Write More with Simon K Jones

Bird by Bird is a book about writing that is also about its writer, Anne Lamott. It’s as much an autobiography as it is a writing guide, shifting back and forth throughout. By making it about the writing life, Anne gives context to everything else. It elevates the book from a list of useful tips to something far more impactful, moving and — yes — useful.

On today's episode I'm joined by ZK Hardy and T K Hall to discuss the book.

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This years is a big one for me, because I’m finally going to complete Tales from the Triverse, the weekly serial that I’ve been publishing since September 2021.

By far the largest project I’ve ever attempted, the story is now over 330,000 words and would be a chunky 1000 page+ novel if it were printed. To celebrate where I’ve got to and where I’m headed, I thought I’d go back to the beginning with a reading of the opening chapter.

Read more here: https://simonkjones.substack.com/p/how-to-read-tales-from-the-triverse?r=3rwg&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&triedRedirect=true

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Apologies for the plumbing metaphor in the subject. Writing is an incredibly difficult thing to do, especially if you want to write consistently and to a not-entirely-rubbish quality. And sometimes, the words: they do not come. Today is all about tips for getting over that hump.

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It’s been a while since I’ve written about AI in detail, largely because it’s overhyped and dull. There is value in keeping an eye on it, though, and I want to be open to new developments. So here we are.

Dr Jeremy Silver's article on the Creative PEC

Made with human intelligence badge

Third Information Crisis on BBC

A Love Letter to LA music video

Behind the scenes

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Toady's episode is all about the differences between the novel and the serial.

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It’s not unknown for this newsletter to go off on various tangents, but the central core is always in the name: Write More.

While I do occasionally stray into how to write good fiction, it’s not my focus. There are plenty of teachers and authors who are far better positioned than me to help you improve your writing, in terms of its artistic quality.

There’s a missing piece of the puzzle, though. You can go to university and study creative writing, take endless online courses, read all the classic books about writing — but none of it is going to make a difference if you’re not actually doing the writing.

Here's that other post on calculating 10,000 hours: https://open.substack.com/pub/simonkjones/p/10000-hours?r=3rwg&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false

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On Saturday evening I had an impromptu conversation with Ben Wakeman and Eleanor Anstruther. We each read a piece of our writing, and then have a good old chat. Today’s video is a slightly edited and whittled-down version of that conversation.

The readings:

* An excerpt from ‘The Writer’ by me, from Tales from the Triverse. You can read the whole thing here.

* An excerpt from In Judgment Of Others by Eleanor. You can buy it here.

* An excerpt from The Memory of my Shadow by Ben. More on that one here.

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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 have to be that way.

A couple of weeks ago I was invited by John Ward to join him for a chat with Ben Cohen, a developer at the newsletter/video/audio/social platform Substack. Ben has worked on all sorts of features, including the semi-automated categorisation of published material on the platform.

I don’t normally get too deep into the weeds on this stuff, but it’s especially relevant for us fiction writers due to that perennial challenge: how to find readers. Since the invention of the printing press there have been more books to choose from than any single person can get through in their lifetime.

The internet hasn’t helped in that regard. 🙄

Cutting through the noise

It’s easier than ever to publish our work, but that makes it all the harder to find audiences. There’s simply so much stuff, what chance do any of us have at being found by the right readers?

That’s why Ben’s work is so fascinating. A key part of his role has been figuring out ways for readers on Substack to find material they’ll enjoy. It’s a work in progress, clearly, and he talks candidly about the many remaining challenges and unanswered questions.

I use Substack to power this newsletter, so this discussion was directly pertinent to my writing. Regardless of what you use, though, Ben’s insights speak to the wider complications around curation, algorithms and how we all navigate an increasingly busy and complex online world.

The most reassuring aspect of all this is that the team at Substack talk about this stuff at all. And not just the founders and top dogs — there seems to be a culture of encouraging all staff to interact openly with creators and readers.

Meta and X were always terrible partners because it was such a one-way interaction. It was a repeating cycle of rug pulls, which makes it impossible for creators to build a foundation. Let’s not kid ourselves — Substack could very easily succumb to enshittification, but for now it’s incredibly useful to understand the motivations of the developers and designers there. Agree or disagree with their decisions, but at least we know the direction of travel.

Big thanks also to everyone who showed up to watch the conversation live. There were about 90 people in attendance, which was lovely. I’m hoping to do more of them throughout 2025, so stay tuned.

I go on and on and on about writing serial fiction. You’ve been warned.

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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

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A live read of the first chapter of No Adults Allowed, my third novel.

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