New Year, New Initiatives, and a Plan For Growth

Five Ways To Grow Through Collaboration And Deeper Connection

Seasons Greetings!

I chose this bird image to lead my post because I find it slightly off-beat and the snow scene is quite attractive. These two could be arguing over the best place to perch, sharing the latest news, or learning a new tune by rote… let’s keep the options open!

Year in Review

Home and Place Writing is a Newsletter for writers to:

• Discover new ways of thinking and writing about Home and Place.

• Broaden the range of topics they can confidently write about.

• Give their writing more impact and clarity.

• Be inspired and motivated to write new work.

• Write with more authority.

• Learn about research methodology.

• Become familiar with Place Writing as a genre.

• Understand how successful authors use Home and Place in their writing.

With publication scheduled for Wednesdays, emails arrive in the USA in the morning and in the UK in the afternoon. If you’re interested to know, my email open rates bob about in the 30-40% region and I see a healthy spike in traffic on the day of publication.

This year I interleaved my free posts with Video Shorts for paid subscribers. This effectively meant that free subscribers received a post every fortnight, and paid subscribers received the fortnightly post plus a bonus Video Post.

In August 2025 I celebrated three years on Substack and the archive has become evermore populated. I’ve used tags to organise my home page so you can find more of what you like. And I’ve made things easier for paid subscribers by adding a page to the navigation bar, the Writers’ Room. Here you’ll find Video Shorts and all links to everything that is available behind the paywall.

In considering how to move forward and increase the benefits to you during 2026 I’ve narrowed my plans down to five areas of development. These are the ways I hope to achieve deeper connection with you and broaden the reach of this Substack so that even more people can be informed and inspired to write with flair about Home and Place.

1. Post frequency

There’ll be a significant change in frequency. I intend to write and publish weekly and posts will be free for all subscribers. I’ve noted the type of material you like and I’ll keep it interesting by using a variety of formats from discussion posts and collaborative work to research and creative writing prompts.

2. Collaboration

During 2025 I joined with six other Substack writers to form a collaboration working under the banner, Lay it on the Line. Mutual respect has developed as well as friendship even though I’ve not yet met any of my fellow collaborators in person.

We produced new writing generated from prompt letters. We each took a turn with the prompts and we published essays that combined our responses through the seven months leading up to December.

I enjoyed this challenge and also very much enjoyed acting as curator in August when I wrote the prompt piece on the topic of house clearing after a loved one’s death. This is how I introduced the collaborative essay:

‘My job, then, was to weave [the responses] together here for you to read. I think we’ve produced a harmonious piece of work that addresses difficult topics. The whole circle of life is here, from the emotional response to loss, to the practical implications of what to do with material possessions after someone has died, and how distance of time and place affects our ability to deal with grief.’

We’ve decided to continue working together for Lay it on the Line in 2026 though our format will be slightly different. We’ll instigate a monthly Letter Exchange on the theme of ‘Rethinking Our Relationship With The Natural World’. I’m excited to see where it leads.

Another collaboration that worked well during 2025 was a partnership with Jennifer Zarin, an Expressive Writing/Journaling Facilitator and Creative Arts Therapist based in New York City. We wrote about our shared experience of place and produced two connected posts (links below).

Having benefited enormously from these collaborations, I intend to develop my relationships with other Substack writers in 2026. Watch this space!

3. Notes

My family and I moved to Scotland during 2025 and I’m learning more about this beautiful part of the UK from Substack writers I’ve met on Notes. It’s also particularly wonderful to meet new friends online from other countries around the world. Having given up FaceBook, Instagram, and Twitter/X, Notes has become an important and rather wonderful replacement—I can joy-scroll without restraint!

I decided to post daily on Notes during 2025 and, as a result, noticed a big uptick in Followers; it’s been a pleasure to find new connections, share, restack, respond, and follow others.

4. Coaching

My PhD in Creative Writing means I’m in a position to mentor and coach other writers. To make my availability as a coach more apparent I’ve added a page to my Substack.

My current coaching offer specifically aims to help writers who want to take their first step towards posting their work online.

Many struggle with feelings of not being good enough and worry that their writing isn’t of a high enough standard to publish. I aim to dispel fear and instil confidence by giving one-to-one encouragement and specific feedback. With my support during a six-week programme clients will gain the confidence they need to publish for the first time.

Do you know anyone who has the talent and ability to write online but hasn’t yet done so? Please pass my details on to them.

5. Video

With video being an excellent way to develop a Substack, and something that AI cannot easily compete with—at least not as far as I know—I think it’s worthwhile to put time and effort into this format.

I recorded a series of Video Shorts in 2025, sharing my failures and successes, and pushing myself slightly out of my comfort zone. I made them available to paid subscribers because this was a new venture and I felt more comfortable with an invested audience.

I’ll continue with video in 2026 in a slightly different way by incorporating it into posts rather than as a stand-alone offering.

Well, that rounds up the news regarding plans for Home and Place Writing in 2026. Now would you help me with a little poll?

Thanks! I wish you merry end-of-the-year celebrations, and health and happiness in 2026.

Credits and Links:

• Image of two crows in a winter landscape sourced from the Public Domain Image Archive, National Museum of Krakow.

• Take a look at the August post from ‘Lay it on the Line’.

• Enjoy place writing with Yasmin Chopin and Jennifer Zarin—in Central Park, New York City, and in Edinburgh, Scotland.

• Find my Coaching Offer here:

Six-Week Coaching: Publish for the First Time