October Updates: Newsletters Are In Vogue
Plus, monthly obsessions and a bunch of newly published stories
Honing Her Craft is a newsletter about writing and connecting through creative practices from journalist Amelia Arvesen. For more content, upgrade to a paid subscription here.
Hi friends,
It’s good to be back here. I’ve noticed a lot of other writers, journalists, and artists adamantly promoting their newsletters lately in anticipation of Twitter’s demise. So here I am, doing the same. We all innately crave different levels connection—in person of course, but also through digital means. The bird app has been such a valuable tool for me as a journalist to find sources, promote stories, collect feedback, and just exchange thoughts with friends and strangers and internet-only pals. I don’t know how I’ll replace it if everything goes to shit. But Substack is a start. This is where, more regularly, I’m going to be sharing a digest of my latest stories and also my monthly obsessions, like the new Creative Fuel podcast by Gale Straub and Anna Brones. What a source of inspiration and encouragement.
During these past few months, while I was away from this newsletter, I’ve been staying busy. I visited the Fioli Historic House and Gardens with my parents, ran 30 miles to AMC huts with a crew of journalists in the White Mountains, shopped at IKEA for a new storage solution after our storage unit was robbed of basically all our camping and ski gear, sewed a cardigan and quilted vest, got my hair cut even shorter, made an Instagram reel of my favorite fall outfits, crunched through leaves in the neighborhood and felt rain on my face, indulged in Ken’s Artisan Pizza and Bluefin Tuna + Sushi, cooked soup and other comfort foods, dressed up as Baby from Dirty Dancing for Halloween, took Kona on lots of dawn and dusk walks, and celebrated one whole year of not drinking alcohol.
Can you tell I’m already feeling incredibly sentimental about the year reflecting on the last few months? I’m gonna be a mess come December. I promise to see ya then, in your precious inbox, with another update.
With love from my corner office with a view,
Amelia
Latest Stories
We’re All Scared Of Dying. Día De Los Muertos Teaches How To Embrace It. (Adventure.com)
Visit These 5 Quieter Winter Destinations Instead (Via Magazine)
Black Diamond’s New Distance Line Digs Deeper Into Mountain Running (Gear Patrol)
The Best Hikes Near Breweries, Wineries, And Sober Bars In The U.S. (Outside)
I Cry Often When I’m In The Mountains. You Should Too. (Outside)
How To Make Outdoor Products Go Viral (Outside)
Saving Alaska’s Transboundary Waters (Osprey)
11 Phone Cases To Protect Your Device (Men’s Journal)
Monthly Favorites
Reading: Quit Like A Woman by Holly Whitaker, an examination of drinking culture and its intersection with capitalism and patriarchy. Also slowly reading Terrible Country by Keith Gessen, a novel about Russia and family. And revisiting Almost Everything: Notes on Hope by Ann Lamott
Listening: Creative Fuel, especially the episode about compassion and art
Also listening: Archetypes, Megan Markle’s podcast investigating the labels that try to hold women back
Watching: Queer Eye and Great British Baking Show are my streaming comforts right now. Have you seen the discourse on the GBBS?
Wearing: Thicc cable knit beanies from Wild Cactus Boutique
Subscribing: I recently gave my money to Trails and Mountain Gazette, two deserving indie print publications covering outdoor spaces
Learning: Just took a training course in Solutions Journalism and was introduced to their tracker, a fabulous resource for journalists who need to reference news stories that focus on solutions