Writing - part xx027 Writing a Novel, another Name Example

30 October 2019, Writing - part xx027 Writing a Novel, another Name Example

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

Perhaps I should go back and look again at the initial scene—maybe, I’ll cover that again as part of looking at the rising action.  The reason is that I’m writing a rising action in a novel right now.

That gets us back to the protagonist—complexity makes the protagonist and the telic flaw one and the same. 

I wrote that I don’t use outlines, and I told you I would tell you what I use instead of an outline, but I forgot to tell you.  So let’s look at that today.  This is all related to the protagonist and the telic flaw.

The novel is a revelation of the protagonist.  The telic flaw is connected directly to the protagonist.  The plot is the revelation of the telic flaw.  This connects the protagonist to the plot and the telic flaw.  The point is that to plan a novel, I simply need to plan the revelation of the protagonist.  To accomplish this, you need to develop a protagonist.

When I write you develop your protagonist, you write notes about:

1.     Name

2.     Background

3.     Education

4.     Appearance

5.     Work

6.     Wealth

7.     Skills

8.     Mind

9.     Likes

10.  Dislikes

11.  Opinions

12.  Honor

13.  Life

14.  Thoughts

15.  Telic flaw

I usually start with the physical description before I put on a name.  In fact, I accomplish a lot of character design before I give the protagonist a name.  The reason is that as a classical writer, I try to match the name to my characters.  There is much more than just matching the name.

In my novel Aksinya: Enchantment and the Daemon, the protagonist’s name is given as Aksinya Andreiovna Golitsyna.  Aksinya means hospitality and comes originally from Greek.  The purpose of the name is to show Aksinya’s personality and contrast it with her problem of luxuria.  Luxuria is the inordinate desire for fine things—it is one of the seven deadly sins, which aren’t sins, by the way.  I chose her given name based on her position and Russian origin.  The rest of her name was easy based on my research.

Aksinya’s mother was Princess Nina Vladimirovna Golitsyna, nee Bockmann.  This was a real person who was murdered by the Bolsheviks on 19 February 1918.  In my novel, Aksinya’s mother married Count Andrei Nikolaevich Golitsyna after her husband and Aksinya’s father died.  The count adopted Aksinya and raised her as his own child.  The count was a real person, but his history and records aren’t as well documented as Aksinya’s mother.  Aksinya’s father was Grand Duke George Alexandrovich Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov.  Her baptized name was Aksinya Georgovna Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov.  The Grand Duke was also a real person.  He died when he was 21 of tuberculosis.  The Grand Duke was not married according to history.

To produce my novel, I gave Aksinya who is not a real historical person, a genealogy based on actual historical nobility from Russia.  The naming is easy since in Russia, the middle name comes traditionally from the first name of the father.  Thus, Aksinya’s name from her adoption is Aksinya Andreiovna Golitsyna.  When her father, mother, and siblings were murdered by the Bolsheviks, she gained the title Countess and her father’s position.  Therefore, she was Countess Aksinya Andreiovna Golitsyna. 

When Aksinya was tried by the Catholic Church for sorcery, her real name and position came out in court.  Based on her actual father and mother, she was Princess Aksinya Georgovna Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov.  Her mother was a Princess and her father was a Grand Duke (a prince).  She was therefore a Romanov Princess.  Additionally, her grandfather was Herzog (Duke) Vladimir Bockmann.  This was an actual German nobleman who was indeed the father of Princess Nina Vladimirovna Bockmann and Aksinya’s grandfather.  All this was actual history.  The point of all this was to make Aksinya a Romanov Princess for the novel.  As I noted, only Aksinya was not an actual person in history—everyone else had strong historical reality and connections.   

The point of all this was to develop a character who was completely anchored in the real world—so strongly developed that she is completely believable.  The strength of the power of this novel is that it sounds completely reasonable from both a historical and real standpoint—the only unreal point is the demon Asmodeus, and we aren’t certain how real he is.  Is Asmodeus a figment of Aksinya’s imagination or is he real?  Is he a real demon or just a mental demon?  Only Aksinya ever really sees the demon.  

As I noted, I usually design the character before I place a name on a character—this leads us directly to background.  In fact, we are here.

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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