Saturday Morning Coffee ☕ #44

The weekend is here. Get the coffee on.

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Happy Saturday, friend! 👋

I just want to share a brief message with you this morning. Someone out there needs to hear this.

The world can feel dark sometimes. Dark, confusing, often empty. It feels that way right now. I know we’ve all felt like this before. We’ll feel this way again. That’s life.

And as creatives - writers, readers, artists, poets, musicians, thinkers in general - the weight of that darkness can feel particularly overwhelming. It snuffs out our creative spark, sucks the energy out of us, dampens our joy and our drive and our belief in our ability to create things the world needs.

I’ve been in this place plenty of times as a writer. I’m feeling that way this week. In the past, it often knocked me off course and sent me spiralling, and my creativity took a hit.

Sometimes, it felt hard to get back up.

But I did. I’ve learned how. Here’s the secret: lean on others.

Share your frustrations, and your fears, and your anger and your rage. Channel it into your work. Write it down. Strip it of its power by turning it into art.

Above all, be there for those around you, and let them be there for you. Lean on your friends. Lean on your fellow creatives, even if you’ve never technically “met” them before. We’re all real people, after all.

Offer encouragement. Offer support. Offer hope.

Allow yourself to understand that you’re not alone in the darkness - we’re all in here together, flailing around, grasping for hands to hold. So grab the one nearest you, hold it tight, and keep going.

The dark periods end. When they do, the light burns brighter than ever.

If you’re feeling this way, know that you’re not alone. And know that you’ll get through it, in time. We all will.

Let’s wait it out together, shall we?

D ♥️

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Some housekeeping:

My upcoming horror novel, The Substitute, is available to pre-order now!

It’d be amazing if you could reserve a copy ahead of the release date - you can keep it for yourself or give it to someone as a gift this Christmas. 🎄

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Did you miss Thursday’s webinar, Podcasting for Beginners?

If so, don’t panic - you can watch the full replay video now:

And once you’ve watched it, do check out my brand new course, Start Your Podcast on Substack. 🎙️

It’s available to buy right now, AND if you pick it up by tomorrow (Sunday November 17), you’ll get a 30-minute Zoom call with me thrown in completely FREE. Slots are still available but they won’t be for long. ⌛

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And here’s the result of last week’s poll:

Thanks for voting! Don’t forget to read to the end for this week’s version. ⬇️

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ICYMI:

112: Hyping Yourself (with Lucy Werner)

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Consider supporting How to Write for a Living!

Upgrade to our paid tier to unlock every benefit in our comprehensive membership package. Become a Sustaining Member for a bit extra and book up to three 1-to-1 coaching calls with yours truly.

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Some interesting thoughts from others:

• Eleven Urgent & Possibly Helpful Things I Have Learned About Writing From Reading Thousands of Manuscripts by

  Jeannine Ouellette

• A Successful Writer Seldom Gets There Alone. Here's Who You Need The Most by

  Linda Caroll

• Do we really want to know what people think? by

  Elin Petronella

• Post Less Often, Please by

  Sarah Fay

• You have agency. Use it by

  Suw Charman-Anderson

• How to Make Your Substack Posts Perform Better by

  Karen Cherry

• From 0 Readers to 6,000 and Still Finding My Way by

  Anna Vatuone

• One (Simple) Thing Most Writers Are Too Lazy To Do by

  Smillew

• An Honest Review of My 4th Year as a Freelance Writer by

  Alice Lemee

Contributions from our Paid Members:

• Marketing 101: Turning Readers into Fans, The Real Job of Marketing by

  Chris Stanley

• How I Gained 700+ Subscribers on Substack in 6 Months (Without External Traffic) by

  Alberto Cabas Vidani

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A good video:

@davidmcilroyauthorListen to the full podcast episode now (search ‘How to Write for a Living’ on Substack). 🎧 #booktok #book #fiction #bookworm #podcast #reading #substack

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A good note:

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A good book recommendation:

Fourteen-year-old Dawn Weathers was a happy and robust teenage girl about to embark on her first year of high school when her father shared a dark secret. Dawn was the offspring of an angel and demon, her blood was celestial.

Her adventures over the next couple of years are rocky. Until she moves to a small midwestern town, suddenly she’s thrown into a world of vampires, demons, and first loves. As dangerous elements become detected and more secrets are revealed, she learns there is much more than fire in her blood.

Will Dawn find the light or be consumed by darkness?

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Thanks for being here this morning, my friend! ☕

Here’s this week’s poll:

Feel free to share this post if you found it useful/interesting.

Have an amazing Saturday! ⌛

PS. You can read all previous editions of Saturday Morning Coffee here.

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