Recommended by Amar Patel
Indispensable weekly summary of writing opportunities for people like me who straddle the worlds of journalism and marketing. But Sian is also great at picking out creative writing and fiction writing schemes/competitions. Exceedingly good recipes too 😋
Sex, love, dating… Emma-Louise gets to the heart of it all with relatable stories, epiphanies and wisdom you can act on. No BS. Her choice of guests and interviewees is always illuminating. And there seems to me a lovely community – a movement dare I say – that's built around the topics in this newsletter. People are tuning into themselves in a more compassionate and encouraging way. More willing to pursue a deeper sense of satisfaction and personal fulfillment, which is what it's all about.
Amelia’s on Substack, yay! I never tire of raving about her stories. Among the very best at taking an inkling or casual fascination and turning it into fun, riveting investigations. Have you read about the time she bought undeveloped photo films on eBay and peeked into the lives of strangers? Or the time she sniffed around Pringles, Walkers/Lay's and their preferred "seasoning houses" for secrets. The Substack story about lost pet posters from decades past is also an adventure.
Amara's nomadic writing offers calm reflection and sustenance. Weekly invitations to turn inwards and feel something else. I admire the care with which she pursues her craft, the softness in her rigour, offering her words for us to savour and ponder. The dispatches about Caribbean poets are especially enjoyable. Amara also runs workshops that provide a sense of communion in the shared enjoyment of language and its potential to help us reach our next plateau of human expression. I may join soon.
Marc is now my Substack daddy. There is so much tenderness and care in his reflections and evocative turns of phrase. Through his long-form letters and spoken poetic notes, Marc does more than share his parenthood journey or build an archive for his child to sift through in later years. We get a sense of a father opening up to their son here and now. These are imperfect offerings, expressions of love they can build on as Myles finds his voice and the world turns.
If you like your politics and culture with dollops of wit and satire then this "tediously popular" missive is for you. When not dispensing weekly LOLs and WTFs, they also publish proper investigative journalism and revealing essays. For (almost every) height survey of British journalists or pints correspondent dispatch, there is an exposé on impropriety in a posh school or a lengthy report about goings-on in the Hampstead bushes. A winning combination.
I ❤️🔥 writers who can make us laugh and learn at the same time. Humour is subjective, yes, but there is a tipping point when someone's inner monologue makes you relate and see the funny side of their situation. Michaella muses particularly well on dating adventures/misadventures, human nature, social interaction, cultural moments… But she can turn almost any experience into a wry life lesson, from a Shania Twain concert to queueing to flirting on email … and always cutting it fine.
There's heaps of commentary out there on brand identity from a design perspective but very little on the how words build character in business. Nick looks at one company at a time – many of them are new to me – and offers insightful and humorous analysis. For copywriters and editors, it's a must-read. But it's also useful for entrepreneurs and business directors who really want to say something in their own way.
Harmony Holiday has provided so much inspiration here in her own inimitable way, weaving lyrical, elliptical thoughts and epiphanies around topics like the release of Andre 3000’s new album. It’s about word, breath and spirit. Blackness and blues. Ego death and renewal. Read and take flight.
I am currently taking Tom's five-day 'How To Get 100 Subscribers in 30 Days' course. There is so much snake oil about growth and scaling on this platform, particularly through Notes, that I was quite sceptical at first. But the way he has concisely laid out these strategies, while keeping the craft of writing and conveying ideas at the forefront is impressive. It's only natural for a writer to want to be read. And for a Substacker to covet a paying audience. Tom might help you you get there.
Freya India has been writing some very perceptive essays on the scourge of social media among Gen Z. But these feelings of helplessness and discontent that she unpicks so eloquently persist among older users as well. Her dispatches are reasoned reminders to be a little more compassionate and forgiving when it comes to young people as they try to navigate the always-on hyperculture they were born into.
My mentee recommended Rayne a few years ago. It's rare for someone so young to have such nuance in her thoughts. There's depth in her articulation of complex feelings, whether it's the things she reads and watches, or the experiences she goes through. To be able to deliver them with wit and humour is a unique gift. To have your own voice is a precious thing. Her words are her own.
Vittles has really opened up restaurant world in London and the UK through its knowledgable, passionate and heartfelt food writing. It's fascinating to learn about the historical and cultural importance of umpteen dishes and then look forward to discovering them for yourself when you stick them in your gob. Respect to Jonathan for finding a democratic model that values and can sustain high-quality food journalism from the fringes so our tastes aren't the whim of a select bunch of critics.
The closest thing I have to a writer's support network in my inbox. Lovely stories, anecdotes and light lessons about the agonising art of stringing words together to make meaningful sentences. And more. Why we do it, why should continue to do it and how it brings fulfillment.