Tag Archives: inspiration

Drunk and in Charge of a Bicycle

Posted on March 10, 2013 by Poseidon's Scribe

Years ago, while reading Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury, I was struck by a memorable passage.  He’d titled the fourth chapter “Drunk and in Charge of a Bicycle.” After stating that he’d read how other authors … Continue reading →

Posted in Storytelling, The writing life, Worldbuilding | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Write like Leonardo da Vinci?

Posted on January 6, 2013 by Poseidon's Scribe

True, Leonardo da Vinci was an anatomist, architect, botanist, cartographer, engineer, geologist, inventor, mathematician, musician, painter, scientist, and sculptor.  Arguably he was the greatest genius of all time.  But…he never wrote fiction. Still, it may be possible to adapt da … Continue reading →

Posted in Great Writing, Ideas/Creativity, Inspirations, Writing Aids | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Blog Hop – The Next Big Thing

Posted on December 19, 2012 by Poseidon's Scribe

Many thanks to Charlotte Holley who tagged me to participate in The Next Big Thing blog hop.  I didn’t know what a blog hop was but it seems like fun.  In this one, authors answer questions about their Work in … Continue reading →

Posted in Alternate History, Blog Hopping, Characters, Clockpunk, Genres, Inspirations, Publishers | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Character, Plot, or Setting—Which Comes First?

Posted on October 14, 2012 by Poseidon's Scribe

Today’s question is about whether story-writers think about characters, plot, or setting when they first conceive the idea for a story.  If you’ve written fiction, or thought about doing so, which did you start with? Of these three story elements, … Continue reading →

Posted in Characters, Plot, Prompts, Setting, Writing Mechanics | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Writing “Against All Gods”

Posted on August 20, 2012 by Poseidon's Scribe

In a previous blog post I’ve explored how writers take a basic idea and build it into a story.  Here I thought I’d show you that process at work in the development of one of my tales. Recently, Gypsy Shadow … Continue reading →

Posted in Historical Writing, Ideas/Creativity, Inspirations, The writing life | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Tom Swift and His Psycho-Subliminal Writer Inspiratron

Posted on July 15, 2012 by Poseidon's Scribe

When I was a young lad growing up in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in the mid-1960s, my Aunt Betty gave me a precious gift, a copy of Tom Swift and His Flying Lab by Victor Appleton II, ©1954.  It was the … Continue reading →

Posted in Inspirations | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Fleshing Out Your Story

Posted on July 1, 2012 by Poseidon's Scribe

Perhaps you’re a beginning writer with a great idea for a story.  Or maybe you’re an experienced author and someone has come to you with a  story idea and suggested you just whip up the story inspired by that idea.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Characters, Editing, Ideas/Creativity, Inspirations, Prompts, Setting, The writing life, Writing Mechanics | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Stories behind the Stories, Part II

Posted on February 26, 2012 by Poseidon's Scribe

Today I’ll continue my attempt to convey where my ideas come from by listing the remainder of my published short stories, and the source of the ideas for each one. If you missed Part I, here it is.   And now … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthologies, Ideas/Creativity, Inspirations, Poseidon's Scribe, Steampunk | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Stories behind the Stories, Part I

Posted on February 19, 2012 by Poseidon's Scribe

In these blog entries I’ve usually refrained from shameless promotion of my own stories, but today will be different.  However, since my purpose in these blogs is to offer help to beginning writers, I’ll couch my blatant self-advertising as instructive, … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthologies, Historical Writing, Ideas/Creativity, Inspirations, Poseidon's Scribe, Prompts | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

To Retrieve a Lost Muse

Posted on September 4, 2011 by Poseidon's Scribe

I’ve written quite a bit about my muse–that creative alter ego of mine–but I’ve not written much about yours.  You might be protesting, “But, Steve, I don’t have a muse.  I’m not a creative person.”  Well, it’s my contention that … Continue reading →

Posted in Ideas/Creativity, Inspirations, Writing Aids | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments