Writing Without Rules

Announcing Writing Without Rules: From the Notebook

Author: September 1, 2023 0 Comments

Hello there—please excuse this random non-pop culture-related post, but since you’ve subscribed to Writing Without Rules: Deep Dives I thought you might be interested to know I’m launching a second Substack.

As you probably know1, I write at least one short story every month, longhand, in a spiral notebook. I’ve been doing this for decades, and have 35 battered notebooks filled with stories. Some of these turned out very well—some have sold to quite respectable places. Some are not so great, but many are great2 but not marketable for one reason or another.

But I want these stories to be read, so I’m launching Writing Without Rules: From the Notebook. For $5 a month (or $50 a year), you can read 4 of my short stories a month. That’s a pretty good deal, I think—just $1.25 per story. More like $1 if you spring for the year. And since I have a local bar that sells me shots of very cheap whiskey for a buck, you can be assured that every month you are buying me a round of drinks, as god intended.

Writing Without Rules: Deep Dives is going to remain 100% free. Some of you have pledged to pay a subscription for it, which I absolutely appreciate, but I think it works better as a free newsletter. If you enjoy my fiction or just my writing in general, consider signing up for From the Notebook. The stories will run the gamut of genre and style and will come from various times in my career, so lord knows what you’re going to get3.

The newsletter is launching on October 1st, 2023. Hope to see you on the mailing list. As always, if you have any questions, hit me at jdxs@jeffreysomers.com or anywhere on social media where I actually show up.

Fiction, Short Stories, Writing, Writing Without Rules

Writing Without Rules: Deep Dives

Author: May 19, 2021 0 Comments

BECAUSE I apparently don’t have enough to do and can’t stop myself from writing about writing, I’ll be launching a whole new newsletter/essay series over at Substack on June 15, 2021: Writing Without Rules: Deep Dives.

Substack is a writing service where you can either read pieces right there on the site, or sign up for a weekly newsletter that appears via Internet Magic in your mailbox. While some folks monetize these newsletters, Deep Dives will be 100% free, unless you count the time spent reading my ravings and the possible reputational damage of being identified as someone who takes Jeff Somers seriously, which will be significant.

What will I be writing about over at Writing Without Rules: Deep Dives? Good question! The answer is right there on the tin: Whereas in most of my other writing about, er, writing I focus in on craft and technical stuff, over at Deep Dives I’ll be digging into the reasons why stories work. Most of what makes a story work or not work is kind of opaque and subterranean; you can get hung up on how to plot out a story or how to make characters sound like individual people on the page, but often what really determines the success or failure of a story has less to do with technical aspects like that and more to do with a certain je ne sais quoi. That je ne sais quoi is what we’ll be digging into, using pop culture — TV shows, movies, video games — as our examples.

Hopefully, it’ll be fun and interesting, especially to anyone who aspires to be a writer of fictions, or anyone who just likes thinking way too hard about TV shows and the like. And I promise to keep the pantsless jokes and whiskey references to a minimum.

So, hope to see you on June 15th. Until then, please go on over and sign up, share the link, and tell all your friends about this hot new piece of Somers Action. Wait, that came out wrong. Which button is erase

More Shit I Gotta Do, Someone Else's Writing, Writing, Writing Without Rules

Writing Without Rules Launch Video

Author: May 26, 2018 0 Comments

Remember our little launch event at Little City Books? OF COURSE YOU DO, I WON’T SHUT UP ABOUT IT. Anyways, here is the excellent, awesome, and incredibly video documentary of the event put together by the talented Bruce Meier of uhmm Ltd.

Writing Without Rules by Jeff Somers

Writing Without Rules: How to Write & Sell a Novel Without Guidelines, Experts, or (Occasionally) Pants Most writing guides imply–or outright state–that there’s a fixed, specific formula or list of rules you must follow to achieve writing and publishing success. And all of them are phonies. Well, not completely.

Deep Thoughts & Pronouncements, More Shit I Gotta Do, Writing, Writing Without Rules

Writing Without Rules Launch

Author: May 23, 2018 1 Comment

BAM!

We had the launch event for Writing Without Rules last night, at the totally awesome Little City Books in Hoboken, New Jersey last night, and it was awesome! Beer, wine, and whiskey, Jeff sweating profusely in front of a crowd, The Duchess taking charge and orchestrating everything, my agent gently mocking me from the front row — what could be better?

If you missed it, here are some incredible photos taken by the incredible Bruce Meier.

BAM!, More Shit I Gotta Do, Writing Without Rules

Writing in Real Time: Episode 3

Author: April 1, 2018 0 Comments

Video: How to Determine Your Novel’s Word Count | Jeff Somers and the Rough Beast, Episode 3

Jeff Somers takes a moment to contemplate the utility (or lack thereof) of using word count as a progress bar in a book. He discusses the fact that his first published novel was far from oft-cited word counts for viable novels, and the fact that forcing yourself to write words you’re just going to delete later is a waste of time.

Writing, Writing Without Rules

Writing in Real Time: Episode 2

Author: March 5, 2018 1 Comment

Here’s Episode Two of my ongoing experiment in which I’m writing a sci-fi novel in real time and vlogging about it:

Jeff Somers and the Rough Beast, Episode 2: Plantsing!

This video series follows author Jeff Somers (Writing Without Rules, coming from WD Books in May 2018) as he discusses how to write a novel while at work on one of his own.

As they say, “Life goes on. Maybe there won’t be marriage… maybe there won’t be sex… but, by God, there’ll be dancing.”

Fiction, More Shit I Gotta Do, Writing, Writing Without Rules

Writing in Real Time

Author: February 16, 2018 0 Comments

Check it: I started a new novel a few months back, so I started a Vlog series detailing my progress, the barriers I ran into, and the many, many times my cats tried to sabotage me. Here’s Episode 1.

Jeff Somers and the Rough Beast, Episode 1: How to Write a Novel

This video series follows author Jeff Somers (Writing Without Rules, coming from WD Books in May 2018) as he discusses how to write a novel while at work on one of his own.

BAM!, Deep Thoughts & Pronouncements, Writing, Writing Without Rules