Announcement: We are in the countdown phase for the publication of my new novels. The date on the internet is 1 September. We will see how close we come, or if the publishers meet the deadline. My Aegypt novels will be titled Ancient Light, and the next two books will be called Sister of Light and Sister of Darkness. These were the original titles. They will be released individually and as a 3 in 1 volume. The proposed cover and info can be found at www.ancientlight.com. 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:
Writing is getting better. It is evolving. In the beginning was poetry that became the ballades of the skalds and troubadours. Those became epic poetry--the Oddessy and the Iliad--Beowulf. The writers produced short stories and collections of short stories--Decameron. Eventually Miazaki wrote the first novel, Genshi and Cervantes wrote Don Quiote. Eventually, Defoe wrote Moll Flanders and that was the beginning of the novel in the English language. Defoe wrote in a journalistic style, in the first person, and present tense. The novel has evolved. It has become something very different than it's beginning.
Writers have evolved the form and the style of the novel. It is now third person, past tense, and implying the future or a future present. Novels have evolved, and we should expect them to evolve more. What is the future of novels? I suspect they will generally have the form of third person, past tense, implying the future. We call this science fiction, but I suspect novels will be more and more of a future and scientific basis without much science fiction in them. They will have science fiction features without much extrapolation of technology. That is what we are seeing in novels right now.
When you write, I suggest, you take advantage of my observations. Write third person, past tense, and if your novel is in the present then us a future present. I set all my novels in time. I like to use real time and places. The trick in grounding your writing is to make it fit these basic criteria.
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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