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Most people don’t quit Substack because they don’t have good ideas. They quit because they can’t wait.
That awkward first year when you publish like crazy… and nothing happens.
Your inbox is empty. You check your Substack dashboard like a gambler checking a slot machine. Nothing.
That’s the Invisible Phase of writing online.
It’s brutal. It’s quiet. And it’s where 80+% of writers disappear.
Because we want something else…
The Viral Myth
The internet and social media have messed with our sense of time.
TikToks can go viral in hours. Threads might blow up overnight. X posts explode. So naturally, we expect writing on Substack to work the same way.
But Substack isn’t TikTok. It’s not designed for virality. Not really.
We’re not chasing “likes”, we’re trying to build a habit. At least, that’s what we’re supposed to do.
And habits take time.
The myth starts when we see someone’s Substack “explode” and assume it happened out of nowhere. But behind “overnight success” is usually:
- 6+ months of writing into the void
- 100 posts nobody shared
- and 1 piece that finally caught fire.
But many writers quit right before that one piece. We can’t wait.
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The Medium Trap
Look, I came to Substack from Medium. And that messed with my head even more.
Because Medium feeds the opposite impulse.
You can publish an article there, wake up, and see 10,000 views. It’s intoxicating.
We feel seen. Validated. Like we’ve “made it.”
It’s algorithmic sugar.
The article trends for a few days, then vanishes. Our followers barely matter because they rarely see our next piece. We start chasing keywords and timing instead of ideas.
That dopamine of virality is real.
On Substack, there’s no algorithm high. It’s a long ride.
We earn every subscriber. We learn what resonates. And doesn’t.
- Medium teaches us to write for the algorithm.
- Substack teaches us to write to our audience.
Different muscles. But we can utilize both. We should. These differences make them the perfect couple.
The Growth Curve
You start at 0. We all do.
We publish a few times.
We get some subs.
Then… plateau.
That’s where the work starts.
Readers don’t subscribe because you exist. They subscribe because you persist.
They need to see you show up before they decide you’re worth showing up for.
- In year one, you build trust.
- In year two, you build authority.
- By year three, you build income.
But only if you’re still there.
- Your early posts become SEO gold later.
- Your old readers become fans.
- Your archive becomes a magnet.
The writer who stays consistent wins. Because everyone else has already quit.
The Problem With “Strategies”
You’ve probably seen a hundred “Substack growth hacks.” I have. I have written some as well.
- Cross-post to Medium.
- Write in trending niches.
- Add multiple income streams.
- Utilize Notes.
Sure, they all help, but none of those matters without patience.
The single most underrated skill in online writing isn’t creativity or marketing.
It’s endurance.
- Can you handle writing great stuff that nobody reads yet?
- Can you keep your tone steady when your subscriber count doesn’t move?
- Can you stop comparing your beginning to someone else’s middle?
If yes, you’ll eventually win. If you don’t stop.
A Better Timeline
Months 1–3: You write to clarify your own thoughts.
Forget “building an audience.” You’re just learning to show up and find your rhythm.
Months 4–6: You start building a small base.
A few replies trickle in. You realize what kind of writer you are. And it’s often a different one than you thought you would be.
Months 7–12: You get consistency down.
People begin to recognize your style. You keep at it.
Year 2: Momentum sneaks up on you.
Your writing improves. One post gets shared. Someone big subscribes. Growth compounds slowly but exponentially.
Year 3: You finally look “successful.”
People start asking, “How did you build this?”
You smile because you know the real answer: you didn’t quit.
Surviving the Wait
When no one’s reading, that’s your training ground.
- You get to experiment without pressure.
- You build a voice without noise.
- You create something that’s truly yours.
Once the crowd shows up, the pressure does too. You’ll miss these early days when you could hit publish without overthinking everything.
Keep Publishing Anyway
Even when it feels pointless. Even when nobody opens your emails. Even when you think, “Why am I doing this?”
Because every post is yours. It’s what you do if you call yourself a writer.
Most writers think we’re building an audience, but really we’re building a body of work.
And that body of work becomes the foundation for everything else later. Credibility, income, reach.
Compound interest. Small, boring deposits that suddenly become huge.
What If You Don’t Quit?
What if you didn’t give up this time?
What if you treated your Substack like a long-term project, not a quick side hustle?
What if you stopped refreshing the analytics and focused on the writing?
What if your only goal for year one was to still be writing in year two?
That mindset alone would put you in the top 10% of writers online.
It’s survival.
The Bottom Line
Your Substack doesn’t need to go viral.
It just needs to keep going.
If you’re in the quiet phase right now, don’t panic. That’s not failure. It’s the waiting game. The hardest one.
And the writers who stay in the game long enough win eventually.
Ask those who did!
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