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.
The ideas I'm discussing in this overall conclusion are not just for science fiction, but relevant to all writing. I'm putting together the sequence of events for writing a science fiction novel. The input for the first scene comes out of the setting, characters, and action of the theme statement. That first scene has an output. The output for the first scene provides the input for the second scene. In the new novel I am writing and mentioned yesterday, the first scene ends with the agent, following his wounding and encounter with the starving vampire, unconscious but alive--that is the output of the first scene. The input for the second scene is the agent in the hospital--he wakes up. The scene in the hospital should be obvious--the nurse, the doctor visit, the revelation of what the doctors discovered, finally, the visit from the agent's boss (station director).
The output of the hospital scene is the discharge from the hospital. This is the input for the next scene. Here the author has some control over the movement of the scenes. This input could go many places. The agent could go to a bar, seek out the vampire, go home, go to the office. I had him go home. An agent always has to prepare an after action report. This is the most important thing an agent can do. The mission is worthless unless there is a report. Real agents must write their reports--they are not debriefed by a person who writes it all down.
Note that each scene follows the first in sequence and that the output from one scene drive the input of the next. This is the key point I am making.
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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