Dan Samuals

I'm taking a step back. I've been weighing the option for months. I enjoy writing content on this platform and interacting with all the awesome creators here. Somethings missing. I talk about writing, my plans, my goals... but I write so little. In fact, many days I write some content for this platform and feel the satisfaction of doing my daily duty, but it's not enough. It can't be. I started this account to connect with readers, writers, publishers, editors, etc. and I have... I'm no imposter, but I feel like an excellent cosplayer. I look the part, but what's the point when I'm not writing off-X. My books are not going to write themselves, so I am making them my priority. I need a few weeks (longer maybe) to regain the right writing habit. X will have to wait, and I hope you will welcome me back when the time comes. If you have ever liked, shared, or commented on one of my posts, know that I feel a debt to you. Having my thoughts & words resonate with a single reader is a deep honor for me and driving this decision. The amount of Resistance I feel right now is strange, and uncomfortable, and fills me with doubt. Feeling that personal pushback lets me know I'm making the right move. I've connected with incredible, inspiring, talented individuals on this app and I want to take a moment to shout them out. They've done amazing things for me and shown immense support. They deserve your attention. @ItsWillMyles - So much to say here. Such a genuine human being. Incredible writer and teacher. His newsletter is phenomenal. His understanding of the written word and the English language is miles beyond most. @rtslaywood - Raw. Real. Witty. Funny as heck. Insanely underrated writing talent. His Kindle Vella book The Ballad of Bonaduke is worth reading and oh so rewarding. I cannot wait for the world to discover his work. @thewritelegacy - My first friend here. Nova is a legend. Knows what she is talking about, backs it up, and refuses to back down. No BS, no-nonsense, no tricks, gimmicks, or games. Pure Badassery. @AuthorJFuller - When I had 90 followers, James saw me. He took hours out of his life to make sure I wasn't sent down the wrong road as a fledgling, unpublished writer. The insights he shared with me are priceless. On top of that, he has written and published so many thrilling books! I've read several of them and have many more on my bookshelf (some signed!). @timothynathan - Criminally underfollowed writer (absolutely bizarre to me). He is doing amazing things on this platform and has a very cool website. If you are a fan of philosophy and fiction, follow him. You're in for a treat. @TheMattCardin - Matt's posts are some of the most interesting, inspiring, and thought-provoking write-ups you can come across on X. You and your muse can and should cooperate. Matt helps reveal the path. @tobi_emonts - Superhuman. The best way I can describe Tobi. The grit and resolve it takes to accomplish what he does makes you question if he has more than 24 hours in a day. Tobi has always supported me and I can't explain how much I appreciate him. @getpaidwrite - 95% of the X "writing gurus" don't read or write much, if at all. In a world where they all regurgitate the same posting points, GPW cuts through the crap and brings a fresh voice. He champions fiction which should tell you enough. @bfcarlson - What an account! I've never seen someone with more engaged followers. The discourse that occurs under his posts shows this platform at its absolute best. Benjamin has real experience which he translates into really engaging writing. @nathanbaugh27 - A writer who walks the walk. Impossible not to learn from his content. His StoryWork course is great and will up any writer's game. There are so many other people/accounts and writers on here that deserve your attention I could write about them all at length but this "farewell" post is running pretty long. I'll give a few more shoutouts! @Dewiwrites @pstyrell @SenlisHasWings @FrasierArmitage @Nick_A_Writes @VoidWriter7 @Sherwood_Writes Your books are beautiful and I will buy everything you write! Feel free to DM me anytime. I'll be keen to hear from anyone and I may pop in from time to time. That's it for now. In the words of an Austrian robot cosplaying as a human who is known for cosplaying as a robot: "I'll be back." See you soon my friends. - Dan Samuals

This has been so top of mind for me lately. I’ve been flirting with the idea of stepping away from social media and solely focusing my creative energy on writing off platform. I’ve been so consumed with growing a following and showing up here everyday since I started, that the work I feel fulfilled by has been left unattended. My fear is that I’ll be gone too long and not want to come back. Sunk-cost fallacy giving me too much pause

I worry that some of the best writers of our generation are stuck making tweets and newsletters. And look, I love writing my newsletter. I love tweeting. But I can’t deny a growing sense that very little of this writing matters. And that it might even be harmful to my long-term goals. How many newsletters have you printed out and put on your bookshelf? How many articles from five or ten years ago do you still go back and read? Or recommend? And what about tweets? Are there any threads that rise to the level of books? Certainly, there are some. But even the great ones suffer from the ephemerality of the platforms. @naval's epic marathon of insight would have been largely wasted if @EricJorgenson hadn’t codified it in the Navalmanack. As I spend more time working on book-length writing, I’ve had to confront how different a style is required for good book writing vs. good Internet writing. The over-brevity of Twitter feels awkward in print. As do the short paragraphs of a blog. When I do start to write an article like this, I often end up realizing it’s part of some broader topic I’d like to do a book on eventually. It feels insufficient to put out some disconnected tiny piece of it because I want to package it into some greater whole and share it that way. I know this is something I need to get over, but the feeling is there. Yet, as increasingly unvaluable as blogging feels, there would be no book without my blog. If you aren’t a conventionally laureled writer, your worth is your email list. No other metric particularly matters. And so, to some extent, you must focus on a newsletter to build that initial base of readers so you can convince a publisher that you’re worth paying attention to. But once you’re there… then what? If I have fifteen to twenty chunks of good writing time per week, is it worth spending 20% of that time on articles? On the one hand, yes, it's an excellent place to workshop ideas and build an audience. On the other hand, no, because newsletters and blogs are very low-value long term. Of the hundreds of articles I’ve written, maybe three or four get mentioned by people after a few months. So, this has been my conundrum. I can’t deny my blog's importance in getting my career to this point. But I also can’t deny the ways it might distract from my ultimate goals moving forward. And I’m unsure how much of my sense that “I need to keep publishing there and on Twitter” is an accurate assessment of the best use of my time or merely some combination of FOMO and a desire to make numbers go up. The best solution I’ve come to is letting pieces like this shoot out of my brain as the mood strikes me and not overly manicure something each week. Lean into periods of high output, and don’t force it when the blog isn’t flowing. Twitter is particularly concerning, though. Good writing and storytelling is timeless. The X algorithm changes on the week. The writing style it requires is so far removed from “good writing” that you’re kneecapping yourself before the marathon. It’s more like copywriting, as my friend @nathanbaugh27 put it. But, again, having an audience helps sell books. And perhaps there is some way to make the most of it. For aspiring authors out there wondering how to best spend their time, I think it’s worth asking if you’re getting too good at the wrong thing. The longer-form of writing you focus on, the slower you’ll see results. But the more durable those results will be.

@QuestLikeTribe3 @nathanbaugh27 My favorite book of all time!!!!

@nathanbaugh27 East of Eden, just finished it the other day

I'm on an Old Book kick. What's your favorite book written more than 50 years ago?

@eketiette @nathanbaugh27 So good and so sad!

@nathanbaugh27 Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

@thefounderspack @nathanbaugh27 Heart of Darkness is insanely good. So vivid

@nathanbaugh27 Walden Henry David Thoreau Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad 2001: Space Oddessy Arthur C Clarke

@nathanbaugh27 East of Eden by Steinbeck. Shamelessly plugging this masterpiece every chance I get

@tfburkepoetry I never put them away and I'm thrilled by that decision. Never too late to grab them back

"when i became a man, i put away childish things" they never told me in 20 years i would want them all back!😡😫

@hanslorei Gorgeous! Big fan of the grid myself

Try as I might, I can't get off the grid. Works every time.

@ymkt0876 That's awesome news! Big congrats!

Folks, our breaking news. My wife just passed the citizenship interview and officially became an American citizen🤣🥳👏 Sugeeeeeee(スゲエェェェェェ=awwwwsommme)😹 Years of wait and struggle. Now, we celebrate her victory with Tamago(卵=egg) curry!🥚 #kimagureiwhimsy

@tfburkepoetry Nothing is as sweet as the taste of success in the face of doubt

one of these days i will be rich and famous and i'll laugh at everyone that muted me!💯😂😂

@Sherwood_Writes You made a great choice Boy Scouts have to sell popcorn whereas Girl Scouts sell some of the best cookies ever baked. Worst trade deal in history 😂

A Boy Scout was selling popcorn outside the restaurant I just entered. Overpriced like crazy. I bought a bag because the young man looked me in the eyes while he spoke and said “thank you” to his grandma for helping him. Might buy another bag when I leave.

@Ashwinreads Sadly. My greatest fear is the loss of those two

@DanSamuals We take our mind and memory for granted

This series of self-portraits by William Utermohlen's slow decline into Alzheimer's disease is a stark reminder of the impermanence of the mind and, by extension, the impermanence of the self:

@bfcarlson Haven’t seen it yet, but will give it a watch soon! Thanks for the recc

@DanSamuals Also reminds me of Terry Gilliam’s Brazil

How did they get so much right?

@getpaidwrite He's my favorite author. I've yet to read anybody else who saw/understood life so clearly. He says so much with so few words. To read Steinbeck is to watch life unfold before your eyes. Please give some of his work a read (Do not start with Grapes of Wrath) and let's have a chat

@DanSamuals I've never read Steinbeck. One that I keep meaning to get to.

Let's help some people find their weekend reading... List ONE novel below and explain why 👇

@getpaidwrite Great books. The original scriptures have so much good stuff in them

@DanSamuals Amen and amen and amen. To be honest my writer's bible is a well-worn copy of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes...

It's time to ditch: "Be clear not clever." Really, you can do both. Make it clear and easy to understand. But do it with intelligence, flair and style. Dumbed down writing attracts a dumbed down audience.

@getpaidwrite I like the way you think

You will learn more writing skills by devouring good fiction for years than reading essays about writing.

@selfhelpmaven Amen. I've got to use my time more effectively for that reason

May our parents witness our success.

@nathanbaugh27 Noted and ordered. Looking forward to the dive

@DanSamuals I thought the power of myth was better!

The Hero’s Journey gets painfully oversimplified. It’s not just a simple 12-step process that guarantees a great story. But that’s how it’s often taught. Yet in Hero of a Thousand Faces (and Power of Myth), Joseph Campbell explains the Hero’s Journey from a different, more powerful perspective — one of psychology. • Archetypes • Rites of Passage • Inner vs Outer Conflict Tomorrow morning, I’ll explore Campbell's (and others') ideas behind why the Hero's Journey resonates so powerfully. You can join 78,679 readers and I here: worldbuilders.ai/subscribe Once you understand why this structure works, you see it everywhere. And can put it to use for yourself.

@selfhelpmaven It's easy to get caught in the opposite mentality, but most of the time it's just an excuse to not do the work

@DanSamuals I also agree that the only way to get started is to take a small step. It doesn't have to be grand.

I used to believe my first step had to be grand. A complicated and challenging moment or gesture that would propel me down the path of grandeur like a stunning stallion sired by a war horse. That mentality kept me from passing go. It was the best reason and excuse I ever gave myself. The reality? A single, small step on a new path is the way winners start. This applies to writing the same as any other journey. If I want to write a series of epic length novels that transport my reader into a dream world… Then I need to start with one sentence.