Writing - part x850, Writing a Novel, Changing World and Common Knowledge

6 May 2019, Writing - part x850, Writing a Novel, Changing World and Common Knowledge

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 

What is common knowledge?  In the main from a very simplistic standpoint, common knowledge is cultural, but there is more to it than that—and there can be problems with common knowledge.

One of the main problems with common knowledge is event horizon.  The event horizon for a person or a culture is the experience of their life and education.  You might write their life and knowledge, but generally education takes the place of knowledge in the modern era.  In addition, the experience of education is a life event that many share as a specific event horizon.

The best example of this is the education of many in the American West at the turn of the Twentieth Century.  Many of these people gained their government education in a one room schoolhouse.  This was a characteristic of their event horizon.  They could imagine a different type of education experience—they read about them, but the “one room schoolhouse” was their experience.

In the post World War II Era, the education model was generally the intimate elementary, middle, and high school.  Most of the Baby Boomers were raised in this type of environment.  However, education, like everything does not stop changing.  The federal takeover of the schools and their curriculum has developed in many new and educationally worthless theories.  Schools have become more diversified, which isn’t necessarily a problem, but less places of education and more places of indoctrination and incarceration.  I’m not intending to be supper negative, but to reflect the changes we have seen in the education event horizon. 

Children are not learning to read, write, or figure, but they are learning something.  I’m not certain, they feel they are protected or in an intimate learning environment.  In some respects, the education event horizon in the modern eras has never been happily protected nor intimate.  There are too many bullies and too little true mentoring of children in modern cattle-car education.

In the past, communities banded together to get one of their well-educated members to provide general education to their children especially when the children were young and less valuable as laborers.  The hope was that some of these children would be able to absorb enough education to become something more than a farmer, seller, or technician on the farm or farming town.  This was an intimate education, but not as intimate as the original homebased education followed by reading and study.  It wasn’t as safe either.  Children have always been bullies, but there are no bullies like cattle-car bullies with less than adequate supervision. 

What I’m trying to show you is that your event horizon and precisely, your educational event horizon defines your common knowledge.  Think back to your education.  Was it good?  Was it sufficient?  Did it prepare you for future education and life?  Was it indoctrination?

I am a Baby Boomer.  My education was fractured by moves, but only focused because I was a reader and studied well beyond my educational experience.  I recognized and reacted sarcastically to many attempts at indoctrination.  It wasn’t as well developed in my time.  I went to at least six different schools from K to 6, one middle school, and one high school.  Many of the schools were trying new methods of teaching.  That tainted my education.  Others were into time proven methods.  That improved my education.  Plus, I knew what I wanted from a young age and I pushed forcefully for it.  I went unfortunately to government controlled schools.  I wish I could have had the experience of private and/or parochial.  I might have been even more successful.  This is my educational event horizon and the basis for my common knowledge. 

My common knowledge basis might be similar to others or not in my event horizon.  The point is how do we develop a basis of common knowledge with our readers?  Plus, I haven’t full explained why common knowledge is an important concept.        

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