The Written Life

A new name for a new phase.

Last week I made the decision to change the name of my publication from “Write Well” to “The Written Life”.

I chose the original name because I often write about the benefits of writing for wellbeing, and the word play lover in me liked that it worked on several levels: learning to write better, writing to improve your wellbeing and also (my favourite) as a Yorkshire lass, when I said it in my head, I always said “right well” as in “really good”.

Anyway, despite all this love for the name, when I opened my laptop to start writing here last week, suddenly the name sounded bossy and instructional. So, I decided that it was as good a time as energy for a change of energy.

Last week there were lots of planetary things happening for me, as a Leo, I won’t go into the details (mostly because my midwife brain can’t remember all the information I read!), but there were some big endings and new beginnings happening, and seemingly changing my publication name was one of them.

The Written Life reflects better what I am sharing here as time goes on. I am still passionate about the power of writing to heal, but I am also in the throws of perimenopause, and trying to write the first draft of my first novel. I have always preferred sharing my thoughts and experiences to preaching and regurgitating other people’s research and discoveries, my new name gives me the freedom to share everything about my life as a writer, and a woman in full metamorphosis.

All change

The week before I changed the name of my paid community here to “The Story Loom”. This was something I had been thinking abut for a while, I wanted my community to feel warm and welcoming, and love the idea of our words and lives being woven together into stories. It is also another nod to my Yorkshire heritage as my great Grandma used to work in the mills. Here are some bobbins which have been passed through the family, which I assume were hers:

I love anything with a story to tell: people, objects, buildings… I surround myself with things which have age and character. You can see in the background of this photo my Dad’s childhood suitcase and my Holly Hobbie dolls, on top of the basket are some of my Grandad Joe’s carpentry tools and flat cap, my Great Grandma’s handmade pinny and my Gran’s amazing 60’s suede cap. This is just one tiny corner of my home. If I had my way I would fill the whole house with antiques and heirlooms and move to an old house to complete the set.

What these changes mean

Probably not very much realistically, except everything here now feels more like me. It’s not that the previous names weren’t me, but as I go through some big internal transformations, I think it is almost inevitable that my outer world will change occasionally too.

I have decided to spend much more time here on Substack, and less time on other social media platforms so expect to see me popping up on notes more often as the weeks go on. I have realised after a few days away from technology that this is the only place I really missed. Its supportive, creative, uplifting, community feel always makes me feel so happy, and increasingly all other social media makes me feel heavy, and, despite carefully curating my feeds, I still see more negativity than I would choose to welcome into my world. Substack, is my safe space, and I hope that it always keeps this warmth, and positive energy.

What does the future hold?

Who knows? I will continue to write about all aspects of my written life from working out how to write my first novel at almost fifty, to how I am using writing to keep my mental health on an even keel during perimenopause and the odd seemingly unrelated insight into my life along the way.

If you love Substack, like I do, because it allows us to be real, messy, imperfect, and completely human, then I hope you will join me on my written life journey.

I love meeting new people and am unbelievably grateful for every new subscriber because it grows my writing confidence and allows me to meet more story lovers and word collectors.

Thank you for reading. This publication, and everything I write, comes from my heart, and is my own words, and created without the use of AI.

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Hello, I’m Kate - story lover, future author, writing coach, journal therapist and mum, based in the Stafford, UK. You can receive my weekly writing tips and updates, wellbeing reminders and the general life ramblings of a menopausal writer, by subscribing for free.

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I’d love you to join me in my little ink stained corner of Substack…