What is Story Hoarder?
Welcome to the Story Hoarder Substack one writer’s confession and absolution wrapped up in one neat little package.
I am a story hoarder — I have been writing for a lifetime, sharing stories with a precious few. This Substack is an effort to change that.
While I have been a writer my entire life, I only began to take that role seriously in the last ten years. At the beginning of that journey nearly all of my writing was public. I was a blogger, therefore my creations were my content. It made sense to me to always be sharing. However, somewhere along the line someone told me that none of the things I had “published” on my personal blog would ever be able to be published in print.
It was a half-truth.
I turned it into my law.
Ah… naivety plus internet information, when does it not turn to extremism?
Anyway, that is how I think my story hoarding truly began. How I ended up spending so much time and effort crafting and revising stories but never truly sharing them. I was lit up in the process of creation and revision, slowed down, and frankly uninterested, in the process for submission. It seems ridiculous to many people, but I became quite content with a handful of readers.
If I were coaching a writer who told me this I would remind them that publication does not always have to be the end goal for a writer, that each writer (and person) can define success for themselves. I’d say something like, “If you are not interested in making a living off of your writing and this is where your joy comes from, then you are all good to continue on this path!” And they would be.
But, would I?
Did you pick up on that “if I were COACHING A WRITER” thing I dropped in that last paragraph?
Yeah… that’s actually a thing I do. You see, in addition to being a writer, I am also a coach for writers in the Stop Writing Alone community and I am the host of the Stop Writing Alone podcast. I run writing community intensives called the Happy Campers Club where I show up to daily live Zoom calls working with writers as they use the time to complete their respective works in progress. I host all different kinds of events for writers. In short, I’m running around this blue marble acting like some sort of authority in the field of writing. This is where the story hoarding becomes an issue.
“Who is Nicole Rivera to tell me about writing?” someone might ask.
That would be a great question.
I hope what follows here at Story Hoarder, combined with my presence on YouTube and the Stop Writing Alone podcast can answer that question in a more complete way.
However, I also hope Story Hoarder becomes it’s own entity of entertainment and escape for whoever needs it. Story is my own personal salve for all types of wounds. Story also serves as a magical spice that makes all of life taste better. I love story — I love imagining it, writing it, consuming it in various mediums, and talking about it whenever possible. I’m sorry I was depriving you of my stories for so long. I hope you enjoy them, find something to talk about in them, perhaps can be healed by them, or, walk away thinking, “if she can do that, so can I,” because that’s true. You can and when you do I hope you won’t turn out to be a story hoarder like me.
Things to expect at Story Hoarder
Short Stories in various genres
Flash and micro fiction
Stories from the NYC Midnight Contests
Stories from the #52storiesin52weeks challenge
Excerpts/chapters from my novel-length fiction
Creative nonfiction/personal essay
Occasional brief descriptions of the prompts or ideas that inspired the stories
Whatever you readers inspire me to share next!
Why subscribe?
Subscribe to get full access to the newsletter and website. Never miss an update.
Stay up-to-date
You won’t have to worry about missing anything. Every new edition of the newsletter goes directly to your inbox.
Join the crew
Be part of a community of people who share your interests.
To find out more about the company that provides the tech for this newsletter, visit Substack.com.
Who is Nicole Rivera?
Nicole Rivera is the creator of all things Stop Writing Alone which started as a podcast in 2019. She lives in Staten Island, NY, her forever hometown with her husband Robert and son Alexander. In between hosting her online Stop Writing Alone writing community events and her in person Staten Island Writers Group events, Nicole is busy recording, editing, and producing the Stop Writing Alone podcast and the NV Rivera YouTube channel where she works to inspire writers to write and find (or create!) the community they need to elevate their craft while enjoying the ride.
FB: https://www.facebook.com/stopwritingalone
IG: https://www.instagram.com/stopwritingalone
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NV_Rivera
