1 March 2017, Writing Ideas
- New Novel, part x54, Creative Elements in Scenes, Expected and the
Unexpected
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
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 Sorcha:
Enchantment and the Curse.
 |
|
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 started writing my 28th novel, working title Red Sonja. I’m also working on my 29th novel,
working title School.
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: transition from input to output focused on the telic
flaw resolution)
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.
For novel 28: 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.
For novel 29: Sorcha, the abandoned child of an Unseelie
and a human, secretly attends Wycombe Abbey girls’ school where she meets the
problem child Deirdre and is redeemed.
These are the steps I use to write a
novel:
1.
Design the initial scene
2.
Develop a theme statement (initial
setting, protagonist, protagonist’s helper or antagonist, action statement)
a.
Research as required
b.
Develop the initial setting
c.
Develop the characters
d.
Identify the telic flaw (internal
and external)
3.
Write the initial scene (identify
the output: implied setting, implied characters, implied action movement)
4.
Write the next scene(s) to the
climax (rising action)
5.
Write the climax scene
6.
Write the falling action scene(s)
7.
Write the dénouement scene
Here is the beginning of the scene
development method from the outline:
1.
Scene input (comes from the previous
scene output or is an initial scene)
2.
Write the scene setting (place,
time, stuff, and characters)
3.
Imagine the output, creative
elements, plot, telic flaw resolution (climax) and develop the tension and
release.
4.
Write the scene using the output and
creative elements to build the tension.
5.
Write the release
6.
Write the kicker
Let’s delve deeper into the expected
and the unexpected in plots and themes, and then tie that to the creative
elements. Back to the beginning. The protagonist must have a telic flaw. This telic flaw is the basis for the novel
and the climax. The protagonist must
overcome the telic flaw (comedy) or be overcome by the telic flaw
(tragedy). You can see a novel is about
the revelation of the protagonist—the telic flaw is just part of that revelation. You can also see the reader expects the
protagonist to do something about the telic flaw. The expectation of most novels is that the
protagonist will overcome their telic flaw.
In the ancient world where tragedy abounded, this wasn’t assured. In the modern world where comedy (classical
comedy) is almost always the resolution of art (literature), the reader has
given up on the idea that the protagonist might not succeed. Our world and literature is all about the
protagonist overcoming their telic flaw.
Because of this literature has become more and more complex. This is a good thing.
Let’s put this into an example. The best is a detective mystery. The protagonist is the detective. The detective’s telic flaw is the mystery—let’s
say a murder. This is called an external
telic flaw. It is a problem external to
the detective. An internal telic flaw is
a physical, emotional, or mental issue the protagonist must resolve in the
climax of the novel. I like to have both
an internal and an external telic flaw in my protagonist, but we’ll keep to
this simplified example—the murder mystery.
In this case, the detective must resolve the murder mystery to the expectation
of the readers. Notice, I didn’t write
to the expectation of the police, detective, citizens, criminals, victims or
anyone else in the novel. The writer
writes for the readers not the art or any other concept. Novels are about entertainment.
Since the author is writing to the
expectations of the readers, the readers expect the protagonist (detective in
this case) to solve the crime. The
expected climax is that the protagonist discovers the how what, who, when, and
where of the murderer, catches the murderer, and resolves all the issues
related to the crime (in one way or another).
This is the expected climax. This
should be obvious to the author and to the readers. However, with the expectation of a comedy,
this isn’t enough.
This is where the plot and the theme
come in as major directors of the novel.
Although the resolution and climax are obvious and expected, the author
must write the novel such that they appear both unexpected and not
obvious. This is where we write about
plot devices and plot developments. I
should give you a list:
Deus ex machina (a machination, or act of god;
lit. “god out of the machine”)
Flashback (or analeptic reference)
Story within a story (Hypodiegesis)
I should add to this list
secrets. Each of these plot devices
revolve around creative element(s). The
purpose of the plot devices are to lead to the resolution of the telic flaw in
such a way that the telic flaw resolution is unexpected. This should be clear to the writer. I could solve the mystery in the first scene
(a short story). The detective
protagonist happens upon the murder scene, determines how it was done, finds
the murderer, captures the murderer, and puts the murderer in prison. Bingo, bango, bongo, that’s the beginning and
end. The reader knows that all these
steps and events will happen. They must
happen to the expectation of the reader or they are not entertaining. They must happen in such a way that the
reader is not expecting the expected resolution of the novel. And, in the end, the perfect climax is one
that is presented as impossible, but the author writes to make possible—the absolutely
unexpected and impossible expectation.
Most of my novels are written this way.
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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