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.
The wonderful power in writing in scenes is that time must pass and scenes must build. The point is not to have extraneous scenes, but rather scenes that develop in the proper direction and that provide the feeling of time passing and events occurring. In time, a lunar month to be exact, our vampire comes looking for George. She is more bedraggled than before. She is desperate. She needs his blood. What a great set up. I enjoyed writing this scene almost more than the initial scene. It was a fun scene because it was inevitable and not predictable. The setup was fun too. George comes home a different way every evening--to anyone in "the business," you know why this is necessary. The vampire is waiting for him.
She ambushes him on a side street. This is not an attack. She is wise enough not to attack. She has come to negotiate and beg if necessary. The beauty of this event is that it provides an impetus to revelation. Once I can get the agent and the vampire into a conversation, I can continue the process of the novel that was begun in the first scene. Everyone wants to know about the vampire--don't you?
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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