History, Etc: The First Draft

As promised, here is the final instalment of answers to the Q&A/ask me anything post from last week.

There were so many great questions, and another whole batch came in when I posted the first video last Friday. (You can catch up with that here.) So I hope you enjoy this second part of the episode.

Also, it seems like this video Q&A format has been successful, so from January I will make it a regular monthly feature.

The setup will be - I will send a callout for questions about a week before I record the video. Subscribers will be able to leave their questions in the comments section. I’ll send the video/s out for free to everyone though.

If you want to subscribe and make sure you can be involved in asking the questions, I’d love that for you. You can also gift subscriptions.

I haven’t put the cost of subscription up for a couple of years, and don’t intend to do so until January 2025. It’s set as low as Substack will allow - so I hope that makes it accessible to most readers/viewers.

Dan x

PS I found the book of proverbs… here’s one for you… “Where child is king and clerk is bishop, and churl is reeve, all be grieve”

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit danjones.substack.com/subscribe

Here we go! The first video episode of First Draft, the open-season, ask me anything, Q&A section of this Substack.

And crumbs, you guys asked so many amazing questions that I could only get through half of them… I will do a part 2/2 next week, because I want to give them all the consideration they deserve.

If you want to add more questions to the pile, post them in the comments below, and I’ll try to get to all of them.

Wow. You’re all lovely.

Dan x

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit danjones.substack.com/subscribe

Okay, so Substack have been adding lots of (theoretically) cool new functions and features in recent months. The latest one is video. I thought we could give it a go.

If you’ve watched the short video message above, you know what to do. Go do it!

If you haven’t, here’s what to do: post ‘ask me anything’ style questions in the comments. Later in the week I’ll make a video post answering them.

And we’ll see. Fun? Not fun? Worth pursuing?

There’s only one way to find out.

Over to you…

dan x

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit danjones.substack.com/subscribe

Thanks to everyone who posted questions on yesterday’s Ask Me Anything comment thread! (You can review the questions here.) It was a lot of fun answering them.

Off now to Bath for the last event on this year’s book tour.

See some of you there!

dan x

PS I mentioned an 1850s disco towards the end of this recording. Here’s the evidence… or part of it. Photo cropped to protect the innocent…

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit danjones.substack.com/subscribe

Thanks everyone for your contributions to the AMA post last Friday. Here is a round-up of as many questions as I could fit into a solid hour.

Fun! Now, what would you like next?

dan x

History, Etc is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit danjones.substack.com/subscribe

Enjoy!

Danx

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit danjones.substack.com/subscribe

Enjoy x

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit danjones.substack.com/subscribe

New audio post all up in ya grill. Don’t forget to check out my new book ESSEX DOGS, and new podcast THIS IS HISTORY.

Enjoy the weekend!

Dan x

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit danjones.substack.com/subscribe

Since the first part of this writing masterclass was derailed by a fit of consumptive coughing, here’s the second and final instalment. Mostly featuring a unified theory of writing historical dialogue.

Enjoy!

dan x

History, Etc is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit danjones.substack.com/subscribe

Last week I sent out a call for questions about writing - how to do it, how to do it better, how to keep doing it… thank you so much for everyone who contributed.

This audio file is, as the name suggests, my first draft at answering those questions. I hope some of it is useful.

History, Etc is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

It’s ‘part 1’ because I’ve been annoyingly unwell on and off for weeks, and it’s particularly affected my voice. Nothing to worry about. Just irritating.

But it does mean that this episode cuts off fairly abruptly. Go with it. I’ll do another audio post later in the week addressing the next batch of questions.

And at some point I’ll type up some more succinct answers, which we can keep as an open thread for readers to refer back to as needed.

Enjoy!

dan x

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit danjones.substack.com/subscribe