Writing - part x912, Writing a Novel, Changing World and Controlled Economy

7 July 2019, Writing - part x912, Writing a Novel, Changing World and Controlled Economy

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 websites 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. Money

16. Weapons and warfare

17. Transportation

18. Communication

19. Writing

20. Education

In the modern era with the advent of ubiquitous police and the government control of many aspects of society, it becomes very simple to exert control over an entire society.  Marx expressed this in the Communist Manifesto.  Everyone should be familiar with these procedures.  I’ll add a couple of ideas that Marx never would have thought of. 

The scientific means to control a conquered people or to take over a society from within from the Communist Manifesto:

1.     Abolition of Property in Land and Application of all Rents of Land to Public Purpose.

2.     A Heavy Progressive or Graduated Income Tax.

3.     Abolition of All Rights of Inheritance.

4.     Confiscation of the Property of All Emigrants and Rebels.

5.     Centralization of Credit in the Hands of the State, by Means of a National Bank with State Capital and an Exclusive Monopoly.

6.     Centralization of the Means of Communication and Transport in the Hands of the State.

7.     Extension of Factories and Instruments of Production Owned by the State, the Bringing Into Cultivation of Waste Lands, and the Improvement of the Soil Generally in Accordance with a Common Plan.

8.     Equal Liability of All to Labor. Establishment of Industrial Armies, Especially for Agriculture.

9.     Combination of Agriculture with Manufacturing Industries; Gradual Abolition of the Distinction Between Town and Country by a More Equable Distribution of the Population over the Country.

10.  Free Education for All Children in Public Schools. Abolition of Children's Factory Labor in it's Present Form. Combination of Education with Industrial Production.      

11.  The control of healthcare by government and the abolition of private healthcare.

12.  The abolition of cash money.

13.  The disarmament of the people and the arming of secret police forces under the control of the government.   

I added three other planks.  We see theses being used by modern societies to control the populace.  I think Marx left off the control of arms because he assumed the other mechanisms would allow full control of the people.  Let’s look at and evaluate how governments and societies have used these ten planks to enforce their control and goals on nations.

1. Extension of Factories and Instruments of Production Owned by the State, the Bringing Into Cultivation of Waste Lands, and the Improvement of the Soil Generally in Accordance with a Common Plan.

This is the plank that we usually call socialism and communism—the ownership of business by the state.  This also includes the idea of a controlled economy.  It is really enough to explain that no controlled economy has ever been successful for more than about ten years.  This isn’t about misusing or mismanaging anything—this is all about the inability of any group, government company, or entity to attempt to control a market (economy).

Markets can’t be controlled.  I wrote about this before and explained why markets can’t be controlled.  The assumption for a controlled economy is that a government can control a market.  Perhaps it is best to give some examples.

The Soviet Union was a great example of a controlled economy.  They were also a declared communist nation.  Communism and socialism go together with a controlled economy.  They attempted to define and direct the markets and economy of the Soviet Union in what they called five year plans.  Like all controlled economies, they attempted to predict and control the production and the price of products.  The result was almost universal starvation and lack of products.  The state can’t direct any portion of a market without affecting all markets.  In stead of control, they crippled their markets.  In spite of the fact that the Soviet Union self-reported 10% growth a year from almost 1917, they actually had negative growth and the death of millions of their own people.  They slowly backed away from their control of markets, but it never was enough.  The perturbation of a market affects all markets and left their people starving and without products.  Even their military had significant issues.

Communist China is a great example today of a controlled economy.  They also self-report high growth every year.  If you measure success by the food stability of their people and the product availability in their nation, they have nearly zero to negative growth.  Every ten years, the Chinese experience a “cultural revolution.”  The latest was the declaration of the permanent presidency for their current leader.  This “cultural revolution” allows the Chinese to incarcerate, execute, and redistribute their economic and personnel resources.  They reset their economy to a zero and then start over again.  Millions of people have died directly and indirectly in these many “cultural revolutions” since the beginning of Communist China.

Japan and South Korea were both controlled economies back in the 1980s to 1990s.  Japan didn’t fully eradicate their controlled economy, the South Koreans did.  The result is great economic growth in South Korea and stagnant growth in Japan.  Both South Korea and Japan were not considered socialistic or communistic societies.  This shows that a controlled economy can be found in many so-called free first world nations.

Generally, controlled economies allow government controlled monopolies that circumvent the markets.  A typical example in the USA is water, electrical, and gas monopolies.  These monopolies attempt to operate outside of the market to control cost and availability.  The result is absolutely predictable—cost controls and uncontrolled lack or overage of product.  If you remember that commodities always reduce in cost over time, you might wonder why your electricity bill from a government allowed monopoly constantly increases—that is the result of government attempts to control the economies of electrical supply. 

You can see this in Britain and Europe today—they are causing staggering cost increases to their people and a lack of electricity in their markets by their controlled electric market.

In any case, government ownership of businesses and other assets always causes significant economic harm to a society.  Either the government must subsidize the industry or the people go without or both.  Whatever your thoughts, a free market is what produces significant products at the lowest price to the people, not government.  Think about this while you admire your cell phone and imagine that no government could ever produce any product like this as a cost any person could ever afford.     

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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