After experimenting with where to write–publicly, privately etc–I’ve come to conclude I must always preserve a small space where I can write freely without any eyeballs. On all the platforms where you can get likes–Substack, Twitter etc–you inevitably have to wonder: will I get likes with this? It shapes your thinking in a weird way, and it’s not the best place for an idea to be born.
It’s of course important to use these platforms to share work, but it’s also critical to find a sacred space where you can totally be honest with yourself. It can be a private journal or a simple blog with likes/comments turned off, as long as it blocks out the noise and eliminates expectations. Your best ideas may just come from that space.