Writing - part xx084 Writing a Novel, Protagonist and Telic Flaw Resolution

26 December 2019, Writing - part xx084 Writing a Novel, Protagonist and Telic Flaw Resolution

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 (Secrets)

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. 

Everything in your novel should be revealed thought actions and words—no telling.  This is the most important point in all writing.

As I wrote, in a comedy, the readers know very well the telic flaw must be resolved by the protagonist.  They don’t know how, they only know it must be resolved.  This means the job of the author is to first of all make the possibility that the telic flaw can be resolved appear to become zero.  This isn’t as much a step as it is a process.  The first step is to actually provide the telic flaw.

The identity of the telic flaw of the novel comes out of the initial scene and the protagonist.  I’ll go back to my classic telic flaw example, the detective novel. 

In the classic detective novel, the telic flaw is a crime that must be solved.  In a comedy, we know the crime must be solved by the protagonist.  So the job of the author is to make the resolution of the telic flaw, the solution of the crime appear to be impossible.  The author does this usually by plot devices or mechanisms in the crime.  There are many but classic means are crimes committed in locked rooms, crimes committed in impossible ways, or crimes committed with hidden motives.  The author applies some combination of these tricks for the purpose of convincing the readers that the crime can’t be solved by anyone.  Then there is the telic flaw resolution.

The telic flaw resolution occurs through the entire rising action, not just the climax.  At the same time the author is convincing the reader of the impossibility of resolving the telic flaw or solving the crime, the author is also laying the foundation for the resolution of the telic flaw.  This is the rising action.

The author is leaving little foreshadowings, incidents, logic, reasoning, dialogs, evidence, conclusions such that the protagonist is slowly and surely heading toward the climax and the resolution of the telic flaw.  The resolution of the telic flaw can’t come as a complete surprise.  It must fit within the context of the novel—the buildup to the climax should be an obvious thing as should be the actual incidence of the climax.  In other words, the climax is the climax because the novel moves uncontrollably toward it.  For example, in the detective example, the detective might be moving toward ultimately confronting the criminal.  This is one type of climax.

Other types of climaxes are intellectual—the detective is coming through reasoning to the ultimate conclusion in the climax, or physical—the detective captures the criminal.  The point is that through the rising action, the climax becomes inevitable.  The rising action literally drives to the climax and almost no other outcome can even be conceived.  At the same time, the results and the details of the incident must be fresh, consistent, but unknown.

In moving into the climax, the readers should have no idea how the situation will play out.  As it does play out, in the perfect climax, the readers should be able to see in retrospect each piece as logical and foreshadowed.  In other words, as each piece of the climax unfolds, the reader should exclaim, only after the event, “I know it.”  The author’s development of the climax through the rising action should be so well prepared that everything becomes obvious to the reader in retrospect, but not prior to the incidents.  There is some room for creative foreshadowing where the author leaves breadcrumbs that point to the inevitable to excite the reader’s imagination.  Anna McCaffrey does just this in her climax in Dragonsong.  I recommend this as an example of how to set up a great climax.

Ultimately, the climax produces exultation and excitement.  Indeed, the power of the climax is just this.

     

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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