Announcement: My editor sent a round of emails last night concerning the back cover materials. That included the book teaser and the author bio. They looked good. They also sent the covers for the individual novels. I'll put up the covers when I can. The proposed 3 in1 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.
Did you just catch the little trick in character revelation in a novel? If the protagonist says it, there is much less chance your readers will believe it. This is not a primary response--it is a subconscious response. Mature people weigh the words of the people they meet--only kids believe everything someone tells them. Adults learn through experience to not entirely believe everything they hear--especially from a person they just met who is talking about themselves.
On the other hand, if the information comes from someone else, from the internet, or from some other source, there is a greater tendency to believe it. In the real world, the information from any other source can be as untrustworthy as what you get from the individual, but to a degree it may be more trustworthy. It takes more work to produce false information from another, the internet, or another source. Just realize, check your source. I mean this in the real world and in the world of your novel. Your sources build or tear down your revelation. The sources develop your plot.
For example, if I have a college professor who knows my protagonist provide positive information about the protagonist's intellectual ability--that would generally be accepted by your readers as truth. On the other hand, if the college professor is known for seducing young women in his class for better grades, your readers might disregard his information. That doesn't mean the revelation or the professor are in any way negative to the novel. The testimony of the professor means very much in the context of the plot of the novel. The number one question the reader should be asking is why is the professor passing this information at this time to this person--what could he gain from it?
The other side of sources are notoriously bad sources--that is whether they are really bad or not. For example, Wikipedia is usually a reasonable place to start looking for information, but it is a source that no professor or anyone of any intellect will accept. Wiki is a dubious source. It will likely never be considered a very good source because it is too easy to hack 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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