Writing - part xx051 Writing a Novel, Characters and Pathos, How To

23 November 2019, Writing - part xx051 Writing a Novel, Characters and Pathos, How To

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. 

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 design a protagonist around the initial scene.  This is the way I write a novel.  This isn’t the only way to write a novel, but it is the way I have discovered to write well-conceived and powerful novels.  This goes back to the initial scene. 

Above, I gave you four options for developing the initial scene.  Yesterday, I told you to take two off.  Authors have used three and four, but they don’t produce the kinds of exciting initial scenes we want.  Here’s the list again.

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

Let’s plan to put one and two together.  Let’s also focus on the other characteristics of the initial scene.  Notice that first, the initial scene must include the protagonist.  This should be obvious, but let’s go down the list.  I’m looking at background and pathos.

Looking at the classic pathos developing scene from A Little Princess, the emotions of the characters are not very strong, but the reader is significantly affected by the circumstances and situation.  How can this be?  More specifically, what are the characteristics of a scene or of a characters that builds pathos?

A character is pathos building who through no fault of their own is:

1.     hungry

2.     sad

3.     abused

4.     an orphan

5.     penniless

6.     abandoned

7.     cold

8.     injured

9.     falsely convicted or accused

10.  desiring for information

11.  education

12.  to read

13.  a child

14.  a female

15.  beauty

16.  loss of a child

17.  general loss

18.  friendless

19.  alone

20.  afraid

21.  helpless

22.  isolated

The antagonist or less positively, the circumstances of the setting, produces suffering and misfortune in the protagonist and this results in pity and fear in the reader.  This is the formula for the development of pathos in any fictional work.

Ultimately, humans have three basic questions.  Why am I here?  What is my purpose?  Where will I go?  Answering these questions is not the purpose of fiction or novels.  However, these have the purpose of developing pathos.  These are the questions and the ideas that develop pathos in human thought.  The purpose of novels isn’t to answer these questions.  The purpose for novels is to use these questions or the ideas behind these questions to develop pathos.  How does this work?

The first question is about identity.  Why am I here?  Another similar question is: who am I?  These are basically the same question.  If you look back at the list of items to develop pathos, notice that many are characteristics of the character.  Just take a look at a few: hungry, sad, abused, hurt, abandoned, and all.  These are “who” the protagonist or character is.  They lead the protagonist or character to ask: why am I here?  In other words, am I here to be sad, hungry, abused, hurt, and abandoned, just to name a few?  And…these are the qualities and hurdles the author uses to first develop pity and fear and then resolve the problems (hurdles) which results in relief in the reader. 

The greatest power of emotion is the development of pathos in the reader—the second greatest power of emotion is the relief of the tension of the pathos.  Do you remember “tension and release” in the scenes.  The most powerful tension and release is the tension of pathos (hungry, sad, abused, hurt, abandoned) followed by the release or relief of that pathos.  This is truly the power of great writing and especially writing in scenes. 

The most powerful writing builds pathos to the point of great emotions in the reader and then relieves the suffering of the reader with the relief of the suffering of the protagonist (or character).  This is characteristic of a comedy.  A tragedy does not relieve the tension of the pathos.  Usually, the protagonist dies without a relief and the reader is left with no relief.  For example, The Little Match Girl.  She is sad, hungry, cold, abused, on the street, and she dies.  No relief.  Let me point out, one of the reasons tragedy isn’t as popular as comedy today is because of the lack of relief.  Literally, comedy potentially builds greater emotion in the reader due to the tension of the pathos followed by the relief from the pathos.     

For example, I present suffering of the protagonist in the novel, let’s say Sara Crew.  She is sad, cold, hungry, abused and then she finds a shilling in the gutter.  The pathos is excruciating, then there is the hope of relief—for a moment, she can buy bread and relieve her hunger, sadness, and cold.  She goes into a bakery, and asks the baker if someone lost a shilling.  This is more tension.  We pray the baker is honest and doesn’t claim the coin.  To our relief, the baker convinces Sara that she can claim the coin.  There is relief.  Sara asks to buy hot cross buns.  The baker realizes the straights of the girl.  She knows Sara is hungry and cold.  She realizes no one sends such a young child out on the street on such a day—that is building the tension again.  She gives Sara an extra bun because of her pathos, and that builds even more pathos in the reader.  At the same time, we have some relief—Sara will get her bread, and we will all be comforted, but then something wonderful and terrible happens.

Sara sees a child who is more destitute, abandoned, and abused than she.  She offers five of her six buns to that starving child and the pathos soars into the stratosphere.  Is there any relief for us?  Sara is happy, but the reader is not.  Our relief comes when the destitute child is taken in by the baker.  Such a powerful relief, but unshared by Sara.  That relief is denied her—she doesn’t see the baker take in the child.  That sends our tension and pathos spiraling up again.  Which is more powerful, the tension of pathos or the relief of pathos.

You can’t separate them at all.  They are joined at the hip.  You can’t have one without the other.  The wise author realizes this and draws pathos in tension followed by release in relief from pathos from point to point and in scene after scene.  Tension and release are the tools of scene writing.  They are also tools in pathos building and relief. 

Don’t forget the other two questions: What is my purpose?  Where will I go?  These are all about pathos.  They are worth writing about.                   

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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