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.
When I first started writing, I wrote like the older classical novels I grew up with. I learned, after writing many novels, that isn't the most powerful way to write. You can write a good novel using that method, but it really is telling. Don't tell. This is the problem I see all the time. Most writers know the dictum, "Show don't tell," but they really don't understand what that means. For example, sorry to break this to you, if you didn't already know it, but Tolkien did a lot more telling than showing. His worlds of Middle Earth are wonderful, but he really could have done a better job with his writing. This is why his books make such wonderful movies. Movies mostly show everything--when Tolkien is shown, the stories become much more powerful.
In fact, I'll disagree with the famous myth that the best novels are difficult to make into movies. The best novels are entirely description and conversation. If a screenplay writer can't make a great screenplay from description and conversation, he isn't much of a writer. The best novels reveal everything through description and conversation--that is showing. Instead of telling what is happening in the world, nation, city, place, a great author has the characters converse about it--or she shows it to the reader (descriptive action).
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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