Write Like It’s 2006

Thoughts on coming full circle + 1 great book, 2 inspiring podcasts, and 3 things to look forward to

Photo by Quinton Coetzee on Unsplash

“I don’t need a blog.”

I remember saying these words to a web developer I’d recently hired to help build my website — a site that would showcase my experience as a journalist, with links to the magazine and newspaper clips I’d written over the years. This was 2006 and I was in the thick of freelance writing (and underwater with three kids ages 5, 3, and not yet 1). When Jon, the web developer, asked about incorporating a blog feature, I quickly dismissed the idea. Why would I need that, I wondered. I just wanted a place on the internet where editors could go to learn more about my accomplishments, where I could provide digital clips rather than having to snail-mail query letters and examples of my work. (The early 2000s = me typing furiously during nap times and getting to know my local post office staff very well as I dropped off stacks of manila envelopes addressed to big-wig editors in New York City, usually with a toddler’s hand in mine and a baby car seat in the crook of my other arm.)

The idea of “personal branding,” of sharing more of yourself in addition to your published work and building a platform, was years away for me, and most other writers. I read a few blogs, like Heather Armstrong’s wildly-popular Dooce — an interesting look at the earliest “mommy blogs” like hers from this time — but I didn’t imagine I’d be going that route myself. I had quit my full-time daily newspaper reporting job in St. Paul, Minn. and we’d been living back in Traverse City for a few years by then. In addition to a steady stream of freelance work for local publications, I was (finally) getting published in Redbook, Parents, Parenting, American Baby, even USA Weekend, and I wanted to keep that momentum going. As a writer living in the Midwest, hundreds of miles away from the epicenter of the publishing world in NYC, I felt like I’d hit the big time. Besides, I didn’t quite grasp how I could make any money writing a blog. Though I was most definitely writing very part-time because I was caring for our kids and Joe was working a ton growing his business, the money I made helped. Plus, while I was grateful and happy to be at home with our kids, continuing to interview people and write articles and columns when I could meant a lot to me. It was a sanity-saver.

Should I have started officially blogging back then? I actually kind of was, if I consider the smattering of essays about motherhood and marriage I wrote now and again for a couple of local print publications, and eventually, for national magazines. This was when snagging an assignment for a well-known glossy magazine was tough and competitive but also possible — it was before the Great Recession and budgets for freelancers were high. This all would change not long after I’d found my footing in that world. But for a short while, things were humming along well.

In the late 2000s, I did turn to traditional blogging as the grind of querying, dealing with editing-by-committee, and fewer well-paying magazine assignments took their toll. My kids were getting older — i.e. my writing morphed from how-to pieces with headlines like “When your kid tunes out” and “‘Mine!’ How to help your child share” to articles about health and wellness and traveling and exploring northern Michigan — and the publishing landscape had greatly changed. More and more of my freelance writing was for websites, like HealthCentral.com, where I didn’t get paid much but could write about my newfound appreciation for exercise and healthier living. I launched a Blogspot site (remember that platform?) called Girl About Town, where I wrote about cool finds in my hometown of Traverse City, Mich. I also started writing posts for a couple of other blogs, including one published by my local trails organization. Then, in 2010, my blogging went into high gear when I was inspired to start MichiganRunnerGirl.com. I wanted to share what running, a discovered-later-in-life passion, had grown to mean to me while also incorporating my journalistic skills. I began sharing stories of others while chronicling my own journey into the sport. I didn’t realize it then, but this was the start of “building a personal brand,” a concept and approach to writing that today, all these years later, I am grappling with. 

Which is how, in part, I’ve found myself here, writing these words to you on a platform that feels both old-school and entirely new. When I decided to do this, to try out Substack after subscribing to a few other writers here, I realized I’d kind of come full circle. Holly Whitaker, author of the newsletter

Recovering

here on Substack, recently perfectly described how I’m feeling about this experience so far. “What has been so delicious about writing on Substack is that it isn’t something that fits into my wider writing practice, like some piece of a puzzle—it is my writing practice. Writing here also isn’t something that fits into my wider online presence, because in being here, I have learned that an online presence isn’t something I care to curate the same way I once did, if at all.”

I’m still writing, blogging, and podcasting with Michigan Runner Girl. I still occasionally contribute to a northern Michigan lifestyle and travel print magazine. But there are shifts underway for me with both of these, as much as I truly love the work that’s involved with them. It’s an interesting thing, being known as something/someone, in my case “the runner girl,” and appreciating all that it has brought into my life, but at the same time wondering, What else? Where to next? I’m certain this will be something I figure out here, over time, as I write. 

Maybe for me today, 15+ years later, it’s still a little bit of “I don’t need a blog.” At least, not in the sense of what a blog meant back then (and still does today, in some cases): capturing as many followers and comments as possible, growing traffic (and revenue), adding the latest and greatest trend to your repertoire, i.e. reels and TikTok tutorials, all in the name of Building a Brand. All of this is important, right? And fun. It is — if you want it to be important, and if you want this variety of “fun.” But when I look back on how my writing always was, from high school yearbook and newspaper days and studying journalism in college and writing for my daily college newspaper, to covering a beat at daily papers and beginning a journey into freelance writing and, eventually, blogging about things that meant (and still mean) so much to me, it’s just that: writing. Writing good stories, about others and, sometimes, about myself. Writing without the pressure of performance. Writing in its purest form.

Something else Holly Whitaker shared resonated with me: 

“We are conditioned to believe that it doesn’t matter unless there are clicks, impressions, likes, comments, engagement; that our work doesn’t matter unless we’re known. I’ve been successful in the measurable ways because I followed those playbooks, but that has always left me miserable. Here [Substack], I have not followed the playbooks, I have done a lot of it wrong, but I have written like it matters, like what I have to say matters. If there’s any advice I have to give, it’s that. Sure, pay attention to the technical bits, the hacks and the best practices, and drive your engagement and whatever. But write like it matters and like what you have to say matters. Write like it’s 2013 and no one knows who the hell you are or cares what you have to say, and do it anyway.”

I don’t need a blog.

I only need to write.

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Still Thinking About…

A few things on my mind this Monday: 1 great book, 2 inspiring podcasts, and 3 things to look forward to

Must-read Book: This weekend I stayed up very late one night to finish Mad Honey, a novel by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boyland. I’m continually amazed by Jodi Picoult’s storytelling and ability to delve into the most complex and timely of topics, not to mention the frequency with which she writes her books — I read and loved her most recent book Wish You Were Here in the past year; definitely another one to pick up if you haven’t yet read it. This was my first time reading Jennifer Finney Boyland, and I’m looking forward to reading more of her work. I’m so glad these two authors collaborated on this book (how they came to write together is a cool story involving Twitter that Jennifer shares in the acknowledgments at the back of the book).

Mad Honey will stay with me for a long time, not only because of all that I learned (in true Jodi Picoult fashion, she shares an immense amount of fascinating background on a subject, in this case beekeeping and honey-making), but also because this book dives fully into identity and how each of us uniquely make our way in the world. I won’t say much more than that. I just highly, highly recommend. Mad Honey, as it’s described, “is a riveting novel of suspense, an unforgettable love story, and a moving and powerful exploration of the secrets we keep and the risks we take in order to become ourselves.”

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Great podcasts:

1.) We Can Do Hard Things with Glennon Doyle, episode #147 — “The Episode That Wasn’t”

I listen to this podcast regularly and this episode, released last Thursday, kept me company as I drove all around town running errands. This wasn’t a typical episode, with Glennon, her wife Abby Wambach, and sister Amanda Doyle interviewing a guest, but rather a behind-the-scenes one that was recorded immediately after they “dramatically ended an interview” because the guest was disrespectful to a member of their team. It was so interesting hearing them share so honestly about how they felt in the moment, and how they were dealing with it all so quickly after it happened. It got me thinking about how I would react in such a situation (hopefully similarly to Amanda), and it reminded me how powerful it is to be transparent and real. They didn’t have to record this episode; they could have chalked it up simply as an interview that didn’t pan out and listeners wouldn’t have had to know. Instead they chose to share it with their audience, without naming the guest or her husband who also was involved in the confrontation. It was refreshing to hear and made me respect these women and this show all the more.

2.) Michigan Runner Girl, episode #249 — Sammie Bennett, mental health advocate and SHE RUNS Grand Rapids race ambassador

OK, yes, this is my podcast. I’m especially proud of this latest episode and I want you to know about it. I’ve been recording this show since 2015 and among the best parts of hosting a podcast is meeting incredibly interesting people, each with their own story about running, yes, but also about their life’s journey. Sammie Bennett is one of these individuals and I’m so happy our paths crossed for this interview a couple of weeks ago. Whether you run or not, you’ll love hearing from Sammie, I promise.

Sammie Bennett

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3 Things to Look Forward To…

1.) Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday of the year. I’m contemplating taking extra time off that week, because I am tired. Naps, leftovers, puzzles, and books are what I need more of these days. My youngest is turning 17 the weekend after Thanksgiving. I need some time to make sense of that, too.

2.) A finished kitchen/home remodel. We’re in the final stretch. Maybe by Thanksgiving? Embarrassing admission: I’ve spent ridiculous amounts of time on Pinterest (and thinking about what I’ve found on Pinterest) over the past year and a half. I’ve never been known as an especially crafty person or someone who “has an eye” for design. But you know what? I think I am now.

3.) Seeing what’s next. I’m trying like hell to stay open to all that’s ahead, whatever it may be and how it unfolds. One day at a time, with a smidge of optimism that it’s going to be really good. And anything not-so-good — I hope I have the grace to handle it as well as I can. It’s got to be worth something to think this way at some point each day.

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Thank you for subscribing and supporting my work. I look forward to connecting with you again soon. Please let me know what you’re liking and what you’d like to see more of. Your thoughts matter to me. Email me at movingthrough@substack.com .