Creative Stories #2: meet Brian Lund
The writer behind The Anecdote and The Lund Loop.
Hello, and welcome to the second edition of “Creative Stories” — a new interview series featuring people doing cool, creative shit. Today, I’m sharing ’s story. We talk about his Substack, , and all things creativity. Enjoy!
Alexis Damen (AD): Tell me a little bit about yourself and what brought you to Substack. What’s your newsletter about?
Brian Lund (BL): I think my Substack bio says it best: Great dad. Good friend. Lacking husband. Decent trader. Solid drummer. Sometimes funny. Often A-hole. Serviceable writer. Terrible poker player. Book nerd. Too smart. Punk rock. Work in an ice cream shop.
(Those last three are inside jokes, which I will gladly divulge in person after an adult beverage–or two.)
Growing up I swore there was no way I’d ever get married or have kids, and today I live in Southern California with my wife and two kids. I’m a native Californian and I've never lived more than 10 miles from the hospital where I was born.
My main newsletter is
and it’s about trading and active investing. I started it as a blog in 2007 and moved it here not long after launch, which makes it the first and longest-running investing/trading/stock market Substack.I launched a second Substack in June called
, which has nothing to do with the stock market. Essentially it’s an extension of the personal essays I used to write for The Lund Loop during downtimes when market conditions weren’t right for trading.And I’ve got yet a third Substack in the wings called The Bibliophile which is for those who love books.
AD: What’s your definition of creative living?
BL: One thing that I’ve learned (the hard way) is that creativity is a process, one that you have to drive daily. You can’t wait until you’re in the mood to create. You can’t sit and wait for the muse to arrive. There is no such thing as writer’s block, any more than there’s plumber’s block, airline pilot block, or car salesman block. Just like in those professions, you have to work at your craft (job), every day.
That being said, my definition of a creative life would be a life in which my creativity could sustain me financially, spiritually, and emotionally to the point where if I didn’t want to be creative for a day—or a week—I could afford to (not) be.
AD: What inspires you to create?
BL: Anger.
Wrong answer, right?
I get it. And I wish I could have answered something like puppies, sunsets, or the combined love of mankind. But I’m trying to be real here.
The truth is, I find that I’m most inspired to write by things that make me angry. It’s the usual suspects—injustice, racism, sexism, ageism, all the isms—but for some reason, the things that raise my hackles the most are; lack of critical thinking, weighing emotions over facts, and most of all, intellectual dishonesty.
I’ve thought a lot about this, and I think the problem is that I have a massive dose of imposter syndrome. I mean, who doesn’t, but for writers it seems to be a particularly vexing issue.
There are many times when I want to write about a certain topic and I immediately start to think of things like;
Am I qualified to cover this topic?
Does anyone want to hear my opinion on this?
Am I a good enough writer to tackle this subject?
And what I think anger does is it pushes me past my inhibitions.
Of course, too much anger and the product suffers. Fortunately, I’m not an angry person and I think the cathartic effect of writing is one of the reasons why.
AD: How do you overcome creative blocks?
BL: By procrastinating until I’m forced to create so I don’t miss a deadline.
AD: How do you turn off and rest your creative mind?
BL: I’m ADHD. Not the cool, hip, trendy I-think-I-have-ADHD type of ADHD, but old school, hardcore, clinically diagnosed ADHD. I’ve done a lot of cognitive therapy over the years to keep my ADHD brain in check, but it never fullly turns off.
AD: Who are a few creative people that you look up to, aspire to be like, or admire?
BL: Most of my favorite creatives are British and dead, among them, A.A. Gill, Christopher Hitchens, Martin Amis, and of course the GOAT, George Orwell.
Jim Harrison, not British, but dead, is amazing.
Neil Peart, is Canadian and dead, but an inspiration.
Nabokov, Russian and dead.
Bourdain, also dead, is problematic on many levels, but I like him as well.
Joan Didion, dead.
Rod Serling, dead.
For those still living; Josh Brown, Anne Lamott,
, David Sedaris, John Cleese, and a dozen or so drummers whose names nobody will recognize.Quick fire questions:
AD: What are you currently reading?
BL:
The Bookshop: A History of The American Bookstore, by Evan Friss
A Paper Orchestra, by Michael Jamin
And like everyone on the planet, Atomic Habits, by James Clear
AD: Watching?
BL: Other than my guilty pleasure, scrolling through random YouTube videos, I don’t watch much, though I did recently start the Amazon series, The Man in the High Castle.
AD: Listening to?
BL: “Minimum Wage,” by the Busboys (amazing album), “More Fun In The New World,” by X, and I have fallen in love with the album, “George Walker in Recital,” specifically, “Sonata in E Major, L. 23.” By the way, I found this last one from a great Substack I subscribe to called Flow State.
AD: Do you prefer writing by hand or typing?
BL: Journaling by hand, writing by typing.
AD: What’s your top Substack tip?
BL: Find your voice—and write only for you.
Hacks, tips, listicles, etc., will get you short-term, sugar-high engagement, but if you want to do this for the long term, you’ve got to differentiate yourself from the pack. The only true differentiation is you and your personality.
And ironically, you won’t find your true audience if you try to game what your (potential) audience wants. Besides, you’ll hate yourself—or you should.
AD: What’s one fun fact about yourself that you haven’t shared on Substack?
BL: I’ve never had a cup of coffee.
AD: Anything else you’d like to share?
BL: I’m on a late(r) in life quest to engage more with people. So if this interview prompted any questions, feel free to hit me up.
Brian’s links:
The Bibliophile (Coming soon, I promise)
I don’t know, this guy sounds like a dork.
This is brilliant, Alexis. I too have been wanting to do something like that. But, it feels odd to ask people to become formal for an interview. Any tips on how you overcame the barrier, if any?