Writing - part x834, Writing a Novel, Changing World, and Cultural Differences

20 April 2019, Writing - part x834, Writing a Novel, Changing World, and Cultural Differences

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 

Culture is the basis of customs, arts, religion, social fabric, language, dialect, reasoning, myths, and ideas of a particular group of people.  Culture is based on three very important ideas.  First, what the people in the culture think about themselves.  Second, what the people in a culture actually do.  Third, what other cultures or people observe about the culture in question.  All of this is important to writing.

Perhaps the most important point to realize about cultures is first, they are all different, and second, they are always evolving.  

All cultures are different.  If you don’t notice any difference, it isn’t necessarily you, it might be the culture.  That is because cultures reflect a collective way of thinking about life, and I can assure you people in other cultures do not necessarily think the way you do about perhaps anything.

Within cultural sets that is similarly based cultures, you might find some cohesiveness, but not necessarily.  For example, Western cultures are somewhat similar about some ideas, but not necessarily the same.  Take the idea of “love.”  We went through this.  Generally, most people in Western cultures might have a similar view of understanding the concept of “love,” but not necessarily.  The best way to begin to explore how a culture views love is to first, define the words they use to describe it, and second, see what they do in reference to these words.  Let me give you a very apt example. 

Look at the way Latin cultures view love and marriage compared to the way Anglo-Saxon cultures view love and marriage.  Supposedly, the word love means something similar between these cultures, but in Anglo-Saxon cultures, sex outside of marriage and mistresses are usually considered a marriage deal breaker.  In some Anglo-Saxon cultures, it was or is illegal.  On the other hand, in Latin cultures a mistress on the side is considered a normal part of the culture.  Sex outside of marriage is an option, usually not illegal, and certainly not a marriage deal breaker.  The mistresses of famous French presidents and prime ministers are the toast of French culture, and as long as the mistresses and the wives are kept separate from one another, everything is fine.  The cultures are obviously different, but the question at hand is the concept of love. 

What does love mean in the French culture?  What does love mean in the English culture?  In the French culture love obviously means something significantly different than in the English culture.  By example, love means not forever and not exclusively in the French culture, but in the English culture, that’s what it’s supposed to mean.  I’ll remind you that some cultures act in a fashion that is different than what they say they do.  Actually, to some degree, all cultures act in a fashion that is different than they say they do, but when you see a gross cultural difference, you must conclude that the cultures are viewing concepts differently. 

If you think love is different within Western cultures just take a look at Eastern cultures.  I would state that Eastern cultures’ concept of love is significantly different than in any Western culture.  This becomes a critical problem and issue to the bevy of mixed Eastern and Western culture couples who fall in love and marry every year.  The Eastern view of marriage is significantly different than the Western view.  Since this is a truth, you hope these couples have talked about just these differences before they marry.  Certainly, the Eastern and Western view of love isn’t as radically different as the praying mantis and human culture, but starting with a gross misunderstanding is going to make life very difficult.  

I realize that novels in the modern world usually don’t crack open these issues.  In many cases, the writers are not aware of them.  In some cases, the writers want to provide a completely incorrect view of humanity.  The prevalent view of the modern world is that everyone is the same, thinks the same, and reacts the same.  This view is held while someone is speaking in a foreign language, among unfamiliar circumstances, and completely not understood customs or actions.  People do not think alike and cultures are significantly different.  We haven’t touched that cultures are always evolving.   

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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