Goodbye Practice Space, Hello Ants.

My writing has changed.

Hello all,

I missed you dearly.

I have an exciting announcement to make.

I’m back to writing essays online. Full-time, weekly, with all my strength.

Why now? Because I spent the last year and a half driving myself crazy by writing two short novels, and I got so near to burning out that I decided to quit writing.

I was so sure I’d be going through with it. I knew I couldn’t ever not create, so I settled upon a nicotine patch of sorts: I started drawing.

I did it for two months, and it was amazing: no social media, no computer, just me, a mechanical pen and a crisp white page.

But it just wasn’t the same. I liked drawing quite a lot, but it didn’t give me nearly the same level of satisfaction that writing had. I experienced no mad rush to fulfill an artistic vision, my curiosity was lukewarm except at the best of times, and practicing dozens of hours just to get a straight line or a perfect circle, while deeply relaxing, quickly became far too boring.

Turns out, me without writing? No such thing.

So I’m back. But not the way I have been. The last few months have crystallised a few conclusions for me:

1. I’m not competitive, except with myself. Writerly death-matches for attention, like the kind going on here on Substack, drain my vital energy and replace it with nothing of worth.

2. I believe literature should be experienced quietly and deeply, away from screens, color, and music.

3. I want to be read, but I’d rather my audience find me organically and not through aggressive marketing, sponsorships, or anything else that cheapens what I do.

4. Though I much enjoy reading fiction, when it comes to writing, creative nonfiction is where I feel most comfortable and fulfilled. The process of writing memoir, or really any kind of nonfiction, enriches my experience beyond measure.

5. I. Hate. Social. Media.

Which is what Substack, for better or worse, has become. I don’t hate the platform itself or its founders, but this is no longer the place for me.

So I’m creating a new place. It’s called Ants, and it’s a blog/newsletter focused on very short essays that carry the weight of the world, delivered weekly. It’s being hosted with the help of Magic Pages, an independent Ghost-based endeavor that handles everything for me in exchange for a modest monthly maintenance fee.

Ants will officially launch on July 5th. I will be porting my entire subscriber base there, so you all should receive the inaugural essay in your inboxes without the need to do anything, as though was sent from Substack. If you don’t, please check your spam.

Of course, you do not have to follow me there, or anywhere. If you’re not interested in further emails from me, I urge you to unsubscribe at any time, either here or on the new website.

That said, I’d be glad to have you there.

If you’re curious to see how this thing looks, you can find it at antson.page.

It’s been a pleasure writing to you these past four years. I hope for four more, or maybe forty.

That’s it from me right now. I hope to see you July 5th.

Yours and mine,

Andrei

Later edit: I’m giving Substack another chance. I will stick true to the principles outlined above, but the discoverability features Substack offers are second to none, and growing a newsletter without any kind of support is close to impossible. Plus, it’s free. So I will keep experimenting with it, see if I can make it work for me. Stay tuned.