Write More with Simon K Jones

When was the last time you got invited to chat with a developer at Facebook, or Instagram, or TikTok? Yeah, me neither. The big platforms that we rely on as creators — and as readers / viewers / listeners — are mysterious black boxes, concealing how they work. Increasingly, Meta and X have become antagonistic partners that we’ve had to content with in order to reach our audiences. But it doesn’t h...

Producing a simple podcast is easier and cheaper than ever. Here are some starter tips. Check out some of the writers I've interviewed over the years: https://open.substack.com/pub/simonkjones/p/amazing-podcasts-with-amazing-writers?r=3rwg&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus...

A live read of the first chapter of No Adults Allowed , my third novel. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simonkjones.substack.com/subscribe

The last five minutes of a film can make or break it. The last 2,000 words of a novel. The last sentence of a short story. Finishing a story is what makes a story. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simonkjones.substack.com/subscribe

The TL;DR is: it’s really frustrating when strangers send me a direct message asking for me to subscribe to them, in exchange for them subscribing to me. I’m sure you’re not one of those people, but we’ve all met them, right? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simonkjones.substack.com/subscribe

As I close in on the finale of my weekly serial Tales from the Triverse , I’m thinking a lot about foreshadowing, and how it works for online serial fiction. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simonkjones.substack.com/subscribe

How does structure affect your story? Can the two ever be separate? How I build stories: https://open.substack.com/pub/simonkjones/p/how-to-construct-a-story?r=3rwg&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web Brad's podcast: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7tAaS2mnD3SC03xbSjtU9z?si=6_VLSZd7SRWRYL2QXvCPXQ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus ep...

I share more tips on how to publish a fiction newsletter without going mad. Here's that post on building indexes for your work: https://open.substack.com/pub/simonkjones/p/how-to-help-new-readers-get-on-board?r=3rwg&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simonkjones.substack.com/subscrib...

Writing fiction is hard. Finding readers is even harder. Achieving success, regardless of how you personally measure it, is near impossible. In this episode I talk about how I've gone about it. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simonkjones.substack.com/subscribe

Something’s been a bit… off with television lately. Have you noticed? Useful links: - Vulture article: https://www.vulture.com/article/severance-season-two-euphoria-season-3-why-so-long.html - Bob Chipman's video essay on commerce and art: https://youtu.be/_9iab0z6Kyg?si=_m0Ov7FLyqidTbNg - Simon Owen's newsletter: https://open.substack.com/pub/simonowens/p/substack-is-becoming-the-subscription?r=3...

An aspect of subversion that I especially enjoy is when you think a story is one thing, and then it turns out to be something else entirely. It’s a topic that has been on my mind recently, as I’ve been trying to pull off this exact trick in Tales from the Triverse , my ongoing serial. Attempting such sleight of hand made me want to go back and look at examples in literature, cinema and gaming that...

Today is about how to build a story from the key components: world building, themes, characters and plot. Which is quite a big topic, and clearly not something one should try to cover in a 25 minute video. Yet here we are. Things we’ll cover in the video: * What are the building blocks of a story? 🧱 * Which genres require world building? (spoiler: it’s all of them) * How does world building impac...

Writers have been around for centuries, long before the filmmakers and the game designers and the podcasters. We’ve been oddly starved of tech innovation, watching bemused from the sidelines as movies and games and radio and music reinvented themselves for the internet era. That's now changed. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus epi...

On today's episode I dive into the Substack Recommendations feature, exploring why it's so effective and how to best make use of it. Do check out M. E. Rothwell's article on Substack network design: https://open.substack.com/pub/cosmographia/p/how-to-think-about-the-substack-network?r=3rwg&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribe...

Comics and television have enjoyed a close connection with their audiences for decades. By releasing issues and episodes one at a time on a regular schedule, creators in those mediums have been able to observe audience reaction in real time, while they’re still making the thing itself. That adds a layer of communication that can impact on the storytelling — if you allow it. Reader interaction disc...

Today is all about overcoming the fear of sharing, with some tips I've found useful over the years. Link to another article about public speaking: https://open.substack.com/pub/simonkjones/p/dont-be-scared-of-doing-author-events?r=3rwg&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simonkjones.s...

One way or another I’ve been building online communities for about 25 years, in and out of the day job. Here's how you can do the same for your newsletter. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simonkjones.substack.com/subscribe

A friend recently reminded me of the ‘10,000 hours’ concept. The idea is that to become expert in any subject you need to actively do it for at least 10,000 hours. Grab the spreadsheet. BBC discussion on 10,000 hours. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simonkjones.substack.com/subscribe

Today’s post is for all you writers of serials. be they fiction or non-fiction. Today I’m drilling into a specific aspect of writing online serials, particularly if you’re doing it via your own website or newsletter: the idea of the ‘index’ post. You can see one of mine here, as an example. How to publish a serial via newsletter: https://simonkjones.substack.com/p/how-to-publish-a-serial-story-in?...

Simon talks about the origins and development of his book No Adults Allowed . See the video version at https://simonkjones.substack.com. Buy the book on Amazon: https://amzn.eu/d/aXNi9eX This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simonkjones.substack.com/subscribe

In today's episode I think about the unusual temporal aspects of writing a long-form online serial. Links, comments and more over at https://simonkjones.substack.com. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simonkjones.substack.com/subscribe

Generative AI is going to disrupt a lot of industries, but possibly not in the way we're thinking. Read more and comment at https://simonkjones.substack.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simonkjones.substack.com/subscribe

How to set up Substack to present a serial. My index page: https://open.substack.com/pub/simonkjones/p/how-to-read-tales-from-the-triverse?r=3rwg&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web Improving Substack's fiction: https://open.substack.com/pub/simonkjones/p/how-to-fix-substacks-fiction-experience?r=3rwg&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other...

A deep dive into my writing process, and how Scrivener helps me stay on track with long-running serial fiction projects. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simonkjones.substack.com/subscribe

Does self-publishing spoil your chances of being published traditionally? Read more at https://simonkjones.substack.com. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simonkjones.substack.com/subscribe