Emotionally speaking, the stakes are relatively high on Substack.

Posting means you’re writing publicly andgetting an immediate response. That’s a beautiful thing: Substack has gifted us direct access to an audience of readers.

But it’s not normal. Writers used to be alone in a room. We wrote at our desks, emailed back and forth with our editor, bought the Times or whatever publication when it came out, and that was it. We had no idea if anyone liked it.

On Substack, it’s all vulnerability all the time.

And when the likes are few and the comments nonexistent or not enough, enter writer’s block—or at least the risk of it.

Substack writer’s block looks like not posting—or posting lifelessly. Or giving up entirely. There are a lot of dead Substacks.

Many as a result of “writer’s block.”

Here’s how to avoid it…