Introduction: I wrote the novel Aksinya: Enchantment and the Daemon. This was my 21st novel and through this blog, I gave you the entire novel in installments that included commentary on the writing. In the commentary, in addition to other general information on writing, I explained, how the novel was constructed, the metaphors and symbols in it, the writing techniques and tricks I used, and the way I built the scenes. You can look back through this blog and read the entire novel beginning with http://www.pilotlion.blogspot.com/2010/10/new-novel-part-3-girl-and-demon.html.
I'm using this novel as an example of how I produce, market, and eventually (we hope) get a novel published. I'll keep you informed along the way.
Here are my rules of writing:
1. Entertain your readers.
2. Don't confuse your readers.
3. Ground your readers in the writing.
4. Don't show (or tell) everything.
Additionally, every scene must have an input and an output. I'm not a fan of scenes that don't follow one another in time sequence. That isn't to say that these types of disconnected scenes don't have a purpose, but if you use this, you must be cautious not to confuse your readers. In a normal scene outline, the scenes all have an input with an output that follows from scene to scene. For example, in Aksinya, the first scene's input is the background for Aksinya and the demon. This is the implied input. The output is the movement of Aksinya and the demon to save Aksinya's family.
The input of this next scene is the discovery of the death of Aksinya's family, the output is when Aksinya sends the demon out to get revenge. The input of the next scene is the return of the demon...and so on. You can easily write and outline an entire novel this way.
It is also possible to write a scene outline were the scenes don't follow directly one after the other. The means to do this is through a storyline outline.
This is the basics of scene development. Every scene must have a setting, characters, and tension and release.
My Notes: once you have a theme, you need to begin to visualize your plot, focus your theme, and define your characters. More tomorrow.
I'll move on to basic writing exercises and creativity in the near future.
The following is a question asked by one of my readers. I'm going to address this over time: Please elaborate on scene, theme, plot, character development in a new novel creation....ie, the framework, the development, order if operation, the level of detail, guidelines, rule of thumb, tricks, traps and techniques.
I'll repeat my published novel websites so you can see more examples: http://www.ldalford.com/, and the individual novel websites: http://www.aegyptnovel.com/, http://www.centurionnovel.com/, http://www.thesecondmission.com/, http://www.theendofhonor.com/, http://www.thefoxshonor, http://www.aseasonofhonor.com/.
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