Before I begin to lay out the convoluted line of thought that led to this publication’s creation, allow me to explain this in the simplest way I can. Derange is a place for stories, a place for writing, a place for documentation.
What I have done, and intend to keep doing, is gather a crop of talented writers who have been underserved and underused by the existing media world. The core idea is to build a home where these writers can simply write, while we will provide them with access, agency, and a guiding editorial hand to help crystallize their ideas. No subjects are off limits, and, until proven otherwise, we will not stick to any particular beat or niche. As I state in our About page, we have faith that our writers will naturally gravitate towards the winds that direct us as a society.
For the time being, you can expect weekly features about the unexpected.
While plotting this publication for the better half of a year, I often fell into the trap of over-planning what it would become, over-analyzing which audiences would appreciate it, and thinking I could determine its fate before it was born. I read anything I could find about the “state of media,” picked a dozen brains, and thought about how to best adapt a place for writing into something fit for the times. The only reasonable answer I found was to make short-form videos that trojan horse our articles onto people’s screens. While this is something we will do to grow, it is entirely antithetical to the reason I’m starting Derange.
The merit of short-form content is improving, no doubt, but even so, the large majority of it remains useless and mind-numbing. More importantly, the medium itself lacks the depth, voice, and vantage point into the moment’s psyche that the archaic mode of writing can convey. It’s my naive yet hellbent belief that the written word will persist not only among the intelligentsia but as a form of entertainment and historical canonization.
It is no secret that we are living in absurd and consequential times. There are a plethora of events happening right now that are reshaping our daily lives. Our ambition is to publish pieces that reflect these events in their tragedy and comedy alike.
In these early stages, I see Derange as a launchpad. We have infrastructure in place to help capture a zeitgeist that is at risk of being diluted and distorted by algorithmic slop. Only time will tell if we’re successful, but I’m deliriously optimistic.
The founding of Derange is in no small part indebted to what we accomplished at No Bells. There’s much left to be said about the impact this had on me and everyone involved, but its success—which I am confident in claiming—showed me that people still care. They care about writing, about art, about what’s going on in the world, and about each other. This can be hard to see when looking at the state of the world in its totality, but when zooming in on individuals and communities, it is as clear as ever. While there are obviously no macro-currents entailing that “writing is back!”, I see a future in which individuals take pride in and care of the media they consume. Hopefully Derange will fit that bill for some of you.
Lastly, we will be operating behind a paywall. The plain truth is that any efforts on our part cannot subsist for long without some form of revenue. All contributions will go towards turning this vision into something sustainable, with every dollar dedicated to paying writers and covering necessary expenses. While we will be limited to weekly features in these initial months, as things progress, there is a playbook in place to make Derange’s output more robust and strategic as we continue to grow, build, and learn.
An enormous thank you in advance to any who believe in us this early, and I cannot wait to share our first story on Friday.
Time to be Deranged
This is exciting!! And I agree when it comes to short form content