Writing about unsetting expectations is a deeply personal and moving experience. It requires a time and a space to let your experiences flow to thoughts and thoughts flow to paper. You've described the writing experience as unsettling, daunting, revealing, vulnerable, and cathartic — but mostly brilliant; like good therapy!

I'd love for as many of you to have these kinds of experiences, because through them you get to get to know yourself even deeper. You process your emotions and feelings. And, most importantly, as many of you said — you get a place to make your story heard. To be for others what Unsetting Expectations is to you. Knowing that someone will benefit from your story, that you've made a difference, is priceless.

But our world doesn't work on priceless, does it? I've been spending the better part of the relaunch period thinking about how to bridge the gap to pay the writers. We're not at that sustainable point where I can afford it. And it seems unfair to me to fund some and not others. Of course, plenty of you are happy to contribute without anything in return — and that's our Pay it Forward pledge, where the money you would have gotten goes to the next writer or subscriber in need.

However, to have an opportunity to offer a space for those writers that want to share their story, experiences and knowledge, but can't prioritise the time and space without a currency incentive until we can afford to pay them, this is for you.

How it works

  1. Submit an idea request for an article you’d want to see along with whom you’d like the author to be, OR support other people’s requests.
  2. Decide how much you’re willing to pledge to the article crowdfund. We’ll only ask for payment details if the author agrees to write the article, so you don’t have to pay anything upfront.
  3. If the crowdfund meets a minimum of £150, we reach out to the author on your behalf.
  4. If the author agrees to write the piece, we’ll contact you to collect your pledge via credit card. We operate on an honor system, and ask you to do the same 😇.
  5. Once the piece is published, we distribute the funds:
    → The author gets 70%.
    → You, as the original requester, get 10%. You can accept it yourself, or choose to donate to the Unsetting Expectations fund or any other charity of your choice!
    → We keep 20% to cover the cost of the operation.

If you're an author → feel free to suggest your own article pitch and engage with the community to support you!

Request an idea

Or support an already existing one

If you need any convincing...

What better way to convey this meaning than to have our own Unsetting Expectations writer, Cara Cooper, let you know what it means for her.

To cleave is it cling to, to be unwavering. It is also to divide, to split. Glorious ambiguity; my favourite word.

Writing for me is about being undone and making connection.

Allowing expression of my thoughts and feelings out into the world, and into the mouths and minds of others. As we share parts of ourselves, good and bad alike, we release, emancipate…we unset our expectations. As we read and talk, we build something; community.

The privilege of being here is all mine, but in order to show up, I have to be able pay my bills; I need commissioning. In order to sit and think and write, I need peace; I need childcare.

So that’s the impact your subscription will have for me - I can pay my childcare bill and write. I can connect with you and together we can build something beautiful.

This is a wonderful way to see the community coming together to support the creators you believe in.

All of the crowdfunded stories are published without a paywall.t