Announcement: I received the proofs and a three-day deadline to give comments. One of my regular prepub readers and I went through the three book. I was able to correct some second edition issues in Aegypt. The proposed cover and info can be found at www.ancientlight.com. I'll keep you updated. I should have three new books out soon.
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:
The purpose of a novel is to reveal the protagonist and usually the protagonist's helper, the author needs to place them in circumstance that allows them to reveal themselves. The means can be conversation, exploration, discovery, other's conversation, confession, accidental discovery.
I like discovery novels, and I like to include discovery concepts in all my novels. I'm using my yet unpublished novel, Dana-ana as an example of a discovery novel to show how discovery works.
I mentioned before, that the method of all novels is to reveal the characters and to reveal the plot. In the case of a "discovery" novel, the revelation of the plot is the revelation of a character, usually the protagonist. In the case of Dana-ana, the plot is her revelation. What we see in the contest of the novel is the other characters and especially, the protagonist's helper, determining who and what is Dana-ana. I won't give any full spoilers, but Dana-ana is everything she appears.
This is a beautiful kind of revelation--where the character is not trying to actively hide anything, but just her existence is mystifying. Usually people are mundane--you get a few here and there who really are special in some way or another, but usually people are people. Dana-ana is something else entirely. This is the foundation for discovery: a person who is unknown, a mystery based on the person, a secret the person holds, a person out of place or time, a person who is unique, a person who is endearing. Dana-ana is all these things. Additionally, the novel Dana-ana is a self discovery novel. Imagine Dana-ana as a person who has amnesia, she doesn't really, but she is discovering things about herself while the characters are discovering information about her. This is why amnesia based stories are so interesting in literature and popular media. In an amnesia based story, a character has lost some memories and they, as well as others, are trying to understand who they were. Unfortunately, because they are so rare in reality, amnesia based themes always seem contrived--a theme like Dana-ana is unique and in this sense not contrived.
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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