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.
One of my favorite "tricks" in writing is to show the reader the protagonist from the standpoint of another point of view (POV). A point of view (POV) is a view of the novel "world" from the view of a character. In most novels, the POV is from the protagonist's POV. In first person novels, that's all you have--it sucks. In third person novels (most mature novels), you have many options for the POV. In most cases, the POV should be from the POV of the protagonist, and you should not vary the POV in a single scene. But it is not unusual or bad form to use another's POV at any reasonable time in the novel. I really like to go to another POV to show the protagonist and protagonist's helper, in description, from another character's POV.
For example, when I introduce a character, I use about 300 words to describe them (show them), but about the middle of every novel, I like to remind the readers about the physical attributes of the protagonist (and sometimes the protagonist's helper). I usually use a main character to do this, but in Shadow of Darkness, I used a secretary to describe Sveta (Lumiere'). In Aksinya, I used Akinsya's aunt Brunhilda, to redescribe Aksinya and Natalya. This type of description reminds the reader of the protagonist and protagonist's helper physical attributes, and shows the characters from another POV. It helps the reader determine "what is truth," in the novel. For example, Aksinya imagines she is ugly and unattractive. She doesn't realize how attractive Natalya is. The description from the POV of Aksinya's aunt drives home, that Aksinya isn't really as ugly as she thinks, and Natalya is much more beautiful than Akinsya realizes. I'll give you the description tomorrow.
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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