On This Substack

Surprise! I'm actually doing it!

Welcome to the first entry in my new Substack. Well, I use the word “new” loosely – I know you all signed up for this a year and a half ago and are probably surprised to actually find this in your inbox, if it slipped past your Spam filter.

I used to keep a blog, “The Liam McEneaney Experience.” It became fairly popular, mostly thanks to weekly boosts from the original Gawker editorial team. I can’t think of the correct word to describe why I didn’t know that I should have run out and gotten myself a big fat juicy book deal ASAP. Was it I naïve? Uninformed? It wasn’t youthful ignorance as I’d turned the corner on 30 at that point. Knowing myself at the time, it was undoubtedly a work of self-sabatoge.

Instead, like everybody else on the Internet I let it my blog on the vine as we entered the Age of Social Media. And I entered into it wholeheartedly. After all, why wake up in the morning and spend an hour crafting a post when I could immediately broadcast my every waking unformed, unedited thought.

A few months ago, with Twitter entering into a meltdown state, I realized that I’ve been feeding the content machine, doing my part to make random tech guys billionaires while I crank out my writing for free.

There’s a small part of me that feels that free is all it’s worth. Which is natural. Impostor Syndrome is an epidemic among talented creatives.

That’s not quite true. The payment I got, that I still get on Facebook and Instagram, is a quick hit of endorphins every time something gets liked, gets shared, goes viral.  A blog is a long slog for a slow payoff. A funny post will hit immediately and keep you going all day.

When I quit Twitter I thought that it was only difficult because I had a verified account, and that little blue checkmark next to your name is currency in my world. But after I had gone, I felt weird. I didn’t quite have withdrawals. It was more like going to the beach, spending an hour in the ocean, and then feeling the solid ground beneath your feet still washing in and out with phantom tides.

I am going to aim to make this Substack a weekly endeavour, maybe twice a week if I have something to promote. But please understand that I am currently attending the number one film school in the world, I got in by hook and by crook, and that is my number one priority. So there may be a week, or two, or even a month, when there’s radio silence. I apologize in advance.

Also, this Substack is going to be free for a good long while. I think I’m going to do it for the long slow pleasure of rebuilding an audience for my writing, if there still is one. But if you want to support it, or just support me in general, I have a Patreon.

Thank you for reading this. I am aware I am posting a first draft live and there are probably mistakes. Trust me, it hurts me more than it does you.

PS: If you like this, please share it.