30 September 2017, Writing
- part x267, Novel Form, Revelation and Tension
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. Now Sveta is traveling with Aleksandr. She is expanding the hegemony of the Soviet
Union and spreading out her own senses for her own purposes.
Aleksandr is simply returning home—to
a degree. There is some historical information in this
scene. That sets the scene in history in
a way nothing else can. Notice how
powerful Sveta’s influence has become. She
is actually representing the Soviet as well as translating.
Here is the scene:
In January 1949, Beria began to
consolidate his power by removing the associates of his dead rival Andrei Zhdanov. The Leningrad Affair began in earnest,
and the MVD played a large role. Sveta’s
office was not directly affected by the incident. Neither Beria nor the MVD needed her or her
people for its internal operations.
The overtures and support of the Chinese
Communist Party were Sveta’s main concern at this time. She sent Aleksandr many times to China
Every time Sveta came near China
Sveta’s office was very busy, and she
had some privileged issues she had to work through. Svetlana
Iosifovna married Yuri Zhdanov, the son of the dead
Andrei Zhdanov, who was once Stalin’s supposed successor. This took Svetlana Iosifovna, with her management and translation capability out of
service during a very busy time. In
consequence, Sveta had Aleksandr work
some of the management of the office for her.
This relieved her from replacing Svetlana Iosifovna and kept the
translation office running.
Alan G. Kirk, the new American ambassador
finally arrived in July to replace Smith who left because of an illness the
last December. Sveta found Kirk easier
to work with, but the Soviet detonation of their atomic bomb in August and the
declaration of the establishment of the People’s Republic of China China
Their visit was very successful and they began the return
trip in early November. When they
entered Soviet territory, Aleksandr asked Sveta, “Would you like to visit my
parents with me?”
Sveta looked at him strangely. Her face was filled with longing and sadness,
“I would like to very much. I don’t know
what Marya will say.”
“I’ll handle Marya.”
In a few hours, Sveta and Aleksandr found themselves on a
mixed freight and passenger train headed toward Aleksandrs parent’s small town
on the border of China and Siberia . Sveta sat
across from Aleksandr in a private compartment, “What did you tell Marya?”
“I told her we were going to visit a Gulag in Siberia .”
“You didn’t,” Sveta frowned, “She is very sensitive about
such things.”
“I’m kidding you, Svetochka.
I told her I was taking you to meet my parents. She told me to look after you. She even gave me money.”
Sveta blushed, “I forgot.”
“I have enough for us to travel on and feed ourselves.”
Sveta laid down her book, “What will you tell your parents
about me?”
“I will tell them you are my friend and my boss. I will tell them you are the Director of the Special
Directorate for International Understanding in the MVD.”
Sveta blushed again, “Please don’t tell
them that, Sasha.”
“Why not? It’s true.”
“It may be true, but…,” She stared at
him, “Is this who you think I am?”
“No.
Sveta, I can’t tell them who you are.
I can’t tell them who you think you are.
Do you want me to tell them who I think you are?”
Sveta smiled shyly, “Tell me first, and
I will see if it is appropriate.”
“Very well. First, I will not need to tell them you are
beautiful. That is obvious.”
Sveta picked up her book, “If that’s
where this is going, I don’t want to hear it.”
“Second, I will not need to tell them
you are very special. That is also obvious. What other person would go with me to an
ex-Gulag? To visit a priest? They will understand that without
explanation.”
Sveta rolled her eyes, “Then, you will
tell them?”
“I’ll tell them the truth. I’ll tell them I love you, and I want to
marry you.”
Sveta threw her book at him, “You won’t
say any such thing.”
Aleksandr picked up the book and dusted it off,
“This book is from the university library.
You should take better care of it.”
“I told you. You won’t
say that to your parents.”
“But, Svetochka, it is the truth. And, as you say, the truth is the truth.”
Sveta turned her head and pouted.
“Svetochka, what do you want me to tell them?”
“I don’t want you to tell them anything.” She snapped her fingers, “You may tell them,
I am your student and traveled with you to China
“Ha,” Aleksandr laughed, “You don’t know what they will
guess, and what they will know. They are both educated, and for their own
safety, they are well informed about politics.
The reports I know you make to the church…”
Sveta’s eyes widened in alarm, “Hush, is it so obvious?”
“Svetochka, it is completely obvious. It was obvious from the moment you first
started to work for the NKVD. Those
reports, the information in them gets to my parents. They told me themselves the last time they
wrote. The information flow started
nearly the day you began to work in the NKVD.
They have no idea from whom they come, but Kruglov knows and Beria knows
and Abakumov knows. If you don’t believe
me ask Father Nikolay.”
“Why don’t they stop me?”
“Because you are more important to them in the other work you
do. They know what you are doing. They probably realize the surreptitious work
you are doing with the embassies.”
Sveta involuntarily ducked.
“Yes they know about that too. The way they work is they let you do your job
as long as you provide real worth to them.
They never forget the small failures and infractions—they document them. When you become a liability to the Party or
the Soviet, they will use those failures to destroy you.”
Sveta bit her lip, “I knew, but I didn’t want to admit it to
myself.”
“Don’t worry. I will
tell you when they are ready to move against you. It may never happen.”
“It will if Khrushchev becomes the First Secretary.”
“That is doubtful. Beria is in position to assume that office.”
“We shall see. Give me my book. You still haven’t told me what you will say
to your parents.”
Aleksandr handed her the book, “I won’t tell them
anything. He held up his hand as she
raised the book again, “I will tell them your name.”
Sveta slowly lowered the book to her lap and started to read.
Again,
here is showing and not telling. Show
and don’t tell. I don’t let you see the
minds of my characters—I give them an opportunity to reveal themselves. How much is truth and how much falsehood? I’ll let you decide. This is the power of showing and the power of
literature that shows.
I
hope you can see the humor in this scene.
Aleksandr is revealing as much as Sveta.
In this environment where there is very little chance of anyone
overhearing him, he can tell her much of what he knows. She hadn’t imagined that the MVD was watching
her so closely, or if she did know, she ignored it.
We
see another love confession. How is the
poor boy to take it? They are heading to
visit his parents. Obviously, Aleksandr
hopes this will resonate with Sveta in some way. The why that Sveta might go with
Aleksandr. This is more complicated—could
she be falling in love with him?
I’ll
give you more examples.
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
