I’m back with another response to Insecure Writer’s Support Group. This time they’re asking:
What is the most favorite thing you have written, published or not? And why?
You can sign up for your blog here and subscribe to their newsletter to get the following prompt for November, if you want to join in.
Anyways, this one is an easy one for me. The most favorite short story I’ve ever written was The Mannequin of Lot 18. It was published in The Gold Man Review, Issue 13, and even nominated for an award. If I could recommend any story of mine, it’d be that one. It’s about a man who drives a bus for a group of mannequins that have come to life.
Beyond the publication, I think I love this story because it represents the kinds of stories I want to write. Rarely does that come together for me so well. And it’s also a lesson in tenacity for me. I had written a version of this story years ago. Finally typed. Finally got around to editing and revising it.
And then it got published. What a win!
On another note, I’ve been reconsidering my decision to be on Substack. I know they don’t have the greatest history, but it seems like that’s where everyone is. Except lately, I found someone’s blog that talked about how on Substack, you really don’t own your subscriber list. If someone is a Substack user, and they follow you, they become a follower, not an email subscriber. And that gives me pause.
And of all the people I follow on Substack, I’m not really reading the content they share. Part of is that I’m either being bombarded by too many emails or too many notifications in the app. And I’m actually email weary in general, except for a few I do follow. And yet, there’s no real way to peruse new blog posts like there used to be in the past. And I like the idea of being part of a writing community again, but I’m not sure Substack is it.
For now, I’m sticking with Substack. I’m not too keen on going back to Mailchimp. And it could be just the phase of life I’m in right now. I’m not too into social media in general. And individual blogs aren’t even as popular as they once were.
Anyways, I hope everyone is well!
It’s great that your favorite story got published. That is a win. Good luck figuring out whether to stay on Substack. I only follow a few people on it. Most of my social media time is spent reading blogs.
Kudos on your story being published!
I waffle back and forth about things like mailing list services. Right now, I don’t have enough followers to need a paid plan, so I’ll stick with Mailchimp. I do love Bookfunnel for delivering my reader magnet. That was one of the best decisions I ever made.
That sounds like a very fun story. I had a similar process behind my choice – it represents what I want to write and I saw it through to publication.
Yup! When those stars align (what I want to write and publication), it means a lot to me.