How to be a Principled Writer 📄

5 principles you need as a Substack writer! 💙

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Oct 21, 2024

Quick Little Author Intro for this Collab Post: Emma Nelson is the author of Allegory Landing, a newsletter that provides ghostwriting tips and insightful articles for writers. Nick Richards is the author of Living a Principled Life, a newsletter that shares timeless principles to help readers live better lives. As Substack writers surrounded by Substack writers, we thought it would be great to collaborate on a post that identifies vital principles for writers and details how to put these principles into practice.

While we’ve all been taught life principles since childhood, the following five principles focus on the life and craft of Substack writers!

person writing on brown wooden table near white ceramic mug — Photo by Unseen Studio on Unsplash

Principle 1: ‘Write What You Know’... But Only Sort Of

The phrase “write what you know” is a familiar one for writers, but what does it really mean? If a fantasy writer creates an epic about elves, dwarves, and dragons, is that against the rules? The writer has certainly never met a dragon nor gone on a life-threatening quest with elf friends (and if you have, then we stand very corrected, and Emma’s dying to write your memoir! Ha!). But if this would mean the writer has broken some kind of vital law, then J.R.R. Tolkien would be quite the criminal. To be law-abiding, he’d have had to confine his writing topics to philology and Oxford life! And what about Agatha Christie? She never witnessed all those inconvenient murders she wrote about (well, as far as we know). Her work, though, would’ve been immensely boring without them.

To “write what you know,” then, must mean something different.

Nick: I’ll give you an example from my experience writing Tranith Argan, that fantasy series in the previous paragraph. I started writing that when I was 21 years old. I outlined the whole series of books and began writing chapter one . . . and very quickly realized it wasn’t coming out the way I pictured it in my head. I was 21, and my emotional brain was still forming, and I had not experienced marriage or true love or tragic loss or heartache. So I kept skipping over the character details and getting to the action. Ah, 21!

So I put the book down and thought about it for a decade-and-a-half. Then I picked up the old manuscript, threw it out, started over, and six books came out, pretty much as I imagined it. How? What changed? My brain was fully formed, I got married and experienced true love, as well as tragic loss and heartache. Now I knew how those things felt, and so now I could understand what my characters were feeling – so I could finally write those thoughts and feelings on the page. I was writing what I knew, even if it involved dragons.

To write what you know means to put your life on the page, even if the characters you are writing are not precisely you, but they feel emotions the way you do.

Emma: Although I’m sure it will happen, I have yet to live decades of life between a manuscript’s first and second draft. But I agree with the sentiment of putting “your life on the page,” even when you create worlds, characters, and events that aren’t 100% - or any percent - real. In fact, I’ve written about the value of relying on personal experience in fiction writing before. As I’ve drafted my debut fiction novel, I’ve surprised myself with how often my characters, setting details, and points of view are drawn from real life experiences. Even Tolkien’s incredibly successful Lord of the Rings series is based on his Christian faith and personal development. That’s what makes it so raw and beautiful; it was a reflection of who Tolkien was and what he believed in.

Don’t underestimate the role your experiences play in your writing. “Write what you know,” even through the fog of fun and intrigue.

Principle 2: Practice Excellence in All Things

Nick: We know when we have put in the work and written something good. We also know when we have knocked out a sloppy bit of work. Doesn’t the former feel better? Of course! So this principle means you should always strive for your best – that’s your best, not the best anyone has ever written, but the best you can do. When you are done, you have the satisfaction of knowing you are putting your best work out there. Check out my post on Excellence here.

Emma: Nick’s right; when you publish work, you want to feel confident that you did your very best. You put “your all” into it.

Look, I get it. This can be hard. When you’re tired of writing and just want the satisfaction of hitting “publish,” or you’re ready to get your ideas out into the world whether or not they’re polished, it’s exhausting to step back and take the time to get a piece “just right” first. But you never want to only do something halfway, just to realize how much more you could have accomplished, more eyes you could have reached, more traction you could have gained, if you’d done it to the best of your ability from the start.

Principle 3: Karma Works, Even on Substack

Do you smile when someone restacks your post? Of course you do! Do you grin when someone recommends your stack? Of course you do! Do you enjoy it when someone comments on your post to say how much they liked it? Of course you do!

So, give that same joy to others!

Seriously, the best way to get folks on Substack to notice you is to notice them! Be the person who comments, likes, and restacks. Be the person that makes someone smile. Be the person that makes someone’s day. Reciprocity can start with YOU! You’ll be amazed by how well this works. Plus, it’s just awesome to read other people’s work and be a part of making their dreams comes true. So why not?

Check out Nick’s post on Karma here.

Principle 4: Don’t Be Scared to Be Yourself

We all admire other Substack writers, but that doesn’t mean we should copy their work. Inspiration is great, but write your own story or share your own ideas. For fantasy writers, you can’t write a tale about Galadriel and Frodo - that story’s already been told! But you can write a tale about elves and dwarves… Be inspired, not a copycat.

And the thing is, growing your Substack is easier when you write something unique anyways. To separate yourself from the crowd, corner a specific market on you. Become known as the person who writes about X (where X = UNIQUE!).

Also, fight the urge to please other people with your writing. Every writer will find some people who love what they write, some who don’t care about what they write, and still others who hate what they write! Accept valid criticism and strive to be a better writer each day, but don’t stress yourself with trying to please the haters. Not only will it fail, but it will also leave you frustrated and exhausted. Opt to be yourself instead.

Check out Nick’s post on being yourself here.

Principle 5: We’re All on Our Own Journey

The great thing about Substack is we can see each other’s stacks. The worst thing about Substack is we can see each other’s stacks.

“What?! That person got 500 likes for that stupid post?”

Yes, puppy pics do gather likes, whether you like it or not. Don’t hate on the puppies, or the stacker!

Instead, try not to compare yourself to others. It’s an old adage, but it really is a game-changer for your productivity and a booster to your personal sense of success. Plus, it’s really hard to find a fair comparison to you! If you’ve been on Substack for a month, you probably won’t have as many subscribers as someone who has been here for a year (although, this isn’t always true!). If you write self-help essays, you probably won’t have the same audience as someone who writes political diatribes. If you write in French, you’ll have a different audience than someone who writes in English.

We’re all on our own journey, with different timelines, audiences, and life experiences. And that’s okay! Some users came to Substack with a built-in email list, while others started from scratch. Some get highlighted by Substack, while others don’t. Some were in the right place at the right time and got hockey stick growth, while others have been grinding away in obscurity.

Try not to focus on the success of others, but rather on building your own success.

Check out Nick’s post on how we’re all on our own journey here.

How to be a Principled Writer 📄

5 principles you need as a Substack writer! 💙

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