Why Make Anything if You Don’t Think It Will Be Great?

The Substack Migration is in full swing, with Platformer and Garbage Day announcing plans to leave. Ironically, both publications are featured in the product images for Substack on the App Store (yikes). Molly White led the charge by taking her Citation Needed newsletter to Ghost a few weeks ago.

Over the weekend, Molly posted an amazingly detailed explanation of her experience moving from Substack to Ghost. The guide helped me realize a few of the things I missed when setting Ghost up a few months back. I tweaked some settings following Molly's guide and to account for the new Gmail and Yahoo requirements launching next month.

As a result, my newsletter is now being sent from newsletter [(at)] justincox.com, and the super nerdy things like DKIM, DMARC, SPF, and BIMI should be fully working. Since my goofed-up settings might have been why some of you were caught in The Purge, I temporarily added everyone back.

There my be some of you who may be seeing this email for the first time. If so, hello and welcome back! Sorry I goofed up the settings and you missed out for a few months. Oops!

Also, there may be a very small number of you who previously unsubscribed but got today’s newsletter. I apologize for that and chalk it up to better understanding the list management now.

Either way, please hit reply and say hello so you avoid the next Purge coming in a few weeks. Ok, on to this week's actual issue.

Chasing Greatness

I'm rereading Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow for book club. There's something about this book that just speaks to me. It's hard to describe exactly why this book is so good other than to say it's just like life; there are ups, downs, love, and miscommunication. The prose is equally beautiful and haunting. In that regard, it reminds me of Station Eleven, my favorite book of the last decade.

Anyway, Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow is about Sam and Sadie, childhood friends who become business partners to make a video game. While brainstorming for their first game, a simple yet poignant question arises: Why make anything if you don't think it will be great?.

The definition of greatness is different for Sam and Sadie. For Sam, it means popularity. For Sadie, it's art.

I've been thinking about this passage all week, reflecting on my writing. I don't ever want to hit publish on something I don't think will be great. Sure, I know that not everything will be a hit, but that doesn't mean greatness shouldn't be my goal.

Unlike Sam or Sadie, I don't define greatness as popularity or art. Instead, my definition of greatness is thought-provoking. My goal as a writer is to engage people through motivation and conversation. If my writing causes people to take a moment and reflect, learn, or grow, I've achieved greatness.

Chasing greatness is why I can't get behind the whole concept of content creation. To me, content is something that just exists. It doesn't have passion or emotion or heart. It just... is. Content is the latest Netflix movie you watch and forget about a few hours later; it's not something great.

Though, as with Sam and Sadie, definitions of greatness differ for different people.

I can see an argument that, for some folks, greatness is defined by monetary return. With that definition, there is an argument for churning out content to achieve money based on volume. This strategy might work for you, but it's not my goal.

Between my modest earnings on Medium and the fantastic people who support me with a paid subscription, my writing business is relatively self-sustaining. But money, while great, is not the goal for my writing. I tried that when I went freelance full-time, and it just wasn't for me. I don't like chasing money. I'd rather chase greatness.

It's easy to fall into the trap of following the patterns of other creators. Hell, there's an entire market out there of writers who make money trying to tell others exactly what supposedly worked for them. But, I want to challenge you to follow your own path instead. Those other creators likely have a different definition of greatness than you. Chase your own. You'll be happier in the long run.

Story Time with Siri

Did you know that Siri tells jokes and stories?

I often ask Siri to tell me a joke while going through my morning routine. The jokes are typically dry or very punny. For example, "What happens when you cross a joke with a rhetorical question?"

You can also ask Siri to tell you a "story" or a "bedtime story." The latter is my favorite and is quite creative. To my knowledge, there are four bedtime stories:

• One about The Sandman and a little boy who hides from the "sand-sprinkling weirdo" behind his "fluffy cotton battlements."
• One about the solar system where Siri intentionally avoids saying "Uranus."
• One about a “lonely little star named Stella” who learns that people can be stars, too.
• One that changes each time Siri tells it about a little girl exploring the world of graveyard shift jobs.

These stories are filled with whimsy and clever writing. Listening the other day, it hit me: someone writes these stories. Someone out there created the seemingly endless list of jokes and the handful of stories Siri reads.

I'd love to feature a Siri writer for Write Now someday. Until then, I'll continue enjoying storytime with Siri.