Karl - I am writing you here as I have no other way of contacting you. I was sent selected Notes today by Substack, including one by you, but I wanted to ask - where do you find Notes now? It used to be in the three lines next to my name on my dashboard, but it has disappeared. I can't find it anywhere. Can you help?
Good to hear from you! A couple of questions there.
In terms of contacting me, if you have subscribed at https://karldrinkwater.substack.com/ then any time you get an email from me you can reply to it, and I get your email. Or you can get my email address from my website at https://karldrinkwater.uk/ (scroll to the bottom). Of course, comments or chat here are also fine.
As to where to find Notes - it may depend on whether someone is using the website or the app, and whether they have a newsletter and dashboard or not (I am new to Substack!) But as far as I can tell this works:
Click on someone's name or profile pic to view their profile, so you end up on their profile page e.g.
Nope. That whole concept is anathema to me. My books are for discerning audiences and often niche ones. No mass selling for me. I have no problem with other people going that route, however, and I have no problem with other people making money from their writing. I did for years – I was a pen for hire and wrote up many a report for Committees of Inquiry and similar. I loved it.
Fiction writers may not realise that we non-fiction writers have the same problem. Do we plan out what we are going to say or let it happen?
When I write books (I have written quite a few over the years), I tend to plan out the overall structure, but not the individual chapters. When I write articles, for instance, for Substack, I sit down with a topic which I have decided merits thinking about, but I have no idea where my thoughts will take me (see, eg https://arichardson.substack.com/p/travel-time) Eons ago, I used to feel that my thoughts came from the typewriter and, when computers came in, wondered whether my thoughts could also come from such a strange source. But they do. It's quite amazing.
My academic husband, in contrast, used to say that when he needed to think out a problem, he would go for a walk to gather his thoughts and then it was just a matter of getting back to his desk to write them down.
That's definitely a good approach for shorter things like an article or sometimes even a chapter. It's that fine balance between surprising delight off the beaten path, and knowing where you are going, perhaps. Also a handy reminder to me that the advice applies to non-fiction, too. I'm writing a book about publishing options for authors ("From Idea To Item") and need to keep reminding myself to include non-fiction and poetry, not just long-form fiction! Thanks.
Well, if you publish parts of your book here, I will happily comment on whether they work for non-fiction. I always thought I would like to write fiction, because I am interested in the human psyche, but I realise I don't have the imagination for plots and characters. My solution is what I discovered is called creative non-fiction – both my blogs (here and in my book with the same title) and books where I use passages from interviews to tell people's stories 'from the inside'. I have written on people with AIDS back when they were dying (early 1990s - very powerful), on people providing hospice care (a very successful book) and on grandmothers (who are fascinating, but few people seem to think so!).
I wrote poetry in school and university but never since, clearly not a drive on my part.
You have an obvious love of words, regardless of genre! Once the draft is finished I will probably ask a few people if they'd like to look at some or all of it (e.g. maybe just the chapters that interest them). A few people have expressed an interest. I thought the draft was finished, then added another 20,000 words ... :-)
Yes I do. My daughter thought my 'raunch' blog was 'not one of my best', whereas others have said it was well written. I wonder if it is something to do with that dreadful combination - parents and sex.
I would be happy to read a draft with non-fiction in mind, but might skip over the fiction bits as 'nothing to do with me, squire'.
BTW, I am good with names but terrible with faces (I have a mild version of the disorder that means you don't recognise faces). Have we ever actually met? You can see what I look like if you read my blog on 'Why do people stand on their head?' because there is a two-minute video of me doing exactly that. I am small and American (by background and accent) but have lived in London since 1968.
Karl - I am writing you here as I have no other way of contacting you. I was sent selected Notes today by Substack, including one by you, but I wanted to ask - where do you find Notes now? It used to be in the three lines next to my name on my dashboard, but it has disappeared. I can't find it anywhere. Can you help?
Hi Ann.
Good to hear from you! A couple of questions there.
In terms of contacting me, if you have subscribed at https://karldrinkwater.substack.com/ then any time you get an email from me you can reply to it, and I get your email. Or you can get my email address from my website at https://karldrinkwater.uk/ (scroll to the bottom). Of course, comments or chat here are also fine.
As to where to find Notes - it may depend on whether someone is using the website or the app, and whether they have a newsletter and dashboard or not (I am new to Substack!) But as far as I can tell this works:
Click on someone's name or profile pic to view their profile, so you end up on their profile page e.g.
https://substack.com/@arichardson
or
https://substack.com/@karldrinkwater
Then click on "Notes" (second one along in the row with Posts, Notes, Lieks and Reads). Then you'll see all that person's notes, restacks etc.
I think ... :-)
Nope. That whole concept is anathema to me. My books are for discerning audiences and often niche ones. No mass selling for me. I have no problem with other people going that route, however, and I have no problem with other people making money from their writing. I did for years – I was a pen for hire and wrote up many a report for Committees of Inquiry and similar. I loved it.
Fiction writers may not realise that we non-fiction writers have the same problem. Do we plan out what we are going to say or let it happen?
When I write books (I have written quite a few over the years), I tend to plan out the overall structure, but not the individual chapters. When I write articles, for instance, for Substack, I sit down with a topic which I have decided merits thinking about, but I have no idea where my thoughts will take me (see, eg https://arichardson.substack.com/p/travel-time) Eons ago, I used to feel that my thoughts came from the typewriter and, when computers came in, wondered whether my thoughts could also come from such a strange source. But they do. It's quite amazing.
My academic husband, in contrast, used to say that when he needed to think out a problem, he would go for a walk to gather his thoughts and then it was just a matter of getting back to his desk to write them down.
That's definitely a good approach for shorter things like an article or sometimes even a chapter. It's that fine balance between surprising delight off the beaten path, and knowing where you are going, perhaps. Also a handy reminder to me that the advice applies to non-fiction, too. I'm writing a book about publishing options for authors ("From Idea To Item") and need to keep reminding myself to include non-fiction and poetry, not just long-form fiction! Thanks.
Well, if you publish parts of your book here, I will happily comment on whether they work for non-fiction. I always thought I would like to write fiction, because I am interested in the human psyche, but I realise I don't have the imagination for plots and characters. My solution is what I discovered is called creative non-fiction – both my blogs (here and in my book with the same title) and books where I use passages from interviews to tell people's stories 'from the inside'. I have written on people with AIDS back when they were dying (early 1990s - very powerful), on people providing hospice care (a very successful book) and on grandmothers (who are fascinating, but few people seem to think so!).
I wrote poetry in school and university but never since, clearly not a drive on my part.
You have an obvious love of words, regardless of genre! Once the draft is finished I will probably ask a few people if they'd like to look at some or all of it (e.g. maybe just the chapters that interest them). A few people have expressed an interest. I thought the draft was finished, then added another 20,000 words ... :-)
Yes I do. My daughter thought my 'raunch' blog was 'not one of my best', whereas others have said it was well written. I wonder if it is something to do with that dreadful combination - parents and sex.
I would be happy to read a draft with non-fiction in mind, but might skip over the fiction bits as 'nothing to do with me, squire'.
BTW, I am good with names but terrible with faces (I have a mild version of the disorder that means you don't recognise faces). Have we ever actually met? You can see what I look like if you read my blog on 'Why do people stand on their head?' because there is a two-minute video of me doing exactly that. I am small and American (by background and accent) but have lived in London since 1968.
Many thanks, I'll make a note of you as a potential (no commitment) volunteer!
We may not have met in person unless you went to 20Booksto50K in Edinburgh a few years ago?
I only just remembered this! If you are still interested, let me know, but it's fine if you're not, or life has intruded!