Caveats aside on the challenges of social media, last week I had the unique experience of having an Instagram post go “viral.” In my little world, viral means close to 17,000 hits, exponentially more than usual. I can’t share the reel (here’s the link) because Substack doesn’t like videos, but I’ll share the content:
You really have to break the rules in writing land.
Don’t write your synopsis like you’re supposed to.
Don’t follow the rules on a cover letter.
Tell them who you are.
Put something weird in the email subject line.
Don’t follow the paradigm for whatever it is that you’re supposed to be doing.
Shake it up and please break some rules.
I was surprised this took off, until I thought about how daunting it is to get a piece of writing into the world, and how rife with rejection is every step. Maybe it was a relief for writers to be counseled to be themselves.
I credit my mother with my subversive tendencies. She ran a tight ship at home, but out in the world, she never met a rule she wouldn’t break. She argued every parking violation in traffic court with, I believe, a perfect record of success. This was necessitated by frequent speeding and her refusal to park in a paid parking lot. Meaning never, not once, in thousands of trips into Philadelphia.
Mom didn’t like bureaucracies and declined to recognize any kind of pecking order. “Go to the top,” was her motto, whether or not she had access (she didn’t) or justification (she didn’t). Nowadays we would call this white privilege—which it certainly was. It was also Mom’s very individual way of going through the world. She had no truck with style or fashion, never wore makeup other than the occasional red lipstick, abjured hairdressers ( her hair was cut by a barber throughout her life), and was most comfortable in hand-me-down jeans from our twin boy cousins.
I have similarities to my mother, the tight (likely too tight) ship at home, the subversive streak in the outside world, and the obliviousness to fashion which left my two daughters without a role model or any instruction in the so-called “feminine arts,” which honestly, we should rename.
This week, a new podcast about THREE MUSES and publishing as an older writer went live on Writer Spark if you’d like to check it out.
I have two events next week that I’m excited about. First, I’m pumped to moderate a conversation on March 23 at 7 PM Eastern for the PEN/Faulkner Foundation on collaboration—two novels and four authors, a super interesting panel in which we’ll talk about writing a novel together and writing across race lines. Please sign up here to join us.
On Saturday March 25, from 2:30-4:00 PM, I am thrilled to be part of DC’s Temple Sinai’s Author’s Roundtable. This is in person and live streamed. Please join us!
Have a wonderful week, and please let me know what you’re reading.
Love, Martha
I loved this, Martha! You're so right, and apparently so was your mother.
Thanks loads. My handle is @marthatoll on IG. Let me know if you have a problem.