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 separated discovery from accidental discovery. I may repeat myself, but I will give some ideas about how to write discovery. Accidental discovery is the best but not the easiest to pull off. For example, accidental discovery is when a character's secret is revealed by an unfortunate occurrence. The classic is the politician's mistress is revealed when they are caught by the press. Or the politician is caught in a lie. These are difficult to set up because they may take an entire novel to develop to the point of the accidental discovery. In many novels, this is the climax or at least a turning point. A discovery novel, like Dana-ana gives many opportunities for accidental discovery. In this case, the accidental discovery can be simple and complex. For example, in Dana-ana, I use more than half the novel building up the relationship Dana-ana has with the Crown in the United Kingdom. When Dana-ana visits Britain, this comes to a head. The readers get to see some of the behind the scenes action that eventually spills over to the regular characters. From that point on, the revelation of Dana-ana moves a pace. The first part of the novel was a full press setup for the discovery in the second part. At the same time, there are very simple accidental discoveries during the initial revelation of the character of Dana-ana.
Regular discovery runs along with accidental discovery. Regular discovery comes about, not by accident, but by purpose. So, when Byron, the protagonist's helper in Dana-ana is investigating Dana-ana, or when Byron's mother is using her State Department connections to investigate Dana-ana, the resulting discovery are regular discoveries. Of course, when the State Department sends an agent to speak to Byron's family, that is a bit of general discovery wrapped up in accidental discovery--the investigation took an unexpected turn.
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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