Somewhere in the ether of Substack, another writer noticed one of my posts and subscribed.
That alone is not unusual. I do not automatically reciprocate every subscription, especially when the common thread is simply “writing with AI.” There are many voices in that space now. Too many, perhaps, all speaking at once, often saying roughly the same thing in slightly different keys.
Still, curiosity has its uses.
I glanced across the aisle, not with the intent to measure audience size or stylistic polish, but to listen. And almost immediately, I felt something rare. A resonant chord. Not agreement, exactly, but alignment. The sense that this writer was listening for the same overtones I have been listening for, even if we are arriving there by different paths.
He left a comment. I read it carefully. Then I returned the favor. It was a short comment. Brevity is artistry.
What struck me was not the exchange itself, but the recognition. The quiet reassurance that amid the static, there are still people tuning their instruments rather than turning up the volume.
Perhaps Substack’s algorithm played a role. Maybe one of my tags nudged a post into his field of vision. The tag probably said something unremarkable, writing with AI or words to that effect. But for the first time, I experienced the algorithm not as a megaphone, but as a matchmaker.
Not amplifying my voice but recognizing harmony.
That distinction matters more than most metrics.
I am less interested in being heard by everyone than in being understood by someone who is listening the same way. Someone who notices the small deviations, the pauses, the choices that reveal intent rather than performance. The observation that notices the chink in the armor using pattern recognition. Noticing what is out of place.
It reminded me why I keep writing here, even when the noise floor rises. Not to chase consensus. Not to keep pace. My goals is to leave enough signal in the work that, occasionally, it finds its way to a kindred ear.
Oh! I forgot to mention that I keep writing because it is so much easier with an assistant who provides so much concrete support and elevates my perceptions.
Those moments of connecting are quiet and often easy to miss. And yet they are the moments that tell me I am working in the right register.
Sometimes the smallest connections are the most clarifying.
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