Writing - part x827, Writing a Novel, Changing World and Equality

13 April 2019, Writing - part x827, Writing a Novel, Changing World and Equality

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. 

Let’s look at a subject that is really ignored in the modern era.  I’m not certain how much this can help your current writing.  I would argue that theoretically, this subject can really help those who write historical and futuristic fiction.  It depends on how your write your historical and futuristic fiction.  There are two ways to write historical fiction—let’s look at this.

The first and most common way to write historical fiction is to write a novel that projects modern ideas and history as historical ideas and history.  In other words to present modern ideas and historical ideas as the same.  I think this is perhaps the most egregious and perverse means of presenting a false view of history.  The author is either completely ignorant of the past, is intentionally attempting to education people in a false view of history, or both.  The real historical world is very different both culturally and socially from our current world.  The true author attempts to convey this in historical writing.

The second and less common means of historical writing is to actually incorporate the past into a novel to convey the actual way people thought and acted in the past.  This approach actually goes back into time to give a complete view of the way the people thought and acted.  To this end, let’s look at how the world changed and how people thought in the past.  This is more of a historical look at the world for the purpose of understanding how the world worked in the past and how people thought and acted.  We’ll use historical information to see what concerned affected their lives. Here is a list of potential issues.  We’ll look at them in detail:

1.   Vocabulary

2.   Ideas

3.   Social construction

4.   Culture

5.   Politics

6.   History

7.   Language

8.   Common knowledge

9.   Common sense

10. Reflected culture

11. Reflected history

12. Reflected society

13. Truth

14. Food

15. Weapons

16. Transportation

17. Communication

18. Writing 

Literacy came about through religious developments, but then changed the fabric of religion significantly by bringing in pantheonic paganism and then mysterium.  Christianity directly affected sexual equality by the ascent of Western Civilization through Greek Rationalism, Hebrew Legalism, and Christianity (which is really that same mix).  Here’s what it is all about.

In the beginning might made right.  I don’t care what you imagine, human females and children are physically weaker than human males.  When might makes right, you need someone who is strong to protect you.  Patriarchy is all about the protection of the family unit and the protection of family members.  There is no other reason in history except that females and children needed protection.  In addition weaker males needed protection too.  Nations, political, cultural, and social groups of humans banded together for the purpose of self and group protection.  If you lived in this historical period, you would want strong family and group protection.  You have to realize there is was no law or very little law in this time.  Even if there was the beginnings of law, there was no enforcement except from the group itself.  This is not our current concept or idea of society at all.  The world was much different.

All oriental societies and cultures practiced and many still practice an extreme version of the protection of women and children.  The means was to seclude women and children in the protection of the home.  They could not go out without protection from men or slaves in the household.  As I noted, this was to protect them from harm and death.  In these cultures, every ancient culture, women and children without protectors could be raped, beaten, enslaved, or killed.  As I wrote, the protection and the seclusion was to protect them.  The Greeks and Hebrews were classical oriental cultures.  Things changed quite a bit with the advent of Christianity and Western Civilization.    

The Egyptians, Hebrews, and Romans all had a strong basis of law and rights guaranteed to men and women.  The problem was application of the law and enforcement of the laws.  None of these societies had any real means of enforcement of the laws.  The means of enforcement was still the family and the family group.  You can read directly about this in the Tanakh for the Hebrews.  Christianity brought about a strong cultural and social degree of what we would call ethics and morality.  The entire culture worked to ensure the laws of the society and of God.  Still there wasn’t much enforcement.  So, there were laws, but the laws required the hand of the family or the family group for enforcement.  We weren’t much further than the ancient period of orientalism.  Then something happened in leadership.

The Christian leader’s purpose was to be like a father and a protector to the individuals in the society.  This idea became encapsulated in the laws and practice of European nobility.  The concept was that the nobility was responsible for their serfs, poor, and tradesmen.  There was also the idea of courtly love and chivalry which grew up with these ideas of nobility.  Sure there were bad nobles and bad leaders, but with the church overseeing the society and ready to call out the nobility who did not act with nobility, there was significant pressure for the leaders to become the protectors.  The nobles used their soldiers and power to begin to enforce the laws of Christianity and the laws of the land.  Enforcement began the true ability of equality for men, women, and children.  The full capability of equality didn’t exist yet, but it had begun.  Then the Western World invented firearms.

Firearms were the true equalizer.  Even with law and enforcement, a woman, child, or weak man were completely dependent on the leaders and the government.  Under a good government and leader, there might be equality of a kind.  Then came the colt 45.  With a weapon, a woman, a weak man, or a child became as powerful as the most powerful man.  The great equalizer is a gun.  This truly provided that equality, and the founders of the USA completely understood this.  The Federalist Papers especially Federalist 28 tells us that the great equalizer of firepower isn’t just about individuals, it is about whole nations and societies.  The reason women and men are equal today is the firearm. 

To be very specific, you can be assured of equality only if the law and enforcement is applied equally.  If it isn’t, you have to be able to defend and protect yourself and your rights.  Might still makes right.  And notice, if you are attacked and have no enforcer, without equal firepower, you will die or be harmed.  I just thought this was important to point out.

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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