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 shuttle pilot not following the rules crashes on the island.
Here is the cover proposal for Lilly: Enchantment and the Computer. Lilly is my 24th novel.
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| Cover Propsal |
Once I had this initial picture in my mind, the work was to turn this picture into a reasonable plot and to develop a theme. The immediate questions are these: why is the pilot breaking the rules? Why does the girl want to escape? What makes the island nation different from other nations on this world? Is this earth or some other place? What is this island like? What are the protagonist and protagonist's helper like? Who is the protagonist, and who is the protagonist's helper? The answer to each of these questions begin the process of developing a novel. I answered each of these questions before I began to write--or, at least, I had an idea about them.
The initial scene takes a picture and turns it into a video. Once I had my own answers to the questions above, I could write the initial scene. The pilot was saving time by cutting across the nation of "Freedom." That's the name of the island, and the name of the country. I already wrote about the nation of Freedom. Freedom is an extrapolation of pure communism. I realized that an even further extrapolation could be made where every individual wore a body camera the government watched all the time--no privacy at all. As it is in Freedom, I didn't have them at that point, or rather, the leaders didn't feel like they needed that degree of control. In the nation of Freedom, the Citizens have the exact opposite of freedom. They are not free and they own literally nothing. The video of the first scene is what begins to answer the questions and provide some answers. The first scene begins the process of writing and focuses the novel.
More tomorrow.
For more information, you can visit my author site http://www.ldalford.com/, and my individual novel websites:
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
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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