Writing - part x786, Writing a Novel, Protagonist and the Non-Romantic

3 March 2019, Writing - part x786, Writing a Novel, Protagonist and the Non-Romantic

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:  Deirdre and Sorcha are redirected to French finishing school where they discover difficult mysteries, people, and events. 

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:  Why don’t we go back to the basics and just writing a novel?  I can tell you what I do, and show you how I go about putting a novel together.  We can start with developing an idea then move into the details of the writing. 

To start a novel, I picture an initial scene.  I may start from a protagonist or just launch into mental development of an initial scene.  I get the idea for an initial scene from all kinds of sources.  To help get the creative juices flowing, let’s look at the initial scene. 

1.     Meeting between the protagonist and the antagonist or the protagonist’s helper

2.     Action point in the plot

3.     Buildup to an exciting scene

4.     Indirect introduction of the protagonist

The protagonist is the novel and the initial scene.  If you look at the four basic types of initial scenes, you see the reflection of the protagonist in each one.  If you noticed my examples yesterday, I expressed the scene idea, but none were completely independent of the protagonist.  Indeed, in most cases, I get an idea with a protagonist.  The protagonist is incomplete, but a sketch to begin with.  You can start with a protagonist, but in my opinion, as we see above, the protagonist is never completely independent from the initial scene.  As the ideas above imply, we can start with the characters, specifically the protagonist, antagonist or protagonist’s helper, and develop an initial scene. 

If we start with a protagonist, we need some kind of guide.  Here is a general guide for developing a modern protagonist.  We’ll look at examples and explain the ideas.

1.        Normal person (not wealthy, noble, or privileged)

2.      Loves to read

3.      Loves to learn

4.     Unique skill(s), power(s) and/or learning

5.      Pathos (poor, homeless, abused, friendless, ill)

6.     Individualistic and independent

7.      Introspective

8.     Leader

9.     Naturally good

10.  Rejection of the urban

11.   Rejection of the modern

12.  Appeal to the imagination

Before we move to imagination, it’s worthwhile to ask if another type of ideology or concept in literature would make it in the marketplace?  The first thing we need to recognize is that literary art is not like the visual arts.  The visual arts have moved through various ideas and eras—they seem to be recreating themselves regardless of the marketplace.  This may be because there is so much government money in the visual arts.  The visual arts when tied to a market tend to produce marketable artwork which is in accordance to the desires of the public and normal people—at least to those who can foot the bills and buy the art.  When the visual arts are controlled and financed by governments, you get Soviet and Nazi style art works that reflect the government or government officials view of proper art.  Literature isn’t like this at all.

So far, there has been a strong marketplace for literary art.  This means entertainment and the desires of the people outweigh those of the government, policy makers, or know-it-all busybodies.  Because of this, literary works moved from the Victorian realism to Romanticism and stuck there.  As far as I can see, it hasn’t budged in more than 100 years.  Does that mean there is no place else to go?  We do see twinges to movement to an odd mix of the Romantic and irrational.  Perhaps we should look at that.

Many modern movies are moving us from pure Romanticism to a mix of the fated and the messianic.  If you remember, Romanticism is all about the common becoming uncommon through skills, powers, and learning.  These skills, powers, and learning can be born in to the protagonist, but they are brought out through effort and study.  The Romantic ideal is a protagonist who is common born, but who discovers his or her skill set and works very very hard to perfect it.  This is an ideology based in the American Revolution and the concepts of the French Revolution (although the French really buggered it up).  The world experienced this revolution.  Although it is politically called the democratic revolution, the American revolutionaries called it a Constitutional Republic.  In any case, the worldwide democratic revolution is about the common person, their freedom, and their self-determination.  Has this ideal been diluted? 

To some degree, we are indeed seeing the dilution of this ideal.  I won’t go into all the philosophical details, but you can see how modern society is moving from the idea of the independent and self-determining common person to a self-declared, aristocrat, elite.  In a nutshell, this is Victorian thinking expanded to the fated and new-elite.  Will this sell in Hoboken?  That’s to be seen—it sells a lot of movie tickets, kind of.  Everyone should be familiar with the fate of the modern movie.  They are slowly losing their appeal.  I would argue this is strongly because they have been moving from the Romantic ideal back to a Victorian style concept. 

I’ll reiterate.  Movies especially have been moving to the idea of the born messianic elite.  These elite and imaginary members of society are born with their aristocratic powers, skills, and learning—they don’t work hard at achieving them and the fight is theirs and theirs alone.  They really don’t need others, except members of their elite, and they certainly don’t need to hard-working common to achieve.  The hard-working common become cannon fodder for their adventures.  If you don’t’ believe me, just take a look at the common super person movie of today.  Just look at the Harry Potty movies.  Harry is born with his powers and his messianic fate.  Superman is born with his powers and his messianic fate.  These people don’t need to rest of humanity to help, not even the hard-working Romantic—all they need is someone to use, kill, or maim. 

So, where is literature going?  I see Romantic and Romanticism for the distant future.  Readers, the real elite of a society need some way to get the bad taste of messianic and aristocratic visual art out of their mouths.  Real people need the images of the common person who finds their niche and works hard to perfect it.  The democratic ideal rests on the idea that the common person has a voice and should have a voice in society.  If you realize the Victorian and many modern ideas try to suffocate that voice, you will see, Romanticism hasn’t ended its run, it’s just beginning to come into its own.                                 

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  

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