Transparent Tuesdays

Issue 222

You guys,

Last week I submitted a piece of writing to The New York Times under my real name. 

It was a personal essay for the weekly column, Modern Love, which has been in existence for twenty years. About 1 in 200 essays get picked, and I’m sitting over here refreshing my email, waiting for the inevitable news that I’m going to be a published writer in the New York freaking Times.

In today’s podcast episode I talk about how I made the decision to submit my first piece of writing to any publication ever, why I chose to submit under my real name, and a little context for what the essay is about. 

Something I grapple with is the notion of growing my audience. If I want millions of people to read my books it’s something I have to focus on, and yet, whenever I do, I eventually give up because I just don’t enjoy it—whether it’s tweeting, or researching other memoirists to find out how they marketed themselves, or even just keeping up with all the other writers on Substack. 

The work I want to be doing—the work that fills me up with energy—is writing, reading, editing, and podcasting. What if I could grow my audience by focusing on those things? 

Maybe submitting to publications and competitions is the path forward. Of course there are hard things I have to do as I go. Getting my writing in front of people isn’t easy. But I no longer believe I have to do things that suck the joy out of being a writer. 

I’m not going to follow somebody else’s blueprint. My path will be my own. It’s going to be different from everyone else because it has to be, because everyone’s path is different. One thing I know I will do is pay attention to the signs as they present themselves.

Modern Love was a sign. I should find out in 3-4 months (or more, according to the New York Times website) if my essay gets picked. In the meantime, I’ll be writing. 

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Until next week,

Charlie