Writing - part xx072 Writing a Novel, Protagonist and Wealth

14 December 2019, Writing - part xx072 Writing a Novel, Protagonist and Wealth

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. 

Wealth is definitely an important attribute, but it is also a pathos building attribute.  Not so much the wealthy but poverty.  Poverty is an automatically pathos building characteristic.  Actually, to be specific, undeserved poverty is pathos building.

Wealth is a very different attribute than you might imagine.  For example, those who aren’t familiar with wealth might imagine that the wealthy have more time for play.  Perhaps the nobility or wealthy children, but they reason adults are wealthy is usually because they work incredibly hard.  Their time is valuable because they apply themselves usefully.  This means that unless the character is a member of the privileged indolent class, they are likely busier than the normal working person or student. 

In any case, wealth does define a character.  A member of the indolent class might have all the time, money, and leisure they need.  A classical Victorian of the upper, noble, or upper middle class would fill their time with study, investigation, and experimentation.  This is why you find many self-taught experts during the Victorian Era who pushed the limits of science, history, and literature.  People involved in this era were educated in modern science, but also Latin, Greek, and multiple modern languages.  These wealthy people produced enormous amounts of technical papers, knowledge, and literature on all these subjects.  This is one degree of the potential wealthy,

The average modern wealthy aren’t as interesting.  You might find or define a modern renascence person who has wealth just like those from the Victorian Era.  These characters can generate pathos because of their study and work.  On the other hand, most modern wealth producers are wealthy because their every moment is filled with their work.  Unfortunately, the overworked wealthy don’t generate much pathos.  The overworked middle class don’t either.  The indolent poor or deserving poor aren’t very pathos building either.  Only the undeserving poor really can build pathos.

Wealth defines the work, play, time, and value of the protagonist.  As I noted, if you want pathos, you need to go for poverty.  If you want time, you need people who are independently wealthy, normal workers, students, or teachers.  Not to say teachers don’t work as hard as others, but generally they have time to study along with their work.  This is the positive about students and time.

Back to wealth generally.  Wealth does define what a character does in many ways not just work.  For example, friends, associates, property, travel, vacations, connections, and all.  The point is that if you need this type of character, they need wealth.  Poverty usually means an entirely different set of friends, associates, property, travel, vacations, connections, and all.  Undeserved poverty also results in pathos.  Then there is the contrast of nobility or expected wealth and poverty.

I like to use that contrast in my novels.  For example, in Blue Rose: Enchantment and the Detective, Azure is poorer than a church mouse, but she is of noble birth and has a noble title and a noble position.  The presumption of everyone is that she is wealthy when she has nothing.  The effect is pathos.  Wealth is of an important affect in the protagonist, but of greater importance especially for Romantic characters is skills.      

Skills are a very important aspect of the protagonist.       

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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