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Hey Reader,

A weird thing happens when people start to write, and I’m pretty sure it’s one of the reasons people stop writing shortly thereafter.

We adopt a voice that we think we ought to have.

Everyone does it.

At first, it’s because we’re scared. We think we’re not good enough to write, that nobody will like our work, that we won’t impress.

Then, if we can get past that, we start to emulate the writers we love.

And that’s perfectly natural and reasonable, too. It’s also often unconscious. We start to develop our taste and figure out what we enjoy and admire, and that creeps in.

Finally, if we get far enough, we start to develop our own voices.

We keep the bits that we love the most from the writers we admire, and absorb and adapt them. It’s not plagiarism or copying; it’s evolution.

But we also put those bits with our own quirks and personalities and turns of phrase, and that’s when we start to truly become who we are.

The kind of voice where someone can read it and instantly go, “Ooh, I love this, it’s by Reader, isn’t it?” Even if your name isn’t on it.

If we can get that far, it’s a joyful way to write.

But so many of us don’t even get close. We get scared by the voice in our head, and by the voices of other people.

The formulaic templates and “how to write for xyz” squashes who we are and kills the fun. And we start to sound like a tired version of what’s already there.

But if we can get past that and start writing like ourselves, that’s SO cool.

We realise that we can break rules. We can say fuck the formulas and tits to the templates and become a voice that people instantly recognise.

Not everyone will love it.

But some people will become our fiercest fans.

And best of all, we get to stay true to who we are and what we believe and what we want to say and how we want to say it.

​January Uncaged protects that.

It’s where you can come and develop your taste and your voice and have fun and ignore all the nonsense going on out there.

And by the end of it, you’ll stand a little taller and feel a little more secure in who you are, on paper at least.

What do you say?

Care to join us?

And now, it’s Friday, so it’s time for the first Goodie Bag of 2026. Here’s what I’ve found for you:

This Weirdly Helpful podcast

Austin Kleon is one of my favourite writers-slash-artists-slash-creatives and you should absolutely sign up to his emails. But first listen to this very short (under 10 minutes) podcast episode with a little interview with Austin. It’s called A Fun Alternative for Surviving Our Disastrous Times and that sounds like something we all need right now. So enjoy!

Louis Grenier locks me in a cottage part III

Louis has released episode 3 of his documentary in which he locked me and two other freelancers in a cottage in Ireland for two days and fixed our businesses. Which, you know, tall order — and nobody can ever FIX your business. But my goodness did he help us change things for the better. Watch it here.

The Off Menu podcast

I haven’t waxed lyrical (that’s a weird phrase isn’t it? Going on a safari to find out its origins now) about a podcast for a while so today I’d like to suggest James Acaster and Ed Gamble’s Off Menu, a show in which they invite on a well-known person and ask them to describe their ideal menu in a dream restaurant. It’s such a cool premise because it involves food, which I love, and is also a beautiful jumping off point to find out so much about someone from the angle of food, which has its own cultural, personal, religious, regional, historical nuances. Ready? Poppadoms or bread? POPPADOMS OR BREAD?

This street art in Coventry

I used to live in Coventry. It gets a bad rap, not all of it deserved. As I was wandering the tunnels of Reddit, I stumbled across this thread containing some beautiful street art. We have some gorgous street art in Hereford too. Next time you’re out and about, keep a look out for street art. Take pics. Enjoy the urban landscape. You never know what you might spark.

The cult of celebrity

I don’t know how I found Jermaine Fowler’s Humanity Archive but I’m SO glad I did. This article on the cult of celebrity is an absolute banger and should be required reading for, well, everyone really.

What I’m reading

I’ve had such a beautiful Winterval stuffing myself full of books and potatoes. I’ve just finished Under the Eye of the Big Bird by Hiromi Kawakami, which is a beautiful look at the dying end of humanity, and feels uplifting and not depressing.

And now I’m reading Ben Elton’s autobiography What Have I Done? which so far I am very much enjoying. He’s one of the greatest comedians of our times, so he’s required reading for me.

These are both library books, by the way. I’ve rediscovered the joys of the library and I don’t know why I stayed away for so long.

What I’m writing

I’m working on my new newsletter. It’s called Late to the Party. If you’d like to subscribe, you can do so here. It’s free for now, and it’s also empty for now, but there’ll be an article next week.

Word of the week

wassail

noun

1. spiced ale or mulled wine drunk during celebrations for Twelfth Night and Christmas Eve.a mighty bowl of wassail in which the apples were hissing and bubbling
2. lively and noisy festivities involving the drinking of plentiful amounts of alcohol; revelry.I arrived in Eastcheap, that ancient region of wit and wassail

verb

1. drink plentiful amounts of alcohol and enjoy oneself with others in a noisy, lively way.he feasted and wassailed with his warriors
2. (in south-western England) drink to (fruit trees, typically apple trees) in a custom intended to ensure a fruitful crop. historical: it is the custom, in the cider districts of Sussex, to wassail the apple trees
3. go from house to house at Christmas singing carols.here we go a-wassailing

On Thursday next week, we’re going wassailing in our village. Our area is known for producing great cider, so we’ll be singing to the apple trees to ensure a fruitful crop.

Quote of the week

Me too, Mary. Me too.

Happy new year to you, and thank you for joining me on this big wordy adventure.

TTFN,

Vicky 🫡

p.s. Know someone who might enjoy this email? Please forward it to them and get them to sign up here.