Writing Prompts for Substack!
from a new writer on this platform
Hello friends,
I’ve been seeing a lot of discourse on Substack this week, about new writers on this platform, and the content they’re choosing to create.
I’m also new to writing my newsletter here! And I’m right here, along with many of you, on this journey to finding my voice as a blogger. I thought it might be helpful to others if I share my thoughts on this, and also provide some prompts for others who are in the same boat as myself and excited to experiment with their newsletters.
If your in a rush- feel free to scroll right down to the prompts.
As Substack continues to attract new users, I think it is natural that we’re going to to come across more and more content that doesn’t cater to our individual tastes. I don’t think that’s a bad thing at all! When I go on platforms like YouTube, I see there are some channels dedicated to easily digestible content like crafting and paint-mixing, and other channels that provide high quality documentaries on a variety of intense and serious subjects.
I personally enjoy different content depending on my mood and energy levels, and I don’t see why Substack shouldn’t also become a place with a mix of content that’s more or less serious, or more or less novel.
Please let me be transparent with you about my goals with for this newsletter.
I hope to keep it totally free, but I do aim to gain and grow a following. I’m not interested in putting any of my posts behind a paywall, but I would love to eventually be in a place where I can self-publish my writing, and market it by myself. Until then, and after then, I’ll be happy to contribute to this online community with my free newsletter posts.
Having a substantial social media or newsletter following has become an important aspect of a creative’s career. It’s just the world we live in right now, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with a creative deciding to prioritize that metric.
I want my newsletter to be a space where I post work that I’m happy and excited to create, but also want to make sure it’s also serving the readers, be it through sharing knowledge (in this case, prompts!), or by gifting readers something that’s just a high quality and enjoyable read.
I hope that all of us creatives who are trying to grow our followings online right now can figure out where this important intersection exists for us, so that we can serve our readers/ followers while simultaneously cultivating our own careers on our own terms, be it in creating light-hearted content that is quick and fun to write, or denser content that requires more research and time.
If someone is just blogging for the sake of fun, I don’t see anything wrong with that either! I think what’s really important is that when we invest time and effort into things, we know what our priorities are so that we can figure out how to measure our own success. Be it a goal to entertain oneself, entertain others, or to further one’s career, all of these goals are valid, and worth pursuing in their own right.
Even though I intend to keep this newsletter free, I still kind of view it as a transaction when someone reads my work. Not because I’m asking for any money for this work, but because I’m asking readers for their attention and time.
I keep this in mind and try to pay the reader respect, as I’m careful to try and deliver something that was worth the read. I carefully compose the title and accompanying image, to try to communicate what the reader can expect, in terms of both topic and quality, and then I do my best to actually deliver on it.
I’d encourage you to do the same, whatever you decide to write. Whether it’s an intense essay or an easy-to-read listicle, try to ensure your post’s title and image let the audience know exactly what to expect from you, so that they don’t feel let down or confused by what they are reading. I’ve read that it’s best to try to set the reader’s expectations high, and then go above and beyond to try to exceed them. As long as you deliver on exactly what the set expectations are, hopefully this could help your work find its audience.
I hope for us all to succeed, and in the process, I hope there is space for us succeed together.
I’m a poet, and I know that I’ve been very privileged to have already had the opportunity to learn about the craft of poetry and develop my skills in this area. I know I am lucky to have been able to afford poetry workshops, and to have had time to learn from free resources, and analyze some of my favourite poems in depth.
I find that blogging however, is a totally different medium altogether. In order to find inspiration and figure out how to contribute to this growing community, I’ve spent a lot of time reading other newsletters and taking into consideration what I really enjoy. I know many other writers don’t have as much time as I do to spare for reading, so for this week’s post, I really wanted to try to help some of you out by providing a list of prompts to nudge you on your way to finding your voice as a blogger.
I don’t want to discourage anyone from creating what they’re already happy to create, but I just wanted to provide some suggestions for those who are excited to try out new things, and actively looking for some prompts.
Thanks for sticking with me so far! Please see below, what I came up with for you this week.
Take a crack at writing a personal and passionate essay! Ask yourself, what would you like to write in favour of? Or what would you like to argue against? It could be anything ranging from an important issue that impacts your community or day-to-day life, or feel free to write a more light-hearted essay and tell us all about some of your favourite comfort foods, or high-quality products that you’ve been re-purchasing for years.
Here is one example of a personal essay I quite enjoyed by
.
Consider how you could try to write a piece that integrates more than one creative medium or genre. This is something I’ve been thinking hard about over this past week.
Here are two examples of pieces that achieve this in a way that left me speechless. This first one is by
, and the second one is by .If you take inspiration from any of the articles shared in this post, or any other work, please make sure to appropriately credit any source of inspiration, and please also familiarize yourself with the terms of fair use, to protect yourself from accidentally infringing on someone else’s copyright.
Try making a post with a list! (this is my first attempt!!) You could try writing an easy-to-read listicle about your favourite make-up products or books, or you could attempt to write a post with a list that requires a touch more depth. One great example I came across was this post titled “Twenty Things" by
.Here’s an idea I came up with just for you: do some research on the plants and animals in your local area and write about your interactions with them. When and where have these characters been present in the backdrop of your life? And when have they become the main characters? (There’s an owl in my neighbourhood that I’ve heard for many years, but somehow never seen.)
Find a creative work (a poem, a picture, an essay, anything!!) that’s in the public domain, and create a post with your own analysis or take on it. This could range from a deeper analysis on quality and composition, to a vulnerable post, just reflecting on how this piece made you feel. Maybe try to open up the discussion to the readers, and ask them to weigh-in as well.
Try to write a personal reflection. When’s the last time something left you with a complex mix of emotions? If you are comfortable discussing it, and feel like the subject would be an appropriate fit on your blog, you can attempt to unpack the experience and analyze it from different perspectives. In your writing, you can give the subject space, and just let it be complicated. This could be about anything, like your favourite food items that might not be sourced sustainably.
Give us an excerpt of your future cookbook! Share one of your favourite recipes and add a paragraph or more about this food and what it means to you. When did you last eat this? Who did you share it with? What’s significant about the ingredients? And what makes you love it?
Write a coming of age reflection piece! I’ve seen a few pieces related to girlhood on Substack, and I think I’ll try to write my own soon. Tell us about some aspect of your own coming of age story, be it your relationship with food, yourself, music, or anything you want to talk about.
This could even be about the changing landscape around you. Did you move in the middle of your childhood? Did familiar green spaces get converted into residential areas? Did you learn anything about friendship, or the bonds you have with family members? Everyone has their own unique set of experiences. Even if someone went through similar things, they might not have taken the same learnings away from the experiences. Even siblings can process and be shaped by the exact same events differently.
Write a long post dedicated to your favourite author or artist! Highlight a few of your favourite quotes, or works, and talk about why their work is important to you personally. Did it open your eyes in some way? Teach you something? Help you through a rough patch? Share as much as you’d like about it! Perhaps this could be the seed for a longer reflection about something else. Bonus points if you do a quick search in advance, and there aren’t already many posts about the creative on Substack. Again, please be careful not to infringe on anyone else’s copyright when discussing their work.
Though I haven’t tried them out yet, I recently found poetry prompts from
. These are definitely on my to-do list! These prompts are really cool and I see potential to use them as inspiration for creative works other than poetry, like perhaps even essays, or visual artworks. If you are inspired by prompts like these, please ensure that you appropriately credit the inspiration.
Anyways, that’s all I have for you today!
Does this post help you out at all? Did you attempt any of these prompts? Have you recently posted something you’re really proud of?
Please let me know in the comments below!
Best of luck! and until next time,
I. S. Bashirah
I. S. Bashirah is a multi-award-winning poet and recent alumna of the University of Waterloo.
I love the idea of a list of prompts pulled from the works I’ve read on substack! This is inspiring ! Thanks so much for writing this and including my essay. That one is so special to me.
Wow this is so inspiring and I love how you included works from amazing writers. thank you for sharing!