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.
In the preceeding scene there was an important release, but the reader was not let down completely. There are many loose ends that have not been tied together yet. The readers know about these events and know generally what is going on behind the scenes. They expect to see these storylines and events to be completed and brought together. Aksinya was captured by the inquisitors. Now we see what happened to her.
The begining is scene setting. We don't know what time it is, but the beginning is the place. The second paragraph give the reader an impression of time, but Aksinya doesn't know the time. I'm not hiding anything or being obtuse, I'm just letting the reader know what Aksinya sees and knows.
Aksinya awoke with
a start to a persistent chill. Her hands
were cold and her feet were cold. Her
ears and nose were cold. She tried to
pull herself into a ball. The surface
where she lay was hard and freezing, and she had nothing under her or to cover
herself.
Her teeth
chattered. The room was filled with
gloom. She scrutinized the place. It wasn’t so dark that she couldn’t make out
anything, but there was an almost permanent twilight. At the top of the high wooden walls a frosted
pane allowed a degree of light inside.
It wasn’t much light, but the day, Aksinya remembered, had been bleak.
She lay on a hard
wooden bench. It was just long and wide
enough for her to lie flat, but would be very uncomfortable for a normal sized
man. She rose up on one arm. A putrid smell came to her through the cold
still air. She peered under the
bench. A chamber pot lay under it. The pot wasn’t very clean. The walls of the very small room were
close. The space was so small the bench
completely filled one end.
Aksinya sat up the
rest of the way and stared around her.
The walls behind and on either side were uniform dark wood. In front of her was a wide door made of a
thick wooden lattice. The wood looked
very sturdy. The lattice was open but
stout. The lattice door meant she had
absolutely no privacy. Anyone who
entered the hallway outside the door could observe her.
Aksinya
stood. Her legs almost buckled, and she
took an involuntary step to keep from falling down. The floor was stone. It was freezing through her thin shoes. She regained her balance and stumbled to the
lattice work door. She gazed out into
the corridor. She couldn’t see very far,
but beside the door sat an old woman in a thick habit. The woman was sewing. She didn’t look up at Aksinya, “You finally
awake, deary?”
Aksinya stared at
the woman.
“I expect you’re
hungry.”
Aksinya licked her
lips.
“You slept through
breakfast, so there won’t be anything for you until supper.”
Aksinya cleared
her throat, “May I have tea?”
“Tea for the likes
of you? I don’t think so.”
“Water then.”
“It will just make
you need to pee, and I don’t have a mind to clean up your mess more than I need
to.”
“Who are you?”
The woman laughed,
“I don’t need to tell you anything. I’m
your jailor. That’s enough for you to
know. If you don’t cause me any problems,
I will ensure your stay is not harmful to you.
If you cause me problems, I will make your life miserable.”
“Where am I?”
“There is no harm
in telling you that. Perhaps you can
guess…” The woman glanced up at Aksinya.
Aksinya shook her
head.
“No…then you are
in the residence of the Cardinal of Wien.”
“He would be the
Archbishop.”
The woman’s voice
tightened, and she shook her needle at Aksinya, “He is officially a
Cardinal. You must never forget this.”
Aksinya took a
breath, “I am very cold. Could you get
me a blanket?”
The woman ignored
her request.
“Why am I here?”
A cackle with the
undertone of a tremble came from the woman, “You know why you are here. You are a sorceress.”
“Are you afraid of
me?”
“I shall not
remain here during the night, that’s certain.
During the day, there are many just outside these corridors who will
come to my aid. At night, the guards are
men and the corridor is locked. They
molest you at their own risk.”
“Would they?”
“You are young
though ugly. The darkness brings out the
beauty of any woman—so I’ve been told.”
Aksinya backed to
the bench and pulled her feet up under her dress. She hugged her arms around her knees and
began to recite the rosary.
The woman’s voice
was filled with humor, “The rosary. That’s
fine to pray, but it won’t do you any good.
From what I hear, the Pope’s sent his inquisitors. They’ll expose all your guilt and then some.
Aksinya kept
praying.
Aksinya is a captive in the house of the Cardinal--she is being held for inquisition. The readers couldn't have expected this. The readers might have expected the police, the demon, Ernst, the school, but not the inquisition. Aksinya didn't expect this either. This is part of the power of good writing, you don't let the readers know everything. You let the readers know what Aksinya knows, not everything there is.
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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