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.
Tags and handles are the mean you use to identify characters in conversation and in your novel. If you introduce a character as wearing bowties, then every time you mention a bowtie, you will make your readers remember this character. This is a handle. These are critical to identifying characters especially in conversation. For example, a very simple handle is "Leila's mother." If Leila has one mother, then the handle reminds your reader who she is.
Let me explain why handles are so important. If I introduce a character, Sveta Long, the reader may or may not recognize this character when I mention her again in the novel. I must describe the character, Sveta Long (and I mean the description not anything else), and I should give her a handle. In the case of Valeska, Sveta Long happens to be the head of Stele. When I reintroduce Sveta, all I have to do is tell you Sveta Long, the director of Stele. The reader should remember the character immediately. On the other hand, if I simply mention the name, Sveta Long, the reader may or may not remember the character or the context of the character.
You could compare this to when you meet people you have been introduced to before. If you meet a person at work, your have a completely different context than if you met them at the grocery store, or if you met them at a party. When I give the reader (or you as a person) the context of the meeting, you can immediately remember the person. Many writers don't understand this. They give us names and then reintroduce the names--most people don't really remember names well, they remember context. Put a handle on a character and your readers will get it. What about tags or taglines?
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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