u/Financial-Phrase-275

I started a newsletter recently and it still feels strange to say that out loud. For a long time I had this habit of watching a film and then sitting with all these thoughts I didn't know what to do with. Friends would move on to the next thing and I'd still be thinking about a single scene three days later.

My writing is me finally giving those thoughts somewhere to go. The first piece is about Lord of the Rings, and somehow writing it made starting the whole thing feel worth it. If you're into film writing that doesn't chase the news cycle, I'd love for you to read it, connect and gather feedbacks

I've been watching films for as long as I can remember, but I never really wrote about them. Not seriously. A few weeks ago I finally did something I'd been putting off for years and started a newsletter where I just write about movies the way I actually think about them, not reviews, not rankings, just the stuff that stays with you after the credits roll.

The first piece I wrote was about Lord of the Rings. Not because it's a hot take or anything new, just because it's the film I kept coming back to when I asked myself what I actually wanted to say. It turned into something longer than I expected, about fellowship, about what Tolkien was really building underneath all that mythology, about why those films hit differently than anything made since.

If that sounds like something you'd want to read, it's on Substack. No algorithm, no agenda, just someone who thinks too much about movies finally writing it down. I'd love to connect and gather feedbacks

I've spent the better part of the last decade watching films the way some people read books, not just for entertainment but to understand something. The framing, the silences, what a director chooses not to show. It became this quiet obsession I never really knew what to do with.

A few months ago I finally started putting it all into writing. Not reviews in the traditional sense, more like personal essays where I try to articulate what a film actually did to me and why. The kind of stuff I've always wanted to read but couldn't find anywhere.

I started a newsletter on Substack for it called Framed by Thought, and it's been a strange and genuinely exciting experience to finally have a place for all of this. If you're someone who thinks about films the way I do, you'd probably find something worth reading there.

Most people read her as a symbol of innocence or suffering. But she's in color because Schindler notices her from the horse, and Spielberg makes us notice her the same way. We track her. We worry about her specifically. We feel she matters more than the grey figures around her.

Then the red coat appears again later. On a cart. No dialogue, no explanation needed.

She didn't matter more. She mattered exactly as much. We just needed a reason to pay attention. That's the entire moral weight of the film collapsed into one editing choice. Schindler spends the whole film learning what we learn in that one scene.

I've spent the better part of the last decade watching films this way, not just for entertainment but to understand something. A few months ago I started putting it into writing, personal essays on what a film actually does and why. This was one of them. If anyone's curious, happy to share where that thinking goes.

The Shawshank Redemption flopped on opening night. Frank Darabont literally went to the theater and found no one there. He sold two tickets outside himself.

Thirty years later it is still IMDb number one and nothing has come close. I have been thinking about why that is, and I don't think it is just nostalgia or a popularity loop. The film is making a very specific argument about hope versus fear, and it builds that argument through Brooks Hatlen more than anyone else. That four minute sequence after he gets out of prison is doing more emotional and thematic work than most films manage in two hours.

What is it about this film that you think has made it untouchable? And do you think it actually deserves the number one spot, or has it just been there long enough that nobody questions it anymore?

Just published my first three articles today on Substack and planning to go weekly from here. The publication is about film and television, but not in the review or ranking sense. More like personal close readings, the kind of writing where I am trying to sit inside a film and figure out what it actually did to me and why.

I am pretty new to the platform and would genuinely love some feedback from people writing in a similar space. Is weekly a good cadence to start with? Does this kind of long form, personal take on cinema have an audience here? And honestly, if anyone writes about film or has been on Substack for a while, I would love to hear what worked early on for you.

If anyone wants to take a look and tell me what they think, I'll dm the link to my newsletter.

I've been writing fiction since many years, mostly as a hobby, but sometimes when I go back and read them again, I think they are really something to share. I tried Blogger at first. But it was more of managing the site and SEO than writing, so I had to leave that.

Now I was planning to start writing fiction on substack. I only wanted to know whether fiction is really a legitimate thing to write on substack or not. I am new to the platform, and it's a bit overwhelming to discover what's doing good on the platform and what's doing bad.

So just wanted to know, is Substack the right place for fiction/short serialised stories content?

honestly didn't think i'd actually do it. i've been sitting on this idea for weeks, kept convincing myself it wasn't ready, that i wasn't ready. but i just... posted it.

I,ve always been obsessed with the storytelling style of channels like Wendover Productions or RealLifeLore—that cinematic, data-heavy, "geography is fate" vibe. I spent the last few weeks trying to translate that into a Substack format, and it’s been a challenge to say the least.

no subscribers, no expectations. if it reaches one person who gets it, that's enough for now i think.

weird feeling, publishing something. like dropping a note into the ocean.

For those of you in the history or strategy niches: how are you handling visual storytelling? Does the "documentary script" style actually work for readers, or is it too weird for the platform? Would love to hear from anyone else trying to break the "standard newsletter" mold.