My (And Your?) Weekly Substack Reading List #1, January 2025
There is so much inspiration to get, but I need a list to help me get it
One of the main attractions of a platform like Substack is that it is full of inspirational writing. There are more than 20 million accounts, and I suppose that most of these correspond to a person writing something regularly — over the years, this means many millions of articles, of all kinds.
Millions of sources
Think about this, the next time you feel a bit out of inspiration, don’t know what to write about, or how you can put this in a more interesting way. The examples are right there, next to you — a few clicks with the mouse or taps with a finger, and you are reading something that was written by a person like you.
Or maybe you just want to read for the pleasure of reading, but cannot immediately think of what you should read — you need a hint, maybe to something you once saw and liked, but cannot find again.
But here comes the problem: you can, of course, subscribe to interesting substacks, and you can bookmark them in your web browser, maybe take advantage of advanced bookmarking plugins such as OneTab or Readwise, and it will all help you.
To me, however, these tools never really fit my way of working and thinking — I get too much collected, and there may be no way of describing it, so that I forget what each of the links is about; why I kept it. And then the collection of links becomes rather useless in reality.
My solution from now on is this post!
Here, I will list some of the substacks I bump into, that I find the most inspiring, and which I want to get back to regularly: to see what is new, or to read more from the back-catalog.
I expect to look at each of these substacks approx. once per week.
There is no possibility to mark what I have read already, so I just have to remember it, but to help me with that, I want to make sure that I give hearts and comments on everything I read, and restack as well, whenever I feel for it. Clever, isn’t it? ;)
All such interactions will make the writer happy, so this way I get happy for reading, the writer gets happy for my response, and then we are both happy.
And that’s really the point, or one of them.
Of course, I will continue to be forever on the outlook for additional interesting substacks, and possibly list those as well.
All the good reasons
Let me try to summarize all the good that comes out of such a list and corresponding interaction:
You’ll remember the good places and have an easy way to finding them again.
You’ll be equipped with a tool that can provide you with some inspiration whenever you need it, both for topics to write about, and ways of writing.
You’ll get into a habit, or you have a good chance for it, to read regularly, instead of just writing your own things or, even worse, doomscrolling the millions of bits of nonsense that most social media are full of.
You’ll make every single one of the writers you interact with happy.
Other Substackians will see that you exist and may visit your publication, maybe even subscribe to it or follow you.
You’ll be actively strengthening the community and help others feeling welcome and appreciated.
I can see nothing negative! Nothing at all. There is no backside of this medal.
As I will possibly find more good publications on Substack than I can fit into one list, if it should be manageable, I have prepared for future lists by adding a number and the month to the post name — with more lists, I can then decide which of them to follow in any given week.
Oh, and it should be understood by now that I cannot know about or study all the millions of substacks in existence, and even just remember all of those I have seen and found great, so a lot will be missing, and those mentioned will be in no particular order.
For you
You are welcome to use the list, if it makes sense to you. Also, you are welcome to suggest more substacks and people to put on future lists. If you decide to do something similar (or perhaps already have done so), feel free to tell about your list, with a link, in the comments — then other readers can find them.
If you check out and happen to like any of the writers and substacks in this list, please consider subscribing and following them. Also, read their articles and click on like, comment, and restack.
Such things can seem superficial and without any real value, but for the writer, they are proof that their words have hit something, touched someone, which they cannot know otherwise. Like a kiss is better than hidden admiration ;)
Some additional thoughts
Substack is a big universe, but outside of it, in every corner of the big Internet, there are even more sources of inspiration. So, I will probably make one or more lists (later) with links that can be anywhere outside Substack.
The list
Each substack is mentioned with its name in clickable form, and with a short text to describe it.
Also, for each substack, I have linked to one or more articles that I found interesting, to have some examples to start with.
Remember that this is not an exhaustive list. I am just not very good at remembering where to find all the good stories I read, so I’ll have to write down a link to them in this and the coming lists, and this will happen along the way.
Besides, Substack limits the length of posts, so I would in any case have to split the list.
Here we go with the first bunch:
1. Better Writers by Fabio Cerpelloni
Short articles with topics interesting for writers. Quick and interesting reads.
An example: Useful Links for Writers
2. Multilingual Writers by Philip Charter
Half is inspirational articles by Coach Phil, mostly about writing and being a writer, and the other half is articles by the members of the Multilingual Writers Community, just as inspirational, and with a wider scope. I am myself one of them.
Two examples:
Sonic Writing: Do Your Words Sing Sweet Music or Hit The Wrong Note? by Philip Charter
Feedback on Your Writing Hurts Bad – But Here’s How You Can Change That by Dana Vioreanu
3. Lens Chronicles by Davor Katusic
Davor is a gifted photographer and a great storyteller. He combines the two with a main focus on photos here, and on stories at his other substack: Thoughtful Corner.
An example from each:
Do We Really Need to Play the Game of Winning and Losing? from Thoughtful Corner
The Charm of Paris Through the Lens of a Street Photographer from Lens Chronicles
4. The Additional f-Stop by Juliette
An artist with a philosophical strain, showing her photos and telling stories about life, this way connecting the art with the artist and person.
A couple of examples:
5. Philosophy and Beyond by Romaric Jannel
Many highly qualified and inspirational articles for people interested in philosophy. Romaric describes philosophy, philosophers, and the connection with society, and it all triggers my wish to examine the full scope of the human mind.
Besides, as a positive addition, the site is full of colorful pictures.
Some examples:
Andrew Robinson: An Existentialist on Substack
There Are No Old Books to Read
Up-coming substacks
People I know as great writers have substacks without (yet) writing to them, so I want to keep an eye on them to read what appears, when it happens.
1. Sameer’s Substack by Sameer Sohail
Sameer already wrote articles for Turning Life and Multilingual Writers:
AI and Human Disconnect for Turning Life
Why “It Depends” is the Best Answer to Most Questions for Multilingual Writers
Writing Books That Are Hard to Review for Multilingual Writers
2. Dana’s Substack by Dana Vioreanu
Dana already wrote for Multilingual Writers:
Feedback on Your Writing Hurts Bad – But Here’s How You Can Change That
3. Pilar’s Substack by Pilar Guerrero
As far as I know, Pilar hasn’t written on Substack yet, but she did publish some pieces on Medium.
People
These are on Substack, have great writing skills, but have no substacks of their own, so far — I am looking forward to the day they will make one:
I am sure that many more people I know as good writers are here, so I will add to all of these lists when I notice their profiles or substacks.
Thank you so much for including my name in your list. I felt deeply touched and moved for many reasons. Those reasons are enough to light me inside and start writing. I'll keep you posted.
Hi Jorgen, I just saw this today. Thank you so much for the mention. I'm really grateful that you find my writing enjoyable. ^_^