Writing - part x198, Novel Form, Tension and Release, Pathos, Pity – Japan day 11

23 July 2017, Writing - part x198, Novel Form, Tension and Release, Pathos, Pity – Japan day 11

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 28^th novel, working title, School, potential title Deirdre: Enchantment and the School.  The theme statement is: 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.  

Here is the cover proposal for Deirdre: Enchantment and the School. 

Cover Proposal

The most important scene in any novel is the initial scene, but eventually, you have to move to the rising action. I continued writing my 29^th novel, working title Red Sonja.  I finished my 28^th novel, working title School.  If you noticed, I started on number 28, but finished number 29 (in the starting sequence—it’s actually higher than that).  I adjusted the numbering.  I do keep everything clear in my records.  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 29:  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.

 

This is the classical form for writing a successful 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 (protagonist, antagonist, and optionally the protagonist’s helper)

d.      Identify the telic flaw of the protagonist (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

              

The protagonist and the telic flaw are tied permanently together.  The novel plot is completely dependent on the protagonist and the protagonist’s telic flaw.  They are inseparable.  This is likely the most critical concept about any normal (classical) form novel. 

 

Here are the parts of a normal (classical) novel:

 

1.      The Initial scene (identify the output: implied setting, implied characters, implied action movement)

2.      The Rising action scenes

3.      The Climax scene

4.      The Falling action scene(s)

5.      The Dénouement scene

             

So, how do you write a rich and powerful initial scene?  Let’s start from a theme statement.  Here is an example from my latest novel:

 

The theme statement for Deirdre: Enchantment and the School is: 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.

 

Here is the scene development 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

          

If you have the characters (protagonist, protagonist’s helper, and antagonist), the initial setting, the telic flaw (from the protagonist), a plot idea, the theme action, then you are ready to write the initial scene.  I would state that since you have a protagonist, the telic flaw, a plot idea, and the theme action, you have about everything—what you might be lacking is the tension and release cycle in the initial scene.

 

Tension and release is the means to success in scene writing.  The creative elements you introduce into the scenes (Chekov’s guns) are the catalysts that drive entertainment and excitement in a scene, and this is what scenes are all about.     

 

I am moving into the way to develop sufficient tension and release.  One of the best means is through pathos.  I’ve written about pathos developing characters.  What I want to do is expand this into pathos developing scenes.  In most cases, a scene with a pathos developing character can be made pathetic.  In any case, almost any scene can invoke pathos—pity and fear.  This development of pity and fear is the driving force in tension and release.  The question is how the author develops it.

 

I’m in Tokyo Japan—this isn’t a travel log, but I might find some examples to put here.

 

Fear is just one mechanism for developing powerful and sufficient tension and release in a scene.  The other mechanism is pity.  

 

I’m not writing a travel blog, and I already have a hit and miss food, drink, and cigar blog, but I thought it might be fun to give some direct reporting from the Land of the Rising Sun. 

 

Day eleven in Japan. We made it back from our long trip to Yokohama, Hiroshima, and Kyoto.  We came back with souvenirs in hand, but we weren’t done with the hunting or the buying.  On day eleven, we were back ready for an overnight road trip.  First step was souvenirs. 

 

We went to a shrine sale.  You need some connections to hit the shrine sales, but this is the place to get your “real” Japanese souvenirs.  We wanted a real tea ceremony set (serving bowl, discard bowl, bamboo dipper, tea whisk, and tea box all in a box.  We found it, antique for 3500 yen.  That’s $30.  I wanted a calligraphy set with all the stuff.  I found one for 1000 yen ($9).  We purchased a regular tea set.  We bought obis.  We walked out of the shrine sale with bags of great stuff for almost nothing. 

 

The antique shops are also a good place to get inexpensive but great souvenirs.  I bought old sake cups for my friends for 200 yen each.  My wife bought silk obis for her friends for about 300 yen each.  There are even better deals. 

 

On to the road trip.  We traveled by car to Nagano to the Kokuya Ryokan there.  We had reservations for their best room.  The best rooms have their own outdoor onsens.  An onsen is a hot mineral water bath.  If you stay at the Ryokan, you can use their many separate baths, private baths, and if you have a room with an outdoor bath, you can use that too.  Additionally, all down the street are other onsens which you can bath in.

 

When you go to the Ryokan, they give you each a yakata, socks, and an obi.  You put these on and never take them off, except to bathe.  In the Ryokan, that’s what you do, bathe, eat, bathe, walk around the town, bathe, eat, have tea, drink sake.  This is a very pleasant opportunity.  The point of the Ryokan is relaxation.  That’s just what you do—relax.  That’s what we did.  You also go see the snow monkeys.  It wasn’t winter, and I didn’t care to see monkeys.  I was into relaxing.  While we are relaxing, I need to tell you about the meals.

 

The first meal is dinner.  They ring your phone and remind you about your dinner time.  We went down to our own little dining room—in yukatas of course.  The table was filled with food.  When I say filled, it was filled.  That was just the appetizer—the courses started soon afterward.  There is no way you can eat all the food and it keeps coming and coming.  All of it, in my mind is pleasant.  It is different, but that is what makes it so wonderful.  Afterward, you find the futons set up in your room, and you bathe.  You bathe, drink sake, and bathe some more.  Then you go to sleep, on a futon, on the floor, on a tatami mat.  This is wonderful Japanese living.

 

In the morning, you start with a bath.  I should describe.  You get the instructions, but when you bathe, first, you rinse and wash off your hair and body.  You have a hand shower and stuff right outside your bath.  After you are clean, then you get into the bath.  At breakfast time, the phone rings to remind you to come down to your dining room—then the food begins.  Breakfast isn’t the gut buster of dinner, but you have more food and more different food than you can stand.  You can do the Japanese or the Western breakfasts.  Either is more food than you can stand.  Three of us did the Japanese breakfast.  It is worth seeing and tasting.  Even if you don’t like everything, there is a magic in experiencing the way of the Ryokan.  Eventually everything has to come to an end.  We traded our yukatas for our regular clothing and went to pay our bill.  The entire inn showed up to see us off.  There were pictures and bowing and thanking.  They brought our car up to the place and there we were headed out and back to Fussa via Matsumoto Castle.                                            

 

End of day eleven.

                

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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