Writing Ideas - New Novel, part 449, Questions and Answers Developing the Rising Action

3 July 2015, Writing Ideas - New Novel, part 449, Questions and Answers Developing the Rising Action

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 Lilly: Enchantment and the Computer.  Lilly is my 24th novel.

Cover Proposal

The most important scene in any novel is the initial scene, but eventually, you have to move to the rising action.  I've started writing 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.  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 consuming, thinking, and producing. 

One of my blog readers posed this question.  I'll use the next few weeks to answer some of the direct questions.

"Wondering if you could direct me to past blogs you've written on: conflict/tension between characters, character presentation (appearance, speech, behavior, gestures, actions), change, complexity of relationship, and relation to issues/theme, evolving vs static character. Also, interested in your blogs on language and style. For language, interested in your ideas on verbal, gesture, action, words employed, sentence length, complexity, type of grammar, diction, field of reference or allusion, tone, mannerism suggest by speech. For style, intrested in the 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. Trying to intro the concepts to my boys, using Homer's Illiad, chp 4-7. Looking for a logical framework for their lit. analysis, or, even tricks, traps & techniques you've employed, as deconstruction/analyis & 'imitation' of good writings, is one of the best means of learning how."

As to reference--I've touched on most of these subjects intensively in my blogs.  Where are they?  I'm not sure.  I'd have to go back through them to discover exactly where I discussed each of these topics.  Perhaps the best thing is to break the questions from the above and address each subject a new and in relation to my latest writing.  At the same time, I'll keep a focus on creativity.  I find creativity to be one of the most important parts of writing, but one of the most difficult to explain properly.  In my blogs, I am literally trying to make the subjects simple as possible to understand and use.  In other words, I expect you to be able to take the ideas I present and use them immediately in your writing.  That's my goal.       

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  

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