A New Chapter
I’ve left the small town of WordPress and moved to the big city of Substack to make a name for myself.
Hello and welcome to Ghaniations!
For those of you who have been with me from the beginning of my creative journey, you may remember my old WordPress blog, aqilghani.com.
That was where I found my voice as a writer, sharing essays, short stories and the occasional rambling that grew longer than I originally intended. We had some good times there. From my first essay on the British Raj to my first reflection post, where I discovered the cathartic power of shouting out into the void.
I’m grateful for having had that space and for everyone who took the time to read, share or even challenge what I wrote there. Especially the challengers. I like a good challenge.
For those who’ve just hopped on the train, you can still check out those old posts. I’ve brought them with me; they’re just over there. No, a bit to the left. Yeah, now look up. A tad right. Yes, there, that’s them.
Peruse them to your heart’s content. I don’t mind. In fact, that’s all you really can do right now as I work on some new material. I got some exciting stuff in the works, kiddos. Don’t you worry. Alas, I digress.
It was on my old WordPress blog that I discovered the power of storytelling and how a single piece of writing can spark a conversation bigger than myself. It was, in many ways, my apprenticeship in writing, without which I may not be doing a master’s in creative writing today.
But now I’ve left the small town of WordPress and moved to the big city of Substack to make a name for myself. I’m gonna be a starrr!
I first heard of the mythical city of El-Substacko from one of my coursemates. They’d moved here long ago, and spoke of the riches, the community and the way you could really build your credibility as a writer over here. How it’s more than just a place to write, but a place to really connect with your readers.
Since then, I began packing my bags and preparing for my trip over to the new world.
But first, my new place needed a name. I couldn’t simply use my name as the name for my Substack, as I did with my WordPress site. That’s been done. I’m over it. I needed a new name to signify a new era in my writing.
That’s when I came up with Ghaniations.
It’s a play on my surname, Ghani, and the word, contemplations because that’s essentially what you’ll find here: contemplations, observations, and the occasional ruminations when times get tough.
I guess, if I were going to be more pretentious than I already am, I’d say you could take it a step further by translating the meaning of my surname.
‘Ghani’ is an Arabic word that generally means rich or independent. So, I suppose you could say Ghaniations means rich, independent contemplations, observations and ruminations.
Again, that’s only if I were going to be pretentious, which I assure you I am not. Most of the time.
All jokes aside, my big move to Substack is more than just a fancy rebrand with a new logo and fresh paint job. It’s a new chapter in my creative journey. A place to be more intentional, more communal and hopefully more exciting.
So, what can you expect to see from me as we move into this new chapter?
Well, first of all, you can expect to see me a lot more. Running a WordPress page became quite time-consuming, especially with the amount of coding I had to do just to ensure everything was formatted exactly as I wanted it.
With Substack, I don’t have to worry about that; I can just focus on the writing itself. Which means you’ll get to hear from me a lot more often. So, if you’re not fed up with me already, you will be.
In terms of content, you can still expect the occasional essay and review whenever anything catches my eye. However, I now want to focus more on writing creative pieces: poetry, short stories and whatever other experiments I decide to unleash.
I would also like to start sharing more reflections on my journey as an actor, writer, and human being.
Aside from the regular stuff, I thoroughly enjoyed putting together my interview piece on ‘Die Before You Die’, so I’m going to start searching for more opportunities to conduct interviews with creatives and other individuals of interest.
If you’re reading this and think your work would resonate with the Ghaniators (that’s my new name for you lot), then drop me a message. Interestingly enough, Substack has a podcasting feature, so I may even utilise that too. Who knows? At the beginning, the possibilities are endless.
At its core, Ghaniations is about storytelling.
Stories have always been the thread that ties us together, from the earliest cave paintings to the latest Netflix dramas. They entertain us, they teach us, and sometimes they remind us of who we are.
Through Ghaniations, I hope to weave narratives that not only inform and inspire, but also spark conversations that are bigger than myself.
So, whether you’ve been with me since the WordPress days or you’ve just stumbled across this corner of the internet: welcome. A new chapter begins here, and I’m glad you’re here at the start of it.
Happy reading,
Aqil