One of the things I've been working out as I consider how I can use Substack moving forward, is whether I want to be actively serialising a story on here. As in, publishing it as I write it.
For now, the answer to that question is no.
I am highly motivated by external deadlines, so I initially thought that a serial would be an easy way to get that motivation to keep me writing through a book. Every day/week/ whatever frequency I'd need to finish a chapter and make it available. If I didn't, then I'd be letting the readers down. And I don't want to do that.
The problem comes when I stop to think about how frequently I'd want to post and how that would work into my schedule. What is the minimum that I know I can hit, and what is the amount I can write in a day when the words are flying? And those two numbers are wildly different.
I don't want to commit to something that I'm not absolutely sure I will be able to hit. And yet, I want that deadline to be pushing me to create. While I don't create like that. I write in fits and starts. Binge writing, and then sorting everything else out. Which doesn't fit with the idea of using the serialisation to motivate me to write.
Let's say I set my commitment as really low. The amount I know I can do, even if everything else conspires against me. Well, that won't motivate me to write more than that. The story will become disjointed and drawn out, as I write to deadline, rather than working through the whole story in one go (or fewer go's at least).
The opposite scenario is where I set my commitment at the high end of what I know I can produce in a week. That automatically becomes stressful and impossible to keep to for the long-term. Max is not a sustainable target for anything.
So both options are setting myself up to fail. And I feel like a mid-level goal will give me the worst of both options.
What do I want to post on Substack then?
As the header at the top hints at, I will post snippets. These might be parts of a longer whole, flash fiction, starts of things I'm not sure if I will work on more, or writing exercises I want to share. I anticipate they will be partly things I write especially for here, alongside various older pieces I haven't shared before. I'll tag things to keep them a bit organised, especially those that are part of, or related to, anything I'm publishing elsewhere.
I'm still working on what I want my schedule to be here, but posting fiction will be part of it. Alongside pieces like this where I share my thoughts on different subjects I have on my mind.