Steven R. Southard's Blog, page 72

The Techno-Thriller, a Tribute to Tom Clancy

Author Tom Clancy died earlier this week on October 2nd at the age of just 66. During his writing career he reinvented and popularized the genre known as the techno-thriller.

You can read all about Clancy’s life elsewhere; my purpose today is to mention how he and his work influenced me.

When his first book, The Hunt for Red October was published in 1984, I was completing my first (and last) tour as an officer aboard a submarine and headed for two years of shore duty.

The novel didn’t really bec...

Author Interview — Kelly A. Harmon

I’m pleased to welcome author Kelly A. Harmon to the world of Poseidon’s Scribe. Kelly writes epic fantasy, urban fantasy, and science fiction.

A former newspaper reporter, Kelly says she “used to write truthful, honest stories about authors and thespians, senators and statesmen, movie stars and murderers. Now she writes lies, which is infinitely more satisfying, but lacks the convenience of doorstep delivery, especially on rainy days.”

Among her many enjoyable stories are “The Dragon’s Clause”...

Cure: Writer’s Block

Earlier I blogged about writer’s block, but focused on symptoms and causes. Today, let’s talk about getting over it.

As before, I’ll limit the discussion to minor writer’s block (minWB), the short-term state of being stuck while in the middle of a writing project. I’ll blog about Major Writer’s Block (MajWB) another time.

My many fans—both of them, actually, including my Dad—will recall that I stated there are several types of minWB, which I divided as follows:

Story-related problems
Writing-rela...

When Your Protagonist Meets You

It saddens me to report that author Ann (A.C.) Crispin died a few days ago, on September 6. Before I discuss my connection with her, I should give you a brief bio.

A.C. Crispin was a science fiction writer who established herself with “tie-in” novels delving into the characters of established universes of Star Trek, Star Wars, the V miniseries, and others. She also created her own Starbridge series of novels.

Angered at how some agents, editors, and publishers cheat beginning writers, Crispin c...

Readers on My Mind

Just a few thoughts today about the relationship between writers like you and the readers you aim to delight. Much of this will sound simplistic, but if you hang with me, perhaps we’ll both learn something.

Years ago I took a classroom course in communication. In essence, all communication is an attempt to convey one or more ideas from one mind to another, the trouble being that there are all sorts of filters in between so communication is never perfect. In the class they asked, “Given that th...

Ay, Now the Plot Thickens

When George Villiers, the 2nd Duke of Buckingham wrote those words for his play “The Rehearsal” in 1663, I believe he had today’s blog post in mind. For, ay, I intend to discuss how to plot a story.

First, what is a plot? It is simply a series of connected fictional events. Here are two rules about these events:

1. In a non-humorous story, the connections between events should be logical, with a minimum of lucky coincidences; the events should be related by cause and effect.

2. To make your stor...

Inspiration, Bronzed

As a writer, where do you get your inspiration? To what or whom do you appeal for the creativity you need?

I have a strange confession to make. Every weekday, I happen to walk by a statue. Rather than just glance at it, I make a silent wish that the spirit of the man represented will imbue me with the creativity and talent I need for whatever story I’m working on at the time.

Silly? Perhaps. But you have to admit there’s something about statues. At the U.S. Naval Academy, there’s a statue repre...

The Software Shakespeare Used

Wow! There are a lot of writing software packages available!

By writing software, I’m not talking about word processors like Corel Write, Microsoft Word, TextMaker, WordPerfect, etc. I mean software designed to help you write fiction stories, software packages like Liquid Story Binder, Marshall Plan for Novel Writing, Master Storyteller, MyNovel, Power Structure, Power Writer, Scrivener, StoryBlue, Storybook, StoryCraft, StoryWeaver, WriteItNow, Writer’s Café, Writer’s DreamKit, WriteMonkey, a...

To Know Your Grammar is to Love Her

You’d like to write a story, you really would. But there’s that awful memory of your grade-school English teacher trying to convey the meanings of comma splices, dangling modifiers, gerunds, infinitives, intransitive verbs, and subjunctives. You’ve forgotten all that stuff, so you think there’s no hope.

There’s hope. Yes, there are a lot of English grammar terms, and it can be hard to recall what they all mean. And yes, just like with any occupation, you should know the specialized lingo that...

You’re Perfect for This

Hold it right there. Don’t move. Though my computer’s connection with yours, I’m getting a sense of who would be the perfect writer for the story in your head. Just a moment…wait…I’ve got it!

It’s you.

I suppose I needn’t have gone to all that trouble establishing the complex networked linkage between our computers. It goes without saying you’re unique. No one else shares your exact experiences and passions. For that story in your head that you think some real author ought to write, I can assur...