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Welcome to my blog, where I write about creativity and becoming a nonfiction writer. I’m really interested and really passionate about the nonfiction craft. I practise it constantly. And The New Workday is my workshop-slash-studio where you’re invited to participate!
If you're a nonfiction writer, The New Workday can help you develop more awareness about why and how you're writing so that you have more choices, make better decisions and ultimately feel good doing it. This is because I'm working hard to achieve all of this myself and sharing everything I discover.
How The New Workday can help you
So, what exactly can you expect to learn at The New Workday?
Firstly, I explore the motivation to write nonfiction—whether it's chasing dopamine hits across the page, changing peoples’ perceptions, growing a community, making people laugh, all of the above, or something else yet to be discovered. The big goal is to help you keep wanting to write.
Secondly, I write about the actual experience of writing nonfiction—the strategies, habits and tactics for making the work feel exciting, rewarding and the right kind of challenging. I'm not an academic or grammar freak; I'm not banging on about topic sentences or paragraph structures. I'm much more interested in the thinking behind the thinking—the mental models and beautiful questions that help writers get inspired or unstuck.
Here’s what writers have said about The New Workday
“There is something about Harrison’s writing that feels so unforceably knowledgeable, intimate and friendly.”
- CansaFis Foote, Media Consultant and podcaster, writing at Thee CansaFis Foote Show.
“I needed to read this.”
- Miche Priest, former art teacher, financial advisor and product manager, writing at Started on Tolkien.
“Quite amazing how good you are at solving your own problems through writing.”
- Linart Seprioto, maths graduate and B2B Marketing Management Trainee, writing at Better Meant.
“whoa. i have never felt so relieved and motivated by one article. wonderfully written with your personal reflections mixed with public reality.”
- Maria Kim, Head of Insights, activating human potential and building stronger teams.
“Keep conquering that saboteur, as you're so clearly meant to be doing this!”
- Rob Tourtelot, product leader and entrepreneur, writing at This Very Moment.
“I need to incorporate the mantra of "this is the wisdom not of usability, but of discoverability" to my daily parenting. This was a great read, Harrison.”
- Alissa Mears, former travel writer and gear-reviewer gone international English teacher, writing at Pitching a Tent Without Poles.
“This line, ‘And you! brave enough to say them! when you had so much to gain and so much to preserve by not saying them.’ How true and apt. One of those brilliantly laid out articles, which made me want to scroll up and read it all over again.”
- Paudan Jain, commercial advisory in infrastructure and construction, writing at Paudan’s Substack.
“I might print this article and crumple it into a tiny ball and try to eat it because that’s how much it resonates. Or I’ll just read it a few more times.”
- Emily Sokolow, Integrated Communication Strategy, ex Wix, Ogilvy, Deutsch, writing at Emily’s Notes.
“So love your writing, had to subscribe to support! Keep on the juicy path Harrison.”
- Kevin Brennan, capital raising and investor relations, surfer and athlete, writing at Life Notes.
Here are five popular essays I’ve written for writers
Emotional Niche-Crafting. Are you a writer who struggles to find your niche? Despite what you may’ve heard, you can have your cake and eat it (📣 my most popular post).
Fear disappears when I'm grateful. I forced myself to feel lots of gratitude and then tried using it to help me write, but something unexpected happened.
What you hate will show you the way. How keeping a “rant list” can help you find the people and projects you really should be working with.
Toddlers with a new toy. Stop trying to write and edit at the same time, they’re different processes!
Two types of writer. The pros and cons of writing for yourself versus writing for others.
Occasionally, I scratch the urge to write about other stuff too, like people who have an answer for everything, the realities of life as a digital nomad, and food packaging that doesn't open intelligently. But mostly I write about writing.
All of my essays are available freely to non-paying subscribers. I publish new posts about weekly and I try to respect your time by keeping them as concise as poss (under 10-minute reads).
If you’re new to Substack, it’s just a website that lets me publish my blog and lets you subscribe using your email address. All of my blog posts then go straight to your inbox. You can unsubscribe at any time if it's not for you.
You can also become a paying subscriber if you’d like to help me build my “three-legged-stool” (see below) and get access to the exclusive Ideas I Didn't Date series.
💔 Ideas I Didn’t Date
For paying subscribers, I publish a series called Ideas I Didn’t Date. This is inspired by author Elizabeth Gilbert's notion from her amazing book Big Magic, where she imagines ideas as “inorganic life forms” that float around seeking human partnership. When ideas proposition us, we get to choose whether to date them, or not.
Here’s why I publish Ideas I Didn’t Date:
Ideas overflow: Every day, I’m propositioned by many new ideas (for projects, businesses and artworks) and they just sit untouched in my notes app. While many of them stay unexplored due to time constraints or other factors, the thought of not seeing them out in the world bothers me.
Abundance mindset: I'm trying to embrace more of an abundance mindset in life generally, and sharing these uncourted ideas is a stride in that direction. By putting them out in the world, I'm letting them free to find their rightful partner(s).
Community: By sharing these ideas, I hope to find a community of inquisitive minds, to connect with more cool people and cool ideas.
"Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen." – John Steinbeck
Ideas I Didn’t Date is exclusive to paying subscribers, along with the related comments function. I want to make The New Workday sustainable and elevate the quality of content as much as possible. My dream is to write full-time and I need 550 paying subscribers to achieve that dream.
A quick bit about me
I'm Harrison Moore and I’m originally from Sheffield (UK) where I was working as an Electrical Supervisor until I plucked up the courage to go to art school. I studied at two of the world's best schools: Central Saint Martins and the Royal College of Art and it gave me the permission, confidence and resourcefulness to work on projects of my own. Since then, I've only ever wanted to work for myself.
I've exhibited art in over 20 international galleries including Palais de Tokyo Paris and The Gallery for Social Art Jerusalem (and I once presented my sculpture to the Queen of Norway! It was terrifying!). After art school, I built a VC-backed technology business that improved communication on large construction sites and, after that, became a full-time working traveller with my partner (soon to be wife) Corina.
I was awarded an O'Shaughnessy Scholarship for my nonfiction writing, which enabled me to participate in the Write of Passage (one of the world’s leading online writing courses) where I was hired as an Editor and Writing Mentor.
If you’ve got a couple more minutes, I’ll show you my big plan for The New Workday and how you'll be helping me (and others) by becoming a subscriber.
My big plan for The New Workday
I have a clear vision for my career and The New Workday is central to it. I call it my "three-legged stool."
1.
The first leg of my vision is an online incubator I'm building with my former mentor and radical strategist, John. It's called Reboot and we're helping people develop small businesses and creative projects. We want it to be more art school than business school—a place where mess, mistakes and rebelliousness are encouraged. Projects can be profit-making, but they don't have to be; they need only be self-directed and exciting for the students. If you're keen to learn more about Reboot, email me.
2.
The second leg is a creative coaching practice. As a result of this blog, some readers have asked me to coach them in developing their creative pursuits. I'm really passionate about helping people nurture their creativity so if you'd like to explore a coaching alliance, send me an email. I am taking on one more client in 2024.
3.
The third leg is this blog—my writing practice that supports and informs everything else. Me and Corina will be trying for a family next year and I'd love to be able to work from home and choose my hours so I can be a present dad. My goal is to write full-time, so if you get value from my work and can afford to support me with the price of a couple of coffees each month, I’d be really grateful.
If you can’t afford to pay anything, don’t worry, the people who are paying enable you to read it for free. That’s what’s so good about the Substack model. Everyone gets a blog. I earn an income. It’s a beautiful thing indeed!
Let's connect!
I’m always happy to chat and collaborate: harrison@thenewworkday.com
And I'd love to know who you are, where you are and what you're working on, so please leave a comment below this post and share a bit about you.
Looking forward to chatting,
Harrison 🙋♂️