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.
There are three ways to know truth: the scientific method, the historical-witness method, and logic. The Legal-Historical method is the method used to convict people of crimes and to prove historical accuracy. It is also used to document all scientific data. The Legal-Historical method is sometimes called the documentary method, because it is the means of recording (documenting) history and historical fact.
The method relies on witness, evidence, and corroboration. Very simply, the better the witness, the better the evidence, and the better the corroboration between witnesses and evidence, the more accurate (factual and true) the information. I'll discuss each area individually, but imagine a trial. In the trial, the lawyers present evidence, witnesses, and cross-examine the witnesses (evaluate the evidence) to make their cases. In most cases, contrary to what you might see on the boob tube, the evidence against the accused is usually very damning. This is why you rarely hear about most trials--only if there is odd or controversial evidence or witnesses. Plus, in the US, many trials are about discounting or having evidence sequestered. In other countries, the trial is about finding the truth and not just about innocence or guilt. My point is that by comparing witnesses and evidence, one can usually easily come to the correct (and truthful) conclusion. For example, Billy took a knife to a bar, and Billy said he would kill Jack at the bar. Billy finds Jack at the bar, attacks, and plunges a knife into him. You have witnesses who heard Billy's claims. You have witnesses who saw the knife in Billy's hand. You have the knife. You have witnesses who said they saw Billy attack Jack. Based on this evidence and witnesses, you could conclude that Billy attacked and stabbed Jack. This might seem like a no-brainer, but this is the essence of the Legal-Historical method.
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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