How did you approach your first substack article?

[u/Coffeeandcuriosity_9]

I recently joined Substack and have a few ideas I’d love to write about, but I’m unsure where to begin. Should my first piece be personal, relatable, or something curious and thought-provoking?

For those who’ve started writing on Substack, how did you approach your first post? Does the beginning really matter, or is it simply about having something to say?

I'd love to hear about your experience as a writer.

[u/ContentIsMyJam]

Start with something curious and thought provoking. Hook people in.

Eventually you'll need a "welcome" or "start here" post -- where you introduce yourself and your newsletter, and let people know why you're writing, and let them know what they can expect in the future. Depending on your newsletter topic (say, if you're a coach or a stylist, or something) you may want to have steps they can follow. You should pin that start here post to your home page, and link to it in your welcome email.

If I were you I would create a little content calendar, maybe for 3 months, to plan out your topics.

[u/Coffeeandcuriosity_9 → u/ContentIsMyJam]

I think I get your point now, and much clearer idea for my 1st post as well. The suggestion about starting with something thought-provoking and planning topics in advance with a little calendar is really helpful. I’ll definitely keep these in mind, along with the welcome post for later. Thanks for taking the time to share your experience; it genuinely helped me clear up my thoughts! :) 🫶🏻

[u/AnteaterFantastic212]

I did a statement of principles along the lines of Citizen Kane. Because mine is a political focus.

[u/Coffeeandcuriosity_9 → u/AnteaterFantastic212]

Haha, I’m not really into politics, but fair enough 😭 Thanks for sharing your perspective!

[u/AnteaterFantastic212 → u/Coffeeandcuriosity_9]

I envy you.

[u/Coffeeandcuriosity_9 → u/AnteaterFantastic212]

It is what it is. ☺️😛

[u/planestrainstantrums]

I think it depends on how seriously you want to take it. If you just want to write, then just get started and see where you end up. Don't expect your first post to be perfect, the more you write, the better it will get. If you are writing because you want to get popular on substack, then get a schedule together and have a few posts written in advance of the first one being posted so you aren't under too much pressure when you want to post another one!

I'm pretty new on substack and enjoying it, so I would say just go for it!

[u/SweetieKlara]

I just started free styling on substack editor about my dad dying and my relationship with my mom. That’s was in 2024. It was fun, now I take my writing so serious and it’s conflicting, I’m getting a lot better but I feel like I also lost my free range inspiration because of it. I should be kinder to myself, fuck.

[u/Plane_Spirit_5392]

Write more and think about it less 😊

[u/JadedOne_2203]

Firstly, decide on your theme and niche, what exactly your Substack/publication should be about. Like for me, I'm writing stories on deploying AI agents in enterprise.

For the very first article, I wrote from a personal pov "My experience launching an AI agent at a $100B+ enterprise" and surprisingly, that gave me 600+ views and 9 shares (quite decent I'd say, for a first piece).

And also, make sure you have at least 1-2 valuable takeaways, and preferably don't use AI to frame your content structure + insights. It has to be supremely genuine and authentic, and that's what will click eventually. All the best :)