31 December 2015, Writing Ideas
- New Novel, part 629, Syntax/re-arrangement of Words in a Sentence Tools
for Developing Tone Q and A
Announcement: Delay, my new novels can be seen on the internet, but the publisher
has delayed all their fiction output due to the economy. I'll keep you
informed. More information can be found at www.ancientlight.com. Check out my novels--I think you'll really enjoy
them.
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.
Today's Blog: To see the steps in the publication process, visit my
writing website http://www.ldalford.com/ and select "production
schedule," you will be sent to http://www.sisteroflight.com/.
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 26th novel, working title, Shape, is
this: Mrs. Lyons captures a shape-shifting girl in her pantry
and rehabilitates her.
Here is the cover proposal for Escape
from Freedom. Escape is my 25th novel.
 |
|
Cover
Proposal
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The most important scene in any
novel is the initial scene, but eventually, you have to move to the rising
action. I'm on my first editing run-through of Shape.
I'm
an advocate of using the/a scene input/output method to drive the rising
action--in fact, to write any novel.
Scene development:
1. Scene input (easy)
2. Scene output (a little
harder)
3. Scene setting (basic stuff)
4. Creativity (creative
elements of the scene)
5. Tension (development of
creative elements to build excitement)
6. Release (climax of creative
elements)
I can immediately discern three ways
to invoke creativity:
1. Historical extrapolation
2. Technological extrapolation
3. Intellectual
extrapolation
Creativity is like
an extrapolation of what has been. It is a reflection of something
new created with ties to the history, science, and logic (the
intellect). Creativity requires consuming, thinking, and producing.
One of my blog readers posed these
questions. I'll use the next few weeks to answer them.
13. Tone - how tone is created
through diction, rhythm, sentence construction, sound effects, images created
by similes, syntax/re-arrangement of words in sentence, the inflections of the
silent or spoken voice, etc.
14. Mannerism suggested by
speech
15. Style
16. Distinct manner of writing
or speaking you employ, and why (like Pinter's style includes gaps, silences,
non-sequitors, and fragments while Chekhov's includes 'apparent'
inconclusiveness).
Moving on to 13. 13.
Tone - how tone is created through diction, rhythm, sentence construction,
sound effects, images created by similes, syntax/re-arrangement of words in
sentence, the inflections of the silent or spoken voice, etc.
If tone is the feel of the writing,
the author must start first with what tone he wants to convey.
The first method of developing tone is through scene
setting--the second method is through tension and release. Let’s look at the specific tools used to
create tone in tension and release (these can also be used in the scene
setting). I like the list from the
question—it is nearly exhaustive: diction,
rhythm, sentence construction, sound effects, images created by similes, syntax/re-arrangement
of words in sentence, the inflections of the silent or spoken voice, etc. Why don’t we look at each of these tools?
Syntax/re-arrangement
of words in sentence as tools to develop tone.
The definition of syntax is, the arrangement of words and phrases to
create well-formed sentences in a language.
English is both the best and the worst language for syntax. In English, the general syntax of every well-developed
sentence is subject-verb-predicate. Engilish
is dependent on the wrods order of the r sentence. The reason for this is that English nouns do
not change much based on their part of speech.
Man is man no matter whether it is nominative (subject), accusative (predicate),
dative (object of the predicate), or genitive (possessive). The genitive case in English does get an
apostrophe “s” (man’s) and the dative always has a preposition (to the
man). Other languages change the noun
suffix or prefix or vowels or articles to indicate the part of speech—English does
not. So in English, we are usually stuck
with the subject-verb-predicate-preposition-object of the preposition sentence
structure. The only real variance in
this is I/me/mine and who/whom/whose.
Me, in English is always a predicate or object of the predicate, and
mine is the genitive case. I, is, of
course, the subject or nominative case.
Who/whom/whose is the same. In
the case of pronouns, we still keep with other languages change of case. The problem is that many so-called educated
Americans can’t use I/me/mine or who/whom/whose properly. I’ve heard pastor, priests, teachers,
professors, and politicians misuse these words in a sentence. This is basic grammar they should have
learned in first grade.
If
you don’t understand what I wrote about in the above paragraph, I suggest you
take a class in basic English grammar.
You might also want to take a class in German or French. This will help you learn about the grammar of
your own language. The inability to
understand the basics of parts of speech and sentence structure (syntax) will
make it impossible for you to achieve any success as a writer. This is the most basic step. Tomorrow, I’ll get into the complexities of English
syntax.
More tomorrow.
For more information, you can visit my
author site http://www.ldalford.com/, and my individual novel websites:
http://www.ancientlight.com/
http://www.aegyptnovel.com/
http://www.centurionnovel.com
http://www.thesecondmission.com/
http://www.theendofhonor.com/
http://www.thefoxshonor.com
http://www.aseasonofhonor.com
fiction, theme, plot, story, storyline,
character development, scene, setting, conversation, novel, book, writing,
information, study, marketing, tension, release, creative, idea, logic
http://www.aegyptnovel.com/
http://www.centurionnovel.com
http://www.thesecondmission.com/
http://www.theendofhonor.com/
http://www.thefoxshonor.com
http://www.aseasonofhonor.com
