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.
Once you have a pathetic character, what you do with them is very important. What you want to do with any of your characters is place them in a situation of tension then release. Just as a novel has a rising action, climax, and falling action, every scene in your novel, should have some degree of tension (rising action) and release (climax and falling action). The development of the tension in each scene is critical to building pathos and holding the energy of the emotion in your readers.
For example, in my vampire novel, I have a protagonist's helper who is eating out of the garbage. I don't always put this in my novels, but it is a good means to generate pathos. The eating out of garbage is mitigated in the case of this character because she is doing it for her business--she would rather spend the money on her business than buy food. The protagonist offers to give her money--she says she would just use the money for her business. The protagonist offers to take her to dinner every night. Break, break, do you see the rising tension in this scene description. The source of tension is the food. The protagonist's helper is starving herself for her work. This is the tension. The protagonist keeps trying to solve the problem that is causing the tension. As in each step, the tension is not released, the tension grows. Finally, the protagonist offers to buy her dinner each night--that is the climax and the release. If you note, the circumstance of a pathetic character in a pathetic circumstance generates the tension. The solution gives a release. The release is still not complete.
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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