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.
This is part of the theme climax of the novel. I already revealed the tone to you—here is
Aksinya’s confession.
Aksinya felt
herself lifted from the ground. Father Dobrushin held her close and carried her through the open doorway. Aksinya heard the door shut behind them.
Someone touched her face and felt her forehead. The hand was soft and gentle, it brushed the
hair away from her face. A woman’s voice
this time, “Is she ill? I don’t think she
has a fever.”
Aksinya couldn’t
speak properly. Her voice was rough and
torn, “Father, father, please confess me.
I must confess, for I am guilty of much evil.”
The woman’s voice
chuckled, “Confess you, Countess. Let us
take you back to your house.”
“I have
murdered. I can’t go back there. They will be coming for me soon, and I must
confess now before it is too late.”
“Murdered?”
Aksinya’s eyes
flashed open. The light was too bright
and she closed them again. She panted
still in a hoarse whisper, “I am a murderer.
I must confess.” She held out her
hands.
“They are covered
with blood…”
The Father Makar’s
voice spoke too gently, “Just a few scrapes—a little blood.” The tone of the voice lowered and changed
slightly, “Father Dobrushin? Will you
confess her?”
Aksinya cried out,
“You must all listen. You must know what
I am.”
“That isn’t the
way it is usually done, child.”
“For me, you must
listen to my confession. Then you must
give me over to them. My life is forfeit
and my soul is forfeit, but I will die knowing I am confessed.”
The woman’s voice,
“She sounds serious.”
Father Makar
replied, “Ekaterina, she’s delirious, unbalanced. Such a confession is irregular, and a confession
from an unbalanced mind…”
Father Dobrushin
clasped Aksinya a little more tightly, “I will hear your confession, Countess.”
“Don’t call me
that. I am nothing now. I am nothing.”
“Take her into the
Ecclesia.”
Ekaterina spoke, “I’ll light the candles.”
Father Makar’s
voice was tired, “I’ll get the sacrament.”
Father Dobrushin
carried Aksinya a little farther.
Aksinya felt the crucifix between her breasts begin to heat. They passed through a doorway, and the heat
increased suddenly and nausea overwhelmed her.
She gagged and bile filled her mouth.
She breathed in and vomit burned her nose and throat. Father Dobrushin made a sound, “Are you all
right?” He placed Aksinya on the floor
and lifted her head.
Aksinya couldn’t
stop retching. Her body writhed. The priest held her until she couldn’t retch
anymore. The crucifix still burned
against her skin.
Father Dobrushin
gave a great sigh, “She is ill.”
Aksinya croaked
out, “Not ill. It is the evil in
me.” She opened her eyes and tugged at
his cassock, “You must confess me.”
He sighed again,
“I will confess you, but you must be able to speak. You must be in your right mind.”
“I beg you. Let me kneel at the altar. I will tell everything to you.”
“To God.”
“God will not
listen to me anymore. I forsook
Him. But you will do.”
Father Dobrushin
made a sound that was a cross between a sob and a laugh.
“Don’t mock
me. You can’t know.”
“I don’t know
until you tell me. I will listen to
you. Are you well enough that I can
carry you again?”
Aksinya nodded,
but the nausea still filled her body and the taste and smell of vomit in her
mouth only made it worse.
Father Dobrushin
lifted her again. Aksinya swallowed and
fought down the desire to retch. The
crucifix still burned against her skin.
Father Dobrushin placed her on her knees and held her hands. She would have fallen on her face otherwise.
Aksinya pulled one hand from Father
Dobrushin’s and made the sign of the cross.
She gave a cry. Father Dobrushin
grasped her hand again before she could topple over. Aksinya began: “I confess to God the Father Almighty,” She gagged slightly then rushed through the
words, “and to His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the Holy Spirit, in the
presence of Virgin Mary and all angels, prophets, seventy-two emissaries,
twelve apostles and four evangelists, and confess in the faith of the three
holy synods of Nicea, Constantinople and Ephesus, trusting in the honorable
priestly authority conferred upon you, Father Dobrushin, by which you bind and
retain sins.” Aksinya paused and took a
shallow breath, “I have sinned in thought, word and deed. I repent my sins. You
are the master, and I am the servant. Accept me as the prodigal son. I have
sinned against heaven and against you. I believe that you have authority to
bind and retain sins and that you are the mediator between God and me. And I
pray that you deliver me from all my sins by your priestly authority that I may
obtain forgiveness. I pray that you remember me before God, in your prayers and
in the holy Qurbono. Amen.” Aksinya began to tremble and the crucifix
over her heart felt as though it was on fire.
Father Dobrushin held her hands more
tightly, “Go on...”
Aksinya continued, “Father, I am a
sorceress.” Aksinya raised her face and
cried out, “Let me confess. You can’t
stop me. All the pain in the world will
not stop me from confessing.”
Father Dobrushin stiffened, “Who is
stopping you?”
“All the devils in hell are trying to
stop me in this.”
Father Makar’s voice came from the side,
“She can’t confess. She is not right in
her mind.”
Father Dobrushin commanded, “Tell me,
Aksinya, your sin. I will listen.”
“I brought a demon up from the pit. He was the Demon Asmodeus. You must know of him. He was the demon who tormented Raguel's
daughter, Sarah. He killed her
bridegrooms when they came to her. He
was the one that Solomon wrote about in the Testament of Solomon. Tobias forced him into upper Egypt, but he
came to me when I called him, and I bound him to myself in a contract. Asmodeus is the demon of luxuria and
lust. I have worked much evil through
him and he through me, but the worst is that I am truly a sorceress.”
“Can there be such a being? She is insane.” Father Makar’s exasperated
voice came again.
Father Dobrushin turned his head a little,
“She believes it with all her heart.
Such a thing can be.” He faced
Aksinya again, “Please, confess everything you wish, Aksinya.”
“I desired to seduce Herr von Taaffe,
but my lady-in-waiting was encouraged by the demon to sleep with him for my sake. Because of that, I sent Herr von Taaffe away
and I beat the Lady Natalya. I think I
killed her.” Aksinya gave a cry. “I am guilty of so many sins, I can’t begin
to tell them all to you. I used sorcery
to kill. I used it to harm. I have done nothing but harm others for my
entire life.”
Matushka Ekaterina stepped
beside them, “Father Dobrushin, something is burning. I thought it was the tapers, but I can see
smoke near you.”
Aksinya cried out again. She yanked her hand from the priest’s and placed
it over her heart.
Ekaterina yelled, “She is burning.” The Matushka ripped
the front of Aksinya’s dress open. The
fabric was charred. The camisole beneath
it was smoking. Ekaterina pulled the
burning fabric away from Aksinya’s chest.
Her bare skin was singed. The
beautiful gold crucifix was almost glowing.
A repeatedly blackened mark marred Aksinya’s small breasts. It was shaped like a cross. Ekaterina grasped the chain and pulled the
crucifix away from Aksinya’s skin, “Let her continue. She must continue.”
Aksinya seemed oblivious to
everything. She whispered, “If I were to
confess everything I would be here on my knees for weeks, and I’m not certain I
have the strength for another minute.”
Ekaterina called out, “Absolve her. Absolve the girl so I can do something to
help her.”
Father
Dobrushin placed his right hand on Aksinya’s head and loudly announced, “May
God have mercy upon you, and may He guide you to everlasting life through the
authority of priesthood which was entrusted by our Lord Jesus Christ to His
disciples who, in turn, entrusted it to their successors until it was given me;
I who am weak and sinful, absolve you, Countess Aksinya Andreiovna Golitsyna
of all the sins that you have confessed and are repentant of them, as well as
of all the transgressions which have escaped your memory in the Name of the
Father, amen, and of the Son, amen and of the Holy Spirit for everlasting life.
Amen.”
Aksinya
screamed and arched her back. Ekaterina
held her tightly. Father Dobrushin rose
and lifted Aksinya up with him. He
kissed her cheeks. The crucifix was
suddenly cold. Aksinya, senseless, fell
forward into his arms.
This really is a trick--the point about tone. I promise, I will tell you about creating
tone. The novel Aksinya is one example of how to create tone. It is the way I build tone in the
scenes. There is another method of
developing tone. If you read my novel, Aegypt, you will see that means of
building tone. 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:
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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