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.
I've learned a lot about developing and revealing characters while writing 23 novels. One of the main ones is that I don't write about myself. I don't place myself in novels the way Normal Rockwell drew himself into his paintings (although that might be a fun thing to do in some novel). There are a couple of reasons for this. The first is that each individual character in a novel should be individual and unique. In other words, we don't need Edgar Rice Burroughs main characters. Although I really appreciate ERB's writing--his main characters and many of his supporting characters are all the same. It was like John Carter of Mars and Tarzan were the same actor set in different novels. This is definitely something I don't want in my writing. I go to very great lengths to get away from this. For example, although the main female characters in my Aegypt (Ancient Light) novels all look similar (this is a family characteristic I use in the novels), their characters are significantly different.
In the beginning of Aegypt (Ancient Light), the main female characters look exactly the same except one has a smile and the other a frown. In later novels in this series, the daughters and granddaughters who follow in time, look similar, but have absolutely different personalities. This is part of my own development of concepts in the novels--that characters who look the same can be absolutely different. I'd go so far as to say uniquely different. I intentionally develop characters who are not so foreign to us, but who are complex and many times perplexed about how they should act and what they should do in the world. In my ideas, this is what the development and revelation of characters in a novel is all about.
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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