Writing Ideas - How I Start a Novel Part 1

5 July 2013, Writing Ideas - How I Start a Novel Part 1

Announcement: My novels Sister of Light and Sister of Darkness are about to be published. I write this blog about 2 months prior to its publication. I just heard that the proofs will be here soon--likely before the end of the week. My publisher also wants to put the entire set of novels based on Aegypt on contract--that's 5 more novels for 8 total. They also want to put my other novels on contract. The release schedule should be one novel every 2 months. I'll keep you updated.

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.

Today's Blog: To see the steps in the publication process, visit my writing website http://www.ldalford.com/ and select "production schedule," you will be sent to http://www.sisteroflight.com/.

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.

I wish I could spend every moment writing on novels. The problem is that I can't physically or mentally do that. I begin to write a novel when I have a novel length inspiration. They come about once every six months now, so I can potentially expect to write a novel every six months or two a year. My usual inspiration is an opening scene or a developed scene. These usually manifest themselves as a theme question. You can see some of these theme questions in the novel secret pages at www.ldalford.com. In the case of the newest novel I wrote, the scene was a girl being beaten and a young man rescuing her. The first question is what could drive such a scene. My answer isn't as simple as you would think.  It doesn't, at first, seem contected to the incident at all. The ultimate plot question I derived from this scene is what incidents would drive the circumstance of an Anglo-Saxon maiden in the modern world. That's the plot statement of the novel. Once I had a plot statement and an opening scene, I could begin on the novel. The novel called for me to write it. I couldn't stop the flow of ideas. Once I fleshed out the major characters in the first chapter, I began to outline the novel. I usually outline very loosely by scene. I add scenes and develop plot details by chapter. When I am writing, I write daily from about 7:00 am to 9:00 pm. I usually write a chapter a day about 6000 words or 20 pages. I aim for a novel of around 100,000 words. About 20 chapters. I finish a novel after about one month. Tomorrow, I'll give you more details on writing my latest novel and generally about how I go about writing a novel.

See more writing secrets at www.ldalford.com.

For more information, you can visit my author site www.ldalford.com/, and my individual novel websites: http://www.aegyptnovel, http://www.centurionnovel.com, www.thesecondmission.com/, http://www.theendofhonor.com/, thefoxshonor, aseasonofhonor.