bits like you taking the subway for no real reason - i do that! mostly to read and listen to myself think but it really is a great place to get work done, even if i hate the prices. there's a few lines from this piece that I've written down in my notebook, just to remind myself of the type of writing i want to create and to remind myself that i really should just write whatever i want, because there will always be at least one person who might find it interesting!
Not bad; not bad at all.
https://substack.com/@spuggywritings/note/p-169343111?r=1si1y&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action