20 January 2018, Writing - part
x379, Novel Form, A New Novel, Plot and Climax from the Initial Scene, Sorcha
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.
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.
For novel 30: Lady Azure Rose Wishart, the Chancellor of
the Fae, supernatural detective, and all around dangerous girl, finds love,
solves cases, breaks heads, and plays golf.
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.
With
a protagonist, a telic flaw, a theme statement, and an initial setting, I’m
ready to begin a novel. I’ll move to the
telic flaw for the novel. Since I am
going to provide the first chapter as a teaser any way, I might as well show
you the initial scene.
Here
is the theme statement as a reminder:
Lady
Azure Rose Wishart, the Chancellor of the Fae, supernatural detective, and all
around dangerous girl, finds love, solves cases, breaks heads, and plays golf.
With
a single scene—the initial scene (along with the characters, setting, and the
telic flaw), you have enough to write an entire novel. This was the wonderful discovery I made by
the time I wrote my eighth novel.
Let
me pass on some examples. My Aegypt (Ancient Light) novels were easy to write
using the way I described. That’s
because they all had a historical premise tied to historical events. The resolution and climax just fit into the
historical events. That’s part of the
power of writing and authorship. The
novels that were a little more problematic, but still easy, are my Enchantment
novels. Let me point out a little about
each one. I’ll continue with Sorcha:
Enchantment and the Curse.
I
really had fun with this novel, protagonist, and initial scene. In the initial scene, Shiggy finds that she
has been tranqued and tied up on a medical table in a mysterious place. You need to know a little about Shiggy. Shiggy is a member of the British
intelligence community in training. She
has been in training in about nine different intelligence offices in the
British government. The problem is that
Shiggy is a screw up. She has been
shuffled from office to office as she caused catastrophe after catastrophe. In the end, the system and she ran out of
options.
Shiggy
is now in the hands of Sorcha, and Sorcha intends to fully train her. Here is a clip:
Shiggaion
Tash woke with a start. Her eyes flew
open. Her mouth tasted vile and bitter
like bile and chemicals. She tried to
swallow the taste away, but her throat felt bone dry. Bright light shone all around her. She tried to raise her hand to cover her
eyes, but her arms wouldn’t move. She
tried her legs. They wouldn’t move
either. She attempted to wrench her body
around, but without any success. She
could move her head—at least that part of her didn’t seem to be completely
immobilized.
At
first, the light appeared so bright, she couldn’t make out anything. Gradually, her eyes adjusted. That seemed to take longer than usual. She sniffed.
Her nose felt stuffed up. Her
mind couldn’t stop, never stopped evaluating. She put together everything she
knew about drugs and anesthetics…and came up short. Cocaine and other amphetamines caused some of
these symptoms, but they weren’t anesthetics—they were stimulants. What was the last thing she could remember?
The
last event happened to be the hostage training exercise. At the time, she fumbled her pistol and
accidentally shot one of the hostages…whoops.
That would be another looming black mark on her ledger. In her own records that made eight now. Nine if you counted the accident during the
Oxford laboratory lecture. That one
wasn’t entirely her fault. She couldn’t
review her classified records, so she didn’t know if they counted that one or
not.
Ah,
she remembered, right after she accidentally shot the hostage, she felt a sharp
pain in her left buttocks. They weren’t
using real bullets, only laser gunfire trackers. She sniffed and felt slightly miffed. They shouldn’t get their panties in a wad
about a little accident like that. Well
enough self-scrutiny—Shiggaion took a good look around.
She
lay on a hard but padded surface. A thin
sheet lay over her, and she felt naked underneath. That seemed slightly odd. As she gained awareness, she felt a stinging
on her left buttocks. She cursed under
her breath—they really didn’t have to knock her out for that slight
infraction. No one told her the
evaluators were wielding tranq guns.
Shiggaion
realized something like straps immobilized her arms and legs, but she couldn’t
see them even if she depressed her head as far as it would go. She lay in a very bright room. The walls looked metallic white and very
clean. The room appeared smaller than
she imagined at first. The ceiling
seemed to rise to a normal height. The
walls were close, but provided enough space to allow a couple of people to work
around them. Two walls looked like they
held doors—also metal. What was this
place…a battleship? One wall appeared
too shimmery to be metal, but it was the same color as the rest of the
walls. Uh oh, Shiggaion knew what that
meant—mirrored glass. That would be an
observation area. Were they watching
her? That made her feel uncomfortable,
but then she really began to feel uncomfortable—she needed to go.
How
long had she been out, and how long here?
Where was here and why?
Everything seemed a bit over the top for accidentally shooting a
hostage. Admittedly, her classmates were
becoming a little personal with their complaints and comments. Shiggaion couldn’t help it if she was clumsy
and a little slow about some things—in other things she excelled…, but she still
had to go and bad.
Well
whyever, she was here and for whatever reason, she knew the training
protocol. Shiggaion opened her mouth
wide and called…only nothing came out… at first. She swallowed a couple of times and tried it
again. At first, her voice sounded very
weak. It slowly grew in strength until
she was finally able to yell, “Hello, is anyone there. I need to go.” The first cry she got out sounded like a
whisper. So she called again, and again,
and again. Until her voice eventually
reached a very acceptable scream. By
that time, Shiggaion, was becoming desperate.
She needed to go, and the room felt cold. She thrashed around on the table, but that
didn’t do any good at all. It wore her
out, and stimulated her…um…going needs.
Why wasn’t anyone answering her?
Finally,
she screamed, “Why isn’t anyone coming?
Why aren’t you following the training protocol?”
She
heard a very loud click, and the door in front of her feet burst open. A tall strawberry blond woman stood in
it. She wore a costly sequin and lace
blouse, but Shiggaion couldn’t see any farther than that. The woman’s face looked beautiful, like a
model’s. She wore makeup, but it was very finely applied. Her eyes looked large, the makeup accentuated
that look. Her nose and mouth were
small, and her face heart-shaped.
Shiggaion thought the short hair didn’t fit her at all. It made the woman’s very lovely face look
larger and less feminine.
The
woman threw open the door and yelled, “Shut up, Shiggy. You’re disturbing my tea.” In spite of the words, the woman sounded very
aristocratic and Oxford.
In
her own too Oxford accent, Shiggaion replied, “My name is Shiggaion, not
Shiggy. I will not answer to such an
abominable term.”
The
woman laughed, “You’ll answer to whatever name I care to call you, Shiggy. You’re mine now—I bought you.”
“Release
me immediately. I need to go.”
“I
really should make you beg for the privilege.”
Shiggaion
became a little desperate. She’d almost
forgotten how badly she needed to go, and that very uncomfortable feeling came
back full force. “This isn’t allowed in
the training protocol at all. You must
allow a trainee basic human amenities—the toilet is one of those.”
“Miss
prissy pants, I know you have the training protocol memorized. You’ve mentioned it over one hundred times in
your many complaints during training. I
do not follow the training protocol. As
I said, you belong to me.”
“You
mentioned that already. In any case, if
you don’t let me use the toilet, I shall have an accident right here. That is obviously a breach of human rights as
well as the training protocol.”
The
woman smiled, “Would you like me to tickle you a bit?”
“What
about basic human decency?”
“Human
decency doesn’t apply to you at all. If
you soil my linens, table, or floor, I shall make you lay in it until your
excrement dries. Then you shall clean it
all with your tongue.”
Tears
leaked down the sides of Shiggaion’s face, “I shall endeavor to not soil
anything, but I do need to go.”
“Then
you must beg me for the privilege.”
“I’ve
never begged for anything from anyone in my life.”
The
woman leaned over Shiggaion. Her face
hovered just above Shiggaion’s.
Shiggaion thought for one moment about spitting in that smug face. She quickly drowned that thought. The woman touched Shiggaion’s lips, “You were
thinking, you’d really like to spit in my face.
I told you, you belong to me. You
are my slave. You must comply with my
wishes. If you don’t, I have leave to
treat you in any way I please. If you
do, I have leave to treat you in any way I please. Would you like me to tickle you?”
Just
a little bit. I know you want more. When I wrote this, I was so excited to write
about this character. Shiggy is the perfect
ne’er-do-well. She is a slacker and a
bit incompetent. She is selfish and conniving. I just had fun writing about the character,
and Sorcha is her perfect foil. Sorcha
is a slacker and socially incompetent.
She is selfish and conniving. She
and Shiggy are similar except Sorcha is trained and Shiggy is not. The training is the fun part.
From
this initial scene (you can read the entire first chapter from my site at www.ldalford.com under new novels) I built
the entire novel about Shiggy’s training and education. Let me point out, the character was fully
developed. The setting was fully
developed. The initial scene was fully
developed. All I needed was a plot to go
with it. The obvious theme and plot
question from the initial scene is: how does one train a Shiggy. This is the novel in a nutshell.
Now,
I will admit, there was another subtheme I wanted to put into the novel. My main prepub reader wanted a pursuit plot
(or subplot) and I wanted to write one.
I built a great romance subtheme into Sorcha. This was really fun
to write too.
Again,
the initial scene drove the entire novel.
I’ll say, although I loved the subtheme and the novel, it wasn’t as
popular with my main prepub reader. Lady Wishart will get her. I made it a pure pursuit novel. We shall see.
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
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
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