Writing - part x595, Developing Skills, How to Suspend Disbelief, How to Create a Reasoned Worldview

24 August 2018, Writing - part x595, Developing Skills, How to Suspend Disbelief, How to Create a Reasoned 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. 

Novels that attempt to show the world of the time are a reflected worldview.  Novels that attempt to show the ideas of the time are a reproduced worldview.  Novels that build their own worldview are a created worldview.

How do we ensure the worldview doesn’t cast the reader out of the suspension of disbelief?  The problem becomes when the writer does not properly reflect or reproduce the worldview.

Start with a reflected worldview.  Reflect the worldview of the times you desire as your setting.  For example, if you are writing a novel set in the Victorian Era, study everything you can especially writing from that era.  I suggest only using primary and secondary sources.  So, first pick your setting, and study it.

Second, if you are injecting myth into your worldview, study the myths of the times and the ideas of the times.  Again, primary and secondary sources are your friends.  Historians and researchers do not use tertiary sources (history books, opinion, or fictional novels written outside the era of study) for their data on any era.

The question is what do you do for created worldviews in the future (science fiction) and fantasy.  Fantasy is easy.  Follow steps one and two above, but you can’t do that for science fiction set in the future.

For science fiction, first, start with today’s reflected worldview.  I recommend that unless your novel is about controversial subjects injected into science today, I wouldn’t touch them.  People are not really interested in subjects dredged up from current problems.  Novels are about entertainment, and other people’s future problems are much more entertaining than current issues or problems.

Start with the modern reflected worldview, then determine the time setting of your novel.  A general guide is to use 10, 100, 1000, and 10,000 years technology leaps.  You can average out the technology from each of these.  For example, if your novel is set between 1000 and 10,000 years in the future, you can make certain assumptions about the technology and issues.  The issues will be technology, human (cultural), and/or terrestrial (planetary) driven.

In the 1000 to 10,000 year future setting, we can assume a certain level of technology.  Humans are established or becoming established in space.  Or on the other extreme, human civilization is rising and decreasing or crashing in parts of space.  The rise of empires or the dissolution of empires. 

The point for the writer is to logically represent some portion of these times.  Start with the reflection of the modern worldview and then project (extrapolate) the world (universe) from there.  As I noted, the problems of the future will be based in technology, society, or planetary problems.  As an author, you develop the worldview based on the issues of the future day projected from today.

This is perhaps getting too far into plot and theme ideas, but that’s always where science fiction starts from.  I’ll give some examples.   

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