tldr: I'm leaving Substack, I host my blog on my own domain now due to Substack limiting my artistic license. I have a new newsletter that is connected to my domain that you can sign up for here; but if you don't want to follow, thank you for reading thus far and take care!
Look Simba, Everything The Light Touches is Our Kingdom
Last year, I reached out to Substack because I thought their code block technology was pretty weak (no syntax highlighting, minimization, indentation support, etc.). The email I received back was terse, saying Substack has "no plans to add this feature" and it was left at that.
For many, that would be the end of the conversation. But for me, I was like, no way man! My spirit as a developer would not allow me to feel like I couldn't build something to my own specs.
So I started whiteboarding what a perfect site would look like for me, how it would perform on mobile and what I could do with it if I let my imagination run wild. And of course, since it belongs to me and is under my own name, no creative risk would go un-felt (meaning I can get realll weird with it), and the fragmentation problem of posting under a social media for two years then moving on to the next one after its no longer "cool" (see Facebook to Instagram, Instagram to TikTok, etc) was also effectively solved.
I've been working hard on my site since March, and I'm really happy with the outcome. It's simple where it needs to be, complex in hidden features (thanks Apple for the inspiration!), fast, and fun to evolve with me and my life changes. I wrote my own CMS, use the tools I like (React, Markdown, NextJS, Cloudflare, open source analytics for the public to see, etc.), and have full directorial control over the direction of the site.
At this point, I feel no need to write on Substack because...why? My thing's just...more dope.
But there are a lot of things to love about Substack
Substack is awesome, though.
Substack has a great focused writing experience, ease in sending emails, a great payment processing pipeline that encourages decisiveness on the part of the reader, and much more. Substack has been a great home and I encourage others to use it all the time, but I have outgrew what it can offer me.
The Next Journey
I've been writing pretty much everyday on my new domain using the Zettelkasten form of writing. This form of writing is engaging, brief, and includes lots of fun sources. It is much more akin to collaging than essay writing.
I also have been able to add full experiences to the blog like my own version of Instagram stories, blogs with 3D/Augmented Reality elements, webpages with sound and animations and more! 1
This creative and expressive freedom has been great, and I think makes for a much more engaging experience for readers as well.
If ya wanna stay in touch, you can subscribe to the newsletter here and you can check out my site here. But if this is the end of the road for us, thanks for reading and I wish you all the best!
ars longs, vita brevis --
Bram
Jan 2023 update — moved to blogging on Ghost and these URLs are broken until I find them a new home!