Writing - part x269, Novel Form, Intimate Conversation and Tension

2 October 2017, Writing - part x269, Novel Form, Intimate Conversation 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 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 tension and release in a scene.  This example is from Shadow of Darkness an Ancient Light novel.  Sveta went with Aleksandr to visit his parents.  With the main elements of conversation complete, we can move to deeper subjects.

 

Intimacy in conversation is always possible with even new characters who share our trust.  What kind of characters share trust?  I give you an example below.  Sveta is a novice in an Orthodox convent.  She is also a powerful woman in the MVD.  Vera is the wife of an Orthodox priest.  This is a high position in the Orthodox Church.  They are both women.  They both love Aleksandr.  They are sharing a room and a bed, but not in any salacious sense.  People had to share in this time.

 

This intimacy allows them to share ideas that might be unacceptable in another meeting or venue.           

 

Here is the scene:        

 

        That evening, Sveta and Vera shared a bed while Aleksandr and his father slept in the guest room.  As they prepared for sleep in the small room, Vera observed Sveta’s mangled calf and the many scars that ran down her legs and right arm.  Sveta noticed her gaze in the mirror, “I don’t think Sasha knows how scarred I am.”  Sveta pulled her thick nightgown over her head.

        Vera’s look was full of pity, “That is not something that should be shared with a man.”

        “Would he think less of me because of it?”

        “You would have to ask him, but I don’t think it would matter to him.”

        “That is why I limp.  It is also why my voice sounds the way it does.”

        Vera pulled on her nightgown and sat on the side of the bed, “It must have been terrible, Svetlana.”

        “That is why my mind is the way it is too.”

        “Your mind?”

        “A person can’t experience the horrors of war and not be affected.”

        “I don’t think that would matter much to Sasha either.”

        “What would matter to Sasha?”

        “He is a very resolute boy.  He doesn’t give up.  Not easily.  Not ever.  Only if he loses his faith in his infatuation would he give up.  He is a great friend to have.”

        Sveta sat down next to her, “I know how great a friend he is.  I am not so good a friend for him.”

        Vera’s brows v’ed, “I don’t think that is true.”

        Sveta looked down, “It is true.  He loves me.  Would you help me convince him not to love me?”

        Vera took Sveta’s hands, “Dear child, I would never do that.  Sasha sees so much good in you.  He has written all about you to us.  I know he loves you.  He wants you to love him.  Life is much too short to not love.”

        Sveta stared at her, “What if his love could end his life or hurt him?”

        “When doesn’t love hurt us sometimes?  Papa makes me sad at times.  That doesn’t mean I don’t love him.”

        “I think I could accidentally hurt Sasha.  I think I could hurt you.”

        “What could you do that would hurt him?  If you loved another…”

        “I don’t love anyone else.  I mean there is no one else I love…”

        “Come, let’s sleep.” Vera pulled back the covers and Sveta slipped under them.

        After a few moments, Vera asked, “Are you praying, Svetlana?”

        “Yes, my rosary.”

        When she undressed, Vera had seen the crucifix between Sveta’s breasts.  Vera fell asleep to the sound of the soft clicks of the rosary beads.

 

Nothing should ever be mentioned in a novel without the intention of use or for revelation of the protagonist.  There is a powerful foreshadowing in this scene—about what might cause Aleksadr to lose faith.

 

There is much more in this scene that is direct revelation and shared intimacy between Vera and Sveta.  There is also strong parallelism that lets us see the regular life and experience of Sveta.  We also get to see a description of Sveta through Vera’s eyes, and a description of Aleksandr’s personality, also through Vera’s eyes. 

   

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  

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