best words, best order
best words, best order
Excerpts of exceptional writing on Substack read by their authors.
best words, best order
Coleridge wrote that writing is "the best words in the best order." I would like to celebrate some of Substack's "best words in the best order” as part of an ongoing series.
We have all had moments when we are stunned by the quality of someone's writing here on Substack. I am creating an opportunity to both read and hear a writer share their work.
👉🏻 I need your help to pull this off and find wonderful work.
Some Basics
I'm looking for short excerpts of spectacular prose or poetry from a Substack writer to share with my readers.
The writer will need to read their work out loud and record it
Reading time must be no more than 3 minutes
Quality of recording will not be critical!
best words, best order will link back to the content itself
The nomination text will also be included.
How to Participate
Sadly, you cannot nominate yourself.
Within this post, provide the excerpt itself – it must be readable in under 3 minutes.
Share you comment as a Note and include the name of the writer (please tag them so they have context here)
Include a link to the piece you are citing.
Briefly share why you think the excerpt is exceptional, ideally from a "feel something" point of view. What experientially happens to you when you read their work? Your recommendation text is a critical element here so take a moment to get your best words in the best order.
Equally important: Share your thoughts on the other nominations.
Who Can Participate
This is open to anyone to submit
What Does the Writer Need to Do?
The writer will need to record themselves reading the selected excerpt
They will save the recording as a WAV file and reviewing the post prior to its publication.
I really look forward to what you share and I can’t wait to hear writer’s read the best of their own work. I think there’s community value in sharing little nuggets so that others can explore on their own.
Let’s do it!
And, of course, please share this note as well! This could be wonderful.
“Nobody gets through this life unscathed. Maybe that’s the beauty of it. Maybe life is nothing more than singing love songs into the deep as Orcas ever circle in the gloom. Maybe that fine balance between sanctuary and danger, that safe haven in the firelight as hands are held and the dark is repelled, as death circles in the gloom, maybe that is where dignity and true love reside. So rave on, rave on and sing your song, till your lost and bursting, then sing some more, then sing some more.”
https://substack.com/home/post/p-147971305?r=3lmmp&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
@jonathanfoster
This paragraph, this entire essay sings the echos of pain and love throughout all of existence, throughout all of time, held in the hand of life refusing to surrender under this great tension of opposites.
"She rarely bothers to open her eyes. Sight, the judge and jury of the daylight hours, is a trickster after sundown. For the night, it is her nose which fills the few gaps which hearing has left unpainted. By smell alone she can follow the stoat through his labyrinth, footfall by footfall, even though he went to ground an hour ago. The slightest breeze is a watercolour of leaf mould, rabbit piss, otter spraint. Hedgehog is spicy, eel smells of sex in the grass. The scent-shades of life and death and decay are rich and long since in harmony. Mine is the only smell which offends her, uninvited as I am, out here in the black velvet lands where I have no business, no grace, no senses worth the name."
Elvers by Moonlight - written by David Knowles
https://open.substack.com/pub/davidknowles/p/up-the-back-on-a-calm-moonless-night?r=1mrn9s&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web