Writing - part x959 Writing a Novel, Integration

23 August 2019, Writing - part x959 Writing a Novel, Integration

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

Communications have moved in a more unpredictable and interesting manner over time—especially in the modern era.

Communications can occur through any of the senses: sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste.  The most obvious seems to be hearing because that is how most of our communication through speech is presented.  However, sight is the most used and powerful of human senses.

It’s all about integration.  If you noticed, computer communications came from the internet, Ethernet, and wireless.  Phone communications came from phone connections through cellular.  The only real difference is voice compared to data, and to be specific, voice is all data today.  Thus, for phones you get texting and video.  The reason for this is that today it is all data.  In addition, the computer connections are all data.  The date comes in in different formats, but it is all data.  The next stage is obviously integration, and we are seeing that in spades.

Today, you can get a text message from a phone transmission across cellular, an email transmission across cellular or wireless internet, or a direct text through Bluetooth.  There is no limit except connectability.  I suspect as time goes on, that will be equally meaningless.  Your phone or device will select the best means of communication available and just do it.  If you are not connected to anything, your phone or device will hold the communications until it is connected and send it automatically.  I also expect video and voice to become more ubiquitous and accurate.  In other words, the phone or device will automatically go to your preferred method of communications without your input. 

Let me remind you, computers went through a stage of cellular capability, and today, you can buy a cellular equipped computer.  However, phones are all cellular equipped and tablets are by option cellular equipped.  Ubiquitous cellular data is likely the next step in computer connections, but we shall see.  Today, the computer is a development device and the phone and table a data acquisition device, the future will see some kind of integration of these.

What I mean is this.  Computers allow very easy development of writing, figures, and design.  Try writing a novel on a cell phone or on a tablet.  It can be done, but I assure you the workload will be very high.  This is why most of us use computers (desktops, laptops, and others with a physical display, keyboard, and manipulative tool (mouse)) to write, accomplish engineering design, develop presentations, or accomplish math manipulations. 

I suspect in the future, the integration of all these devices, phones, tablets, and computers will eventually make the computers as simple as the phones and tablets as data acquisition devices and the phones and tablets as simple as computers for development of ideas.

Here is an example.  Although computers stared the aircraft navigation chart revolution from paper to electronics, the tablets have taken it over.  Computers can still accomplish navigation and charting, but they are not as convenient as most tablets for the work.  On the other hand, if I want to write, I use a computer instead of a tablet.  A tablet with a keyboard might be useful, but not nearly as useful as the features in most computers.  Be that as it may, we are seeing integration of all these devices.

What can we expect?  That’s a great question.  In one of my science fiction novels, the protagonist and the protagonist’s helper develop a mental input and output device for a computer device.  I’m not sure we have to go that far in to the future.  The main trick is input and output devices.  I suspect as long as the costs continue to be low and the convenience high for tablets and computers that we will continue to see specialization in devices.

Phones are convenient because I can put one into my pocket.  Small tablets are convenient because I can easily read a book on them.  Large tablets are convenient because I can watch a show on them.  Computers are convenient because I can do it all on a stable and easy input and output.  The sizes and utility make them all fit in a niche, and I can own each and all.  They are inexpensive enough to have a phone, a few tablets, and a computer or two. 

In any case, we are moving to more and more integration.  Perhaps the integration will be more between devices than just within devices.  We shall see.      

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