Welcome to the journey
I started teaching high school English in 2002 on the far south side of Chicago. Since then, my classroom has changed multiple times, but my love for teaching writing hasn’t. And the better I’ve gotten as a writing instructor, the better I’ve become as a writer, using the lessons I’m teaching my teenage students in my own writing as well.
I first started blogging eleven years ago when we moved from Indianapolis to Fort Wayne. About a year after we moved and halfway through my graduate program, it dawned on me that it might be time to start writing about all of the renovations that we had been making on the house we purchased as a foreclosure. I mostly did it for me, but with the glut of foreclosures on the market because of the housing crisis, I was pretty sure others could share in our miseries and triumphs.
As we prepared for the move from the Midwest to Texas, it was time for a new blog to highlight the new phase in my life. I wanted to focus on the unexpected journey that is my life. I moved from my Blogger site to Wordpress and enjoyed writing there for six more years.
Now we have moved back to Indianapolis, coming full circle. I started writing on Substack to give a dedicated place to each of my favorite genres. I want to live a great story, and this is the place where I write about it. You can also follow me on Instagram, Threads, and Facebook, where you will find additional pictures, commentary, and stories to fill out the narrative you find here.
Why subscribe?
Subscribe to get immediate access to the newsletter and all free posts and podcast episodes. Subscribing will guarantee that you will never miss an update due to social media algorithms. I work to schedule my work out weeks in advance so that you never have to go a week without a post.
And, while I love writing and I don’t do it for the money, it takes a tremendous amount of effort and time to prepare my nearly weekly posts. You can help to support my efforts by becoming a paid subscriber.
Get more with a paid subscription
For $6 a month, $60 a year, or $150 a year for a Founding Member, you will get full access to more personal posts, unrevised chapters from my current work-in-progress, and more personal chat threads where you can ask me questions or give direct feedback related to posts. Eventually, I hope to offer more writing instruction that will also be exclusively available to paid subscribers. Your support will also allow me to invest in more experiences and content that I can bring to all of my readers. Here are links to some of the work you can get with your paid subscription.
The Life I Never Knew I Wanted - the beta draft of my upcoming camping memoir
Embracing the Journey Podcast (Coming in February)
Shifting Sand - intimate reflections on faith and faith reconstruction
Writing in the Margins - for those who can’t write as a full-time job
What you will find here
The vast majority of my posts fall under the “On the Journey” umbrella, but some of my archived posts do reside in specific sections. I have chosen to not “niche down” anymore, so my current posts could cover any of the following:
In Accepting the Unexpected, I write about the life experience that continues to influence my thoughts about the world around me and the things that affect my life and the life of my family. At those times, I write to process, reflect, and share those reflections to reassure myself that I’m not alone. While these reflections cover a wide range of topics, I do my best to write and reflect with nuance and honesty. This is my writing workshop. Most of these posts continue to be free for non-subscribers, but I occasionally write “spicier" takes that I reserve for my paid subscribers.
Embracing Curiosity is where I write about culture, faith, and politics. Like with Accepting the Unexpected, I write to process, reflect, and share those reflections to reassure myself that I’m not alone. Again, I do my best to write and reflect with nuance and honesty. Most of these posts continue to be free for non-subscribers, but I occasionally write “spicier" takes that I reserve for my paid subscribers.
I started Mission: Wanderlust for just my travel writing and storytelling. I have spent a lot of time writing about camping and our life outdoors because that is our escape from work and our chance to reconnect as a family. I mostly write but occasionally podcast about new adventures as they come. All podcast episodes are available to the public and can be downloaded on most player apps.
I started Writing the Journey as I worked through publishing my first book. Here you will find everything about that publishing journey and the lessons that I continue to learn as a writer. All of these posts are free to all readers.
On Chat I open up discussions with readers about previous or upcoming posts. You can access the chat here.
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.
Email me
sarahstyfwriter@gmail.com
