Write Club's got a new name
A place we can all turn lemons into lemonade
Hey friends,
You may have seen on IG that I’d originally planned to write about my worst jobs this week - feat. death threats and double knee-cappings (thankfully not mine!) - but I thought I’d mix it up a bit and share that next week, instead.
If you missed it, you can read my post about my best job, here.
This is partially to give them both space, but also because I’ve been writing SEO listicles for work and finding myself feeling called to do something - anything - else with my creativity.
Like thinking up a new name for Write Club.
But before I get too ahead of myself, let me zoom out a tiny bit.
These days, the generally agreed-upon consensus by internet and sales experts is that titles and copywriting should be clear, not clever.
Clarity over creativity, at all costs.
As a copywriter, I get it. In this age of sparse attention spans, AI, SEO, and Google scraping, you have to be concise and clear for our tech overlords, lest you be destined to languish forever on the search engine's second page (or worse).
Writing SEO has paid my bills for a few years, but fuck if it doesn’t drive me mad sometimes, too.
As we stare down into the abyss of a loneliness epidemic, I can’t help but feel like this move away from creativity is all part of the problem.
We crave connection - the kind that fills us with oxytocin - but instead we’re drip-fed tiny shots of dopamine that leave us constantly wanting more, more, more, but never getting it.
Note: Anna Rose from The Burnout Rebellion posted an incredible video talking about this the other day.
We've opted for function over form in everything from adverts to architecture, but at what cost?
There's no place left for the aesthetics of years gone by, when something as simple as a door handle was encouraged to be beautiful.
Sat here at my desk by myself, churning out listicles, I can't help but imagine old-school Mad Men-style boardrooms where people spent weeks dreaming up ideas for smart slogans or ingenious ads designed to catch people’s attention with their uniqueness.
Now, the only thing unique about a lot of the work I do is finding unique ways to squeeze another keyword into a sentence.
And yet somehow, in my efforts to craft the creative community I've long dreamed of, I too seem to have found myself torn between function and form.
Like choosing the name Write Club.
It never quite felt right (sorry!), but on the surface, Write Club said it all.
It sounds like a club where you write. It implies community, creative action, and, if you're pop culture inclined, potentially a play on the 1999 cult movie, Fight Club, known for its rules, like:
You do not talk about Fight Club.
You do not talk about Fight Club.
I'd like to say that there are no rules in this Write Club, but that wouldn't be entirely correct. They’re just a lot friendlier and less strict:
You don’t have to write in Write Club.
Be kind.
No unsolicited feedback.
On that last note, I’ve learned a lot about feedback and encouragement in my work as both an editor and creative mentor, and a writer and a mentee.
To me, feedback giving is an art form. Giving feedback on a fledgling solo project is totally different from reviewing a finished book that has undergone layers of editing and passed through many hands.
Most of the time, what we actually want is encouragement; a reminder to keep going, and/or that someone cares enough about their work to cheer them on.
Actually, I think we all need that. Especially as creatives. That encouragement is often enough to help turn lemons into lemonade.
Which leads us to the grand unveiling…
The Lemonade Factory
The Lemonade Factory is our co-creating space. An hour a week or a month*, where you get to show up for your art.
It's a space to sit down and start; a place of experimentation, squeezing, and sampling, rather than a place of perfectionism.
Sure, the name might not be clear to Google or AI, that's also kind of the point.
This is a human space.
A space for creatives to gather and create.
A space where we can bring our whole selves and all our creative dreams and alchemise them into being.
I know how hard it can be to set aside time and energy to create. Especially at the moment. Especially alone.
This is why co-creating sessions can be great. They skip the stress of gettting started.
Even when we love writing or creating, and we know it makes us feel better (just check out Martha Beck’s incredible book, Beyond Anxiety, if you’re not convinced), it isn’t always easy to set aside time for it, especially in a world that tells us it’s frivolous.
This very same world that prioritises function over form and profits/productivity over people, yet still uses art and creativity to keep us glued to our phones and screens. Oh, the hypocrisy.
Apparently, it’s fine to consume it, but different to make it.
In such times, setting aside time to create is a little act of rebellion, even if it doesn’t always feel like it. A bit like growing vegetables in your garden.
Time creating is us taking a tiny stand against the systems that govern us. The ones that try to keep us too busy and tired to do much more than shop and scroll and try to distract ourselves from the horrors. And god knows there are too many horrors.
Which is why I'm also making another stand…
The Lemonade Stand
The Lemonade Stand is the community hub - the communal gathering place for our little creative rebellion.
It's a place for cheerleading, soundboarding, and encouragement.
A place where we can celebrate all of us and the individual qualities we each bring to the table.
A place for us to connect. To learn, grow, celebrate, commiserate, and create together.
This is also the place I’m most excited about. I genuinely believe that when you put creatives in a room together, a special kind of alchemy occurs.
Y’know, like rising lemonade lifts all creatives, or something.
The Juice
Making Lemonade is where I share my words and what I’ve learned from squeezing lots of lemons. This is free for all subscribers.
The Lemonade Factory is our community co-creating space, where you can find ways to turn your lemons into lemonade, or just show up and bask in the sweet lemony sunshine of the group. This is for paid subscribers.
The Lemonade Stand is like the lemonade watercooler: a place where paid subs can show up, share our lemons and our lemonade, and support each other to reach lofty new heights.
The Squeeze
The Lemonade Factory calls start next week: Thursday 15th May at 10am BST/5pm AWST. There are also Monday calls at 9.30am AWST/6pm (Sunday) PDT.
*We’re kicking things off strong with twice-weekly calls for the first month. After June 13th, we’ll go down to twice-monthly calls.
Paid subscribers will get a link with the invite via email and in the chat. The co-creating parts of the call will be recorded and sent out with the prompts to anyone who can’t make it live.
The Lemonade Stand - our paid subscriber chat space - is already open. At the moment, I’m running it as a chat thread right here on Substack, but I’m open to expanding that and adding in video calls and writing circles as I deepen into my spaceholder facilitator training.
To join us, all you need to do is upgrade your subscription. Those who upgrade to an annual subscription before May 15th will be able to join 32(!) calls for as little as $3AUD/£1.50/$2USD each. Plus all the community stuff, too.
Just to end, I feel like it’s worth noting that everything here is optional. It’s all an invitation, not an obligation.
Come at your own space, do things your way. This is a lemonade lighthouse you can come back to anytime. There are no wagons here, nothing to fall off when life gets in the way, as it often does.
Dip in or out. You do you.
Hit me up if you have any questions. If not, I’ll catch you here, there, or in the comments.
Until next week - where we’ll be talking awful jobs and worse bosses.
All my love,
Cx
PS: If you enjoy my work or my words, you can:
Join us in The Lemonade Factory, starting in mid-May.
Sign up for a 1:1 creative mentoring call where we can talk about all of this and more.
Support me by signing up for a free or paid subscription or buying me a coffee.
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Love how you've named and set up these different options, Cassie!
SEO optimization gives me the shivers. I remember growing up and watching shows where people were advertisers and I thought HOW COOL IS THIS. I do feel like it would feel better if we could have board meetings with tea and cake about it! Absolutely loving the write club! Super super exciting!