Steven R. Southard's Blog, page 85

Not Mary Poppins

Let me set the scene for you.  It's an elementary school classroom in Cedar Rapids, Iowa sometime in the mid-1960s. Young Steve Southard is a student in second, third, or fourth grade.  He has no idea that he will try his hand at writing stories someday.

The teacher asks if we have seen the movie "Mary Poppins," and virtually all of us raise our hands.  Then she asks, "Who is the movie about?"

There was no word "duh" in those ancient times, otherwise we would have used it.  Every hand goes up. ...

When Things Mean Other Things

What do you think of symbolism in writing?  Most of us have been through English (Language Arts) classes where the teacher encouraged us to find symbols in some of the great works of literature.  This is a bit of a stretch for high school students, but school is all about stretching young minds, isn't it?  Some of us had the unfortunate experience of guessing at a symbol and being told we were wrong.

This raises several questions.  Should writers use symbolism?  If they do, and readers detect ...

How to Create Life (in fiction)

In what way are all fiction writers like Dr. Frankenstein?  Answer:  we're all creating life.  Mary Shelley's famous character is a better metaphor for my purposes than the phrase "playing God," because, like the Transylvanian experimenter, we have models to copy from — all the people we see and meet.

The problem is, as Dr. Frankenstein found out, creating life is difficult.  Some writers are better at giving readers a vivid mental picture of their characters than others.  What are the...

Dear Jules Verne

Please forgive me for not having written much sooner.  Of course, you may not be that concerned about my tardiness since you've been dead now for 106 years.

There are a great number of things to thank you for, even though belatedly.  I read several of your books in my teenage years.  It was Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea that inspired me to enter my country's submarine service.  In fact, two of the book's chapters, 'Everything by Electricity' and 'Some Figures' spurred me to major in...

For Heart or Market?

Today'[image error]s question:  should you write for your heart or for the market?  (Doesn't it always come down to love or money?)  Beginning writers often ask this, invariably because what they want to write (what their heart is telling them to write) is not selling in the marketplace.  Moreover, when they look at what is selling, they see only cookie-cutter books in neat, well-defined genres, which are not the type of thing they wish to write.

Ideally, of course, the two are the same—what you want to...

Write What You Know? Really?

One of the oldest sayings about writing is "write what you know."  Its originator is unknown.  Is this good advice, or bad?

This much is certain; it's a lucky thing some great writers didn't actually follow that advice.  For one thing, we never would have had any science fiction or fantasy, since no writer has gone through the experiences of characters in those sorts of stories.

Or have they?

In one sense, all characters encounter problems and experience emotional reactions to those problems...

In the Mood…

…for writing, I mean.  If you're an author, how do you get in the best possible mood to write?

Face it, not every moment of the actual process of writing involves the seamless flow of ideas from brain down to fingers typing with frenzied speed on a keyboard.  There are moments (minutes, hours?) spent staring out the window, looking at a world that's become far more interesting than the problem of figuring out what the next word should be.  At those times, you need a way to get unstuck.

To be...

A Little Prompting

Would you like to write a story but don't have any idea what to write about?  Perhaps you often find yourself having this problem.  Once you're given some external spark, you can write like crazy; it's just difficult in the beginning to figure out the idea for the story.

In February I mentioned I don't usually suffer from this problem.  But there must be many who do, given the number of books and websites devoted to helping people solve it.  If you search for "writing prompts" you'll see what ...

What are All Stories About?

Many years ago I read somewhere that all stories, without exception, are about the human condition.  The writer stated made it sound like one of those obvious statements that require no explanation, as if any doubting reader must be stupid. It may seem obvious to you, too.  However, I stopped reading and thought about the statement in a critical manner.

First, any bold statement that all members of a class of things (stories) exhibit some property (are about the human condition) is subject to ...

Aiming for the Anthos

You've heard anthologies are a way to break into the writing business, but you're not sure whether, or how, to submit?  Well, you've surfed to the right blog.  This is an area where Poseidon's Scribe has some experience.  Seven of my stories are published in anthologies.

An anthology is a collection of stories, often sharing something in common and usually written by a variety of contributing writers.  Anthologies appeal to readers because they can sample the writing of unfamiliar authors and ...