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 my newest novel, Valeska, is this: An agent of the organization becomes involved with a vampire girl during a mission, she becomes dependent on the agent, and she is redeemed.
Here is my proposed cover for Valeska:
I'm deconstructing the theme statement for Valeska (above) and noting how it was developed to be entertaining and unique. I wrote yesterday that the protagonist was stated as an entertaining character. The same is true for the protagonist's helper. There are two action statements (verbs) in the theme statement--the first is "involved" and the second is "redeemed."
In my personal opinion, "involved" can be both unique and entertaining. For example, if I wrote ...turned into a vampire... or ... attacked by a vampire... instead of "involved," you would say ho hum. Vampires are written about all the time attacking, killing, turning people into vampires. On the other hand, involvement implies a new or different kind of human and vampire interaction and arrangement. If I wrote...fell in love...instead of "involved," you'd think Twilight (along with a host of other vampire knock-offs). Believe you me, Twilight is only one of many vampire in love novel and book themes. The Japanese have been using this (vampire in love) as a theme for years. So, for these reasons, involved is intended to be entertaining and different.
The second verb is "redeemed." For an evil human, for example, a criminal or a prostitute, the idea of redemption is common (almost trite); however, for a vampire, redemption is supposed to be impossible. There is the core of a unique and hopefully an entertaining theme. The main point is that if you start with a theme statement that is entertaining, you might have some strong chance of writing an entertaining novel. Additionally, if the novel is somewhat unique, you might have a chance at selling it.
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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