117 Comments

Both the most helpful and most amusing version of this essay I’ve ever read 🙏

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i also read 'despise myself' lol

great advice man!

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I'm certain that with this fantastic advice I will get a subscriber before I perish from old age and, believe me, there will be much rejoicing.

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This was so helpful! Thank you for sharing in such detail. Your posts are hilarious!

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Your tone of voice is great! I loved your writing here and it was definitely helpful. Thank you for this walk through your brain!

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Very inspiring for somebody who’s new to this game.Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience!

I found you thanks to https://bornwithoutborders.substack.com/ and think you have a lot in common.

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Very thorough and insightful! I'm inspired to find my own group of writers to keep in contact with now. I also really related to that part where you were trying to figure out what your substack was but didn't feel like the "standard" categories could describe you. I'm still working on that myself. Thanks for sharing this with us!

P.S. I'm stealing that idea of asking questions in your welcome email!!

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Apr 7·edited Apr 7Liked by Alex Dobrenko`

Thanks for writing this Alex. I'm just digging into your stack, although I'm a big fan of Rae's -- so cool that you are friends and co-writers, if I have that right, especially as a fellow writer of memoir and personal essay. I appreciate the tips, especially the formula in #3, which I used to update my about page → https://bowendwelle.substack.com/about

btw, "Both are True" is one of my favorite credos. Nicely done!

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I keep recommending this post to people, it's brilliant. "Word Barf" should be it's own separate section/stack.

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Thanks for this Alex! Love how honest you are with your thoughts and feelings, they are very relatable!

I'm at this point of my own newsletter thinking of how to find my topic and who I'm writing to. It's been a bunch of personal essays now and I want to find an angle. Will try to connect with my writers in the community, and keep supporting others as well! What a reminder that we're all just a really supportive and friendly group.

Cheers!

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thank you so much for this ❤️ the line "I guess my north star has been to just be as honest as I can possibly be without upsetting my parents." is genius too, I think thats most writers goal haha, I know its definitely mine

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Thanks for this .. made me smile while getting inspired . I am also planning to start setting some goals and I loved your accountability partner idea . And yes I still have to figure out the who bit a little more :)

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Feb 20Liked by Alex Dobrenko`

Thanks for sharing this. This is inspirational for a new guy who just started it. Love your writing style, it's fun to read!

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Just pointing out that I read “despise myself” as well.

Also, loved the piece

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This post really lifted my spirits! I started writing a post a week about productivity (cause my content diet at that time was a bunch of productivity YouTubers) in 2022 but I eventually burned myself out in October and haven't written again since. I'm still feeling pretty lost but I know I writing is something I can be good at, and this post was really motivating to read. So, thank you, Alex!

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From a writer who started his Substack at the end of 2020 and only just recently made his first post, I thank you for this. I have found God. And his name is Alex Dobrenko?????

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