Something New...
I’m in the middle of making some changes.
The Situation
I’m in the middle of making some changes. Good changes that should be a win for everyone.
I’m talking about this newsletter.
In service of full transparency, I wanted to share what to expect in the next couple of weeks, and why the changes should be a more meaningful venture in the long run.
When I first set out to develop a newsletter, I titled it “More Articulate” because I love the act of finding the perfect language to clarify something on the page. The discovery of just the right word, landing on the most accurate turn of phrase, is to me to most joyous part of writing. It’s like taking a spot of mist and turning it into fresh sunlight. It feels like true accomplishment.
This is the spark I return to time and time again, that makes writing in and of itself a rewarding activity regardless of where that piece of writing goes next or to whom it is sent. That instinct has not changed; it’s still what moves me. But the form this newsletter initially arrived in has strayed a bit from that north star.
The focus of each letter, thus far, has been about personal dynamics and social interpretation. Each one has carried the weight of processing emotional, inter-relational moments. It stopped being about the practice of listening for the right words to come to thought, and more about how I acted or spoke around other people.
Over time, my own walk through life became a constant search for moments of tension and conflict in communication styles; in order to fill future issues of this newsletter, I was training myself to look for things going wrong, so that I could pinpoint a specific before vs. after comparison of how certain moments could be improved.
But that’s not the way I wish to look at or walk through life.
What It Requires
Ideally, a newsletter should stimulate the creator on several different fronts. The process of developing and maintaining their content should allow the individual to learn constantly, read widely, gather material externally, and feel intellectually expanded. That’s my personal list of requirements.
And crucially: readers should feel inspired to join in from a sense of curiosity, rather than deficiency.
When these things are absent, they result in burnout. As a multi-millionaire who has built an entire business rooted in her own newsletter, author and entrepreneur Codie Sanchez shared in a recent interview that most dispatches fizzle out within the first six months. They’re missing the key elements that make continuous engagement not only sustainable but energizing too. As it turns out, I’m arriving at my own 6-month benchmark.
When writing draws from genuine curiosity rather than obligation, readers tend to feel that difference. You deserve writing that comes from a place that is full and inspired. This shift is me endeavoring to make sure it does.
What’s Changing in the Language
Moving forward, I’ll be aiming for content that’s closer to my first love of wordplay on the page. The name of this newsletter will be pivoting as well. More on that soon.
The Result
Here’s what that means for your inbox: you will continue to receive new missives via email every 2 weeks. The title and header image of the newsletter will look different, but you will know that it is still from me when you continue to see “by H. S. Fishbrook” at the top.
If this content shift doesn’t float your boat or meet your wordsmithing needs, I’d love to hear from you. Tell me what you have appreciated most about the issues you’ve seen thus far, and what you hope they continue to deliver in the future.
Every transition is a kind of editing: deciding what serves the work going forward, and what no longer does. That discernment is its own form of being articulate.
Parting Food for Thought
You’re invited to consider these questions as you move about your week…
When you’ve made a creative or professional shift in your own life, what made it feel like an act of greater alignment rather than abandonment?
What was the last activity you participated in that filled you up in equal measure to the amount of effort you put into it?