The best newsletters about creativity

Essays by Henrik Karlsson on relationships, thinking and agency, written from a Baltic island and often with his wife. Issues mix personal anecdote with careful philosophical inquiry, such as why music alters our perception, and frank reflection on creative blockage.

A weekly newsletter from the author of Steal Like an Artist, mixing curated lists of links and quotations with typewriter interviews of artists and writers conducted by mail. Readers get creative inspiration, book and art recommendations, and a personal view of a working creative life.

Soundfly Weekly is a creative newsletter with essay-style love letters on the creative process, music, and learning, often weaving science, history, and personal anecdotes into musical ideas. Readers get reflective, idea-driven writing about experimental and minimalist music and the craft of making sound.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt's personal newsletter pairing written pieces with video transcripts on media, technology, creativity, and cautious optimism. Recent issues cover AI liability and regulation, human creativity versus AI, and his work as a UN advocate for human-centric digital governance.

Glasp's newsletter curates articles on AI, productivity, and knowledge sharing, with issues mixing book essays on creativity and management, original research reports, and historical stories about innovation. Readers get digestible takeaways on working better, building teams, and the human side of AI development.

A Substack from bestselling author Katherine May combining personal essays on rest, care and meaning with a weekly podcast of author conversations and community extras. Readers get reflective writing, book recommendations and bonus listens for paid subscribers.

A weekly newsletter from author Jami Attenberg offering reflections on writing, creativity and staying focused on creative work. It also hosts the annual #1000wordsofsummer challenge, where participants write 1000 words a day for two weeks.

A cognitive scientist shares research-informed perspectives on creativity, well-being, relationships and human potential, along with updates on his podcast, now the Human Potential Lab. Readers get original psychological frameworks and announcements of conversations with scientists, philosophers and technologists.

Weekly drawing lessons and assignments from illustrator Wendy MacNaughton, mixing art history, personal reflection and hands-on prompts. Paying members get full assignments plus access to a creative community and gallery.

Sketchplanations sends a weekly hand-drawn explanation of an idea from science, psychology, creativity or everyday life, with the author's personal anecdotes. Each issue explains the concept in plain language and links it to practical situations such as training, group work and colour mixing.

A Substack from the founder of Sublime combining curated ideas with reflections on building human-centered products. Recent issues include notes on the limits of proxy metrics and a weekly interview series, Humanmaxxing, with tech writers on thriving in the age of AI.

A weekly personal newsletter from writer and artist Anna Brones that blends reflections on creativity, art, books and daily life, from a Susan O'Malley art book to tech politics and sheep on her property. Readers get essay-style writing, book and art recommendations, and occasional promotion of her calendars and writing group.

A reader-supported newsletter and podcast by a veteran interviewer exploring creativity through surfing, snowboarding, skateboarding and related cultures. Issues mix long-form personal reflection, podcast episode notes and a weekly list of recommended reading, listening and viewing.

Personal essays and pep talks aimed at creative people, mixing anecdotes about making art, live drawing sessions and pets. Readers get reflective, humorous stories about creative failure, play and keeping art as a low-pressure companion.

A biweekly newsletter from the author of Daily Rituals that draws on interviews and books by novelists, poets, painters and other artists to show how they get creative work done. It also runs community features for paid subscribers, including a book club and a virtual coworking group.

David Perell's podcast-style newsletter goes behind the scenes with well-known writers such as Jodi Picoult, Robert Greene, and Andy Weir to explore their writing habits, ideas, and craft. Readers get transcripts and practical lessons on research, plotting, character, and the publishing business.

Personal essays on people-pleasing, adult friendship, time and creative practice, written from a black queer perspective with a playful, poetic voice. Readers get reflective, relatable writing that connects everyday habits to culture, art and ideas about softness and slowing down.

Komando est une newsletter française qui décortique des campagnes, formats et activations de marque créatifs dont les professionnels de la communication peuvent s'inspirer. Elle mêle analyse de cas, réflexions éditoriales sur l'authenticité et idées concrètes à réutiliser, avec un modèle partiellement payant.

A personal design essay collection by Tobias van Schneider, written as a diary-like archive of his reflections on design, software and creativity. Readers get thoughtful, opinionated pieces on craft, the future of software and the creative process.

A newsletter from the Bloomerangas podcast host exploring creativity, design and the future of work through interviews with designers, educators and entrepreneurs, plus essays on design and culture. Readers get podcast write-ups, creative case studies and information on paid membership tools and mentoring.

A daily short newsletter that pairs contemporary art with a brief personal reflection or simple exercise. Readers get a minute of art appreciation, calm and creative encouragement from artist and author Danielle Krysa.

A weekday newsletter from illustrator Adam Ming offering daily drawing and journal prompts along with reflections on building a creative habit. Issues pair personal drawing experiments with practical ideas and perspective on play, motivation and practice.

A Substack newsletter by author Rob Walker offering ideas on creativity, attention, work and being human, often through interviews and reflections on noticing. Readers get thoughtful prompts and conversations about how attention shapes perception and practice.

A newsletter of art, design, photography and creativity stories, each focused on a single project, exhibition or artist. Readers get descriptive features with artist quotes and details on how the work was made.

A short, personal Portuguese-language newsletter with reflections on creativity, managing multiple interests and creating content on social media. Each issue pairs a small idea, such as survivorship bias or a project timeline, with practical suggestions.

Personal essays that use self-experiments and neuroscience-informed ideas to explore courage, identity, and creative habits such as writing and publishing. It also promotes the author's coaching and a paid Writing Lab workshop series.

A personal newsletter from designer and author Natalie Walton sharing simple ideas on decision-making, clarity, creativity and wellbeing to help readers design a life they love. Each issue accompanies an episode of her Imprint podcast and offers practical, reflective takeaways.

A personal lifestyle magazine by a creator who blends interior design, emotional wellbeing, and creative process, often with sponsored product recommendations. Readers get seasonal home decorating tips, candid stories about making creative work, and encouragement to read more.

A designer and coach writes reflective essays on creativity, the anxieties of working in design today, and navigating change, including the dread of building a portfolio and the role of AI and technology. Readers get personal, candid perspective on professional identity and practical musings on how designers can stand out.

A cartoonist shares illustrated essays on creative blocks, the drawing process and the feelings behind making art, promoting an upcoming illustrated novel-in-verse about a young artist who stops drawing. Readers get practical advice on restarting a creative practice and an inside look at how a book cover and project come together.

A personal Substack of essays and diary-style reflections on creative integrity, self-trust and building an online presence without performance, written from the perspective of a home-centred mother in Australia. Readers get candid, voicey commentary on creativity, faith, wellness culture and platform dynamics, plus occasional lifestyle notes.

A weekly newsletter from Rick Rubin's Tetragrammaton world offering short reflections and practices on creativity, plus occasional longer pieces such as the New Moon Observer broadsheet. Readers get creative-process ideas alongside essays on astronomy, mythology and music.

A community-driven newsletter offering playful drawing prompts, reference images and weekly session lists for hobbyist artists. It also shares practical tips on materials and color mixing, such as working with indigo in watercolor and ink.

A comics creator and coach shares personal reflections on making graphic novels, creative constraints, and trusting your own taste. Issues also promote paid workshops, coaching, and an occasional art book.

A weekly visual roundup of artwork by living artists across painting, ceramics, sculpture, jewellery and textiles, with credits and gallery links. Each issue closes with a short creative prompt inspired by one of the featured pieces.

Mike Rohde runs live sketchnoting sessions, with guest speakers, replays and a monthly dispatch of curated links and thoughts on visual thinking. Readers get practical examples of using loose sketchnotes to clarify thinking and solve problems, with extra replays for paid members.

A personal newsletter from the author of the Draw Your Day books, sharing sketchbook pages, travel memories and encouragement to draw daily life. Issues mix reflective storytelling with creative inspiration and book recommendations.

Personal essays by author J. Kevin Tumlinson on writing, honesty, aging and living by one's philosophy. Readers get reflective, candid first-person observations on the writer's life and craft.

A quilter shares weekly personal reflections on her hand-stitched quilting projects, creative rhythms and home life. Readers get project updates, practical making habits and thoughtful musings on what makes creative work meaningful.

Essays applying existential-humanistic psychology, drawing on thinkers like Otto Rank and Maslow, to creativity, self-actualization and living meaningfully amid a culture of optimization. It also includes personal reflections from the author and promotion of his writing challenge and seminars.

A personal newsletter from Kickstarter cofounder Yancey Strickler with updates on his projects, especially the push for Artist Corporations (A-Corps) legislation, alongside reflections on creative practice. Readers get behind-the-scenes progress reports and personal essays on making work and building new structures for artists.

SERAPEX is an essay newsletter by a former e-commerce studio owner who explores the tension between commercial demands and artistic integrity, and how creators handle money, attention and meaning. Its issues mix personal reflection, portraits of struggling creators and critiques of self-help slogans like 'find your purpose'.

A weekly newsletter in which writer Jenny Lawson shares a hand-drawn doodle along with personal reflections on creativity, mental health, family, pets and hope. Readers get a candid, funny, diary-style note about keeping creative joy alive through hard stretches.

A creative writing professor and graphic memoirist shares short illustrated reflections on the habit of making art, writing and storytelling. Issues also include event announcements, workshop news and details of paid-subscriber Zoom hangouts.

A personal newsletter from Madeleine Dore reflecting on change, contradiction and everyday observation, often drawing on quotes from writers and artists. Each issue pairs a short essay or podcast companion with a batch of daily observations from a long-running journaling practice.

A newsletter from The 100 Day Project community offering daily creative prompts and reflections, with recent issues covering a ten-day creative reset. Readers get event listings, giveaways and encouragement to build a sustainable creative practice.

Paul Bakaus writes about building his personal website as an interactive, playful world with Claude Code, and about shipping AI-assisted creative tools like the Impeccable design tool and a shader gallery. The writing blends personal anecdotes, a case for craft over pure AI speed, and practical notes on building for agent-driven development.

A personal newsletter from a creative professional who writes candidly, with humor and vulnerability, about self-doubt, family memories, and the creative work he runs, including the Code for Creatives cohort and AI tools. Free issues are essayistic stories and reflections, with paid community workshops offered on top.

A personal Substack from an artist who is also studying adult education, mixing reflections on life, creativity and self-awareness with updates on her art collections. Readers get candid, conversational essays and a look at her creative process.

A personal Substack of memoir-style essays, meditations and reflections on perseverance, grief, motherhood, illness survival and the writing life. It also promotes the author's 1:1 writing mentorship for aspiring writers.