29 March 2017, Writing Ideas
- New Novel, part x82, Creative Elements in Scenes, Plot Devices, Secrets
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.
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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 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)
Story within a story (Hypodiegesis)
Third attempt
Secrets – Current discussion.
Judicial Setting
Prophecy
Two way love
Three way love (love rival)
Rival
Celebrity (Rise to fame)
Rise to riches
Military (Device or Organization manipulation)
School (Training) (Skill Development)
Supernatural
Comeback
Retrieval
Taboo
Impossible Crime
Human god
Revolution
Games
Silent witness
Secret king
Messiah
Hidden skills
Fantasy Land (Time Travel, Space Travel)
End of the --- (World, Culture, Society)
Resistance (Nonresistance)
Utopia (anti-utopia)
Fashion
Augmented Human (Robot) (Society)
Mind Switching (Soul Switching)
Unreliable character
Secrets: here is my definition – secrets (mysteries) are developed, kept, and revealed in the advancement of the plot to create tension and release and drive to the plot climax.
The
secrets plot device is exactly the same as the mystery plot device. Every mystery uses the mystery plot
device. This plot device was invented by
the author of The Moonstone in the
Victorian Era, but it has antecedents well before that. The reason is that mystery and secrets are
both a major plot device and a plot characteristic. You find secrets which become mysteries
through simply a focus of the plot. For
example, is Oliver Twist a mystery novel?
The novel presents a mystery—who is Oliver? There is a mystery, but the novel isn’t
really considered a mystery novel. There
are secrets and there are mysteries. The
novel is wrapped around these ideas.
What about Pride and Prejudice? Here is a novel filled with secrets. Is it a mystery novel? It incorporates mysteries. It incorporates secrets. Still, no one would consider it a mystery
novel. All novels incorporate mysteries
and secrets. This is the point—they only
rise to the level of mystery when the plot is centered on a mystery. You should realize that the difference
between a mystery and a not mystery is simply the focus of the novel. If, for example, in Pride and Prejudice the point of the novel were the discovery of
the secret of the connections between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy—oh, it is.
The
question of the focus is the theme and not the plot. Every plot is one of mysteries and secrets,
but not every theme is one of mysteries and secrets. The theme of Pride and Prejudice is one of love, marriage, and courting. There is the secret of secrets and mystery—all
plots include mysteries and secrets, but not all themes do. There is so much more to say about secrets
and mysteries, but the most important part is that all novels are about secrets
and mysteries.
From
Valeska: Enchantment and the Vampire:
George awoke with a headache. He struggled out of bed—his chest ached, and
he took a couple of aspirin. It was
still early afternoon. He made coffee
and ate a breakfast that was closer to a lunch.
After a while, he checked his schedule—it was clear.
George opened an encrypted file and began to
fill it with all the information he gathered about vampires as well as his
observations from the last week. He had
no intention of sharing this information with Stewart or anyone else. He just wanted to document everything that
happened to him, and what he discovered.
He started the file under the name of the girl:
Valeska. Then with
a laugh, he added Heidi. He chuckled,
how could anyone imagine a vampire named Heidi?
He stretched—his chest still ached a little. He knew he had been shot through his
chest. He believed he experienced a
conversation with a filthy girl who asked to dine on his blood. He let her and somehow he survived wounds
most people would have said were not survivable. He ran his finger along his teeth—no
fangs. He hadn’t turned into a
vampire—not that he could tell. He
leaned back in his chair. He’d like to
talk to her again. He guessed that would
be impossible, and he didn’t dare return to the last place he saw her. The Polish Secret Service, embarrassed,
reassumed that investigation. It turned
out to be a little more dangerous than anyone expected. They found “lambs”—young boys and girls
kidnapped for the purpose of sex and snuff films. Pretty disgusting stuff. The mission was supposed to have been a
simple informant connection. The
organization sent George because he spoke the Eastern European language of the
contact. George hoped the Polish
government hadn’t realized who he was—that would be a breach of security. His language knowledge was classified. Still, the organization tried to keep their
allies happy.
George stayed up late that evening with reports and his
own notes.
The
mystery indicated by the scene is the reality of the vampire and the occurrences
that George experienced. The question
is how much is real and how much is not.
This is always the power of a novel.
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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