Write More with Simon K Jones

Simon K Jones

Tips on how to write serial fiction and be a more productive writer from Simon K Jones. Find more at simonkjones.substack.com. simonkjones.substack.com

  1. 3D AGO

    Author + reader = story

    Sometimes a shortcut makes sense, but take too many of them and you might miss something along the route. Going for a walk isn’t always about reaching a destination — sometimes it’s about the walk itself. 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

    7 min

  2. AUG 18

    Let's stick together

    “I might have found my tribe.” EasterCon keynote, 2008 Read the news and it’s easy to think that publishing fiction is a waste of time; an indulgence in a world beset by so much horror. Is being a writer a luxury we can’t afford? WELL. 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

    12 min

  3. AUG 4

    Developing your style can't be rushed

    I’ve produced a huge amount of written material over my life, and especially in the last decade since I started serialising stories every week. Hundreds of thousands of words of fiction and non-fiction, and that’s without counting copywriting in the day job. I’m confident in my writing voice. That’s not what I’m going to focus on as an example here. Instead, I’m considering my attempts to be a better illustrator, which are in very early stages. I’m still trying to figure out my visual style, and it’s an interesting process to go through having already gone through it with my writing. 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

    12 min

  4. JUL 21

    Be the judge of your own work

    At a literature event programmed and produced by a bunch of teenagers last week, I found myself talking to a 16 year old about the challenge of judging your own work. “It’s really hard to know if what I’m writing is any good,” he lamented. “It’s basically impossible to know if anything is good until I put it in front of an audience.” He’s got a point. 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

    13 min

  5. JUL 14

    Be inspired by everything

    Last week there was a bit of a fracas on Notes. By social media standards, having a bit of a tiff on Notes is a fairly gentle affair. While Twitter is arguing with Mecha Hitler and Bluesky is…doing whatever Bluesky is doing, a major scuffle on Notes is usually a back and forth about an obscure aspect of literature. In this case, it was about how many books per year a writer should read. The focus rapidly became about the specific number (50 seemed to be the commonly cited threshold), rather than any kind of nuance. The implication was that to read fewer than 50 books meant you weren’t serious about writing. It was all very silly, and I don’t want to relitigate it here. That said, I found myself going down a couple of tangential rabbit holes. 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

    9 min

  6. JUL 7

    Writing from a limited, subjective point of view

    Choosing the point of view for your story is the big make-or-break decision. You have to figure this out ahead of time, because it directly affects every aspect of the text. It’s not really something you can decide upon while writing. 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

    9 min

  7. JUN 16

    I forgot to be a writer (then remembered)

    My son was born towards the end of 2012, forcing me to acknowledge, perhaps for the first time, that I was going to die. Turns out, that's just what I needed. 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

    8 min

  8. JUN 2

    A utopian vision for fiction writers

    If we fiction writers got everything we wanted, what would that actually look like? 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

    17 min
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Tips on how to write serial fiction and be a more productive writer from Simon K Jones. Find more at simonkjones.substack.com. simonkjones.substack.com

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