guest blog - Steven R. Southard (Poseidon's Scribe)

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My Muse Walks into a Blog

I haven’t invited too many guest posts on my site, and today both you and I will discover why. I invited my muse to write a post. She accepted right away. That was three years ago.

I prodded her about it recently, during one of her rare visits, and she said she hadn’t forgotten. She’d just been busy. I think she was lying. In any case, below is what she gave me, and it sure doesn’t read like three years’ worth of work. More like a last-minute, slap-dash, hodgepodge mess.

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Hi! I’m Steve’s muse.

Never written before—more of an idea girl myself. Talker, whisperer.

(Have you ever thought about—) No, wait. Supposed to explain, not suggest.

Just, I’m full of ideas today. Suggesting’s what I do.

(How about a driverless, autonomous car story? That’d be timely.)

They fill me, ideas do. I whisper to Steve, then move on.

Don’t know what he does with ‘em, don’t care.

(What if someone learned to talk to a dolphin, and the dolphin was the only witness to a crime—would a dolphin’s testimony be accepted?)

This language Steve uses, these punctuation marks—too constraining.

ideas are where i live in the mind anything is possible

i hate constraints

(What if a spaceship used a ‘gravity sail’ instead of a light sail? So fragile it couldn’t enter a solar systems’ gravity well?)

Why cant’ I write like this?

like

this?

(Time for someone to write about a murder on a magnetic levitation train)

Sorry, gotta go.

Back now. Don’t ask.

What’s the topic? Oh, constraints and rules…hate ‘em.

(If there are cruise ships, why aren’t there cruise submarines?)

Stupid topic, rules are. Moving on…

About me: Idea Girl. Creativity Girl. Muse.

(What about a time-travelling fish?)

A thousand ideas a second. Flitting sparks, nebulous, ethereal.

Gotta tell Steve. He’s my guy.

(A setting. Planet covered with muddy swamps and permanent, pea-soup fog.)

Steve’s slow, though.

Always wants me to tell him more…to flesh out my ideas.

(What if a character couldn’t read minds, but her mind could be read by anyone within a few feet of her?)

I don’t flesh out ideas, Steve.

Your job.

(What about the first robotic NASCAR driver?)

I just whisper and leave, that’s my job.

Wow! Shiny object over there! See ya!

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That’s all I got from my muse. Now you know what I have to put up with. I doubt I’ll be inviting her to guest-post again, ever. In conclu—

Ooh, ooh. Steve. Can I do the signoff?

What? No.

Pleeeeese?

Well…if it’s that imp—

Squee! Here goes. That’s it for the best-ever post on Steve’s blog by his favorite—

Now, wait a minute—

—his favorite best friend ever—

Poseidon’s Scribe’s Muse!

March 8, 2020Poseidon's ScribePermalink

The Life Story of a Short Story

Hello. I’m a short story. Since Poseidon’s Scribe never got around to blogging about the whole short story process, he invited me to guest blog today. My title is “Alexander’s Odyssey,” and I was written by Steven R. Southard. My life story is typical of other tales, and might be obvious to many of you, but the steps weren’t clear to Steve when he started.

1. Idea. I started as an idea. You did too, I suppose, but with stories you only need one human with an idea, if you know what I mean. Getting a story idea isn’t as difficult as most believe. Ideas are all around you.

2. Outline. This can take many forms, not just the standard I-A-1-a-(1) type. It can be a mind-map, for example. An outline can keep you focused as you write, but don’t be afraid to deviate from it if the story takes off in a different direction. Steve used an outline for me, but if you don’t want to, just skip this step.

3. Research. You might have to conduct research for your story like Steve did for me. Use the most authoritative sources you can. Steve didn’t include all the researched data when writing me, just a tiny fraction. You might enjoy research, but don’t get stuck at this stage. At some point, enough is enough.

4. First Draft. Steve wrote my first draft fast, without caring about quality. He didn’t even stop to correct typos. He got it all down, the emotions, the drama, and the character interactions.

5. Edit. Steve did several drafts of me where he corrected typos; deleted extraneous stuff; added in foreshadowing, metaphors, similes, and symbolism, etc. Don’t get stuck at this stage either; some stories never even get submitted.

6. Submit. Steve located a suitable market, and had to modify me a bit to conform to the submission guidelines. After much hesitation, he submitted me. These days, you writers have the option of self-publishing us stories, so you could skip this step.

7. Rejection. Actually, I didn’t get rejected the first time, but I know the feeling. I don’t understand why writers take rejection so personally; the editor is rejecting me, not you. Just shake it off and submit your story to some other market. Keep us moving!

8. Accept. I was pretty happy when an anthology editor accepted me, but Steve was positively giddy. I’d never seen him so thrilled and, frankly, the details are embarrassing, so I’ll just move on.

9. Rewrite. The editor suggested Steve change me a bit. He agreed the changes would do me good, and made them. I’ve seen Steve agonize over suggested changes to other stories, though. I’ve even seen him push back against the editor. In the end, they always reach agreement and Steve signs the contracts. I guess he could always refuse and walk away if he wanted.

10. Launch. These days, publishers don’t just publish us, they launch us. It does make me feel like a rocket going off, sort of. Again, Steve seems really happy when a story launches, and again it’s awkward to watch.

11. Market. If I’d been picked up by one of the top publishing houses, they’d spread the word about me. Steve didn’t send me there, so he had to do it. Boy, does he hate that part, though I’ve heard some authors like marketing. Use social media, newsletters, writing conferences—anything to advertise.

12. Read. My favorite step. When a reader buys me and reads me cover to cover, that’s what I live for.

13. Reprint. When the rights to me reverted back to Steve, he submitted me for publication as a reprint. After three rejects, another market accepted me, but asked for significant changes. My reprint version states where and when I was published the first time.