30 April 2017, Writing Ideas
- New Novel, part x114, Creative Elements in Scenes, Plot Devices, Valuable
item
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
Judicial Setting
Legal argument
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
Incarceration (imprisonment)
Valuable item – Current discussion.
Identification
Contest
Search
War
Brotherhood (sisterhood) (camaraderie)
Crime
Theater
One way love
Valuable item: here is my definition – Valuable item is the use of something of worth to further a plot.
This
is not a MacGuffin. A MacGuffin is not
necessarily real or of real value. This
plot device is an object, person, or idea of real value. The Holy Grail is an object of real
value. A snipe is not. The use of a something or someone of value as
a plot device is very common. As the
comparison with the MacGuffin notes, this plot device has become more popular
in the modern era and has become, in many cases, a MacGuffin.
Novels
that used the valuable item plot device are many. Treasure
Island has a pirate’s treasure. The Black Arrow has a lady. Kidnapped
has an heir and an estate. The Little Princess uses a doll and a
fantasy creation. Many other novels use
a valuable item as a plot device, but the novel isn’t focused around the item
or person.
I
use the valuable item plot device often in my writing. I also use valuable people in various
ways. Most of my writing isn’t focused
around the valuable thing or person, but that’s why it is a plot device. It provides a creative element and
entertainment in the novel. Here is
directly how the interjection of a valuable item or person provides a creative
element just through its introduction.
Here
is an example from my novel Sister of
Darkness.
Lumière stood just inside the door. She bent her face in her hands and sobbed
silently. Shudders racked her thin
body. Leora stood by her side. Then she put her arms around Lumière. The girl stepped back and turned her face.
“What’s wrong, Lumière?”
Lumière’s mouth moved, but she didn’t
say anything.
“What’s wrong? Why won’t you speak?” Leora tried to take her
in her arms.
Lumière stepped back.
“Please, Lumière, tell me what you are
thinking.”
Major Lyon’s ears perked up.
Leora grasped Lumière’s arms and pulled
her closer. Lumie’re resisted, “Please,
no, Mama.”
“But why?”
Lumière put her face in her elbow,
“Because, Mama, I did this to Papa. I
did it.”
Leora pulled Lumière into her arms, “How
could you do this, my love?”
Lumière buried her head in her mother’s
breast. There was a sudden blaze of
light and Lumière fell back. Her eyes
opened wide, the tears blasted out of them.
“Mama?” fear overtook any other emotion.
Major Lyons stepped forward, “What’s
going on?”
“Stand back, Lyons
“Mama, please,” Lumière held out her
arms. Then she placed them at her side,
“I cannot make the sign anymore. I
cannot call in the light.”
Leora gingerly took Lumière’s arm and
pulled her closer, but not too close, “What did you do?”
“I tried to help, Papa. I saw him.
He and his men. They were
surrounded by Leila’s servants. They
were trying to capture him. I thought
they were going to kill him. So I did
it.”
“What did you do? Leora shook Lumière’s
thin arms.
Slowly, ashamed, Lumière removed the
small stained book bag from her back.
She opened it and pulled out a wrapped rectangular block. With the block in one hand, she pulled away
the cloth covering to reveal a small black metal tablet.
Leora stared and threw out her hands as
if to ward the thing off, “The Osiris Offering Formula!”
“This is the thing my sister
wants.” Leora’s mouth was dry, “Lumière
how did you get this, and what did you do with it?”
“It called me. From my dreams I heard its call, and I found
it on the top of the chimney. When I
first touched it I knew it was powerful.”
Lumière’s words went on as though she held them ready for a confession
for a long time, “I could sense the power in it, and in my dreams I could use
it.”
“That was my sister speaking to you.”
Lumière shook her head, “When I held it
in my hand I could hear exactly how to use it.
I saw across the world. I saw
their souls, the thing you call the ka.”
“How long…how long have you had it?”
“Just before the dreams began, and not very
long before the Major came to take us away from our house. It worked even better in Britain
“What did you do?”
“I was so afraid. I touched the tablet and sealed their
kas. Then I touched it again and made
Leila’s servants’ kas depart. Mama, what
did I do?” Lumière held her head in her hands.
Leora grabbed Lumière’s arms, “Why
didn’t you unseal their kas again?”
“I’m sorry, Mother. I didn’t know how. I couldn’t find them. What should I do?” She sounded more like a
lost child than a young woman almost fifteen.
“First, put the tablet down.”
Lumie’re placed the black thing on the
floor. She could almost not take her
fingers off of it. She caressed it
gently.
“Lumière! Leave the thing and come to me.”
The girl regretfully let her fingers
trail off of the block, and she took a step toward her mother. Leora caught her in her arms and held
her. She could feel the Ra pendent warm
against her breast, but it didn’t force Lumière away again.
Lumière’s voice was still full of tears,
and she could not take her eyes off the black tablet.
Leora glanced up, “Major Lyons back away
from the tablet.”
The Major put up his hands and stepped
back.
“Lumière, I want you to do something
very difficult. You must listen to me
and not to anyone else. Not anyone here
or any thought in your mind. I will hold
on to you, and I will tell you exactly what to do.”
This fun novel is supposed to be published
soon. We hope sooner than later. In any case, the Osiris Offering Formula is
an item of value and power. This item
causes Lumière to be kidnapped. It
causes her parents to go into Germany to search for her, and other
reasons. In any case, this very valuable
and powerful item provides a plot device for this novel.
Also
from Sister of Darkness here is an
example of another valuable item plot device.
The focus of the novel isn’t necessarily these items although they do
provide much of the reasons from the character’s actions. In any case, the items are valuable because
they are powerful. They provide a plot
device because they are creative elements that are used to further the plot.
After
Mr. Fletcher departed, Leora retreated to her boudoir and opened the
double-sealed envelope. The paper was a
strange parchment with a wax seal, but the writing was modern.
6 July 1941
Dear Madam
Making
your acquaintance at my Foreign Service Ball was a distinct pleasure. My advisors informed me you would need
certain items you left for safe keeping at the British Museum
Sincerely,
King
George
The royal seal and titles filled the rest of the
length of the parchment.
When
Mr. Fletcher returned, he carried a steel box and a key. Fletcher reluctantly handed Leora the box and
the key, and it was all she could do to get him out of her suite. He obviously wanted to see what was in the
box. As Leora shooed him out of the
door, he called, “Perhaps I should give you a guard for the items?”
“Perhaps
you should, Mr. Fletcher. Now, would you
leave me alone so I can be about the King’s business?”
That
declaration made the large man’s feet move just a little faster.
In
her own room, Leora could barely make her hands stop trembling and open the
box. She thought much on this. With these items, she could possibly reach
Paul. With them, she might see more of
the future. She might be able to
discover what was bothering Lumière.
Carefully, gently, she opened the box
and removed the meticulous packing.
Leora pulled aside the last protective bit of paper. There in the bottom, an anachronism of
ancientness swathed in a modern wrapping laid a scepter and a tablet of beaten
gold. The scepter was made of a white
metal unblemished by the ages. At its
top sat a large crystal in a plain setting.
The tablet was small, only about ten by fifteen centimeters and a
centimeter thick. On its surface,
hieroglyphics rose like the images of the sun and a figure. The figure was clearly an image of
Leora.
Leora smiled—already her ka was reaching
out. She took hold of the tablet, it
fell into her hand as though it were made for no other. She grasped the scepter. The invisible ridges on its handle fitted her
hand exactly. She lifted them up. She reached out and out and out. Then she touched the tablet with the
scepter. A bright light flowed through
the room. A sound like a low gong
reverberated across the chamber. She
reached out and sought for Paul, sought to know what actions she should take,
sought to know what troubled her daughter… and failed. Paul was not there, the future was closed to
her, and so was Lumière, all Leora could see was darkness. A darkness like the closed inside of a small
space. Her seeking was fruitless. Her search was in vain. If the children noted her red eyes that
evening, they made no comment. Lady
Jacqueline certainly did. Following
supper, she invited Leora alone to her room for coffee.
Behind closed doors, Jacqueline began in
French, “Leora, you were distressed this evening. You barely touched your supper, and you would
not smile while the children shared their small adventures. Marie was trying so hard to get Mary to
pronounce her French correctly, and I think she will eventually succeed.”
Leora splashed a fake smile across her
face and took a deep breath, but she could not look Jacqueline in the eyes, “I
am sorry. I was not a good guest
tonight.”
“I hear the tears in your voice. What has put you in such a state? Was it the package Fletcher delivered today?”
“Jacqueline, tears fill me everyday
because Paul is missing, and I cannot gain the information the King sent me
here to determine.”
“What can I do to help?”
“You have already. You are a good and kind friend. That is the most important help I need right
now.”
“This is all so mysterious. Is it dangerous?”
“Not right now. I should not have said anything. I spoke too candidly, perhaps.”
Jacqueline smiled, “I hope you are in
better spirits by the end of the week.
King Farouk is giving one of
his high dinners to impress us with his civility. At the same time, he will be trying to
wheedle every ounce of information he can from us and our staff. He is a kleptomaniac, you know. You must not take anything with you—anything
you do not care to lose. When you dance
with him, watch your pearls and guard your diamonds—better yet, don’t wear
anything real.”
“Should
I be concerned about his unwanted attentions?”
“Not
any more than you usually would. Queen
Farida keeps the eye of a hawk on him, so while she is around, you have little
to fear. Still, you must be in a more
amused frame, or I will be at risk of losing my social position.”
Leora
grinned, “I will do my best to cheer up.”
Leora stood and kissed Jacqueline’s cheek, “You are kind to me and my
family. I will not appear at a crown
event with a frown.”
The
valuable items are truly valuable. They
would be valuable and important as archeological items, but they are also items
of power in their own right. The motif
and style of this novel makes the use of a valuable item plot device (actually
more than one) very easy.
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
