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Any new subscribers, wondering if they should dive in? Absolutely do! Tanya's Substack, TCFS, is a wonderful corner of the internet. It is a generous place: the space, the time, the words, all given as encouragement to you to engage and write.
From a practical point of view, I finished my MA in Creative Writing last year and have found my…
Any new subscribers, wondering if they should dive in? Absolutely do! Tanya's Substack, TCFS, is a wonderful corner of the internet. It is a generous place: the space, the time, the words, all given as encouragement to you to engage and write.
From a practical point of view, I finished my MA in Creative Writing last year and have found myself a bit rudderless. When I have entered competitions or applied for other writing opportunities, they often ask for a writer's CV, and mine's is sorely lacking: no competition wins, no publications despite the queries, no agent fighting my corner. But through Tanya's generosity I now have a wee bit of the internet that I can refer to. And it has given me confidence. Now I can refer them to the page that Tanya has created, with my name, and all of a sudden I have the start of a list.
The comments from Tanya, and from others are thoughtful and encouraging. And there is such a breadth of voices here, that no matter your style or subject matter, you can be certain there is a place for you here.
There is discipline in the 300 words. I am a self-confessed over-writer - for 300 words, I'll usually have written a thousand. But I love the process of exacavating the 300 I want to share from the splurge I first commit to the page.
I don't contribute as much as I would like, so far, due to life giving me a bit of a battering over the past year. But all of the prompts are written in my journal for me to engage with when I'm able.
Through being brave enough to post (and it did take me feeling brave) I have been inspired to stat to think about starting my own substack next year - something that I would never have thought possible were it not for this space. This wonderful, generous, writerly corner of the internet.
I love how you’ve spoken for the project here, Jane! Thank you. And it’s interesting to hear how the 300-word limit works for you. If I do start a separate mentoring Substack in the new year for paid subscribers, I will be able to offer a different sort of test - to have everyone working (if they wish) to a long essay length, where the monthly suggestions can be tested out… Still trying to figure out the right structure for that other project though! xxx