What I didn't write today
On not writing.
A week or two ago, Jonathan V. Last — of the Bulwark— wrote something that stuck with me: He said he hadn’t written anything the day before because he made a few attempts at crafting a piece and they all fizzled out.
Last explained that rather than wasting readers’ time with a half-baked piece, he simply passed on writing that day.
Which was a revelation to me.
See, I have spent my whole career writing. And writing.
And not just writing but writing fast. Three to four pieces a day for years. Massive amounts of productivity.
It was what I hung my hat on. It’s what I was known for — to the extent I was known for anything.
It was why I was certain that CNN’s cuts would never impact me. I made too much content that performed well for them! They would never get rid of that!
Well, you know how that turned out.
When I started my Substack, I talked to a lot of smart people who had done well on the platform about the right cadence for posts.
Most of them recommended a few posts a week at a minimum. Which I immediately scoffed at. A few posts a week?!? I was thinking more like 3 posts a day!
Writing was the only way I knew how to build audience. So I figured the more I wrote, the better. Simple.
In my first 6 months on the platform, I have generally written 2-3 pieces a day, 5 days a week. I have also, as a rule, written longer pieces than I did for CNN or the Washington Post — under the theory that that’s what Substack users expect and want. (I have no idea why I think that.)
Most of the time that’s worked out for me. Years of writing a lot have habituated me to, well, having a lot of thoughts. And because I have always been a fast writer, getting 2 or 3 pieces a day out on the site hasn’t ever been too difficult.
But today, I ran into a bit of a wall.
I started a piece that would detail my thoughts on the Hunter Biden plea deal (Newsy! Clicky!). But my thoughts were, essentially, that the plea deal would resolve nothing. Democrats would insist this was the end. Republicans would allege that Hunter got off easy.
I was sick of the piece after four paragraphs.
Then I started a piece on ranking the Republican presidential announcements. But, once I got beyond the top three — Tim Scott, Chris Christie and Nikki Haley — I couldn’t honestly make enough gradations between the other 6 candidates to offer any sort of honest assessment.
So, I scrapped that piece too.
I would have NEVER done this in the past. I would have simply powered through — producing something because, well, the moment demanded it.
The truth is that a Hunter Biden piece doesn’t even have to be all that good to perform on most mainstream media sites. People have VERY hard and fast opinions about him — and that means they will read anything and everything on the subject.
But, like, what if I simply have nothing profound/insightful/interesting to say on it. Is it ok to simply take a pass?
I am — slowly — learning that the answer to that question is “yes.”
I’m not going to lie, it’s not easy. I must have stood up and walked around my home office 10 times this morning, agitated that I needed to write something else and couldn’t figure out what that should be. Even now, I doubt myself a little for not pushing through and producing one of those pieces.
I still enjoy writing. And, most days, I have a few ideas for pieces that I will likely write. But, what today has taught me is that I don’t HAVE to write 3 pieces every day.
My goal is to write as many pieces as I can say something interesting or insightful in. Not just write to write. Not to waste your time with a bunch of words that don’t add up to anything or really get you thinking.
This is hard for me. Like I said, I’ve been writing a lot — some of it dutiful — for a very long time. And I want — and need — to continue to build my audience on Substack.
But, today taught me something: When you don’t have something to say, don’t just say something.
What am I going to do instead? Take my son out for the afternoon — and hopefully clear my head.
Thanks in advance for your support of what I am trying to do here. Please spread the word to other folks you think might be interested in this sort of stuff.
Chris, I have come to trust your political insights as, well, insightful and illuminating. I look forward to reading everything you write (though, I will confess that there may have one or two "The Point"s that I skimmed over). Between your post on fatherhood, and this post on writing, I have also come to trust your judgement. I find your writing style to be easy/breezy, with just enough color of humor to be truly entertaining, while you share insights. I have come to think of you as a friend that I like jawing over politics with (don't worry, I'm not a stalker who thinks were REALLY friends). As a friend, I'm interested in what you say, but am happy with the "silences", too, because I trust that that means you don't have to waste my time--as you say--with something to read just because of the cadence. Thanks for hanging in there. Enjoy your time with your son. (I work remotely in my home, and relish that that affords me the occasional hug from my 3 grandsons who come to my house for daycare)
Thanks for revealing your humanity, Chris...which has been occurring with increasing regularity. Your honesty with self (second guessing, pacing the room, and pressing the delete button on something you don't feel good about publishing) gives the rest of us permission to do the same...you give us the encouragement to become comfortable in our own skin...and that's saying a lot...even when you don't think you have anything to say.