A note on geese migration

Over the past couple of months, I have been thinking a lot about the kind of writing that I want to do. Ever since I first started writing about football in 2019, I have been heavily focused on consistently putting work out. At university I was expected to write two 2000 word essays a week, which unsurprisingly made me used to writing a lot quickly. My modus operandi in football has been to write as regularly, extensively and as well as possible.

I still believe this is one of the most effective ways to grow an audience. Committing to this kind of schedule has undoubtedly been the major contributory factor to being in a position where women’s football is my full time job. It is something that I feel extremely privileged to get to do but it comes with its own downsides. I am terrible at taking time off, often have to work long hours and basically allow it to permeate every aspect of my life.

This is partly because I am a freelancer. I have internalised the maxim that I must constantly do as much work as possible lest one or many of my jobs suddenly disappear. However, I am increasingly aware that this attitude does not help me create my best work. I end up spreading myself too thin, without the space to think more creatively.

Given all this I am trying to create that space for myself more going forward. I am really lucky to be in the two best jobs I’ve ever had in football, both of which push me every week to be better at writing and talking about football. So I want to give myself some time back to make the most of that.

That means Flying Geese isn’t going to exist in the same format anymore. I will be turning off paid subscriptions and moving away from any kind of regular posting timetable. I want to thank everyone who has subscribed or read any of my work here over the past couple of years. It has been hugely appreciated and given me the motivation to work as hard as possible to create good content to justify that support. I have just reached the point where I don’t feel like I can regularly do that, in part because Flying Geese achieved its purpose of exposing my work to more people.

I am not sure how often I will write here but I’m not going to disappear entirely. I have become quite attached to these little geese that are my Substack persona. But instead of it being a space where I feel pressure to write frequently, I want to turn it into a space where I can explore the topics that might not be the right fit for the other places I write. I want to make Flying Geese a space to write and think about football in a broader way, something I have fallen out of the habit of doing in the effort to write as immediately as possible. 

So much like the geese themselves, I am going on a migratory journey. But you can expect to spot me back here soon.