Writing - part x231, Novel Form, Readers Understand Tension and Release

25 August 2017, Writing - part x231, Novel Form, Readers Understand 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 c9n 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. 

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 emotional tension and release in a scene.  This example is from Shadow of Darkness an Ancient Light novel.  Sveta has a penchant for learning and speaking languages.  Her mind was injured during the battle for Berlin.  She doesn’t remember the languages she speaks and understands.  I showed you a scene before were she realizes she can read Hebrew.  In this scene, she reads Greek without understanding that she is reading Greek.        

 

This is a setup for the reader to have an ah ha moment.  In fact, this is an ah ha moment for the characters as well.  The power in this scene is that there is no reflection.  There is no real acknowledgement of the event.  I show you reactions, but these are muted by the Mother Abbess and her edicts. 

 

The important point I want you to notice in this scene is the showing—there is very little telling in this scene.  The reader is presented some facts (description and action).  We see some response to the event.  The reader is on his or her own to figure out what this all means.  There is no explanation given.  Perhaps tomorrow I will give you the following scene to see how that is shown.

 

Here is the scene:        

 

        Sveta was especially pleased each Sunday that she was allowed to read.  On this particular chilly Sunday, Father Nikolay had just finished the Trisagion prayer.  Sveta pushed herself up.  Marya was quick to help her, and Sveta stepped up to the altar.  She bowed and clumsily negotiated the steps to the platform with the Epistle book on it.  The book was already open, and she glanced down at it to confirm the place.  The words seemed strange at her first glance, but they immediately turned right in her mind. 

        Mother Anna thought she heard a quiet snigger from a couple of the sisters and one sister in particular.  She couldn’t imagine what that meant.

        Then Sveta began to read the epistle.  Sveta’s voice was clear though raspy and gently filled the chapel.  The words were lyrical and beautifully pronounced.  Mother Larisa and Mother Inna began to weep.  Father Nikolay half stood.  Mother Anna quickly waved him down.

        Sveta read in Greek—perfect pure, exact, and delightful Greek.  The faces of the nuns showed they were stunned and enraptured.  The ones who had heard the scriptures read in that language in the old church were deeply moved.  The two who changed the epistle book as a practical joke on Sveta were dumbfounded.

        When Sveta finished the reading, her appearance showed she did not understand what had happened.  She displayed an angelic countenance—a look of pure innocence and joy.  She slowly returned to her place.  Mother Marya glanced at the abbess from her position next to Sveta, but Anna signaled her to silence.

        Father Nikolay stood and with a tremble in his voice finished leading the liturgy.

Notice what I don’t tell you.  I don’t need to tell you that Father Nikolay is shaken—I show you.  I show you that Sveta doesn’t understand, but is still moved by the experience.  I give you a foreshadowing that something will happen—the jokers giggle.  There is a lot packed in this very short scene.  The most important part is the entertainment value for the reader.

 

The unspoken piece within this scene is both the acceptance and the teasing of Sveta.  The practical jokers played a joke on Sveta.  They thought it would frazzle her, and they wondered what she would do.  This shows without telling that they have accepted her as part of them.  It also shows a little conflict—the type of conflict everyone who is new to a group feels.  In my day, this was common and considered a part of joining a group and a part of maturing in a group.  It doesn’t seem to be too odd a practical joke.

 

In any case, the point of the event is both to entertain and to reveal.  This scene reveals when Sveta realizes she knows Greek—or rather, it shows the reader and the characters that Sveta understands Greek.  Sveta has no conscious recollection, yet.  That’s in the next scene.              

 

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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