Announcement: My new novels should be available from any webseller or can be ordered from any brick and mortar bookstore. 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.
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 25th novel, working title, Escape, is this: a girl in a fascist island nation will do anything to escape--a young cargo ferry pilot not following the rules crashes on the island.
This theme statement lends itself well to each part of the development of a novel. Note, there is a setting, an initial scene, protagonist, protagonist helper, antagonist, and the climax is obvious. Let's talk about each.
More small digression: I'm now on a demo tour in the AT-6 to Paraguay. I'm writing from Ecuador.
On the colony world of the novel, working title, Escape, there are numerous continents and at least one large island. The large island is a fascist nation that is based in pure extrapolated communism. This nation is called Freedom. Freedom has three groups of people on it: the Party Members, the citizens, and the armed citizens.
I am working on this new novel but not as quickly as I would like. I'm kind of worn out from my work. Flying long distances twice a day and conducting demos with pilots who are not qualified in the aircraft can be trying. We were lucky that the aviators were very experienced and professional and that made the mission both successful and easier.
Right now, I'm catching up with my blogs and rereading my novel Valeska. This is a very fun novel--I hope it is published soon--I think many would enjoy t very much.
As I mentioned, I'm writing about Freedom as a setting and generally about the characters in the novel. The purpose is to give you a good idea about how to go about designing, starting, and writing a novel. This novel has been both easier and harder than the last, Lilly, because it has an obvious climax and setting. The climax for Lilly was not obvious at all. I wrote a whole dissertation on how to develop a climax based on my experiences with that novel. This was very helpful to me, and helped me determine the climax--it was actually more obvious than I imagined. The problem was determining exactly what if was from the theme.
Escape, on the other hand, has an obvious climax, the problem is building to it properly. As I mentioned, the climax of Escape is the escape. The main characters will either succeed, that is a comedy, or they will fail miserably, that is a tragedy. I'm aiming for a comedy--that is my style. I'm writing about an authors style on one of my other blogs. My style is for a redemptive theme usually with spiritual beings involved. I have expanded my style with this new novel. I want it to have a redemptive theme of spiritual dimensions, but with no spiritual beings--it is science fiction, after all.
By the way, Merry eight day of Christmas and a Happy New Year--this is my gift to you: about the climax.
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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