Essay Club: February'25
Loop #5
It was great to see our group hit another publishing record in January: 67%! I hope this club let’s you keep up your writing habit all year. And if you missed, don’t fret: every month is a new chance to restart.
Below you’ll find links, meeting times, streaks, and who’s working on what. This page will be pinned in all our calendar events. I’ve tagged everyone who filled out our Google Form, but consider subscribing to the “Essay Club” section in your account settings to ensure you get these each month.
Important links:
Substack Chat: UPDATE — Our group voted to switch up the Substack Chat format. In February, the chat will be locked for Essay Club members only, and everyone has permission to start a thread. This hopefully leads to a more free-flowing space. Have an idea or a draft to share? Start a thread. I’ll make a thread in there soon to let everyone know, but feel free to jump in. I also set it to “notifications for all threads.” Let’s try this out and then recalibrate in March.
Meeting times:
Look out for calendar invites. I recommended you bring a draft for live feedback (these events work as a good forcing function). But I can also (a) pair up people for discussion, and (b) create a focused writing room. Make sure you join the calls before :10 after!
Live feedback exchanges in February:
Friday, 2/7 at 3pm ET;
Tuesday, 2/11 at 7pm ET;
Friday, 2/14 at 3pm ET;
Friday, 2/21 at 3pm ET;
Tuesday, 2/25 at 7pm ET;
Friday, 2/28 at 3 pm ET.
Additionally, we’re experimenting with a daily weekday Writing Hour at 9am ET. If you didn’t opt-in for that in your form, and you’d like to join, send me a DM.
Published in November ‘24:
This is where I’ll keep a running list of who published last loop. You’ll see a number next to each name which denotes a streak. You get +1.00 for reaching the goal you set out on time, +0.75 if you’re late, and +0.50 if you veered from your goal but still published an essay (with a public URL). If you miss a month, your counter resets to 0. If you publish your last month’s goal late, DM me and I can update below.
Streaks:
Becky Isjwara (4.0): How I’m reinventing myself in 2025;
Michael Dean (2.25): Best American Essays?;
Lily (2.0): 32 Things I Know;
Coco Liu (2.0): The unique spatial patterns of Rio Di Janiero;
Matthew Beebe (2.0): What problem are you trying to solve?;
Rachel Parker (2.0): Drowning in Plain Sight;
Jeff Giesea (2.0): You need to come out to yourself right now;
Dolores Lucero (2.0): Firsting;
Nat Lee (2.0): Yes, I knew what a mistress was when I was eight;
Chenshu Zhou (2.0): 10 Things I Fear Most;
Karen de Souza (2.0): Tilt the Future;
Anu Pandey (1.5): The limits of DEI;
Mark Connolley-Mendoza (1.5): Young James Joyce Punk-Rocked My Teenage World;
Camilo Moreno-Salamanca (1.5): Everyone sucks at driving (not me though);
Rose (1.5): The Care and Keeping of a TBR;
Kevin Hsu (1.5): 5 Things I Learned From My 5th Year of Software Engineering & 2nd Year of Writing
Gairik Sachdeva (1.5): What Baby Shark and the Supreme Court Have in Common;
Maksim (1.5): A Space for Doodles;
Matt Cyr (1.0): The Year of Push-ups;
David Kiferbaum (1.0): Conversation is a Revelation;
Claire Butler (1.0): Reflections on my first year of motherhood;
Catalina Munoz (1.0): Playing both sides: Lessons from my secret life as a freelancer;
John Min (1.0): Spirituality is bullshit;
Chris Coffman (1.0): The Secret World;
Aayush Naik (1.0): Status Games;
Anu (1.0): What to do if you don’t have a passion.
Our publishing score: 67% (28 of 42 published / up from 63%).
Our weighted score: 60% (25.25 of 42 / up from 49%).
Publishing in February ‘25:
Everything below this point is locked for the members of Essay Club.