Hello from a Human Jungle Gym

And a pivot from should to must.

Stepping softly in 2024.

Sitting on the couch with my laptop while Davy plays LEGO. (This is seriously a whole new level!) We haven’t taken down our Christmas tree yet and I’m still hoping to make gingerbread ornaments this week.

But we’re inching toward “normal.” I’m putting together my university courses for the spring semester, sending out messages about the Entwined anthology, and printing a planner that will fit into my locally made traveler’s notebook.

Well, I’ve jinxed myself mentioning the LEGO. My kid is now climbing all over me like a jungle gym, but let’s persevere.

I should probably also celebrate reaching 500 subscribers, which is supposed to be a tipping point. I’m told growth is easier and to be honest I’m a bit trepidatious about that.

Growth for growth’s sake is not a goal for me, but so long as the numbers represent kind humans who are engaged with the work I’m doing I’m happy that you’re here.

sarahdshotts

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Pivoting from Should to Must

It’s pretty ironic that my first post was about intentional inconsistency and yet I’ve spent my entire time on Substack trying to create a consistent publishing schedule because I “should.”

I also know my own people tend to be a bit overwhelmed and overcommitted and so I keep adjusting the frequency (weekly, monthly, fortnightly) trying to get it “right.”¹

But every time I try to slow down I have too much to share. So instead of being driven by time, which is not real, I’m going to try something new. Posting when I have something I must share. And embracing the fact that frequency will vary. I have a lot queued up for January, but after this month I’m hoping to slow down a bit.

(Editing Note: It’s now almost 2pm. Even this simple post, which I hoped to finish before lunch, has taken hours somehow. I can’t turn off my autistic attention to detail so I have to accept that whatever I choose to do I’m going to sink a lot of time and energy into. What I’d like to find this year is a way to show up here, but not spend hours and hours on Substack content every week. I’d like to allocate some of this focused energy toward other projects like writing a novel.)

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Your Favorite Posts from 2023

I took some time this morning to look back at the work I’ve shared here over the last year and what you loved the most.² I always love these recap posts from

Austin Kleon

because I alwasy find something I missed. I’ve split them up into a few categories starting with…

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Most Comments

I see comments as the biggest marker of “success” for a post. I’m not here for business really - even if I have a few paid offerings - I’m here for connection. And comments are where I can hear from you. This post “went viral” for me, but I value the conversations we had more than the eyeballs.

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Most Comments (Runner Up)

You also showed up in force to support me in the comments of my coming out post. I noticed a few people disappeared after this, but the love outweighed the silence.

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Most Views

Apparently controversy gets clicks. This post had over 1k views and would have had loads of comments I’m sure if I hadn’t turned them off. More clicks also resulted in the most new subscribers.

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Most Views (Runner Up)

It seems the second best way to get engagement is to host a collaborative project. The open call for my Entwined anthology was my second biggest Substack post and my highest on Instagram.

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Your Favorite Podcast

I don’t seem to have the bandwidth to podcast regularly, but I’m so glad

Morgan Harper Nichols

and I carved out time to chat last year.

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My Favorite Posts

I thought I’d also include some of my favorite posts that flew under the radar this year.

For example, this follow up to “going viral” about artistic style and how that varies from branding.

If you subscribed to me after my HSP post you might be interested to listen to this podcast episode about sensory differences. Podcasting is a bit like shouting into the void so if you enjoyed this (or any other podcast episode) I’d love to know.

This year I stopped posting writing behind a paywall. (I have new plans of the paid tier that I’ll be announcing later this month.) Here’s a post I originally wrote for paid subscribers that is now completely unlocked. Hop in my TARDIS and come for a trip through for a decade of writing and sharing online.

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Now, I’d love to hear from you!

What are you excited about making or doing in the new year?

Cheers,

1. If you’re curious about my Choose Your Adventure format it was a big flop! I spent hours writing 3 separate posts and most people didn’t click through to anything. Of the three posts I wrote only one got any real engagement. My takeaway is that this format is fine for a round up or some bonus content, but if I really want people to read something it needs to be in the body of the main post.

2. I scrolled through Substack stats and typed everything into a spreadsheet, but I’ve signed up for Google Analytics to make this easier next year. (If you want to know the stats for your Substack without doing the gruntwork here’s how to set that up.)