I don’t write a newsletter well. I don’t understand this medium. I have tried it a few times now. The first time, I published it as a links log, sharing links that I found useful. Then I made it personal, a letter about what’s up with me. It could well have been a blog post, every time. A weekly digest of my posts was a good tradeoff between a mindless link log and why-can’t-this-be-blog-post thought. But it felt meaningless.
To be frank, I don’t want to sign up for the added dance around subscribers and their numbers. I like it when I don’t know anything about who reads what I write. Also, I enjoy it when I am not forced to stick to a schedule of any sort. There are periods when I am highly active, writing, and sharing regularly. But then there are times when I don’t.
Newsletter wants to force a schedule onto me. Without a schedule, a newsletter is just another outlet for my blog posts.
I am an instinctive writer, my writing does not have any structure. Or nature. I write about anything and everything that interests me now. Because I read anything and everything that interests me now. My blog serves me best for the form of writing I do. Newsletters work for many — I enjoy reading them. But the form is not a natural fit for me.
So, I am done with my newsletters experiment. Every issue I have published is available on my blog as an essay. I intend on keeping it this way. RSS feed continues to exist.