Steven R. Southard's Blog, page 33

Launch Day!

Today’s the day! It’s launch day for the new anthology 20,000 Leagues Remembered. This book was 150 years in the making.

Let me explain. The first publication of Jules Verne’s classic Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea was in serial form. It appeared in two-week intervals in a magazine, the Magasin d’éducation et de recreation, edited by Pierre-Jules Hetzel. Starting on March 20, 1869, the magazine printed a chapter or two in each issue, concluding on June 20, 1870.

The first time the p...

How Deep is a League?

We all know Professor Aronnax and his companions traveled 20,000 leagues under the sea in Captain Nemo’s submarine, the Nautilus. Just how deep is that? It turns out, that’s the wrong question.

Let’s set that aside a moment.

You can certainly sense the excitement building—on the web, in the bookstores, and in conversations with everyone you meet. Less than a week to go, now, until the launch of the new anthology 20,000 Leagues Remembered. On Saturday, June 20, you can celebrate the 150...

Writing for Jules Verne

Here’s a thought experiment for you. It’s 1868, and your close friend, Jules Verne, is deathly ill. Since you’re an author too, he’s asked you to write a novel in his stead. All he’s got is a concept—a ship that travels underwater—and a title: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. You cannot refuse your friend. What will your novel be like?

Remember, nobody has ever written a novel involving a submarine. Yours will be the first. You jot down some plot ideas:

A single nation is the fir...

Writing—Routine, Habit, or Ritual?

As a writer, you’re trying to form a daily routine of writing well. Or is that a good habit of writing well? Or a ritual? Let’s clear this up.

According to neuroscience expert Anne-Laure Le Cunff of Ness Labs, all three are periodically repeating actions, but there are differences. I’m going to put my own spin on the ideas Ms. Le Cunff presented in her article.

Routine. This type of action is conscious and deliberate. A routine requires thought and willpower to do. If a strong intent i...

Picking Up Where You Left Off

You’ve carved out some time to write, and you’re enthused about adding a new scene to that story you’ve been working on. You sit down and look back over what you wrote yesterday, so you can resume writing in that same mood and mindset.

But wait. As you review yesterday’s work, there’s a mistake you need to fix. And another. That whole paragraph needs to go. And you forgot to add some character motivation here. Some scene setting detail there.

Before you know it, your valuable time—the ...

Why You Bound Out of Bed

The reason you scramble out of bed each day, wide-eyed and raring to go, is simple. Youve got things to do. More specifically, you have goals to achieve. As Snuffy Smith always said, times awastin!

Whats that? You dont bound out of bed? You (shudder) dont have any goals?

Hoo boy. Weve got to talk.

There is enormous power in the practice of committing to goals. There are also numerous side benefits for you, incidental to achieving the goal itself.

Ill offer two examples from my life. Many...

Characters Say More Than They Say

When we talk, we dont often come right out and say what we feel. That should be the same with your fictional characters. There should be meaning below the words. Thats known as subtext.

Ill come right out and admit this: Im still learning how to employ subtext in my characters dialogue. As a trained engineer, I tend to speak plainly and strive for exactitude in meaning so I can be clearly understood. Unfortunately, many of my characters sound like me. Not good, but Im getting better.

Lets...

Breaking Punctuation Rules

Recently, in a meeting with my critique group, I criticized an author for using too many em-dashes () in a manuscript. This author then acquainted me with an interesting online disagreement.

First, author Kate Dyer-Seeley posted a well-worded defense of the Oxford Comma. I, too, am a fan of inserting a comma after the penultimate item in a list before the and.

Then, author Kristine Kathryn Rusch (who had once been Dyer-Seelys instructor) countered with a post of her own. Her objection didnt...

Just in Time—World Book Day

In an instant of time, a tiny speck of living mattera virushas deprived us of many of our closest physical connections. No handshakes, no hugging, and no breathing the same air. The pestilence has isolated us, separated us, left us alone and lonely.

We do have our electronic links, our e-handshakes and e-hugs, if you will. We can see each other through a camera lens, hear others voices with that brief but annoying delay. These amazing technological connections are better than nothing, but...

That Bookshelf Behind You

On TV these days, were seeing the insides of a lot of peoples homes. Particularly bookshelves. If youre an expert being interviewed by the media, its important to have an impressive bookshelf as backdrop behind you.

Ah, but what is an impressive bookshelf? Lets explore that today, so you can prepare for your next Skype call from a TV network.  

A portion of Poseidons Scribes bookshelf

Im not that impressed by bookshelves arranged for show. If it looks like the books sit there for years...