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.
I'm not giving this series up quite yet. I'll review some of what I've already described and tie it together.
Once you have a theme statement, you can very quickly develop the plot. Since the theme statement provides you a protagonist, an antagonist, possibly a protagonist's helper, a setting, and an action statement, all you need to do is develop the characters, the setting, and begin to flesh out the sequence of the scenes. I write using scenes, so with a theme statement, I already have the basis for the first scene. The first scene leads to each succeeding scene.
Let me explain in a little more detail. I write in scenes so the first step is to set the scene. Since you have a setting in your theme statement, all you have to do is expand this setting. Setting is the where, when, who, what, and how. Expanding the setting means that you provide details to the where (the description of the place), the when (the time), who (the description of the characters), the what (the description of the elements of the scene), and the how (this is the action). Think of scene writing like a play--once you have the basic setting in place, you can begin to move the characters around the setting. The scene has a beginning and an end. The end leads into the next scene. This is how you write a novel or a story.
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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