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.
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Cover
Proposal
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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.
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 13. 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.
I'm writing from Florida--thought you should know.
If tone is the feel of the writing,
the author must start first with what tone he wants to convey.
Aksinya is a great example of tone
in a novel. The novel moves from horror
and murder to blissful elegance and high society. The tone of the scenes range from love to
hate and from great happiness to despair.
The peaks of human emotion and human suffering are found in Aksinya—the tone
of the novel must therefore fit the scenes.
Here is the scene just after the initial scene—in it Aksinya finds her
family is already dead. Can you guess
the tone?
The
world swirled in darkness. Aksinya was
dizzy and she felt herself rise up and away from the earth. They moved through earth and stone and then
air. The night was as dark as her
cellar. The air was colder. Aksinya felt a pain in her legs that spread
to her hips. She felt as though she had
run miles and miles and she was still running.
Her breath came in gasps. Then
they were at the front door to her house.
It was a mansion. Her father’s
house. It was large and beautiful. It was the most beautiful building for over a
hundred miles around. Her father’s
family had kept it for generations and generations. A large white stone drive wound up to the
front and circled statues and lawn. The
ground and drive was covered with a thick blanket of snow. And all around the drive were what looked
like fallen statues. They were pale and
still. They were statues dressed in
finery. Beneath them spread dark stains
on the blazing white snow.
The moment her feet touched the ground, Aksinya
collapsed onto the snow. She lay there
unable to breath. Slowly, slowly, she
raised up her body. She couldn’t move her legs.
They burned. The freezing snow
didn’t seem to cool them. The locket at
her breast felt as though it sizzled with heat.
She gazed across the drive and her mouth opened—not a sound came
out. She could not speak. She could only lay there and stare.
Asmodeus picked his teeth, “You were a bit
too late, little girl. So you called me
to save them, but you were too late, and now you are marked for hell for
nothing.”
“Is that your brother over there? I think I recognize his clothing. That is certainly your mother and your
sister. They didn’t take the time to
ravish them—unfortunate, but that should make you feel better.”
“I can’t stand.”
“I told you if I touched you it would be
better for your body.”
“What happened to me?”
“If you rest in the bosom of the devil, your
body will be protected, but your soul will be eaten away. If you choose to come with me, your body is
affected by the world we pass through.”
“Pick me up, demon.”
“Do you know what you ask?”
“Pick me up.
I cannot walk. I wish to see
them.”
Asmodeus picked her up in his arms. He was unusually gentle. He smelled of myrrh and sulfur. His skin was hot and dry. In the cold evening, it felt comforting to Aksinya
like sitting close to a warm fireplace.
“Take me to my father.”
The demon strode to a body cast down on the
drive. The man’s coat had been removed.
His shirt was dark with blood. Asmodeus
tightened his grip, “I would not look at his face. They shot him there. It is your father Count Andrei Nikolaevich Golitsyna. He is dead.”
“Why should I
believe you? You are used to lying. It is a habit with you.”
“But I can’t lie
to you, my lady.”
“I wish to see my
mother.”
The demon carried
her to where a woman lay. A young woman
held her hand. They both didn’t move.
Aksinya’s voice sounded emotionless to her,
“Is anyone alive?”
“No, my lady, they are all dead.”
“Do you swear?”
“I cannot swear. I can only tell you the truth.”
“I wish to kiss my mother and my sister and
my brother. Bring them over and take me
close to them.”
The demon gently carried each of the bodies
over and moved them close to one another.
He let Aksinya down near their heads.
She touched the face of each and kissed them. Aksinya didn’t look at Asmodeus, “Bring my
father here and put him beside them.”
“I told you before.”
“Do it!”
“Yes, mistress.”
Aksinya didn’t look at her father’s
face. She took his hand and kissed
it. She still didn’t look at Asmodeus,
“Bring the others. My maid and my
governess, the priest. Place them where
I can touch them.”
The demon collected their bodies and put
them near Aksinya. She touched their
cheeks and kissed them each in farewell.
The demon stood across from her, “You have
not cried a single tear for them?”
“Is that so odd?”
“Already your soul becomes mine. I cannot weep for anyone or anything either.”
“Why should I shed
a tear for those I cannot help? The time
for tears is well past. The time for
revenge is at hand.”
“It will not bring
back your family or your friends.”
“But it will ease
my soul. Why would you dissuade me from
it Demon?”
Asmodeus blinked.
“This is my order
to you. Those that killed my family and
these servants. Find them and kill
them. Return with their bodies and place
them here before me.”
“You are truly a
fine mistress. Already I am called to
death and destruction. Hell will welcome
you.”
“Enough of your
lip. Go now.”
Asmodeus
bowed. The darkness shimmered for a
moment, then he was gone. The locket at Aksinya’s breast began to burn.
In this scene, the tone is stark
with bright delineations between life and death. We find out later that the demon
intentionally delayed so Aksinya’s family would be murdered. At this moment, the reader can do nothing but
mourn, and yet, Akisnya doesn’t mourn.
She can’t mourn and the demon notes this. The tone changes with the end of the scene as
Aksinya seeks revenge. Right now, I want
you to get the feel of tone—later we will look at the how of the tone.
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
fiction, theme, plot, story, storyline,
character development, scene, setting, conversation, novel, book, writing,
information, study, marketing, tension, release, creative, idea, logic
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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