I've been writing about what I read for a decade or so, and I've found that only snooty people stop following you if you read genre fiction or other "nonserious" books. Right now I'm reading an often funny book of historiography, a book about translating Shakespeare into other languages, and I have some Star Wars books on my library holds list. Read what you want, write about what you want, and it comes together a lot more easily in the end
Dear Matthew, I really admire your willingness to explore this whole writing / reading enterprise, examine it from different angles, and decide what feels authentic and works for you. You have a long future ahead of you, and I feel confident that you will find a rhythm that works for you. If it works for you, then it will work for your readers too. I think you are very wise to avoid burnout by allowing your reading and writing schedules to find rhythms that are comfortable for you. My sense is that you are in this for the long haul, so I think your path will help make that possible. I've seen other writers on SS burn out because of the self-imposed demands for performance - everyone loses in that case.
It's also exciting to hear that you and your family are finding a spiritual home that works for you. I think all the upheaval around us is calling for us to find a center which will allow us to endure it, individually and in community. That is certainly being my experience at this time.
Continued best wishes - and I look forward to learning more as your journey unfolds. Hal
I'm happy for you, Matthew, that you are following your heart. Keep doing that. I have great respect for your writing skill and analytical literary talents, and I look forward to what you choose to share when you feel the desire to do so.
My dear friend, as always I am both delighted and humbled by your kind words, thank you.
On the subject of being a paid writer here, I completely understand your anxiety! I have been thinking about this a lot recently as I too have posted little during these last months, wondering how to overcome the intensely stressful feeling of not providing worth when life isn't giving the time necessary to write more. I tried to turn off 'paid subscriptions' entirely way back when I first began knowing I didn't want that sort of pressure but Substack told me I couldn't or, rather I could but it meant basically beginning my stack again so I left the option open. I think this may have changed now, I must look into it. I think you have made a wise decision, when something enjoyable becomes stressful and filled with anxiety, it's time to act! I am certain you will find the right flow for you and your eloquent words, I will look forward to them.
Happy Anniversary to you both Matthew 🥂 and thank you so very much again for the mention.
I have only been here on your Substack a short while having found you through your interview with @EleanorAnstruther and I was enamoured with the lovely 'person' that you are and your story, which is why subscribed. Then I began to read your posts and something inside me said, 'I am not sure this is the 'real' Matthew' I had seen that day.
So I'm so pleased that you said here, 'I felt an obligation to be a “literary intellectual” or something.' and I feel there is sometimes that 'tone' here that makes us feel we need to be, or do that. Certainly me too. I think when we start a Substack as someone who maybe, like me and you, have had totally different careers and lives before, me as an engineer and teacher, who has written academically but never blogged etc, or not had a proven track record as a writer etc, we have no clear plan for what we 'truly' want to say about 'our' world, to the world that is here. I also think we scrabble around with the 'mechanics' of getting it all set up right so that we get the 'likes' and subs etc, as Substack keeps evolving and changing, and in that process we also get lost, or can be led astray by the short courses we may have taken to set it up and can follow others themes etc that we 'think' we should write or tell stories about. We also get told a lot by those courses that we can get 'that 6 figure passive income' from our writing here. 🙄 And I am sure some do. But many do not.
I had been a reader here since late 2021 and my taste in reading has evolved so much from then to now and I have found the 'exact way' I want to read and subscribe here now. Then when I felt ready to publish in 2023, I basically did as I just said above and it has never been right or 'me'. I really wanted to share more art than writing if I was honest and I felt totally out of my depth trying to write 'stuff I should' write. And its only really now that more artists are here it feels OK. So I too am on a revamp after 7 years of a bit of roller coaster real life outside Substack and in that process truly discovering myself and I am ready to write for me. I don't read many books to be honest but I read, watch and listen to a 'lot' and certainly learn many things about people and life every day. I don't think that makes me any less a viable person for being here as a writer too and writing how I write.
And finally, I heard a quote from a guest on the Qwerty podcast once and she said:
"Write what you don't know about what you know", then she followed that with,
"Try to write until you surprise yourself". I think this is such good advice because those pieces when I write like that seem to work, and lets face it, we all know a 'lot' to find out loads more about what we don't know! Good luck with whatever you choose to do here Matthew and everything in life. 🫶
Matt, this feels like such a sensible response to changes in the way you feel about things … so often we are steered by ‘what we feel we *should* do’ and not what is good for us. The new tempo sounds good and a strong diet of what Alexander Crow calls ‘palate cleansers’(I have adopted the term for my detective novels, thrillers or swords and sandals epics) makes sense. Reading is surely for the love of it, not for duty.
Also, the rhythm of your writing for others HAS to fit your life and all that you have going on within it. Not least your lovely family - and what a fabulous anniversary to have celebrated - many congratulations to you both. Lovely photo. Take care, my friend.
Thank you so much for your kind words about my music. That was the high point of my playing and it’s a treasured memory for me. My fiddler friend has moved away and, although not too far away, it’s far enough that we don’t get to play together any more. Since I started posting on Substack, the music has been supplanted by the books. Both passions have vied for my attention over many years, but the books have always been there while the guitar playing “only” for thirty-three years!
I love your honest posts like these. You’re kind of a leader in that regard. Others see that following your own rhythm is important, rather than the whole performative thing that’s so prevalent in the creator space. It’s something I think about often. For the moment, I’m content, which I guess means I’m following my own rhythm too.
And congrats on the anniversary! I’m one year ahead of you — silver wedding next year! We hope to visit St Petersburg, but we shall see.
Great piece Matthew. I’ve been feeling very similar to you about my reading in the past few years. As much as I have been enjoying the literary fiction I’ve been reading, some days it had begun to feel like a bit of a chore. So, I’m back to reading more of what I want to read not what I feel I need to read. And what I want lately is dragons (Robin Hobb) and Dr. Zhivago (Cam’s Campbell Reads).
I say keep doing what you are doing at the pace that works for you.
I've been writing about what I read for a decade or so, and I've found that only snooty people stop following you if you read genre fiction or other "nonserious" books. Right now I'm reading an often funny book of historiography, a book about translating Shakespeare into other languages, and I have some Star Wars books on my library holds list. Read what you want, write about what you want, and it comes together a lot more easily in the end
Dear Matthew, I really admire your willingness to explore this whole writing / reading enterprise, examine it from different angles, and decide what feels authentic and works for you. You have a long future ahead of you, and I feel confident that you will find a rhythm that works for you. If it works for you, then it will work for your readers too. I think you are very wise to avoid burnout by allowing your reading and writing schedules to find rhythms that are comfortable for you. My sense is that you are in this for the long haul, so I think your path will help make that possible. I've seen other writers on SS burn out because of the self-imposed demands for performance - everyone loses in that case.
It's also exciting to hear that you and your family are finding a spiritual home that works for you. I think all the upheaval around us is calling for us to find a center which will allow us to endure it, individually and in community. That is certainly being my experience at this time.
Continued best wishes - and I look forward to learning more as your journey unfolds. Hal
Happy anniversary!!
Happy anniversary, Matthew!
Happy anniversary to that good lookin' young couple!
Thanks for sharing the Cams Campbell concert. I enjoyed it.
Thanks for the shout-out, Matt! I loved catching up with you the other day. And I'm grateful for you and our partnership.
-Jenks
Happy Anniversary!
I'm happy for you, Matthew, that you are following your heart. Keep doing that. I have great respect for your writing skill and analytical literary talents, and I look forward to what you choose to share when you feel the desire to do so.
My dear friend, as always I am both delighted and humbled by your kind words, thank you.
On the subject of being a paid writer here, I completely understand your anxiety! I have been thinking about this a lot recently as I too have posted little during these last months, wondering how to overcome the intensely stressful feeling of not providing worth when life isn't giving the time necessary to write more. I tried to turn off 'paid subscriptions' entirely way back when I first began knowing I didn't want that sort of pressure but Substack told me I couldn't or, rather I could but it meant basically beginning my stack again so I left the option open. I think this may have changed now, I must look into it. I think you have made a wise decision, when something enjoyable becomes stressful and filled with anxiety, it's time to act! I am certain you will find the right flow for you and your eloquent words, I will look forward to them.
Happy Anniversary to you both Matthew 🥂 and thank you so very much again for the mention.
Much joy and best wishes to you both on your 23rd wedding anniversary. How beautiful.
Hey Matthew,
I have only been here on your Substack a short while having found you through your interview with @EleanorAnstruther and I was enamoured with the lovely 'person' that you are and your story, which is why subscribed. Then I began to read your posts and something inside me said, 'I am not sure this is the 'real' Matthew' I had seen that day.
So I'm so pleased that you said here, 'I felt an obligation to be a “literary intellectual” or something.' and I feel there is sometimes that 'tone' here that makes us feel we need to be, or do that. Certainly me too. I think when we start a Substack as someone who maybe, like me and you, have had totally different careers and lives before, me as an engineer and teacher, who has written academically but never blogged etc, or not had a proven track record as a writer etc, we have no clear plan for what we 'truly' want to say about 'our' world, to the world that is here. I also think we scrabble around with the 'mechanics' of getting it all set up right so that we get the 'likes' and subs etc, as Substack keeps evolving and changing, and in that process we also get lost, or can be led astray by the short courses we may have taken to set it up and can follow others themes etc that we 'think' we should write or tell stories about. We also get told a lot by those courses that we can get 'that 6 figure passive income' from our writing here. 🙄 And I am sure some do. But many do not.
I had been a reader here since late 2021 and my taste in reading has evolved so much from then to now and I have found the 'exact way' I want to read and subscribe here now. Then when I felt ready to publish in 2023, I basically did as I just said above and it has never been right or 'me'. I really wanted to share more art than writing if I was honest and I felt totally out of my depth trying to write 'stuff I should' write. And its only really now that more artists are here it feels OK. So I too am on a revamp after 7 years of a bit of roller coaster real life outside Substack and in that process truly discovering myself and I am ready to write for me. I don't read many books to be honest but I read, watch and listen to a 'lot' and certainly learn many things about people and life every day. I don't think that makes me any less a viable person for being here as a writer too and writing how I write.
And finally, I heard a quote from a guest on the Qwerty podcast once and she said:
"Write what you don't know about what you know", then she followed that with,
"Try to write until you surprise yourself". I think this is such good advice because those pieces when I write like that seem to work, and lets face it, we all know a 'lot' to find out loads more about what we don't know! Good luck with whatever you choose to do here Matthew and everything in life. 🫶
Matt, this feels like such a sensible response to changes in the way you feel about things … so often we are steered by ‘what we feel we *should* do’ and not what is good for us. The new tempo sounds good and a strong diet of what Alexander Crow calls ‘palate cleansers’(I have adopted the term for my detective novels, thrillers or swords and sandals epics) makes sense. Reading is surely for the love of it, not for duty.
Also, the rhythm of your writing for others HAS to fit your life and all that you have going on within it. Not least your lovely family - and what a fabulous anniversary to have celebrated - many congratulations to you both. Lovely photo. Take care, my friend.
ALSO … a massive thank you for the kind words about our little weekly curation. Much appreciated.
Thank you so much for your kind words about my music. That was the high point of my playing and it’s a treasured memory for me. My fiddler friend has moved away and, although not too far away, it’s far enough that we don’t get to play together any more. Since I started posting on Substack, the music has been supplanted by the books. Both passions have vied for my attention over many years, but the books have always been there while the guitar playing “only” for thirty-three years!
I love your honest posts like these. You’re kind of a leader in that regard. Others see that following your own rhythm is important, rather than the whole performative thing that’s so prevalent in the creator space. It’s something I think about often. For the moment, I’m content, which I guess means I’m following my own rhythm too.
And congrats on the anniversary! I’m one year ahead of you — silver wedding next year! We hope to visit St Petersburg, but we shall see.
💕💕💕 I enjoy your writing and will continue to do so
Great piece Matthew. I’ve been feeling very similar to you about my reading in the past few years. As much as I have been enjoying the literary fiction I’ve been reading, some days it had begun to feel like a bit of a chore. So, I’m back to reading more of what I want to read not what I feel I need to read. And what I want lately is dragons (Robin Hobb) and Dr. Zhivago (Cam’s Campbell Reads).
I say keep doing what you are doing at the pace that works for you.