Dean Bowman
@deanbowman.bsky.social
Mild-mannered knowledge worker by day, writer and strategist by night. Sire of LoFi literature and philosophy.
Is it that you’re stuck, or that the tools you’ve been given were never meant for your kind of puzzle? Or both?
November 19, 2025 at 11:46 PM
Is it that you’re stuck, or that the tools you’ve been given were never meant for your kind of puzzle? Or both?
Welcome to my autobiography of veritable memory and invention: Silence & Substance.
Begin Here
Welcome to my autobiography of veritable memory and invention
deanbowman.substack.com
November 19, 2025 at 12:07 AM
Welcome to my autobiography of veritable memory and invention: Silence & Substance.
I don’t know what I’m writing or where it’s taking me.
16: Not Knowing
Longing is the ache that won't stop. The love that won't be returned. The love that won't let me walk away. To write is to long for.
open.substack.com
November 2, 2025 at 3:12 AM
I don’t know what I’m writing or where it’s taking me.
I’m #writing this knowing no one may read it, and I can’t stop.
15: The Beauty of Futility
I choose beauty because the world is ugly, and I need the joy of beauty to survive it, however short it lasts.
open.substack.com
October 30, 2025 at 1:08 PM
I’m #writing this knowing no one may read it, and I can’t stop.
This vessel empties. Fills. Empties again.
Testament 14
This vessel empties. Fills. Empties again.
open.substack.com
October 27, 2025 at 10:04 PM
This vessel empties. Fills. Empties again.
The body overcomes nothing—it becomes its own consumption.
Insomnia 13
The body overcomes nothing—it becomes its own consumption.
open.substack.com
October 27, 2025 at 3:14 PM
The body overcomes nothing—it becomes its own consumption.
This body accumulates its conditions
Illness #12
This body accumulates its conditions
open.substack.com
October 26, 2025 at 11:07 PM
This body accumulates its conditions
Overheard in the cafe: “Writers need validation from readers and editors.” No. I don’t need permission to document my own existence.
October 20, 2025 at 7:56 PM
Overheard in the cafe: “Writers need validation from readers and editors.” No. I don’t need permission to document my own existence.
The fool doesn't know they possess dignity at all. So they surrender it without realizing what they've lost.
Dignity
#08
open.substack.com
October 20, 2025 at 2:07 PM
The fool doesn't know they possess dignity at all. So they surrender it without realizing what they've lost.
Afraid
#04
open.substack.com
October 18, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Hidden
#02
open.substack.com
October 18, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Today begins week 1 of book writing. It’s a bit daunting to take the chapter sketches and develop and edit them into complete chapters. I completed Chapter 1 yesterday.
#WritingCommunity
#Philosophy
#AmWriting
#BookWriting
#AuthorJourney
#WritingCommunity
#Philosophy
#AmWriting
#BookWriting
#AuthorJourney
September 15, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Today begins week 1 of book writing. It’s a bit daunting to take the chapter sketches and develop and edit them into complete chapters. I completed Chapter 1 yesterday.
#WritingCommunity
#Philosophy
#AmWriting
#BookWriting
#AuthorJourney
#WritingCommunity
#Philosophy
#AmWriting
#BookWriting
#AuthorJourney
How do you prefer your medium and long-form writing?
I’ve been playing with both traditional paragraph structures and shorter, variable ones. Trying to find the balance between substance, rhythm, and flow. No conclusions, yet.
#WritingCommunity
#Philosophy
#AmWriting
#BookWriting
#AuthorJourney
I’ve been playing with both traditional paragraph structures and shorter, variable ones. Trying to find the balance between substance, rhythm, and flow. No conclusions, yet.
#WritingCommunity
#Philosophy
#AmWriting
#BookWriting
#AuthorJourney
September 12, 2025 at 2:37 PM
How do you prefer your medium and long-form writing?
I’ve been playing with both traditional paragraph structures and shorter, variable ones. Trying to find the balance between substance, rhythm, and flow. No conclusions, yet.
#WritingCommunity
#Philosophy
#AmWriting
#BookWriting
#AuthorJourney
I’ve been playing with both traditional paragraph structures and shorter, variable ones. Trying to find the balance between substance, rhythm, and flow. No conclusions, yet.
#WritingCommunity
#Philosophy
#AmWriting
#BookWriting
#AuthorJourney
“How do I prove my worth as a writer?”
You don’t need to prove your worth. You exist. You are a member of the human race. That is enough.
#WritingCommunity
#Philosophy
#AmWriting
#BookWriting
#AuthorJourney
You don’t need to prove your worth. You exist. You are a member of the human race. That is enough.
#WritingCommunity
#Philosophy
#AmWriting
#BookWriting
#AuthorJourney
September 10, 2025 at 10:53 PM
“How do I prove my worth as a writer?”
You don’t need to prove your worth. You exist. You are a member of the human race. That is enough.
#WritingCommunity
#Philosophy
#AmWriting
#BookWriting
#AuthorJourney
You don’t need to prove your worth. You exist. You are a member of the human race. That is enough.
#WritingCommunity
#Philosophy
#AmWriting
#BookWriting
#AuthorJourney
Beware of success porn!
Rags-to-riches writing stories inspire false expectations in a field where most fail commercially despite talent and effort.
The exception is never the rule.
#WritingCommunity
#Philosophy
#AmWriting
#BookWriting
#AuthorJourney
Rags-to-riches writing stories inspire false expectations in a field where most fail commercially despite talent and effort.
The exception is never the rule.
#WritingCommunity
#Philosophy
#AmWriting
#BookWriting
#AuthorJourney
September 10, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Beware of success porn!
Rags-to-riches writing stories inspire false expectations in a field where most fail commercially despite talent and effort.
The exception is never the rule.
#WritingCommunity
#Philosophy
#AmWriting
#BookWriting
#AuthorJourney
Rags-to-riches writing stories inspire false expectations in a field where most fail commercially despite talent and effort.
The exception is never the rule.
#WritingCommunity
#Philosophy
#AmWriting
#BookWriting
#AuthorJourney
Withholding, not transparency, is the writer’s truest strength.
To share fully is seductive. To confess feels inevitable. To bare yourself on the page feels like liberation—until it empties you. The world will take every piece you give, then ask for more…
To share fully is seductive. To confess feels inevitable. To bare yourself on the page feels like liberation—until it empties you. The world will take every piece you give, then ask for more…
September 10, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Withholding, not transparency, is the writer’s truest strength.
To share fully is seductive. To confess feels inevitable. To bare yourself on the page feels like liberation—until it empties you. The world will take every piece you give, then ask for more…
To share fully is seductive. To confess feels inevitable. To bare yourself on the page feels like liberation—until it empties you. The world will take every piece you give, then ask for more…
Courage, not craft, is the writer’s truest challenge.
Having an opinion is easy. Writing about it is hard. Writing about it well is a lifelong pursuit. But the real cost is that to write honestly, you must expose the parts of yourself you most fear being seen.
#Philosophy
#AuthorJourney
Having an opinion is easy. Writing about it is hard. Writing about it well is a lifelong pursuit. But the real cost is that to write honestly, you must expose the parts of yourself you most fear being seen.
#Philosophy
#AuthorJourney
September 9, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Courage, not craft, is the writer’s truest challenge.
Having an opinion is easy. Writing about it is hard. Writing about it well is a lifelong pursuit. But the real cost is that to write honestly, you must expose the parts of yourself you most fear being seen.
#Philosophy
#AuthorJourney
Having an opinion is easy. Writing about it is hard. Writing about it well is a lifelong pursuit. But the real cost is that to write honestly, you must expose the parts of yourself you most fear being seen.
#Philosophy
#AuthorJourney
What goals should you set in your writing journey?
That’s entirely up to you.
The greatest thing about a goal is having one, even if that goal is to write for its own sake.
That’s entirely up to you.
The greatest thing about a goal is having one, even if that goal is to write for its own sake.
September 9, 2025 at 4:13 PM
What goals should you set in your writing journey?
That’s entirely up to you.
The greatest thing about a goal is having one, even if that goal is to write for its own sake.
That’s entirely up to you.
The greatest thing about a goal is having one, even if that goal is to write for its own sake.
“You glimpse a trail’s ghostly curve, yet the horizon dissolves into haze, shifting with each step. It can appear as a barrier, but experience shows me this haze is the very weather of all new journeys.”
#AuthorJourney
#AuthorJourney
The Courage of Starting
Even When You Can't See the Path Ahead
open.substack.com
September 9, 2025 at 1:35 PM
“You glimpse a trail’s ghostly curve, yet the horizon dissolves into haze, shifting with each step. It can appear as a barrier, but experience shows me this haze is the very weather of all new journeys.”
#AuthorJourney
#AuthorJourney