Two Years of Working With the Kitchen Door Open

Reflecting on publishing The Good Enough Weekly

On Jan. 6, 2023, I started this newsletter stating my intentions to “work with the garage door open,” as Robin Sloan put it, and be in your inbox every Friday of the coming year. Near-weekly is more accurate, two years in. I published forty-nine newsletters in 2023, and forty-one this year. 2024 was the year of expanding my focus to include the newsletter, freelance work, and finishing Desert Pookas. I struggled and took breaks. I kept going. This time last year, there were around 550 of you and today that number is 899. I keep a steady eye on why I publish, and metrics aren’t it. But in the same breath, I’m so grateful for each of you here, reading.

There’s discourse about what makes a newsletter good, but I’m only interested in being good enough. Two years in, I’ve found more reasons to write weekly, as well as I can, taking breaks when necessary. There is a craft to be practiced and improved which can lead to growth over time. There is self-expression that becomes more important as the world crumbles. There is thinking of the person reading, yes, trying to edit well.

But I worry that people will silence themselves as they run the hamster wheel of perfectionism. And all the while bigots will wag their mouths and fill all the space made by the restraint of alternative voices that the world needs to hear – even if there’s an occasional typo.

Keep writing, keep working, keep reading. You’re good enough. And thank you, specifically, for being here.

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The Good Enough Weekly comes out on Fridays, alternating essays and shorter updates. I also take on freelance editing and writing projects. Reach out if you’re looking for help in those departments — I’ve worked on everything from zines to textbooks.