Your August 3-1-1

3 updates, 1 useful tool, 1 impactful image

Three Updates

One: Are novelists sadists for torturing their imaginary characters?

I made a terrible thing happen to one of my characters. (It had to happen). But it is so tragic that I actually began to weep as I wrote it. Yep, I cried over a fake person. Not once. Not twice. I cried three times in the span of an afternoon.

I don’t consider myself an especially sensitive or emotional person. But I do cry over characters in stories. My imagination is so vivid that these people feel real to me. Sometimes when a long-running tv show ends, I end up grieving. The characters become friends, and when the show ends, it’s like our friendship is over. If you’ve ever watched Halt and Catch Fire, the ending made me ugly cry. It was so beautiful.

Two: I’m working on a “hero” post.

I’ve been thinking long and hard about what value I bring to your inbox, dear reader. Every Tuesday, here I am. Thanks for the space. I know it’s precious.

In the past week or so I’ve been trying to define what it is that I offer here at Write On Track. Do you stick around for my ideas on solving creativity problems? Or is it my reflections on identity and career pivots?

A fellow Substack writer recently brought it home for me. Her theory is: people don’t come for a specific topic. They come for my “lens,” my perspective on it all. And she actually took a magnifying glass out of her desk and brought it up to her eye (an image I’ll never forget) and asked me: What is your lens Noor?

I’m genuflecting on the answer and I plan to share it in a “hero” post—a post where I tell you what I offer to you here on Substack (and relatedly what I don’t offer.) If you’re curious about the format, a good example that I love is this one by Elin Petronella.

Follow Your Gut & Start here

Three: Are you curious about my Substack subscriber growth?

My most popular Substack post ever was the one where I describe how hard it is to get “found” and grow your subscriber count on Substack. Ironically, I gained over 60 subscribers from that post. I think folks enjoyed my surly take on unhelpful Substack growth strategists. And I shared a few strategies that I think are actually useful.

42 Subscribers in 45 Days on Substack: Seven Honest Lessons on Growing an Audience

I was worried that the new subscribers would unsubscribe soon after they discovered that writing about Substack growth is not my usual bag. But they stuck around! (If you’re one of those people, thank you!) I’m currently at 149 subscribers and counting.

I’ve been thinking about doing a monthly letter about the struggles of gaining subscribers on Substack. I’d share my growth numbers (subscriber count, followers, paid subscribers, etc.). And I’d write some of my theories on what strategies work to attract new subscribers and keep them around.

Maybe I’d call this monthly letter my “Stack Report.” I’m still noodling the idea.

What do you think? Would you be interested in a monthly “Stack Report”? Let me know in the poll.

One Useful Tool: Photo Cropping for Banners and Profiles

Here’s a free tool I used to edit images so that they fit the ratio requirements for my LinkedIn header, and for the Write on Track publication header. You can customize your picture ratio for cropping so that your image can go from this:

To this:

If you’re looking to shore up your personal branding images, this is an easy option.

Just upload your photo and choose what ratio to crop the photo. A nice bonus is that it converts the image into whatever format you’d like (.jpeg, .png, etc.).

One Impactful Photo: Romanticizing Costco

When I think about young families in London, Paris, or Brooklyn, I imagine them setting out on a Sunday morning with their strollers and chic leather diaper bags on their way to brunch. They roll over cobble stone streets under the shade of mature trees and spy the perfect cafe table to settle in at their favorite bodegas. There, they enjoy a delicious breakfast of croissants and oat milk lattes.

Not my family. We have fully leaned into the joys of going to Costco. You won’t find any trees, cobble stones, or bodegas here. But my husband loves it. And my son looks forward to riding the shopping cart.

Cue the giant packages of toilet paper. Here comes the mega sized box of diapers. Costco runs are beautiful too if squint your eyes at the surroundings and remember that family time is family time no matter where you are.

Further Reading: