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.
A scene outline is a means of writing a novel where each scene follows the other with a scene input from the previous scene and a scene output that leads to the next scene. The scenes don't necessarily have to follow directly in time and place, however they generally follow the storyline of the protagonist.
A storyline outline is a means of writing a novel where the author develops a scene outline for more than one character and bases the plot on one or more of these storyline scenes. This allows the scenes to focus on more than the protagonist. This is a very difficult means of writing. There is a strong chance of confusing your readers.
Whether you write with a scene outline or a storyline outline, you must properly develop your scenes. All novels are developed from scenes and each scene has a design similar to a novel. Every successful novel has the following basic parts:
1. The beginning
2. The rising action
3. The Climax
4. The falling action
5. The dénouement
Every scene has these parts:
1. The setting (where, what, who, when, how)
2. The connection (input)
3. The tension development
4. The release
5. The output
There are lots of approaches to scene setting. That means there are about a million plus ways you can set a scene. The main point is you have to clearly get across the where, when, who, what, and how.
I told you I would show you some examples. These are from the novel, Aksinya. First we have the beginning of the novel. This includes some very important scene and novel setting. Within this first part is the description of Aksinya. The description is wound up with the place setting. This is one method to set a scene and integrate the character description into it.
The dank stone room was filled with
shadows. Every corner oozed
darkness. Within a pentagram that was
encompassed by a circle stood a slight young woman. Fat yellow beef-tallow candles marked the
points of the pentagram and weakly illuminated only the area around her. A brazier of incense filled the room with the
scent of myrrh along with an underlying smell that was indeterminate, but left
a taste of blood in the mouth. The woman
was dressed in a black gown that was much too large for her. Beautiful hand made lace cascaded down the
front of the dress and decorated the sleeves.
Thick velvet competed with black satin to form a perfect attire to greet
a Tsar, but certainly not a commissar.
The gown fell loosely away from the woman’s thin chest and small
breasts. It looked odd draped on her
body, like a girl playing dress-up from her mother’s closet. But this gown obviously came from the closet
of a princess.
Aksinya, the woman within the pentagram,
squinted across the dark cellar. She was
barely eighteen and much too thin for her age.
She was petit; that was a polite way of saying small. And underdeveloped, that was a polite way of
saying she didn’t yet appear much like a woman.
Aksinya’s hair was dark brown and silky and
beautiful, bound up in a long braid, but her face was plain and Russian, so Russian. Her voice was soft and sometimes too
shrill. When she was excited it rose in
strength and pitch, so she never sounded very mature or well mannered.
Aksinya stood in the middle of the
pentagram. She held a book in one hand,
and the bodice of the dress in the other.
It kept falling away from her chest and although there was no one to
see, she felt uncomfortable and underdressed when it did. She squinted across the cellar again and
focused back on the book. She knew the
words and the pictures in the book by heart.
She had memorized them long ago, but still she sought them like an
anchor against the storm she was about to release. In the dark—she hadn’t thought about how dark
it would be, she could barely read the text.
Finally, she took up an extra taper from the floor and lit it from the
closest candle. She had to hold the
taper in one hand and the book in the other, which almost completely revealed
her chest, but that couldn’t be helped now.
This initial description of Aksinya is about 420 words long. There is more to her description that is included in the first scene. You should read it again to get the full effect of the narrative and description.
The next description is that of the demon. This description is also intermeshed in the rest of the description and action in the scene. The demon gets over 300 words.
A great roar filled the cellar, and she
almost dropped. She didn’t. Her voice rang out more clearly. A hot sulfurous wind rushed through the place
and Aksinya smiled. Then she forced her
face back to blandness. There was a dark
flash, a scream like the sound of metal cutting metal, and across the cellar,
in the corner suddenly was a shape.
Immediately, Aksinya’s words changed. They words of enticing and cajoling became
those of welcoming and greeting. They
leapt automatically from her lips. As she
spoke, she carefully watched the shape across the room. It began to move. At first it slowly rose and fell as though it
was just beginning to breathe, and then it began to grow. It unfolded like a flower, but this flower
was like nothing beautiful the earth had ever seen. It was man-shaped and black. Its skin and muscles clung to it as though it
was only bone and muscle without any fat at all. When it had unfolded completely, it touched
the top of the ceiling, at least seven feet tall. More than two meters. Its limbs were long and at the end of its
fingers were talons and of its feet were claws.
They were black too. It’s face
was black and handsome. Fangs jutted out
of its lips on the top and the bottom, but the face was aristocratic and
fine. At its head were ears that lifted
up points like an animal and horns at either side.
The creature was naked, and Aksinya’s eyes
moved almost without her control downward.
There was nothing there. It was
like an expurgated statue. There was
nothing but a pubic bulge. Aksinya
wasn’t certain whether to be disappointed.
She raised her hands in the final greeting and let them fall.
Next, we have the initial description of Natalya. Natalya is the girl whom the demon forces Aksinya to accept as her lady-in-waiting. We get more about Natalya later, but this is the initial description.
“Your estate now…”
the demon purred. He continued, “They
are an aristocratic family, a royal family.
They have a servant who takes care of their daughters and waits on the
Prince’s wife. She is a lady-in-waiting,
and here she is. Near the head of the
table, the door opened. It wasn’t a door
for a servant since the top was rounded.
The girl who came in was petite and beautiful. Her hair was dark and silky. Her eyes were luminous. Her skin was pale and smooth. In all, she appeared very aristocratic and
refined. Her clothing, likewise, though
not as expensive as the gowns of the ladies around the table, fit her perfectly
and brought out the best in her figure and features. It was not unusual that when she entered, the
eye of every man and every woman turned toward her. She whispered to one of the older women at
the table and sat against the wall behind her.
When you introduce a character, spend at least 100 to 300 words introducing them to us. That introduction is a description of their features, movements, and clothing. I'll give you more examples, tomorrow.
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.centurionnovelthesecondmission.com/, http://www.theendofhonor.com/, http://www.thefoxshonor, http://www.aseasonofhonor.com/.
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