Thank you Lynn J. Broderick, Amber’s Healing, ✨Beautifully Broken✨ and many others for tuning into my live video with Marlana aka Outtamydamnmind! The first part of this video is cut off, but this is the better part!
I had Marlana on as a guest host for the first time on my live today, and we ended up in two connected conversations. First was witnessing versus performance. There’s a real difference between someone sharing the low points to get to the high point, letting themselves be seen, and someone performing trauma because they know it gets attention. You can feel it on the page. Writers who are genuine read differently than writers who are chasing a reaction, even when the subject matter looks the same from the outside. I think witnessing is one of the most undervalued things about this whole space; it heals people faster than we give it credit for.
The second thing was followers versus writing community, which is basically the whole reason Story Space exists. I don’t want a pile of people who read a note here and there. I want the ten or so who actually show up, who comment, who challenge how I’m thinking about something. Followers don’t do much for you on Substack; a real community does. It’s slower to build and asks more of people, especially post-COVID, when everyone’s been trained toward distance rather than intimacy. But that’s the whole point. If you build the thing you actually need, the right people find their way in.
Also, both of us do readings and give some pretty solid tips for noobs in online writing.
I appreciate the viewers and supporters! Check out my upcoming live session with Claudia Faith on July 8th, 2 pm Pacific time.
Thank you for reading and supporting me! Check out The Story Space if you want more support and ideas, or just to be part of a community of storytellers, or read my previous post on how I amped up the opening scene of my memoir.
Story Brunch is Saturday, July 25th, our last gathering of the month. And if you want one-on-one guidance, ask about a Story Discovery session, a perk for paid subscribers.
If you would like to support me, you can buy me a coffee or upgrade to a paid plan.
All the best,
michelle
