Writing - part x571, Developing Skills, Suspension of Disbelief

31 July 2018, Writing - part x571, Developing Skills, Suspension of Disbelief  

Announcement: Delay, my new novels can be seen on the internet, but my primary publisher has gone out of business—they couldn’t succeed in the past business and publishing environment.  I'll keep you informed, but I need a new publisher.  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 29^th novel, working title, Detective, potential title Blue Rose: Enchantment and the Detective.  The theme statement is: 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 cover proposal for Blue Rose: Enchantment and the Detective. 

Cover Proposal

The most important scene in any novel is the initial scene, but eventually, you have to move to the rising action. I am continuing to write on my 30^th novel, working title Red Sonja.  I finished my 29^th novel, working title Detective.  I’m planning to start on number 31, working title Shifter. 

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 30:  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 31:  TBD 

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:  The purpose of all fiction is entertainment.  The entertainment is accomplished in large part by the suspension of disbelief.  The suspension of disbelief is the ability of the writer to provide an immersive environment that first of all, appears completely rational and reasonable, and second of all, captures the reader in that environment.

This is a critical point.  It isn’t enough to design and populate a world that meets this criteria—the reader must be enveloped by this world to the point that they would rather read then do almost anything.  The suspension of disbelief means the world of the novel, for the time of the reading, becomes more real that the real world of the reader.

If you have not experienced this in your reading, you literally have no way to become a writer.  If you have never seen this in a novel, there is no way you can pass this experience on to others.  This is also why otherwise reasonably written fiction might seem or feel off—it does not achieve this suspension of disbelief. 

To be fair, as a writer my discipline and my level of criticism has moved very high.  It takes a very well put together novel to really envelop me in the writing.  On the other hand, I can read novels and other writing very quickly and yet understand the positives and deficiencies.  Likewise, in my own writing, I can see where it doesn’t convey the suspension of disbelief I desire, and that is exactly what I work for in editing and rewriting. 

In fact, let’s look at editing.  There are effectively three levels of editing.  I’ve written about two most of the time I’ve written in this blog about editing, but there is a third.  The first level of editing is what most writers unfortunately think and need—this is basic grammar, spelling, and English skills.  This is not really editing—this is just proofreading.  The next level of editing is truly editing—this is where the reader is looking for rationality, reasonability, and consistency in the writing.  Does the plot and theme fit together properly?  Are there holes in the plot and theme?   Are the characters consistent?  Can the plot be improved?  This is true editing.

The third level of editing is for suspension of disbelief.  This is the most difficult and the most elusive level of writing.  Many times when proofing or editing another’s writing you will get the feeling that something is off.  If the writing is especially poor that is in basic English, you will never be able to drop into the suspension of disbelief.  If you are reading some sloppy or trite piece, even is well written, you will never achieve a suspension of disbelief.  In many of the Victorian, pre Romanticism novels, I barely can get a suspension of disbelief.  In many if not most of the 1960 to 1980 avant garde science fiction no one can achieve a suspension of disbelief.  In no James Joyce novel can a reasonable person find any suspension of disbelief.

If you have no suspension of disbelief, you have little entertainment.  You might as well be reading a technical paper.  So, this is the subject we should embark on next—the suspension of disbelief.     

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

Writing - part x570, Developing Skills, more Real Supernatural Research

30 July 2018, Writing - part x570, Developing Skills, more Real Supernatural Research  

Announcement: Delay, my new novels can be seen on the internet, but my primary publisher has gone out of business—they couldn’t succeed in the past business and publishing environment.  I'll keep you informed, but I need a new publisher.  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 29^th novel, working title, Detective, potential title Blue Rose: Enchantment and the Detective.  The theme statement is: 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 cover proposal for Blue Rose: Enchantment and the Detective. 

Cover Proposal

The most important scene in any novel is the initial scene, but eventually, you have to move to the rising action. I am continuing to write on my 30^th novel, working title Red Sonja.  I finished my 29^th novel, working title Detective.  I’m planning to start on number 31, working title Shifter. 

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 30:  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 31:  TBD 

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:  My goal is to integrate the supernatural in my writing to the degree that the reader has a suspension of disbelief and believes, at least in the context of the novel, that the elements of the narrative are true.  However, this is what every author does in actuality.

No fiction story or novel is true—the author provides a suspension of disbelief such that the world and circumstances of the world appear true.  Haven’t you noticed the novels that are close, but not quite close enough to reality—some are really famous and have been made into movies or are bestsellers.  Some of them don’t appeal to me because they are too far from reality or even basic truth. 

In any case, in the most basic sense, an author takes a subject or a plot that is not real and turns it into a novel that provides a suspension of disbelief.  In general, the success of the novelist is dependent on how convincing this suspension of disbelief is.  As I noted, some writing does not appeal to me at all because I am too knowledgeable about history and science.  When an author gets the history or the science wrong, that completely ruins the novel for me.  I’d rather read a Harry Potty novel where I know the author made up an entirely different world or a novel like Dune where the author provided a highly compelling future universe with all its didactic elements.  The point is the suspension of disbelief.

This is why in my writing, I get the science right and I get the history right.  I additionally, get the supernatural right.  Or perhaps I should write, I get the myth right. 

Back to my example, Aksinya: Enchantment and the Demon.  This novel is all about a sorceress and a demon.  The sorceress, Aksinya happens to call the demon Asmodeus from the depths of hell.  Many might conclude there are no demons or even hell, but this isn’t the point.  First, the author must provide a suspension of disbelief, and second, to help expand, sustain, and develop this suspension of disbelief, the author needs a historical and literary basis for the mythic or semi-mythic elements in the novel.  And this means research.

To write Aksinya, I read every source ancient and modern I could find on Asmodeus, Tobit, and demons.  I’ve written before, Aksinya is a semi-allegory of the Book of Tobit.  The reason was that the Book of Tobit introduces the demon Asmodeus and the angel Raphael into the vocabulary of the Western world.  Further, there is a small library of ancient literature especially medieval literature dedicated to Tobit, Asmodeua, and Raphael.  This is where the author can find information on these beings.

The point isn’t to try to prove the existence of such creatures.  It isn’t even to provide a source text.  The point is to provide an entertaining novel where the history is correct, the science is correct, and if the reader wants to check, the myth structures and myth is correct.  After all myth is simply an element of the history of mankind from a literary and cultural standpoint.  Plus always remember, the suspension of disbelief.     

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

Writing - part x569, Developing Skills, Real Supernatural Research

29 July 2018, Writing - part x569, Developing Skills, Real Supernatural Research  

Announcement: Delay, my new novels can be seen on the internet, but my primary publisher has gone out of business—they couldn’t succeed in the past business and publishing environment.  I'll keep you informed, but I need a new publisher.  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 29^th novel, working title, Detective, potential title Blue Rose: Enchantment and the Detective.  The theme statement is: 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 cover proposal for Blue Rose: Enchantment and the Detective. 

Cover Proposal

The most important scene in any novel is the initial scene, but eventually, you have to move to the rising action. I am continuing to write on my 30^th novel, working title Red Sonja.  I finished my 29^th novel, working title Detective.  I’m planning to start on number 31, working title Shifter. 

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 30:  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 31:  TBD 

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:  I noted yesterday, there are two ways to approach the development of science fiction and fantasy worlds.  The first is kinda, must make it up.  I used Harry Potty and Dune as examples.  What I wanted you to note is first, making it up on your own is hard and takes years of study and work.  Second, it ain’t easy as Harry Potty shows.  Dune is cogent while Harry is not very. 

Plus, there is a third point that drives directly into the second means of developing a fantasy or science fiction universe—there must be some level of integration with human society.  John Brunner did write one book completely about an alien culture, but to be understandable by humans, all the concepts of the aliens had to be turned into human ideas and concepts.  Likewise, with building your own universe, you have to integrate the whole into the human world.

Thus, in Harry Potty, we have the background of modern Britain.  In Dune, we have a projection of human society thousands of years in the future.  The second means of developing the universe of your fantasy or science fiction is to start with a human society.

Here’s what I do.  All my novels include some degree of the supernatural.  I research the supernatural as understood in human cultures and society and I integrate it, hopefully seamlessly, into the world of my novels.  I start with the world we know and place in it already known cultural and societal myths.  To do this requires extensive research.  As you might or might not know, myths have more than one version and focus.  The job of the writer in research is to know all the versions and to change the focus to the current work of the author.  This requires hours and hours of study. 

Usually, my study comes at the beginning and during the writing of the work.  I’ve noted in many of these blog posts how I develop a character.  This is usually where I begin my process of research and study.  Depending on the novel and the topic, I might spend weeks, days, or hours on a specific area.

For example, I was writing about developing a Cassandra character for my newest novel.  I needed a private school in France for my setting.  I spent two days of research for just such an academy.  I found one that was pretty close to what I wanted.  Plus, I will note to you that I can take a little more latitude with a French school than I can with a British or American school.  The reason is that most of my readers are English speakers and live in English countries.  If I take any liberties with British schools, my readers might catch it.  On the other hand, few British or Americans will know enough about a French academy to really complain.  I will assure you, I will make as few changes as possible to reality, but likewise, less information is available about the object of my study. 

This is how authors are supposed to work and develop their worlds for their readers…and there is still more to the supernatural.

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