9 April 2018, Writing - part x458,
Developing Skills, Telic Flaw, Entertaining and Life
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. I’m just finishing number 30, working title Detective.
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.
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
Today: Many people would
like to write, but writing is hard work.
I’ll express again, if you want to be a skilled and potentially a
published author, you need to write about one million words. That equates to about ten 100,000 word
novels. When you look at it this way, it
is a daunting goal especially if you haven’t written a single novel.
To
become a good writer, you need two specific skill sets first reading and then
writing. Without these skill sets, I
really can’t help you much. I provide
advanced help and information on how to write great fiction.
Characters
are the key to great writing.
Entertainment is the purpose of fiction writing. The key to entertainment is character
revelation. If we want to be a
successful writer, we must aim for great protagonists, and I would say, great
protagonist’s helpers.
So
what is a compelling telic flaw? We need
a direct and specific telic flaw.
Almost
every telic flaw in the plot and for the protagonist (should be the same), is
based on the threat of loss. In the
Greek sense from Aristotle, this is a set up for the development of pity and
fear as the major components of plot. In
the focus of ancient Greek literature, the loss was almost always the loss of
life. This has been viewed as the
ultimate loss by most human societies.
Thus most Greek tragedies orbited around the idea of the death of the
protagonist—in the case of the tragedies, that usually came true.
In
the case of the comedies, the possibility of loss could be broader, but in the
early age of literature, the general telic flaw was the potential loss of
life. Then Christianity came around.
With
Christianity came an entirely new idea in literature—the loss of salvation or
rather, the need of redemption. Either
one is a new concept that is not reflected in most other literature. Since the spread of Christianity, the idea of
redemption has moved into the literature of other cultures. This concept also gave wings to other telic flaws—specifically,
the idea of other types of loss. The
ancient Greeks could not relate to the telic flaw of the loss of love—their idea
of love was much different than ours, but with the advent of Christianity and
the concepts of romantic love and courtly love, literature could begin to accommodate
the idea of the loss of love.
Thus,
in Shakespeare, we see the reflection of these telic flaws. In Hamlet, we see the loss of a kingdom as
well as the loss of a father—it still results in the loss of life (it’s a
tragedy). In Taming of the Shrew, we see
the loss and gain of love purely as a function of redemption but no loss of
life (it’s a comedy). Redemption and the
gain or loss of love are consistent themes in English literature that continue
on to today.
From
this, we can take that the telic flaw should be developed from the threat of
loss or of actual loss—loss of life is a great one. In addition, the telic flaw, especially in a
comedy, can be based on a redemption theme.
The idea that a person must change for the resolution of the novel is a
consistently powerful theme and plot in literature. Think of A
Christmas Carol and Scrooge for a quick example.
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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