The biggest posts of 2024
Thank you for another amazing year
Thank you for another fantastic year. We’re rapidly approaching the Substack’s second birthday, and I am constantly buoyed by the readership here and our conversations together. You can find 2023’s biggest posts here, but after another year of writing, here’s what continues to strike a chord.
The Queensland Problem, June 19, 2023
Enduringly popular and unbeaten, The Queensland Problem remains resonant for so many Queensland artists and arts workers. Much has changed in the landscape of Queensland arts since this post, but our chip on the shoulder is perennial.
The problem with theatre, October 11, 2024
This post is popular, I sense, because of its click-bait title. But it’s an interesting companion piece to The Queensland Problem in that it articulates an unresolved quagmire in which so many of us are stuck. We admit defeat. That’s it; we’re out of the industry. And then…something pulls us back in.
I think about Sam every day. I miss him and regret not talking to him more in the last five years.
How to write 5,000 words an hour, August 15, 2025
Again, this is a clickbaity title, but I actually share a technique in this post for an insane word count.
How not to write a memoir, October 9, 2023
I’m a bit bamboozled by this one, which includes the full script of my theatrical adaptation of How to Be Happy for paid subscribers. Writing a memoir has become a goal for many people, but it’s not without its landmines. Ten years on, I still have a complicated relationship with How to be Happy, although I’m glad it’s out in the world.
Only slightly further down the list are two 2024 pieces that caused a lot of conversation in the community. Warning: I’m a cis white guy and My journey with neurodiversity garnered a lot of private messages from readers.
Many of the year’s top posts were paid subscriber posts. Money isn’t the goal with this Substack, but it certainly helps.
I’m happy to open source the information on my analytics because I always find this stuff interesting from other writers I follow. Here’s some basics:
At the end of 2023, the blog had 226 subscribers. It’s grown steadily over 2024, it now has 291.
Of those subscribers, 36 are paying (12%).
At the end of 2023, the Substack earned approximately 800 USD a year. At the end of 2024, it’s earning 1,170 USD a year.
Thank you for subscribing and continuing to read. As part of the silly season, you can give a gift-paid subscription to someone. That’s a fantastic way to support the blog. Or, of course, if you’re not a paid subscriber, you can become one.
Otherwise, keep well, and I’ll speak to you in the new year.
Wishing you a safe and peaceful season.
Love,
Dave