Announcement: There is action on my new novels. The publisher renamed the series--they are still working on the name. I provided suggestions as did one of my prepub readers. Now the individual books will be given single names: Leora, Leila, Russia, Lumiere', China, Sveta, and Klava--at least these are some of the suggestions. They are also working on a single theme for the covers. 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.
The four plus one basic rules I employ when writing:
1. Don't confuse your readers.
2. Entertain your readers.
3. Ground your readers in the writing.
4. Don't show (or tell) everything.
5. Immerse yourself in the world of your writing.
All novels have five discrete parts:
1. The initial scene (the beginning)
2. The rising action
3. The climax
4. The falling action
5. The dénouement
The theme statement of this new novel is: An agent of the organization becomes involved with a vampire girl during a mission, she becomes dependent on the agent, and she is redeemed.
Many writers and artists will say that every good theme has already been used before and all good themes are just reused in a different setting. I'm not certain I agree with this. In the case of the vampire novel I'm writing, the single word theme would be redemption. The redemption theme is a classic theme. What makes it unique is that it is applied to a vampire.
You might ask, how do I intend to achieve the redemption of a vampire? The answer is this, I have no idea at all. That's not true exactly. I have some ideas, but no fixed ones. In writing this kind of novel, you need the redemption to be believable. The writer has to make the circumstances and the characters believable as well. The critical element is the believability of the novel and the ideas in the novel. This is called suspension of belief, and this is what I have been writing about for weeks in my other blog at www.novelscene.wordpress.com. To achieve a proper novel development, the reader has to buy into and be kept in the storyline and novel. The author must develop the theme into a plot and storyline such that the reader buys everything and enters the world the writer creates.
The point of this novel is to place the reader in the modern world with a vampire and a secret agent.
With this theme statement I was ready to tackle the novel. The next step was to flesh out the characters and the setting.
More tomorrow.
For more information, you can visit my author site http://www.ldalford.com/, and my individual novel websites:
http://www.aegyptnovel.com/
http://www.centurionnovel.com
http://www.thesecondmission.com/http://www.theendofhonor.com/
http://www.thefoxshonor.com
http://www.aseasonofhonor.com
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