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Wednesday, August 1, 2018

Writing - part x572, Developing Skills, More on Suspension of Disbelief

1 August 2018, Writing - part x572, Developing Skills, More on 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 29th 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 30th novel, working title Red Sonja.  I finished my 29th 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:  To achieve the suspension of disbelief you have to meet some basic criteria and has some strong inspiration.  If you want to call the inspiration creativity, that works too.  I hate to go back to Harry Potty.  The writing in the novels is not particularly inspired.  The creativity is high, and the interest of the reading public was also high for just that type of writing. 

From a standpoint of basic skills, the work, that is Harry Potty is reasonably written—notice, I didn’t specify inspirationally written.  It is relatively mundane and the descriptions are typically unremarkable.  The key factors in allowing the suspension of disbelief is this:

1.      Reasonably written in standard English
2.      No glaring logical fallacies
3.      Reasoned worldview
4.      Creative and interesting topic
5.      A Plot
6.      Entertaining

I’m not certain if entertaining should be a result or a characteristic.  In any case, entertaining is part of the point of the suspension of disbelief.  I’ll look at each of these areas individually, but for the moment, I’ll continue some introductory remarks on just this subject.

You might imagine that the writer and the writing needs to be erudite and inspired.  I think Harry Potty as well as the extensive catalogue of uninspired but creative works that do provide most with a suspension of disbelief prove otherwise.  You don’t have to be a Shakespeare or a White.  You simply need to provide creative and entertaining writing that doesn’t trip over itself too much.  Those who are really familiar with the Harry Potty books can recount numerous logical and reason fallacies in the novels.  If you look closely, you will find them.  The point is that most readers will ignore them—rather, they will overlook them.  This plays into the writer’s hand—until the writer throws out something the reader can’t ignore.  That will immediately destroy the suspension of disbelief. 

I’ll give another example of ignoring logical fallacy.  In one of my favorite novels Dragonsong by Anna McCaffrey, especially as an example of great writing, there is a logical inconsistency that would completely blow the plot away.  I won’t mention what it is.  The power of the suspension of disbelief in this novel is so strong, the average reader will never find it, and only with multiple readings does it even appear to the reader.  This is why, although the suspension of disbelief is an important and critical characteristic of great writing—it is a skill and a characteristic a skilled and creative writer should be able to reach.

There is hope, and I’ll try to give you some ideas to help make your writing capable of the suspension of disbelief.         

More tomorrow.

For more information, you can visit my author site http://www.ldalford.com/, and my individual novel websites:

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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