September Updates
This week I’m working on a blog post reviewing the Strugatsky brothers science fiction novel Roadside Picnic. I learned of the book through the TANIS podcast which draws heavily from both Roadside Picnic and Stalker. About two weeks ago I picked up a stack of science fiction novels to read - mostly relating to aliens.
Over the past few weeks I’ve resumed work on my fiction project Alpha Report. It feels part thriller, part sci-fi, and I realized I haven’t read much sci-fi lately so I picked up a few which I was interested in. The first, Roadside Picnic, which I really enjoyed. I rewatched Stalker after reading. I also picked up Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke, the HG Wells classic War of the World’s - which I’ve never actually read! - and Carl Sagan’s Contact which was adapted into movie starring Jodie Foster. I’d also like to read Solaris by Stanislaw Lem which I learned about in the foreword to Roadside Picnic.
Lately I’ve felt compelled to put more time and effort into posting longer-format blog-type posts on Substack. Blogging here on my website is kind of my ‘online journal’ and where I practice writing. But Substack is where all the fun, cool writing is being done - blogging is back over there and I want to join in the fun. Also I’d be writing with an audience in mind and that interests me. I’m not driving traffic to my website, so no one is reading. And that’s ok. On Substack, there’s a built-in audience and a way to generate income.
But I don’t know the best way to go about releasing my blogs on Substack. I’ve published a five bullet Friday newsletter since may 2022 and I’ve got about 25 readers. I borrowed this idea from Tim Ferris and Austin Kleon. My idea was also that this content would remain free, something that I could quickly do every week just to get content out there and gain some readers. I think it’s accomplished that goal and I’ve learned a lot from publishing weekly. I’m still learning about how to write on certain topics, what content to include, and how to present it. But I want to do more deep dives and explore books, movies, and other things as I’ve done here on my website. My website blog is the blueprint for where I want my Substack to go.
And so with this in mind, I’ve been working for the past few days on a substack blog post on Roadside Picnic. I’m drafting the blog in the substack editor - usually I write offline in pages and then post to substack but as I’m writing, I’m adding quotes and photos. I’m keeping the end product in mind. Also I plan to record audio for this post. I want it to be more than just a simple narration and similar to a podcast with some music and sound design. Roadside Picnic seems a fun place to start this.
But I need to develop a strategy for working on and releasing this long-form content. Right now, I can’t turn it around weekly like I can with the Friday newsletter. Also - what’s the interval between posts? Do I publish every two weeks? Or bimonthly? I need to figure out a publishing interval that is consistent for readers and also gives me enough time to publish.
Right now, I’m about 85% done with writing the Roadside Picnic blog post (audio not yet started). I just need to put the finish touches on it and bring it all together. I hit a roadblock where I kinda knew what I wanted to say but couldn’t quite get there. When that happens, I try to push through but sometimes I might lose the essence of what I’m trying to say, the big picture. Throughout writing this post I keep asking myself - what’s my take? What am I saying? What can I add to the conversation? I ask these questions to remind myself that I’m writing for an audience. I’m learning as I go with this project.
While writing on Roadside Picnic, I started writing about TANIS. The two are related and rainy weather lately was the perfect time to dive into these projects. I don’t want to rush these but I don’t want to delay either. I think I should have a few blog posts completely finished (including audio) before I start posting, that way I can work on something new while I’m posting ‘older’ material. This will give me time to work on new projects.
And now as I’m nearing the end of working on the blog for Roadside Picnic, I’m recalling the whole reason I started writing about it which is because I’m writing fiction and wanted to read what others have written on related or adjacent topics. I wanted to break their work down, get inside it and see what the mechanics of the writing are like and what the main ideas are. For my fiction project, reading novels is just as important as reading nonfiction - both are research.
So one project drives another. I hope, in the end, when I finish my fiction project that I can release it in serial format on Substack. Then everything I’ve posted there, from the five bullets weekly, to the deep dives on novels, and other subjects will develop into a body of work that shows the effort I’ve put into my writing as well as the progress and knowledge I’ve acquired along the way.
And I think that if people like what I’m sharing in my weekly newsletters, they might like my fiction.
