Leaving a full-time job in journalism to write a newsletter has transformed the approach to storytelling. The shift was motivated by a desire for more creative freedom, less reliance on SEO tactics, and a deeper connection with readers. The departure provided the opportunity for control over content and a stronger personal narrative. Celebrating this yearly milestone allows for reflection on the motivations that prompted the move. The shift in the digital journalism landscape likely would have led to this path, but doing so on personal terms made a significant difference.
I wanted to do just slightly less telling and slightly more showing; I wanted to be able to go into detail and follow tangents and not worry about metrics that told me when, exactly, a reader clicked away from the story.
I was leaving because I was so fatigued by precarity - and wanted to have more freedom when it came to what was 'worthy' of a story.
Now, I realize that shifts in the industry would've landed me here no matter what. The difference was leaving on my own terms, and for me, with my career history - that has made all the difference.
Every year I retell a version of this story on the anniversary of leaving and launching this newsletter. I'm not a big anniversary person, but I am a person who likes to revisit ideas and motivations and arguments.
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