Extras & Audio: The Circle of Horror Must Be Broken

Hear & read a much-revised and improved version of my latest essay, and more!

The beauty of Substack is that I can keep tweaking and editing my pieces as they appear on the website to my heart’s content. But a drawback of Substack is that once I press the “send” button, the version of my essay that lands in your inbox is locked away from me: I cannot reach into your email account and make any further edits. (Well, unless you give me your Gmail password.)

Which is a shame, because I’ve developed a terrible habit: I tend to pull the trigger on the “send” function prematurely: not when my editor’s eye calmly decides a piece has passed review and is ready for publication, but when my antsy nerves decide they just can’t wait a second longer to get the piece out there.

I get so excited as a piece starts to come together. When I think it’s just about ready, I spend a good couple hours in an almost delirious state, fussing, re-reading and tweaking, until I can’t contain my excitement any longer, and then I smash the big button and set it free.

But invariably it’s only after I press the publish button that I’m able to read my essay with a new perspective, imagining as I read it that I’m actually you as you open your inbox and read it freshly. And then I find a million more tweaks and changes that I want to make.

In the case of my latest essay, I think I pressed “send” much too soon, or perhaps much too late, because it was well past midnight last night when I fired it off. This morning I awoke, calm, refreshed, and ready to read it through your imaginary eyes, and what I found was that it needed a bit more work —an extra paragraph or two to clarify my points and better unify my overarching themes as I segue from one section to the next.

So, dear subscriber, if you haven’t yet read the piece that you found in your inbox this morning, might I suggest you read the version that is hosted live at my Substack online, instead of the copy that’s inside that email? If you did read some or all of the version I sent out last night, I think you’ll find that my revisions from today make it much easier to follow and my segues between points are clearer. I even changed the title!

Voilà: The Circle of Horror Must Be Broken (v. 2.0)

And for paid subscribers… behold, my Imaginary Ted Talk!

Thank you again for your support. You’re helping me immensely as I struggle to keep the roof over my head. For you, read on, and find the audio recording of my essay (the 2.0 version). Plus, read about my imaginary Ted Talk. Enjoy!