Writing Ideas - New Novel, part x137, It’s Finished, Materials

23 May 2017, Writing Ideas - New Novel, part x137, It’s Finished, Materials

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.

These are the steps I use to write a novel including the five discrete parts of 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

I finished writing my 27^th 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 28^th novel, working title Red Sonja.  I finished my 29^th novel, working title School.  I’ll be providing information on the marketing materials and editing.

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.

 

When you finish a novel, your work is not done.  I haven’t finished the major edit of School yet, but I’ll start moving toward the marketing materials.  As I’ve been writing, the major marketing material is the novel itself.  The preparation of the novel is a critical part of marketing.  It always amazed me that someone could attract a publisher with just a proposal—I guess that happens and did happen more often in the past.  I’m not so sure it is a viable approach in this era.  Today, the author must have a work to present—the whole work, or no one will be willing to look.  If you are a best seller, you might approach your publisher with a novel idea and get a contract, not so with new and non-best seller authors. 

 

When I started writing seriously, not that I wasn’t always serious, but you reach a point as an author that you are willing to dedicate your life to writing or not.  When I started writing seriously, I thought, you write a novel and get it published, then people read your novel and your write another novel and so on.  This isn’t the way it works at all. 

 

First, you write and write and write until you are competent and someone finally accepts one of your novels for publication.  Or you keep writing.  I’ve written more than once about this.  You must write approximately one million words to become a competent writer.  This isn’t an option.  There are no short cuts.  You must write at least 1 million words—about eight to ten full length novels to reach the level of skill to be published.  This is why I’m against self-publishing by unpublished authors.  A full disclaimer—I did partner publish my first novel, The Second Mission, but I don’t think the publication helped me at all.  My current regular publisher would have published The second Mission if it had not been already published.          

 

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  

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