Writing - part xx055 Writing a Novel, Characters and Pathos, Less Death

27 November 2019, Writing - part xx055 Writing a Novel, Characters and Pathos, Less Death

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?

Where am I going?  You don’t have to die to get to this point in literature.  All you have to do is produce the threat of death.  The threat of death isn’t the same as the threat of loss of life.  Remember, pity and fear.  Aristotle wrote that to produce pathos in tragedy, and it works in comedy as well, the author has to develop pity and fear.  The reader must pity the protagonist and fear for the actions against the protagonist.

Usually, the fear for the protagonist is the fear of death, but it doesn’t have to be.  Fear can be caused by the loss or lack of completion about anything, however, the author must design or develop pity for the circumstance of the protagonist. 

For example, the protagonist failed to make a passing grade on a test.  Most of us would dismiss this as an overreach of pathos.  However, if I set up the circumstances that if the protagonist doesn’t pass the test, she will have to drop out of school and lose her scholarship.  This will mean the end of her hopes of helping her family and her siblings.  Suddenly, you feel pity for the student.  Just failing a test is an individual’s tragedy.  With the addition of pity, it becomes a circumstance of pathos.  You can already feel emotion for this poor student who failed the test.  I can increase your pity or decrease your pity.

Here is an increase in pity.  The student was working at her job to make enough for food and clothing when she became ill and couldn’t study for the test.  Or worse, the other students bullied and made fun of the student because she was poor and her clothing was ragged.  They ruined her books and her notes so she couldn’t study.  Ouch, you can keep heaping up on this and adding more and more to the pity.  Just look at my list above for pity creating characteristics.  Take your pick.

Here is a decrease in pity.  The student is wealthy and trying to scam a scholarship.  She failed the test because she was on a binge and didn’t study.  The girl is mean and a bully herself and threatens other students.  You can keep heaping on this side too.  This is the way you can develop an unpleasant character.  I don’t like morally ambivalent characters.

I do like characters who are trying to come to terms with themselves and moral issues, but I want them to know what is right and wrong.  The problem must be there problem and not a problem with their world or worldview. This might sound a little complex.  The most horrific characters are those whose actions are terrible, but automatic and not thought out.  You can imagine a character who knows stealing is wrong, but they steal for some reason.  Their reasons might be wrong, but they know they are morally wrong.  To most readers, pity comes from an understanding of why a character acts or reacts. 

Some of the most powerful pathos development situations are those where the protagonist commits an objectionable action and the readers and other characters discover later that the reason for the action was completely moral, ethical, and reasonable.  This is one of concepts of revelation of secrets in a novel.  Secrets and secret revelations are some of the most powerful pathos building scenarios.

Perhaps we should look at secrets and pathos.  

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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