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 most powerful element in a writer's toolbox is the ability to cause emotion in the reader. That is the point of all fiction writing (and to a degree of non-fiction writing). The tools for creating emotion in your readers is pathos and tension. Pathos is the natural quality of a character and tension is the circumstances you place them in.
The main point of writing is to put an element of pathos in every scene and an element of tension in every scene. Every scene must have a rising action, a climax, and a falling action. The rising action is the tension in the scene, the climax and falling action is the tension release in the scene. Every scene must have some degree of tension. This doesn't mean every scene must have a strong tension and release, but there should be something. Some scenes build tension without a full release. Some scenes are all about release. In every case, until the climax of the novel, there should never be a full release. And in many cases, there shouldn't be a full release of every tension in the novel at that point.
As a writer, your whole world is about tension and release. I imagine every scene before I write it as a tension and a release system. In fact, for a novel, I imagine what circumstances and what elements of the novel itself will bring the greatest pathos and greatest tension with the characters and settings. I'll give some examples from my latest writing.
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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