Six Months

A "state of the stack" if you will.

I had an essay scheduled to drop this morning, but I decided to pull it. It describes some personal events that have taken place over last two weeks that are still a bit too raw. In keeping with the idea of exploring the sacred through story, I had used an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation as a framing device. I may still post it one day—it’s saved in the drafts folder, and I have a backup, so it’s not going anywhere. But I need some more distance from the events it describes. I didn’t start this Substack to air my grievances or call people out, and I may have drifted over that line.

A representation of what I came here not to do. | Photo by Jason Rosewell on Unsplash

So instead, I’m talking stock. I started posting in October 2025. It’s been six months. Why did I start posting these essays, and am I still aligned with that original vision? What kind of day has it been?¹

I started writing because I love storytelling. We didn’t have a video camera at home when I was a kid. Couldn’t afford one. If we had, I probably would have started out making movies. Pencil and paper are cheap, so I started sketching and writing comic books. A half-hour documentary on newspaper journalism I watched in the fifth grade (thank you, Mrs. Jones) introduced me to the work of writing. I went home that day, took out that week’s Weekly Reader, and started my own copy editing. I had a blast.

I think I started blogging just to see my name in print. Most of the ideas I workshopped in those days wouldn’t past muster with me now. I’ve gone back to look at some of those old posts and cringe at my narrow-minded pretense. Over the years, I drifted to Facebook, then to Twitter. I switched over to Substack for a few reasons.

One: Twitter/X had long ago become a place built on outrage and bumper sticker bullshit. I tried Threads and Blue Sky and they both suffer the same problems—their algorithms are built to reinforce instead of challenge; to outrage instead of edify. I was poisoning myself by sticking around.

Two: I’ve written a novel (my third, and the only one worth sharing) and outlined three others, and everything I read about publishing insists an aspiring author needs at least some kind of platform. After a little research, Substack look the most appealing.

Three: The more time I spend on Substack, the less it resembles the rage bait that infests Twitter, et al. I’m sure I could find it if I looked, but I don’t want to, and so far, the algorithm running this place hasn’t introduced it to me. This is a friendlier environment where I can find other writers who challenge me.

I want to protect that sense of winsome diversity, and I found myself drifting into the realm of snarky outrage this week. It might be good for clicks, but I don’t want to build a platform on biting sarcasm. It’s a quick way to lose friends.

This marks my 30th post. I started out with one subscriber, a gentleman who was my editor when we wrote for a now defunct online web-zine called “Infuze.” I’m up to 23 now, many of whom I have had the pleasure to engage on this forum. My most popular post right now is a look at the differences between the 1991 and 2017 versions of Disney’s BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. The least popular is a review of the 2020 film MINARI—a film that deserves more attention for its examinations of faith and struggle.

The last two films I saw were Angel Studios’ BONHOEFFER (2024) and Denis Villeneuve’s SICARIO (2015). I still want to do a piece comparing and contrasting BONHOEFFER with Terrence Malick’s A HIDDEN LIFE (2019, about Franz Jägerstätter). The wheels are spinning on something that might connect SICARIO with HELL OR HIGH WATER (2016), both written by a pre-Yellowstone Taylor Sheridan. I’m not done writing about the AVATAR films, and with DUNE PART THREE on the way, there’s likely an essay or two on that front that’ll make its way to the page sooner or later. I still have another essay I want to contribute to Christopher Wilbur’s Our Favorite Star Wars Scenes.

Plus, I submitted a query letter to an agent two weeks ago. I am sure more submissions will follow.

There’s a lot to do, and (checks watch) I’m just 30 minutes away from deadline, so time to post. Thank you for reading.

1. A nod to Aaron Sorkin, who likes to title the first-season finale episodes of his TV series “What Kind of Day Has It Been?”