All in the name.
How another writers post made me re-think the name of my newsletter.
Let me start with the catalyst for this entire post. I encourage you to go read Helen Redfern’s excellent publication Brave Words:
This was one of the first publications I discovered after joining Substack and it is one I go to every day for inspiration in my own writing. This morning was no exception, and as I sipped my coffee, savouring the taste and trying to ignore the plaintif wails of Harley (a rather precocious Bengal cat who wanted me to go outside with her - “it’s 4.45am, Harley!!”), I read Helen’s post What’s in a name?
…words do matter. Especially those you label yourself with. And we can be really cruel to ourselves. How many times have you dismissed yourself with a phrase like, “I’m so thick/silly/stupid,” and so on? - Helen Redfern
She talks about renaming her newsletter, originally called The Anxious Writer, changing it to Brave Words and the reasoning was so obvious I was stunned. I had literally done the same thing: used negative words when describing my own newsletter and self-sabotaging all to come from day one.
It certainly took a long walk to explain why I felt like I was floundering, even after only being here for a couple of weeks. Why was I struggling to find things to write about? Why was I pushing the serialisation of novels when the audience hadn’t turned up yet? Why was I jumping from one thing to the next without any real thought?
I was certainly doing what the name implied: Randomly Rambling. Couldn’t get me on false advertising, that’s for sure, but is that what would draw people to read, to subscribe, to - dare I say it - become paid subscribers?
If all I did was fleet from one thing to another, to jump around like a madman then what was the point of all this? Certainly nothing creatively constructive. And it all comes down to the name.
Finding a new name
Helen was right: word choice matters and Random Ramblings does two things wrong. Random suggests I don’t know when I’ll be posting or even what I’ll be posting about, while Ramblings implies that whatever I do say will lack cohesion and focus. Neither of those could be further from the truth. I have lots I want to talk about: my writing journey; the craft of writing itself and the harsh realities of publishing both traditional and indie. But I also want to release short stories, novellas and novels that have languished way too long in my Compost Heap of ideas.
An Unquiet Pen feels much better and describes me and my writing perfectly.
unquiet definition
unable to be still; restless. "poor Amy's unquiet spirit"
uneasy; anxious."an unquiet mind"
Finding the name has also helped focus my approach to writing here on Substack, rather than the random ramblings posted on a whim previously. A monthly roundup of the previous months writings, free articles every Sunday about the craft of writing, new WIP samples on a Wednesday (not every Wednesday, mind) and a new short story once a month.
Some will be paywalled such as serialised novels and certain articles and stories, but the vast majority will be free.
And this freedom to dip and change direction, or a name, or adjust how you write and release is just one of the many reasons I’m loving this platform and all the opportunities it provides.
Random Ramblings is dead… long live An Unquiet Pen!