Writing Ideas - New Novel, part 595, Field of Reference or Allusion Q and A

26 November 2015, Writing Ideas - New Novel, part 595, Field of Reference or Allusion Q and A

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 Escape from Freedom.  Escape is my 25th 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'm on my first editing run-through of 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.  Historical 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 these questions.  I'll use the next few weeks to answer them.

1.  Conflict/tension between characters

2.  Character presentation (appearance, speech, behavior, gestures, actions)

3.  Change, complexity of relationship, and relation to issues/theme

4.  Evolving vs static character

5.  Language and style

6.  Verbal, gesture, action

7.  Words employed

8.  Sentence length

9.  Complexity

10.  Type of grammar

11.  Diction

12.  Field of reference or allusion

13.  Tone - how tone is created through diction, rhythm, sentence construction, sound effects, images created by similes, syntax/re-arrangement of words in sentence, the inflections of the silent or spoken voice, etc.

14.  Mannerism suggested by speech

15.  Style

16.  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).

Moving on to 12. 12.  Field of reference or allusion

Here is a dictionary definition of allusion:

Allusion an expression designed to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly; an indirect or passing reference.

Here is definition of allusion I like even better:

Allusion, in literature, an implied or indirect reference to a person, event, or thing or to a part of another text

I already touched on allusions and references, but I’d like to write about this again.  In the modern era, this is something that is missing from literature.  I think the problem is that writers are much less educated and much less prepared reading the classics.  They don’t possess the skills or the knowledge to properly address allusions or references. 

First, let’s look at field of reference.  I don’t take this to mean simply a synonym for allusion.  Although field of reference isn’t a well established term, I take it to mean the environment created by either references or allusions.  In this case, a reference is a direct mention or quotation.  A file of reference is created by both allusions and direct mentions or quotations.  For example, my novel Aksinya (which you can read in its entirety on this blog) is an allegory of the Book of Tobit.  In it, I use allusions and direct references to draw the reader’s attention to Tobit among many other ancient and not so ancient texts.  The field of reference for the work Aksinya is Tobit. 

Not all works should envelop the entire novel in a singular field of reference.  In most novels, the author moves the reader from one field of reference to another using direct reference and allusion.  In the most simple sense, a direct reference can be a reference to a real time, place, event, or person. 

As an example, my novel Hestia, uses Greece and many actual places in Greece for its field of reference.  The overall field of reference is modern Greece, but the field of reference changes using both direct reference and allusions to ancient Greece.  I accomplish the same thing in my published novel, Aegypt.  In Aegypt, the reader is brought from Tunisian to ancient Egypt and back again.  The field of reference is directly controlled through citations, allusions, and direct mentions.  The point of the novel is to immerse the reader in ancient Egypt from a modern standpoint.

And, with that we have the purpose for field of reference and allusion—they immerse the reader into a historical world.  They immerse the reader into a frame of reference that is different than the present.  They immerse the reader into a place, event, or time such that those become real within the context of the writing.        

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  

fiction, theme, plot, story, storyline, character development, scene, setting, conversation, novel, book, writing, information, study, marketing, tension, release, creative, idea, logic