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.
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 |
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. History 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 true study and true reading.
How do you reach a strong level of creativity? The answer is simple--work. I already mentioned true study. The means of true study is true reading. You must read for understanding and truth. You might ask, what is truth? The novelists in the past attempted to give a piece of the truth--as they understood it. That isn't to say they intended to write something more than an entertaining novel.
Part of the reason their novels were entertaining was that they chose timeless themes. Their themes are timeless because we can still understand them today. Literature whose themes were not timeless are already relegated to the ash-heap of history. This is the true difference between many of the modern novels today and all the great novels of the past. As an author and a reader, you need to be able to discern the difference between the timeless and the time-limited. Even if you choose to write self-limiting works, you need to know the difference.
In general, themes about love, death, redemption, work, war, life, and money are timeless. Many time-limited subthemes can be worked into a timeless major theme, but you need to be cautious. A time-limited theme is usually about current events, current people, politics, government, society, cultural systems, cultural events, media, religion, technology, and there's more. Anything that is really important to people today will likely make a better subtheme than a major theme. One of the major elements of truth is to be able to identify themes and focus on a strong major theme. That is the basis for creativity on so many levels, because the identification of the timeless is the beginning of understanding what people want and enjoy.
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
fiction, theme, plot, story, storyline, character development, scene, setting, conversation, novel, book, writing, information, study, marketing, tension, release, creative
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