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.
You create a storyline outline by following the storyline of the major characters and interweave them when it makes sense in the plot. For example, In Aksinya, I could have followed the demon when he was away from Aksinya and produced some scenes where he was the major actor in a scene without Aksinya.
I would have produced this kind of plot by outlining Aksinya's storyline and the demon's storyline separately and them putting them together in the plot. I could have had two scenes that moved at the same time, but in different places. As I mentioned, this is not my preferred method of writing a novel. I feel that this type of writing can too easily confuse your readers. It also, in my mind, reveals too much to the reader. Part of the power of a novel, like Aksinya, is the uncertainty in the mind of the reader about the actions of the demon (and the actions of Natalya) when they are off screen. The power of a novel is as much in what you don't reveal as what you reveal.
The other problem with using storyline outlines is the author must work twice as hard to place scene setting and placement markers in them. I'll write about this tomorrow.
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/.
No comments:
Post a Comment