Writing - part x590, Developing Skills, How to Suspend Disbelief, Worldview

19 August 2018, Writing - part x590, Developing Skills, How to Suspend Disbelief, Worldview  

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:  Suspension of disbelief is the characteristic of writing that pulls the reader into the world of the novel in such a way that the reader would rather face the world of the novel rather than the real world—at least while reading.  If this occurs while not reading, it is potentially a mental problem.  To achieve the suspension of disbelief your writing has to meet some basic criteria and contain some strong inspiration.  If you want to call the inspiration creativity, that works too.  Here is a list of the basic criteria to hope to achieve some degree of suspension of disbelief. 

1.      Reasonably written in standard English

2.      No glaring logical fallacies

3.      Reasoned worldview

4.      Creative and interesting topic

5.      A Plot

6.      Entertaining

7.      POV

Worldview is the most important feature of any fantasy, science fiction, or magical realism novel.  In fact, I could argue that worldview is the most important feature of every novel. 

Every novel reflects, creates, or reproduces a certain worldview.  For example, the early Victorian Era novels reflected their worldview.  There is always a question if the reflection of the worldview of Dickens truly matched the actual world of the Victorian poor, their world, and environs.  This is a typical problem for historical and classical literature.  How well does the wealthy, educated, and privileged author reflect the world and worldview of the world they didn’t know or live in?  The answer is simple—as long as their worldview is reasoned and logical, it will add to the suspension of disbelief.  Here is a direct example.  I recently read a novel from the Victorian Era about factory life and people.  At first the novel kicked me out of the suspension of disbelief because it gave a very rosy view of the factory and people working in the factories in the Victorian Era.  This set me back a little.  I was confused and held some level of unbelief about the setting of the novel.  After some reflection, I came to the conclusion that the view was likely a specific opinion of a person who might have knowledge and direct experience, but who was trying to reflect a certain position and perhaps an accurate reflection from a certain standpoint.  In any case, here is a novel that is historical, written in and about a specific time and place with a reasoned worldview, but that a real and actual reflection from the point of view of the times caused me to be knocked out of the narrative.  This is potentially a problem we need to look at.

Here is another point from the Victorian Era.  Dickens also wrote the novel, A Christmas Carol.  This novel can be considered to reproduce or create a certain worldview.  There are no ghosts in the real world.  Dicken’s characters are equally caricatures—they are not real.  The ideas, however, were not created.  The ideas were not reflected.  They were reproduced from the ideas of a certain worldview prevalent and accepted in the Victorian Era.  In fact, this worldview is prevalent and accepted, to some degree, in our time.  There are np ghosts, but the idea of ghosts and of the supernatural in A Christmas Carol are a reproduction of a popular mythical view of the world.  It isn’t real, but it is an accepted worldview.  It is a reasonable worldview, although it isn’t really reflective or logical.  A reasonable and accepted worldview can be used to construct a novel.  We need to discuss this too.

Then there is worldview creation.    

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