11 August 2016, Writing Ideas
- New Novel, part 853, The Stage of the Novel, Developing Conversation on
the Stage
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.
4a. Show what can be seen, heard, felt, smelled, and tasted on the stage
of the novel.
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, proposed
title, Essie: Enchantment and the Aos Si,
is this: Mrs. Lyons captures a shape-shifting girl in her pantry
and rehabilitates her.
I
finished writing my 27th novel, working title, Claire, potential
title Sorcha: Enchantment and the Curse. This might need some tweaking. The theme statement is: Claire (Sorcha) Davis
accepts Shiggy, a dangerous screw-up, into her Stela branch of the organization
and rehabilitates her.
Here is the cover proposal for Essie:
Enchantment and the Aos Si. Essie is my 26th novel.
The most important scene in any
novel is the initial scene, but eventually, you have to move to the rising
action. I started writing my 28th novel, working title Red Sonja.
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)
How to begin a novel. Number one thought, we need an entertaining
idea. I usually encapsulate such an idea
with a theme statement. Since I’m
writing a new novel, we need a new theme statement. Here is an initial cut.
Red Sonja, a Soviet spy, infiltrates
the X-plane programs at Edwards AFB as a test pilot’s administrative clerk,
learns about freedom, and is redeemed.
Let’s go back to the beginning. I’ll use my newest novel as an example. It’s a historical novel, and you can see the
theme statement just above. Let’s look
at a novel from the standpoint of a stage play.
A novel is not a stage play or a screenplay, but the author should
approach some aspects of the novel from this vantage point.
In setting the stage of the novel
follow my rules for writing 4a above:
4. Don't show (or tell) everything.
4a. Show what can be seen, heard, felt, smelled, and tasted on the stage
of the novel.
All conversations follow a similar development
and cycle of events. If an author is
sensitive to this development and cycle, he can write more natural sounding
(read realistic) conversation. This is a
constant problem I hear about from new writers—they complain their
conversations don’t sound right—they don’t sound natural. They complain many times that the
conversations they write sound contrived…and they are right. Many times from new or inexperienced writers,
I note their conversation does sound contrived and unnatural. How to solve this problem?
First, all conversation has a
natural development and cycle. You can
see and hear it every time you speak to a person. Let’s go over the most simple and basic
conversation. The initial step in every
human conversational interaction is the greeting.
When you bring two people
unacquainted or acquainted with one another together, there is almost always a
greeting. There are reasons there might
not be a greeting, but such reasons are outside of our current exploration of
conversation. There is always a
greeting. If there isn’t a greeting, the
author must provide a reason or the reason must be obvious. Look at the conversations in your writing—they
should each begin with a greeting from each individual. As I mentioned, there are cases where this
might not be so, but those are specific and the writer will either set them or
explain them. For now, if you begin your
conversations with a greeting, they will appear natural and normal. This is the first step to developing “realistic”
conversation in your writing.
I’ll give you a preview, the next
steps in developing a “real” sounding conversation are: introductions, casual
words, deeper words, ending. We’ll
explore these.
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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