Writing for kicks not clicks

I've had a journal since I was 17.

It's weird to go back 30 years and read your thoughts from then.

I laugh at how certain things felt like a big deal. I cringe at a lot of it, but try to have grace for this younger human figuring out life, leaving home, navigating uni and settling in a new city.

Writing helps the get thoughts out of your head.

But so much of writing these days is for clicks.

AI is great for checking logic, grammar, structure, but it's terrible for writing something that makes you feel something.

I hope we're going to see the emergence of these alternative spaces on line.
Places where people can show up with honesty, and write thoughtfully, or experimentally not because they're trying to beat the algorithm.

Interestingly I think YouTube is probably the closest we have to that at the moment.
I think Substack has the potential to be that I suppose - but it's in danger of getting super noisy, another social network to manage.

If you're looking at getting into writing more regularly I'd recommend a book called The Artist's Way - by Julia Cameron.

ps speaking of Substack - here's a link to a video interview I did with Laura Taylor - someone I've got a lot of time for. Laura built a business from the ground up and is working on her next one. It's an interview I really enjoyed.

Laura Taylor on the new f*word podcast