Join our (free) Essay Club?

(up to) 24 Essays in 2024 the 'Sparkle on Substack' way!

Hi team,

I have SUCH a fun NEW experiment for us!!

Fancy getting back to writing? Want to quiet the noise and do some of your best work?

Writing and creating on Substack offers us BEAUTIFUL opportunities but the art of writing itself is also enough. The art of coming to the keys and working up a piece we’re proud of. A piece that calls to be written no matter how many likes or shares it gets.

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Keeping it simple (again)

One of the things I noticed is that my ‘stay creative’ message here was getting lost in overwhelm. To be creative, to do our best work, the work that we’re called to do we HAVE to quiet the noise. That’s why I’ve been called to start a Simple Substack Advice section ¹and so now for those beginning, starting again or looking to quiet the noise they can find guidance there! Yay!

Ooo - including a FREE mini masterclass I delivered this weekend where I covered (in brief) ‘How to (just) send a newsletter with. Substack’. ✨. If you’re called to head there I’d love to know what you think. We just launched a 30 day set up your home page challenge.

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✍️

A giant permission slip of an invite to do things YOUR way!

The thing that stands out here on Substack for me, is that the diversity of how we share here keep increasing. Our creativity knows no bounds!

Somehow Substack metamorphosed from feeling like a gentle ride akin to Alice in Wonderland’s tea-cups to a full scale theme park with Ghost trains and rollercoasters that throw you upside down even when you don’t remember queuing up for them.

Yet we’re still here…well you are and I am.

We’re still writing.

We still believe in the magic! ✨

Our intentional refocus

I’ve created something for us all to help keep you accountable for the rest of this year IF you feel you have lost your way with writing a little.²

Being here and writing every week has increased my confidence, my craft and my bank balance. Consistency has rewarded me with clarity, with growth, with deep connection to you.

I’m a huge fan of committing to a creative practise. Opportunities beyond my wildest dreams have landed in my inbox (and through my post box) ✨ all because I started writing here in April 2022.

More than that, I’ve shifted and changed what I write and offer but my intention is always the same;

‘to be a creative who also writes, to grow joyfully and sustainably on this platform.’

✨

If in doubt CREATE.

The Sparkle on Substack Essay Club invites you to (just) write…

Who should join?

• Want words on the page, accountability, community, a deadline, a challenge?

• Want new eyes on your work? To feel uplifted and part of a community of like minded writers?

• YOU! ✨

About Sparkle on Substack Essay Club

1. It’s a focussed challenge to get us re-focussed on our writing for the rest of 2024!

2. It’s FREE to take part and open to everyone!

3. Our collective challenge is to write (up to) 24 essays each by January 31st 2025³ 24 essays/ posts in 44 ish weeks - that’s just over 2 essays a month.

4. Essays/ posts can be on any topic - just publish them to Substack and count down as you go. You don’t have to publish extra on top of your usual work but you might.

5. Use the ‘Sparkle on Substack 24 Essay Club’ badge ⁴ at the bottom of your post and tag me in if you like? If you tag me, I’ll save/ share/ bring your essay into the round-up so long as I’m not completely overwhelmed with tags.

6. I’ll select 10 essays at random to share in a round-up at the end of each season⁵ and release a new badge for you all to reward yourselves with and use! This isn’t about ‘being the best’ - you do your best work just by being in the arena! ✨

7. Let’s get back to writing and connect to/ support each other along the way. Let’s do what we’re here on Substack to do! Hone our craft, release our words, find readers and collaborate. You don’t have to write all 24 essays to WIN here but I will be giving away three paid subscriptions in January as a thank-you for taking part!

I have one rule;

1. Sparkle on Substack Essay Club is a safe, uplifting space to hold space for writing and drive shared collaboration. If your essay/ post contains themes others might find triggering, please add (TW) Trigger Warning clearly at the start of the essay so folks can decide whether they want to read it. Thank you.

✨

Before we go, a note on “daring greatly…”

You know I’m always sharing my journey in real time. I’m having a wonderful time, I still L.O.V.E Substack but I’m dealing with at least one troll/ email of criticism a week here now.

Sometimes they (really) bother me (for days), other times they don’t. I’ve read people get anxiety opening dms/ their email inbox - I’m not there yet and I can’t say I have the tools to manage any of it. I have some pals with bigger platforms to call on to stay steady and grounded in it all but as a sensitive soul, it’s taken up more headspace and heart-space than I’d like. My word of the year is BRIGHT and I’ve added in a phrase which calls resilience into my heart.

As I (re)learnt recently from my husband

David Venus

, the full quote that inspired Brené Brown to write her book ‘Daring Greatly’ is actually from Theodore Roosevelt and I thought it was a beautiful reminder;

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.

The credit belongs to the (wo)man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

Any questions, comments are wide open. If you’re in and keen on doing this with me I’d love to know. Let me know in the comments “I’m in” + re stack to Notes if you like and I’ll announce how many of us are keen in Notes with your writer tag in a few days time!

Thank you SO so much to you and to my paid members here at

Sparkle on Substack

who enable me space and time to do this work for ALL of us. It means the world to be growing joyfully alongside you all.

Hopefully, I’m not just wearing my Sparkle essay club badge in the dark alone and waiting for the day someone notices it… 😆 but if I am that’s cool too.

I LOVE to write. It’s what I’m here to do…

Sending sparkles,

Claire

✨

PS - you can right click and save the badge image to upload to your publication or download the essay badge to add to your publication from canva here.

I’m counting this invite as number 1 of 24! We get to decide the rules of our own publication! You decide when you want to start, how long you want your essay to be and how you want to share it. Don’t forget to tag me in if you’d like to be featured in the round up. Start today if you like?

1. It’s actually a ‘tag’ and a ‘group’ and not a section. Ask me about why in the comments - lol.

2. Staring at the stats, worrying about other’s growth, overwhelmed by all the things to do? Let’s keep it simple!

3. If you know your cadence doesn’t allow for 24 it doesn’t matter - you can still take part. If you don’t write essays, you can still take part! You can all take part! ✨

4. Kudos to my husband who came up with the badge idea for me as he likes it over in the ‘Footnotes and Tangents’ community hosted by the legend that is

Simon Haisell

. One of Simon’s members Jenny came up with the idea for the badge and designs them up for the community - I JUST LOVE this

Jennifer S

✨

5. Summer, Autumn, Winter and then Spring ‘25 bringing over 4000+ new eyes to your work.