Steven R. Southard's Blog, page 73

Don’t Touch that Dialect!

As you write your fiction, should you have your characters speaking in dialect? By this I mean the purposeful misspelling of words in a phonetic manner to indicate how your character is speaking them.

The study of dialect is fascinating and, as a fiction writer, you should be familiar with the dialect used by your characters. But the question is whether to indicate some or all of the character’s word pronunciations to the reader phonetically.

One good reason for doing so is to show authenticity...

Author Interview — C. A. Szarek

I’m pleased to welcome author C.A. Szarek. She writes in the fantasy, paranormal, romantic suspense, and Young Adult genres.

C.A. is originally from Ohio, but got to Texas as soon as she could. She is married and has a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice. She works with kids when she’s not writing. She’s always wanted to be a writer and is overjoyed to share her stories with the world.

Sword’s Call (King’s Riders Book One) is available now from Gypsy Shadow Publishing.

Collision Force (Crossi...

Is ‘Write a Novel’ on Your Bucket List?

Have you created a bucket list, and decided you’d like to write a novel before you kick the bucket? Before you commit to that, we need to talk.

First, although I don’t have a bucket list myself, I like the concept. What a great way to take charge of the rest of your life, to seize the remaining days and bend them to your will, to enjoy the wonders of being alive in this world at this time.

I think your attitude toward your list is important, though. You shouldn’t consider your life a failure if...

Ordering a (Writer’s) Retreat

Planning a writer’s retreat, are you? Already looking forward to that free weekend, or even a full week, away from the stress of work, away from the chores of home? A few days away from everything, with time to devote purely to writing.

So much time! Why, you’ll be able to finish up that novel. You might even knock off a short story or three. Do some new characters sketches for the novel’s sequel, and lay out the plot line. Polish up some query letters.

By now you’ve spotted the signs of a ‘low...

The Truth About “A Tale More True”

Gypsy Shadow Publishing just launched my newest story, “A Tale More True” and I’m excited about it. Here’s the blurb:

History’s greatest liar, a colossal clockwork spring, a fantastic trip to the Moon…in 1769. Read it, but don’t expect truth.

What made me write a clockpunk alternate history story about an 18th Century trip to the moon? As both of my many fans know, I’m a great admirer of Jules Verne, who wrote a classic tale called From the Earth to the Moon.

One day I was searching the web abou...

Does Blogging Help Your Writing?

If you’re thinking of starting up a blog as a way to improve the quality of your fiction writing, I’m here to tell you—blogging will have just as much effect on your golf swing.

My answer is different if you write non-fiction. Well-written blogs are like essays, with the same structure and purpose. The skills needed are the same.

For fiction writers, there’s very little in common between your stories and your blog posts. The talents you develop doing one won’t translate well to the other.

It’s e...

Prioritizing the Markets

What’s that? You say you’ve finished writing a story but you’re not sure which market to send it to first? It can be confusing, selecting among all the markets listed on Duotrope and Ralan and other similar sites.

Every writer makes these choices differently, so I’ll just share my method and the reasons for it. As always, you’re free to do as you wish.

First, prepare yourself mentally for the probability—the near certainty—of rejection. I’ve already discussed how to deal with rejection. My purp...

Pantzers vs. Plotters

One of the ways writers differ is in the type of preparation work they do before the first draft. Some, called pantzers, write that draft “from the seat of their pants.” Plotters, by contrast, organize and lay out their story’s plot and characters within some sort of outline before writing one word of the story.

These two approaches might be epitomized by two zodiac signs, and the personality traits attributed to each. Aries is characterized by impulsiveness and rushing right ahead—a pantzer....

15 Writing Virtues

Many people believe you aren’t just stuck with the way you are now, that you can better yourself by persistent act of will. I’m one of them, but let me just focus on self-help as it applies to the writing of fiction.

Benjamin Franklin was an early example of someone who developed a program of self-improvement. His method was to list thirteen virtues along with a brief description, then he would set about to focus on one virtue per week. Franklin actually kept a log of this, giving himself a bl...

Tightening the Screws

Today I’m discussing why and how writers increase conflict in their stories. Long-term fans of this site with keen memories will recall that I promised to get to this topic in a previous blog entry. Far be it from me to let you down.

Conflict is a necessary part of all stories and it’s a good idea to ramp up the level of conflict as your story proceeds, both to hold your reader’s interest by building tension, and to subject your protagonist to a progressively more difficult test of character,...