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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 Proposal |
A very great problem for many inexperienced writers is conversation. They believe their writing of conversation sounds trite and forced. They want to know the tricks to writing good conversation. This is a great aspiration and an important skill. My novels are about 90% conversation. I love to write conversation, and I see it as the major tool of the novelist. I'll spend some time defining what makes good written conversation in a novel, and how to write it.
Here is the example from my novel Valeska. I'll use this as an example of conversation in a novel. I've used this before to discuss conversation. Let's review my guidelines for conversation.
1. Cultural norms (greeting, introduction, small talk, big talk)
2. Logical response (characters must respond to each other in the conversation)
3. ID the speaker
4. Show us the picture of the conversation
5. Use contractions (most of the time)
6. What are you trying to say?
I included the character setting to lead into the conversation. Notice, the first engagement of the conversation is from the butler's introduction. This is a cultural norm. Mrs. Long greets Heidi. Now before we continue much further, you need to know that Heidi is a vampire and Mrs. Long is a being who protects Britain from the evil supernatural. That is the reason for the reaction. Mrs. Long can detect something wrong with Heidi, and Heidi viscerally understands about Mrs. Long. This is a turning point in the novel. It moves the plot and storyline from only Heidi and George to include others.
The woman was slight,
petite and exquisitely beautiful. Her
skin was the color of cappuccino. Her
hair was black, long, and silky. Her
eyes, more appropriate on an Egyptian tomb painting were large and brown and
exotic. She seemed to have an almost
timeless look, but slight wrinkles marked her eyes and lips in almost the same
measure as the man—as though they had known many of the same joys and sorrows.
The butler stepped to the
side, “Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Long, may I present Mr. George Mardling and his
niece Ms. Heidi Mardling.”
Mrs. Long stepped forward
and put her hand out to Heidi. She had a
very bright smile on her face. She took
Heidi’s hand and her eyes went wide.
Heidi released her hand immediately.
Mrs. Long was breathless. She
stammered a little, “Good evening. I’m
Sveta Long.”
Heidi made a deep curtsy,
“Thank you very much, Mrs. Long for inviting us to your party.”
Sveta reached out to
Heidi again. Heidi stepped back, but
Sveta connected with Heidi’s shoulder.
Sveta froze, and her head came up.
She stammered again, “You are very welcome. Make yourself comfortable in our home,” but
her face clearly said exactly the opposite.
Heidi glanced in Sveta’s
eyes, then quickly turned her head away, “What I really need is a glass of
sweet wine.”
Sveta looked like she was
about to say something, but she lowered her head and stepped back.
Heidi sighed.
Daniel’s lips twitched,
“I’m not sure what is going on, exactly.”
He grabbed George’s hand and shook it, “Good to see you back in England,
old man.”
George forced a smile,
“I’m glad to be back. I’m looking for a
new assignment as soon as possible.”
Daniel clapped George on
the shoulder, “I really hoped to keep you here in London for a while. I have some new recruits and training for you
to supervise.”
George grimaced, “Sounds
long term. I guess we’ll make do.”
“We’ll?”
“Heidi and I.”
Daniel frowned and put
his head back, “Don’t tell me you are sharing your flat with this young woman.”
Heidi blinked, “I am
happy to have a place to stay while I’m visiting in London.”
Sveta stepped forward,
“No, you should stay here. As I
understand, the single flats the organization is assigning now are barely
suitable for one—I can’t imagine a young woman having to put up with such close
quarters…”
Heidi glared at Sveta, “I
would feel completely out of place anywhere else.”
Sveta glared back, “I
insist.”
“I equally insist and
respectfully decline—Mr. Mardling is my guardian. It would be unthinkable for me to stay
anywhere else.”
Sveta squinted her eyes
at Heidi and Heidi squinted back at Sveta.
Daniel stepped between
them, “Sveta, dear, I’m certain I can assign George a larger flat.”
Sveta let out her
breath. She visibly calmed, “Yes… I’m
sure we can work things out. Are you
certain, Heidi, you don’t want to spend your time here until we can get George
a larger place.”
Heidi didn’t back
down. She made a slicing motion with her
hand, “I will not.”
Sveta forced a smile,
“Very well. But, I do think you are a
bit young to drink wine.”
At that moment, a maid
carrying a platter of filled wine glasses walked by. Heidi gracefully plucked a glass off the
platter. She downed it in a swallow and
turned Sveta a deep frown, “I do not like dry white wines. Do you have something more acceptable to my
palate?”
Sveta’s eyes bulged. She took a step toward Heidi and appeared
like she was about to leap. Heidi
crouched slightly.
Daniel grasped Sveta’s
arm, and she came to herself.
George raised his hands,
“Heidi is much older than she looks. We
just came from Poland where there are no age limits for drinking alcohol. She usually has a glass or two every
evening.”
Sveta squinted her eyes
again, “I see. Heidi,” she almost spat
the name, “You may drink as much as you desire in my house. Harold, please bring up a sweet German
Riesling for Ms. Mardling.”
Heidi raised her head
high, “An auslese, if you have it.”
Harold, the butler,
bowed, “Yes, ma’am.”
Heidi glanced at Sveta
from the sides of her eyes, “Thank you again for your hospitality.”
2. Logical response (characters must respond to each other in the conversation)
3. ID the speaker
4. Show us the picture of the conversation
5. Use contractions (most of the time)
6. What are you trying to say?
The conversation starts with cultural norms. It moves from greetings and introduction to small talk, but never gets into the BIG talk. There is a logical response from one speaker to another. In fact, the entire conversation is a reactive conversation--the speakers are reacting to each other on different levels. I'll add a new guideline:
7. What is unsaid in the conversation?
Next look at how the speakers are identified. You can't miss who is speaking and who is reacting.
We haven't even touched on tone and actual message--yet.
More tomorrow.
For more information, you can visit my author site http://www.ldalford.com/, and my individual novel websites:
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