Suggestions for Better Reading of Divagations
Dear Readers,
I hope this finds you well and inspired.
Life these days is crazier than ever—and so if you're reading, I want to thank YOU, most sincerely, for finding enough value in my work to devote your time to reading it. Readers like you are increasingly rare these days, and I'm extraordinarily grateful to have some great ones along for the journey.
In the spirit of good reading, I wanted to share a few ideas for how you might get the most out of Divagations. These are merely suggestions; you are entirely welcome to disregard them and keep on as you were. But, as I take great care in doing this work, I figured I'd humbly share a few ideas as to how it might better be experienced.
Please ALWAYS click through from the email to the Divagations site on Substack. As I am a one-man band and do not presently have a dedicated proof reader, I edit my own work—which means that I make mistakes, because—as any writer knows—it is virtually impossible for a writer to soundly edit their own work. But a funny/maddening/entirely understandable (per neuroscience!) thing tends to happen, and consistent with my sentiment re: letting the work breathe i.e. releasing it to the world: once this is done and I hit 'publish', I invariably catch a typo or formatting error or other correction that should be made. Part of the wonder of the internet is that we can get content (ew) out there immediately, and after writing and rewriting innumerable times, there's something incredibly freeing about releasing the work—all while knowing that it can be edited and tweaked further at any time (there was something, of course, to the Facebook ethos of 'Move Fast and Break Things'[ewewew]), that perhaps it is a living thing and always in the process of becoming. But I can't edit or tweak the emails. So why not just try to get it right the first time? *Sigh* Why not, indeed? I really never make mistakes in life otherwise ;) There are certain (read: most) pieces that I agonize over for extended periods (read: months or years) but there are also pieces that feel like they need to get out ASAP—ironically, like Sunday's essay on The Introverted Artist. If you read that one in the email, check it out on the site now and you'll see how different it became in the space of an hour after its initial publication. It's so curious how it happens this way, but it does. Maybe this all sounds silly; very well then, I'm silly (BREAKING NEWS!). Walt Whitman published Leaves of Grass repeatedly throughout his life, constantly revising and adding poems. It seems that Walt and I are not quite 'get it right the first time' people, that we're always in the process of becoming. So if you're taking the time to read the email, pleasepleaseplease take the time to give the title of the piece a single click and read the most current version on the Divagations/Substack site. I thank you most sincerely for your indulgence and promise it to be a better experience.
Because my work entwines/contemplates a great deal of literature and music, my internet writing takes advantage of the format and includes various hyperlinks. Check them out! They often link to books, via bookshop.org, and if you're interested in a great new read, your purchase of linked books benefits Divagations as well as independent bookstores everywhere. Hyperlinks also (hyper)link to music, currently via YouTube (I'm looking into changing this; suggestions are welcome).
Divagations can be read on the toilet, in the supermarket checkout line, on the subway, etc. But it's written with great intentionality, and I do believe it is best read with that same intentionality. Read it wherever or don't read it at all—but also maybe try reading it curled up on the couch with a glass of wine at the end of a long day, or in the morning with a cup of coffee on the front porch. I suspect it'll make for a more enjoyable and rewarding reading experience.
Should you find value in my work, please consider sharing it with a few friends, or becoming a paid subscriber. You can also support with one-time or recurring contributions here. In addition to being an honorable and magnanimous patron of the arts, subscribers and contributors get access to exclusive content, as well as complimentary copies of publications as they are released. Your contributions allow me to continue doing this work, and I'm exceedingly grateful for your support. And if you're doing all you can do at the moment by just reading when you can, your contribution is genuinely appreciated as well.
I hope these suggestions will enhance your reading experience, which I hope in turn might serve to imbue your life with a bit more wonder and whimsy. I'm so very grateful to have you as a loyal reader, and send you my most sincere thanks, always.
Justin