Greetings!
I hope you enjoy reading this very mixed bag. And I’m sorry it’s an hour later than usual. But enough of this persiflage! On with the newsletter.
Terry
Puzzle solution
In STW #49 I set a word search puzzle with a difference. If you completed the puzzle then the left over letters, placed in order, spelled out ‘escape the labyrinth’. This bizarre-sounding message is a nod to one of the founders of the Oulipo, Raymond Queneau. The Oulipo is a writing movement centred on constraints, like creating a piece of text without using a particular letter. Doing that sort of thing forces you to think harder and be more creative. Queneau said that Oulipians are rats who construct the labyrinth from which they they try to escape.
If you’re going to be in London on June 8th, or could make it your business to be there, you might like to sign up for a day long course on Oulipo, run by yours truly. I’ll be setting lots of challenges and we’ll be looking at some prime Oulipian texts. The last time I ran the course it was a huge amount of fun, and people on the course said they intended to build in Oulipo techniques to their normal writing practice.
Creative writing using constraints
Inside Freedman Towers
I feel that I should preface this, and hopefully head off accusations of ageism, by confessing that I am pretty ancient myself.
The Freedmans are watching TV when a charity advert comes on.
Me: Why are we bombarded with these things? If we contributed 20p a week to every cause we’d be bankrupt in a week. And why did they have to dig up some desiccated old bloke who looks like he died six weeks ago? When are they going to put him back in his crypt?
Elaine: Do you have ANY idea how rude you sound?
Me: 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Just then, the same charity ad came on, but this time fronted by a stunningly beautiful actress.
Me: On the other hand, I think it’s very important to learn about these issues and pay attention to the adverts.
Elaine: 🙄
A blues break
Have a listen to this, and marvel at the faces that the singer pulls. Great guitar work here. Nice keyboards as well.
Some photos
Links
wrote a very interesting article about why he isn’t going paid on Substack. I read the article as I was about to head out, and commented on it when I couldn’t get back to sleep at 3 in the morning. Not the best times to engage, so I thought I’d write a bit more of a response here. Tom’s basic argument is that going paid will probably cause him to be obsessed with things he doesn’t want to be concerned with, instead of just writing.What I find interesting is that I continually feel guilty for not doing those things, namely poring over metrics, plugging away constantly on Notes or other social media, delving into SEO. I just want to write.
I also think that all the metrics are very much focused on the short term. For example, like everyone else I receive an email every time I post something to the effect that in the last 24 hours x number of people have read your post, and it has driven x new subscriptions. Well I’m sorry, but I think that’s a load of baloney. I think it takes people a while to decide whether to have yet another thing landing in their inbox, so when someone subscribes it’s more than likely because they read something of yours some time ago, and have liked what they’ve seen since. I suppose there are exceptions to the rule, but I’m certain that I’m right on the whole.
Metrics also affect me adversely. If a post I spent hours on garners ten views I feel pretty miserable. If it garners hundreds of views, I start to wonder what was the magic sauce, and can I replicate that? But I don’t want to think like that, I just want to write as well and as engagingly as I can. Thus whether the metrics are good or bad, they just cause me anxiety, and who needs that? As my lady wife says, why not just enjoy writing on Substack, and regard any income from it as a nice bonus?
Besides, I think the whole notion of SEO is flawed. You can spend hours every day tweaking everything, and as soon as Google changes their algorithm you could suffer a fall in attention.
A couple of years ago someone, an SEO expert, told me exactly what I should do to boost engagement on my website (not Substack) and attract more clients. I followed his advice to the letter, spending literally hours on it — probably a day and a half in total. And he was right: it did attract a potential client. Someone emailed to say that my services were just what they had been looking for, and they’d like to hire me. “But I don’t have a budget.” How insulting (to both parties).
I don’t think going paid has turned me into an obnoxious person, because I’ve never been overly concerned with metrics anyway. But I can understand Tom’s concerns, and judging by the comments he’s received, he has certainly hit a nerve. Don read his article for yourself if you haven’t done so already.
has written a couple of previews of books he intends to review. They look very interesting, and I can’t wait to read the reviews in the new year.On the subject of reviews, you might enjoy this one that In had published in an education magazine:
From edtech to pedtech: Changing the way we think about digital technology
I’ve been putting some AI tools through their paces. In this post there are 7 text-to-image generators and two AI bots: 9 incredibly useful AI resources.
You might also like my latest ‘experiment in style’: Sponsored (not really) version.
Finally, in case you missed it, here is my latest reply to
, with whom I’ve been corresponding for a year almost, as she keeps reminding me (I’m doing my best to forget): Reply #26 Rebecca’s reply will appear on her newsletter, so do subscribe so as not to miss it:I emailed Rebecca recently:
Me: If you ever find yourself in my neck of the woods, why don’t you and Jim come over for lunch?
R: Nah, you’re alright.
Me: What do you mean?
R: We always stop at a roadside mobile hut called Bob’s Burgers.
Me: That doesn’t sound terribly healthy.
R: ‘Course it is. I always have the Double Whammy, and Jim has the Triple Whammy. It comes with chips, which counts as one of your five a day1; it has fried onions, so that’s two; plus lashings of tomato ketchup, so that’s three; and a side order of mushrooms, making four. Then we have a strawberry milkshake or a fizzy orange juice, so that’s our five a day.
Me: 🙄
(Not all of the above is true.)
I hope you enjoyed reading this. Do leave a comment, or share, or subscribe.
You had me at Tommy Castro. I love him. I was a DJ for swing dances in the Boston area and the West Coast Swing dancers loved when I played some Tommy Castro. I love the blues. The blues rock more than rock rocks.
Re: paid vs non-paid and writing because you love to write, metrics, and all that, here's my theory: I never know if 1 tiny thing I write/say/draw/publish/think will touch someone in a way I never expected, but may be life changing or so important to them, not because I wanted to write/say/draw/publish/think a particular, but because my intentions or heart or spontaneous burst of sharing a perspective or love of something, just flies around. Sometime it lands, sometimes it keeps flying. Keep flying, Terry! Your words rock, too.
I took that blues break, much appreciated. no use stressing out about stuff we can't control. listen to more blues instead. maybe we'll all have AIPAs (AI Personal Assistants) to deal with the stats and SEO optimisations in the future, scour Notes to leave likes and comments and target stacks that are most likely to engage back, given their segment... huh, I guess that's already happening 😅
Also, funny ad convo, Terry.