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.
Here is another example of scene setting from the novel, Aksinya. I'm giving you examples from the book so you can see different ways of introducing and writing a scene. In each snippet, you get the scene setting, the tension and release, and the input and output. This isn't true of every example, but the pieces should be there, and I've been trying to identify for you when all the pieces aren't evident. You can use these ideas to guide your own writing. Make sure you set the scene properly, then make everything come to life through the narration and conversation.
Now... we have the full scene setting. Aksinya is fully awake and can note the environment. The reader shares this with her.
Aksinya
finally woke again in the early afternoon.
Frau Becker and Frau Mauer both stayed with her and kept a close eye on
her. The moment Aksinya woke, she tried
to get up, but she didn’t have the strength.
The room was bright and warm. A
coal fire burned in the fireplace. The
bed was large and beautiful. Aksinya
couldn’t see much more of the room than that at first. Frau Becker had food and tea for her. The two women helped Aksinya sit with some
pillows behind her. Then Aksinya could
see the rest of the place. It looked
like a guest room in a fine house.
The
women fed her and gave her tea. Aksinya
tolled her rosary and then recited part of Matthew in Greek. Frau Becker and Frau Mauer didn’t know what to
make of that. By the late afternoon,
Frau Becker thought about calling for supper for them all when a knock came at
the room’s door.
Frau
Becker, at Aksinya’s side nodded toward Frau Mauer. Frau Mauer went to the door, “This is a
private room under guard. Who is at the
door?”
“This
is the Inquisitor Esposito. I’m here to
speak to the prisoner about her defense.”
Frau
Becker nodded, and Frau Mauer opened the door.
The
stocky priest inquisitor entered the room.
He wore his usual priestly robes.
Frau Becker stood. The priest
walked up to the bed and cocked his head and observed Aksinya for a long
moment.
Aksinya
turned her face away, “Please, Inquisitor Esposito, I feel very uncomfortable
under your scrutiny.”
He
smiled and sat in the chair Frau Becker had left. “Sorry,” he didn’t sound sorry, “I just
wanted to take a careful look at you.”
“Why?”
“I’ve
never seen a sorceress like you.”
Frau
Becker snorted, “Have you ever seen a sorceress at all?”
He glanced annoyed at Frau Becker,
“Actually, no. Might I have a private discussion with the Fraulein?”
Frau Becker brought a chair from the small
table and put it on the other side of the bed, “Actually, no. Frau Mauer and I will chaperone the Fraulein
while you are here.”
Aksinya smiled, “Thank you very much, Frau
Becker.”
The expression of the priest’s face didn’t
change, “Very well, but if she must confess, you will have to move far enough
away not to hear.”
Inquisitor Esposito took out his briefcase
and pulled out some papers and a fountain pen, “Now Fraulein Golitsyna, you
must realize the charges of the Church against you are very serious.”
“That I am guilty of sorcery, I confess.”
“You confess it?”
“Yes, I freely
confess this. I already confessed
sorcery along with all my acts against God to my Orthodox priest, Father
Dobrushin.” Aksinya rushed ahead, “I
would like to speak to Father Dobrushin.”
“That is not
possible.”
“Why not?”
“He is Orthodox
and not permitted at your trial.”
“I am
Orthodox—does the same rule apply to me?”
The inquisitor
ignored her, “There are other charges.”
“These are?”
“The first is that
you impersonated a member of the nobility.
Do you have any proof that you are noble?”
“My passport.”
“Do you know where
it is?”
“No.”
Inquisitor
Esposito cleared his throat, “Can anyone vouch for you?”
“My aunt and
uncle, the Freifrau and Freiherr Bockmann.
The Freiherr is my mother’s brother.
I am related to the Herzog Bockmann of Germany
The priest’s
expression turned bleak, “They have both declined to testify either for or
against you at trial. They are in the
process of legally disowning you because of this incident.”
Aksinya lowered
her head. Her voice was soft, “I
understand.” She spoke more loudly,
“What of the other charges?”
“There is a charge
that you kidnapped and kept an apprentice to your sorcery, the Lady Natalya
Alexandrovna Obolenska.”
“That is true. I did.
I am confessed. I harmed her soul
and mind.”
Frau Becker and Frau Mauer gasped.
Father Esposito cleared his throat again,
“Yes.” He turned away his head, “There is
another charge that you seduced the mind and soul of a Herr Ernst von Taaffe, a
member of the Austrian nobility.”
“I did that also. I am clearly at fault.”
The Frauen couldn’t hold back their gasp
again.
In inquisitor continued, “The other
charges relate to your use of sorcery.
They are that you used sorcery to murder your family, steal the goods
from the estate of Count Golitsyna, to cheat merchants in Wien, and to escape Russian justice.”
Aksinya’s eyes
widened, “I did not murder my family, the Bolsheviks did that. I did not steal the things that belonged to
me already, although I did use sorcery to bring them here to Austria Russia
The inquisitor
chuckled at the last. Then his face
turned serious again, “There is much to recommend these charges.”
“There are
witnesses?”
“Yes, there are,
but I am not privy to the case against you.
I act as the advocatus reorum in your trial. I am to represent you and defend you from the
charges of the inquisition. Both the promotor
fiscalis and
the judge is the Archinquisitor Gallo.
He does not have to share this information with me, only the charges.”
Aksinya shrugged, “That
doesn’t seem to make it a very fair trail.”
“Perhaps it is not.”
Frau Becker sneered, “It
is not at all fair. What might be the
punishment for such charges?”
“Excommunication and death
could be the punishment, but death cannot be levied by an ecclesiastical
court—it can only be recommended to a secular trial.”
Frau Becker wrung her
hands, “You would kill her for this?”
“If she is guilty.”
Aksinya cocked her head,
“You have not touched the most egregious sin I committed through sorcery.”
Inquisitor Esposito sat
back, “And what would that be.”
“I called a demon from the
depths of hell to be my servant.”
Frau Becker involuntarily
scooted her chair back a little. Frau
Mauer brought her hands up to her face.
The Inquisitor wrote on
his pad, “Who was this demon?”
“It is the demon
Asmodeus.”
“You have seen him?”
“He was the one who took
my clothing from me in the cell. He was
the reason I had to mark my clothing and the blankets with the crosses. He still torments me.”
“But he is your servant?”
“No one can control a
demon. I brought him out of hell to
protect my family. He ensured that they
all died. He tempted me to take the Lady
Natalya and to seduce Herr von Taaffe.”
“You called this demon
into the house of the Cardinal?”
“I did not call him
here. I can’t be rid of him. He comes and goes as he wills, but I am
guilty for bringing him back to the world where he can tempt and harm others.”
“You also tried to kill
yourself. That is a very grievous crime
as well.”
“I did not try to kill
myself.” Aksinya’s voice was low, “I
tried to protect myself from the demon.”
“Yes. This will be very difficult to defend
Fraulein.” The Inquisitor placed his
papers and pen back into his briefcase.
“I have no intention of
defending myself at the trial.”
“Yes. I see.
I am still called to defend you.”
“I will not hold it
against you because you will fail. I am
guilty.”
“I see.” The inquisitor stood. He started for the door. He stopped and called over his shoulder, “We
expect the trial to begin tomorrow. Do
you have anyone who might speak in your favor?”
“My priest, Father
Dobrushin, Father Makar, the Matushka Ekaterina. They might speak in my favor.”
“They
are Orthodox. They will not be allowed
to testify.”
“Then
there is no one who will speak for me.
But it doesn’t matter because I am guilty.”
The
Priest went to the door. Frau Becker
pursued him through the opening. In the
hall outside, she called to him, “Inquisitor Esposito.”
The
priest turned, “Yes, Frau.”
“You
know this girl is not fully sane. No one
can really do sorcery. No one can do the
things this child has been accused of.”
“She
has confessed to them, and I don’t see much that I can defend.”
“Listen
to me, Father. For the love of God, you
must not allow them to harm her. Since
she has been here, I have not seen anything in her but an honest and contrite
woman. I hear the papers are following everything. I know there are reporters outside the gates
every day. This trial will ruin her and
many others. It will not help the
Church. It will not lead to anything
good.”
“The
Pope himself sent us to seek out a resolution to this matter. It is not in our hands. It is in the hands of God. For better or worst, the result will be what
it is. Additionally, Archinquisitor
Gallo is a driven man. He will not let
this go until it reaches the bitter end.
The scourging and discipline of the Church and its members is a critical
function that we provide.”
“But
this will not scourge and discipline. It
will lead to much harm.”
“So
you say,” he frowned down on Frau Becker.
“Let
me testify in her favor. I am a member
of the Church and can speak to her sanity and her goodness.”
“That
will not be allowed. You are not a
witness to any of the charges to which she has been accused.” The inquisitor turned on his heel and left
Frau Becker standing with her mouth hanging open.
In this scene, we learn a lot about what is going on around Aksinya. We see the basic charges against her and what the inquisitors think. We also see what Frau Becker thinks. Frau Becker is the normal mind among everyone close to Aksinya at this point. Frau Becker doesn't believe in the demon. She doesn't mistrust Aksinya, but she doesn't believe her either. She doesn't believe the inquisitors. This is the same situation as the thinking reader. They wonder what is the truth and they wonder what to believe. Ironically, everyone seems to know that the deck is stacked against Aksinya.
The following is a question asked by one of my readers. I'm going to address this over time: I am awaiting for you to write a detailed installment on identifying, and targeting your audience, or audiences...ie, multi-layered story, for various audiences...like CS Lewis did. JustTake care, and keep up the writing; I am enjoying it, and learning a lot.
For more information, you can visit my author site at www.ldalford.com/, and my individual novel websites: http://www.aegyptnovel.com/, http://www.centurionnovel.com, www.thesecondmission.com/, http://www.theendofhonor.com/, thefoxshonor, aseasonofhonor.
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