16 August 2017, Writing - part x222,
Novel Form, Examples in Building Tension and Release
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 28th 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 29th novel, working title Red Sonja. I finished my 28th 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.
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 your scenes.
Here is an example of developing or
building tension and release in a scene.
This example is from Shadow of Darkness
an Ancient Light novel. This is part of the initial scene from the
novel. What I want you to notice in this
example is the use of stuff (setting elements turned into creative elements)
used to create tension and release in the scene.
This scene begins as an action and
description oriented scene that turns into conversation then back to action and
description. In the beginning of the
scene, the setting elements in the scene begin to become creative
elements. The Reichstag building is one
of the key setting elements. Russian
tanks and infantry along with German infantry in the Reichstag building begin
to build tension. In fact, everything
that prevents Oba and Lumière from moving where they want and need to become
tension builders. Then you have the
battle which Lumière and Oba are enveloped in—you can read the scene.
During the day, they heard the movement
and voices of many troops and people.
Now, the language usually indicated Russian troops although, once or
twice, German soldier’s voices cut through the afternoon while they hid. Lumière and Oba had made little progress east
from the Museum. Each night when they
attempted to move through the lines of troops, they found themselves forced
back. Unwillingly they moved closer and
closer back toward the river Spree , and
eventually, they were forced to parallel the river. Russian and German troops vied for both sides
of the river. The night before, for the
first time Lumière and Oba moved to the west of the Neues Museum
In the early afternoon, the Russians
decided to rush the German positions.
Lumière noticed with dismay that she and Oba were right in the center,
almost directly between the two forces.
“Oba, what will we do?”
“I don’t know, mistress. My skills are those of sneaking and
ambush. Our travels have brought us
directly into this conflict, and now I don’t know what to do. We can’t fight either of them, and both will
kill us.” He stared at her then spat at
the ground, “They will both seek to defile you.”
“If they can. I am not a weakling. I can defend myself.” She looked up, “Whatever we do, we must go
now. The Russians are on the move, and
I, like you, fear their tanks and their guns will make no exception for
us. To the west Oba. Go!”
The motors of the tanks, not a hundred
meters away, revved and machinegun fire and high explosive shells flew over
their heads.
“Keep your head down, Oba.”
“Yes mistress.”
The huge Russian tank guns blasted
yellow red spurts of deadly fire at the building. Stone dust burst into the air at each
shot. Lumière heard the screams of dying
men. German machinegun fire blazed
everywhere, and she was astounded neither of them had been hit. Then Oba went down. He didn’t make a sound, just jerked backwards
and fell to his knees.
“Oba!”
“It is nothing, mistress.”
“There is nowhere for us to go. Can you run?”
He stood up, “They will shoot you down,
mistress. You run, I will draw their
attention.”
“Oba, there are too many of them. We have nowhere to run. Nowhere to go.”
Oba didn’t say another word. He stood and began to run toward the line of
Russian soldiers, then he yelled, “Mistress, run the other way, through the
line of tanks.” At each word, Lumière
saw a blast of blood and muscle burst from Oba’s body. She knew he would move until his body was cut
to pieces—they could not kill him.
“No! Oba!” she screamed. Lumière removed a small tablet from her
pocket. It was pure gold striped oddly
with black lines. The tablet was about
fifteen by ten centimeters and one centimeter thick. One side was marked with ancient Egyptian
hieroglyphics and the portrait of a seated woman. Across the lips of the woman’s picture once
was a frown, now it was neither a frown nor a smile. Her mouth was straight as though at any
moment the lips might turn either way.
Lumière jumped up. She held the tablet in her hand and said a
word. The word itself was encased in
power. It rose up from her lips and seemed
to swirl with sunshine. It was like a
dust devil but formed of light and darkness instead of earth. The golden swirl rose up and expanded. It encased Oba and swept him along. It caught up the tanks and buffeted them
mercilessly. Their guns stopped
firing. The Russians who walked behind
the tanks were bowled over. Their bodies
buffeted and their weapons lost, but they were unharmed. When the golden light hit the Reichstag
building, it washed over the stone and rushed through the windows. Each man it touched fell to the ground
blinded and unmoving. The world became nearly
silent in the wake of the thing the girl had created.
A German soldier took careful aim with
an antitank weapon at the slim girl who stood between the Russian tanks and the
Reichstag. He had many antitank
Panzerfausts to fire at the Russian vehicles, and he expected to die
today. What would the death of one girl
mean to anyone? He knew he made the
right choice of target when the swirling light exploded from her toward him. He aimed at her. The moment the light hit him, his finger
squeezed the trigger. He was unable to
hear the heavy thump as the round cleared the tube. His eyes were unseeing as the projectile
rushed toward the now running teen. He
could not know it struck a tree not ten feet away from her.
Things
drive the tension and the release in this scene. The tanks, the tablet, the soldiers, Oba, Lumière,
the terrain, the Reichstag building, the panzerfaust, the shell, each of these
things build tension in different ways to reach the end of the scene. This scene really doesn’t have any extra
added to it. Perhaps the details that
drive the scene, or perhaps the panzerfaust.
Each of these are historical and real (within the sense of
history). Each of these items become
required for the scene to complete itself.
They are Chekov’s Guns, each required, and the scene dependent on each
one.
I
would call this scene sparse and self-dependent. It doesn’t require anything extra to help
drive the entertainment or excitement.
This isn’t true of all scenes.
Most are more similar to the other scenes I showed you—they require
entertainment and entertaining circumstances for strong tension and release
development. I’ll try to dig up an
example tomorrow.
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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