Write More with Simon K Jones | Substack

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A quick guide to lots of useful things for fiction writers

Dec 13, 2024 •

Most Popular

What actually is Substack?

Sep 18, 2023 • Simon K Jones

Why I left Wattpad for Substack

May 15, 2023 • Simon K Jones

Understanding the Substack toolkit

Sep 25, 2023 • Simon K Jones

It's not artists who should fear AI

Jun 3, 2024 • Simon K Jones

Get serial fiction & writing tips in your inbox

Recent posts

Martyrs: part 1

Jun 20 •

I forgot to be a writer (then remembered)

Getting a taste of your own mortality

Jun 16 •

Alliances: part 3

Can't we all just get along?

Jun 13 •

Books

No Adults Allowed

An optimistic story about the end of the world. Buy the paperback.

Tales from the Triverse

My current on-going weekly serial

How to Write Serial Fiction

The 22-part beginner's guide

Recommendations

Game Maker's Toolkit on Substack

Game Maker's Toolkit on Substack

Mark Brown

The Author Stack

The Author Stack

Russell Nohelty

I'm Fine I'm Fine Just Understand

I'm Fine I'm Fine Just Understand

ND Stevenson

The Intrinsic Perspective

The Intrinsic Perspective

Erik Hoel

Game File

Stephen Totilo

Serial fiction toolkit

💬 I've been writing serial fiction for 10 years. Ask me anything!

10 years of weekly chapters is a lot of words...

Jun 9 •

The Novel vs The Serial: exploring the structural differences

A serial does not have to be a slow-release novel

Feb 24 •

The temporal aspect of serials

My serial is two and a half years old

Jun 10, 2024 •

Almost everything you need to know about writing online serial fiction

Lots of useful things in one place

May 13, 2024 •

Want to talk about writing serial fiction?

Got questions about writing an online serial? Book a video chat!

May 13, 2024 •

Newsletter growth

Please don't ask for subs and follows

The era of big metrics is over (well, sort of)

Dec 9, 2024 •

How to (slowly) cultivate a fiction newsletter: part 2

Some more thoughts from 3 years of publishing

Nov 11, 2024 •

How to (very, very slowly) cultivate a fiction newsletter: part 1

Fiction is always hard, but not impossible

Nov 4, 2024 •

How Substack's recommendations system can be used by fiction writers

What it is, how it works, why it's (still) a game changer

Sep 9, 2024 •

How to help new readers get on board a long-running serial

Spoiler: it's all about having an index

Jul 1, 2024 •

Planning & plotting

Why does planning work so well on paper?

Sometimes, technology just gets in the way

May 19 •

Pacing, monotony & cliffhangers

Introducing...the buckets of pacing!

Mar 3 •

Landing the plane

The final 2,000 words might be the most important

Dec 23, 2024 •

Foreshadowing in online serials

Predicting the future

Nov 25, 2024 •

Choosing the right structure for a story

And how non-linearity can shake things up

Nov 18, 2024 •

Being a writer

I forgot to be a writer (then remembered)

Getting a taste of your own mortality

Jun 16 •

A utopian vision for fiction writers

Where might we be in 2030?

Jun 2 •

A book about writing that is actually useful

Discussing Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird

Apr 7 •

,

, and

37:03

Unblock your writing with these literary plungers

How to keep going when the words aren't flowing

Mar 24 •

How to DIY a 50k word writing challenge in November

You have the technology!

Oct 28, 2024 •

Connecting with audiences

21:55

Celebrating 330,000 words with a live author reading

Go back to the start with the first chapter of Tales from the Triverse

Mar 31 •

Finding your community on Substack

An overview of newsletter community features

Dec 16, 2024 •

7:19

The reader connection in serial fiction

I interviewed one of my veteran readers

Aug 19, 2024 •

Should writers ignore their readers?

I’m working on a longer piece at the moment about the relationship between writer and reader, specifically in the context of online serials.

Aug 5, 2024 •

How to build an online community

...of lovely, clever, talented people

Jul 15, 2024 •

World building

My 7 Pillars of World Building

How much lore does a story really need?

May 5 •

How to construct a story

Taking a look at characters, themes, world building and plot

Oct 7, 2024 •

25:38

Fictional maps: yes or no?

Do you like fictional maps, or think they get in the way of the writing?

Feb 26, 2024 •

How to do exposition without it turning into an infodump

How to explain things without killing your story dead

Mar 27, 2023 •

Building a multiverse

Going deep into world building

May 16, 2022 •

Design & presentation

16:09

How to add images, videos and audio to your newsletter

Voiceovers, embeds, stock, AI generation, podcast distribution and more...

Mar 10 •

Transforming a serial story into a book

All about the development of No Adults Allowed

Jun 24, 2024 •

20:34

Content warnings & age ratings

Figuring out where to pitch your stories

Jan 30, 2023 •

Preparing a book for publication

Diving into the process of self-publishing a book on Amazon.

Nov 21, 2022 •

Relinquishing control to a publisher

Or: What happens when someone else designs your book cover

Aug 15, 2022 •

Tools & software

Cultivating a healthy reader community

Or: What to do when Emma Horsedick comes a-riding

Apr 21 •

Taking another look at genAI for 2025

Updated thoughts on the most tedious of all the tech bubbles

Mar 17 •

Algorithms, audiences and sub-cultures

Smaller rooms, better windows and doors

Jan 27 •

,

, and

40:29

How to create a simple podcast

...without spending much money

Jan 6 •

Substack is changing writing like YouTube changed indie filmmaking

Entirely new ways of being a writer are emerging

Sep 30, 2024 •

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