Writing - part xx085 Writing a Novel, Protagonist and Climax

27 December 2019, Writing - part xx085 Writing a Novel, Protagonist and Climax

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 dialog—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.

Perhaps an example using a novel with a great climax would be helpful.  Let’s use Dragonsong as our example.  The protagonist is Menolly.  The telic flaw is that Menolly wants to become a harper.  Actually, to be more precise, Menolly wants to make music.  She wants to write music and play music.  She is highly skilled at both.  The problem is that girls can’t be harpers in her culture and society, or to be exact, girls and women have not been harpers before.

In reality, this isn’t true.  Women and girls have been producing music in Menolly’s culture and society for a long time.  They just have never been fully harpers before, and the problem is that her sea hold is pretty isolated.  Menolly doesn’t help herself much either, but she is a wonderful pathos developing character who is put upon by her father, culture, and society.  Bottom line, the telic flaw is that Menolly wants to write and play music, and she is prevented from both.

What Menolly doesn’t know is that the Harper Hall has been looking for her for a while.  You see in the novel these two forces: Menolly wants to play and write music, and the Harper Hall is looking for her. 

This is a wonderful and yet simple telic flaw development.  A classic kind of telic flaw.  The author must design a means to prevent Menolly from achieving her goals while fending off the Harper Hall.  It would be much too simple and easy a solution for a harper to just come upon Menolly and end the tension of the novel.  Menolly runs away.  There is more to this than this simple statement, but that’s it—Menolly runs away.  She lives holdless and finds nine fire lizards.  Dragons and fire lizards are a major theme of these novels by Anna McCaffrey.  Menolly happens to live holdless and finds nine fire lizards.  Her living holdless prevents her being discovered by the new harper in her hold and accidental discovery by other harpers.  This also allows continued pathos development of the position Menolly is stuck in. 

Further, the author is setting up a circumstance that resolves around her other novels.  In the approach to the climax, Menolly is rescued by a Dragon rider from the local Dragon Weyr.  Her fire lizards become her fit into the Weyr.  Menolly’s secret comes out slowly both about her fire lizards and her music.  The climax of the novel is the Master Haper’s visit to the Weyr during a dragon hatching.  The author plays with us by a meeting of the Master Harper and Menolly.  Ultimately, Menolly resolves to remain in the Weyr, but the Master Harper has other ideas.  The climax is a trick where Menolly is tricked into revealing her knowledge of music and her own composition.  This is of course in front of the Master Harper. 

Can you see how powerful, but simple the design of this telic flaw and climax is?  It is very basic, very simple, but powerfully pathos building and powerfully develops the excitement of the protagonist, the reader, and the other characters.  This is an exultant climax.  I suggest you read the novel to get the full effect. 

If it bothers you to read a young adult novel, keep in mind, the simplicity of the development of the climax makes it a great example of how to develop a powerful one.  If you can design a climax like this one, you can certainly design an even better one for your novels.     

Perhaps I can give you an example from one of my novels.

    

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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