16 March 2017, Writing Ideas
- New Novel, part x69, Creative Elements in Scenes, Plot Devices, Plot Twist
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
|
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
Below is a list of plot
devices. I’m less interested in a plot
device than I am in a creative element that drives a plot device. In fact, some of these plot devices are not
good for anyone’s writing. If we
remember, the purpose of fiction writing is entertainment, we will perhaps
begin to see how we can use these plot devices to entertain. If we focus on creative elements that drive
plot devices, we can begin to see how to make our writing truly
entertaining. I’ll leave up the list and
we’ll contemplate creative elements to produce these plot devices.
Deus ex machina (a machination, or act of
god; lit. “god out of the machine”)
Flashback (or analeptic reference)
Plot twist – Current discussion.
Story within a story (Hypodiegesis)
Secrets
Plot
twist:
Here is a definition of a plot twist from the link-- A plot twist is a radical change in the expected direction or
outcome of the plot of a novel, film, television
series, comic,
video
game, or other work of narrative.[1] It is a common practice in narration used
to keep the interest of an audience, usually surprising them with a revelation.
Some "twists" are foreshadowed.
I’ve
written extensively about this concept from another viewpoint entirely. I can identify three types of plots
twists. The first is what I’ve called
the unexpected, expected climax. The
second I haven’t mentioned much, this is a plot change that still results in
the expected climax, but with a different approach than expected at first. The third is a major revelation that casts a
character, item, event, or place in a completely different way than
expected. I’ve called the third, secrets
in the past.
To
the first, the unexpected, expected climax.
Here it is again. The telic flaw
of the protagonist must be resolved in the novel. This is the climax. The telic flaw is the protagonist’s problem
that drives the entire plot and novel.
This telic flaw is introduced in the initial scene or at least when we
first are introduced to the protagonist.
You might ask, who is the protagonist?
The answer is recursive, the protagonist has the novel’s telic flaw, and
the novel is the revelation of the protagonist and his or her telic flaw. The simplest example is a mystery detective
novel. The telic flaw is the mystery
that the detective must solve to reach the climax of the novel. The solution of the mystery is the “expected”
climax. In a very complex novel, the
author designs the “expected” climax to be impossible. For example, in my novel Aksinya, which you can read in its entirely on this blog (with
commentary), the expected climax is that Aksinya gets rid of her personal demon
(the one she called). We know this is
impossible from the history o literature. The problem of Faust is that Faust could never
get rid of the demon (devil)—that was an impossibility in the context of
history and reason. In Aksinya, the setup
is this impossible resolution. In the
novel, the impossible becomes possible, this is the unexpected, expected
climax. All great novels have this type
of presentation. If they didn’t then the
problem of all literature would be the obvious expectation of the success of
the protagonist. I will add that the ancients
didn’t have this problem because they relied much more on tragedy. In a tragedy, the protagonist is overcome by
the telic flaw. In a comedy, the
protagonist overcomes the telic flaw.
In
this regard, every great novel will have a strong plot twist—the plot twist is
the unexpected but expected resolution of the telic flaw. To be precise, the climax is usually the
vehicle for this plot twist. Throughout
the novel, the telic flaw and the climax resolution is known, it is also
impossible. As the protagonist gets
closer and closer to the climax, the expected resolution looked less
possible. In perfection, the reader gets
a powerful sense of doom—the resolution is impossible. A sufficient climax is one where the
unexpected becomes the expected with no loose ends. An insufficient climax is one where the
unexpected becomes the expected but the reader doesn’t fully accept the premise
of the resolution. This resolution of
the expected with an unexpected climax is the first example of the plot
twist. This is fundamental to almost
every adult novel. The primary characteristic
of most young adult and children’s novels is a direct and expected climax. The reason for this is that children haven’t
figured out the basis of comedy yet. To
the new and inexperienced mind, the expected climax is purely reasonable—there is
no need for trickery or complexity.
Billy Bob can join the baseball team and make a homerun and his telic
flaw (the desire to be a baseball player) is complete.
I’ll
look at the second type of plot twist next:
a plot change that still results in the expected climax, but with a
different approach than expected at first.
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
No comments:
Post a Comment