Writing - part xx086 Writing a Novel, more Protagonist and Climax

28 December 2019, Writing - part xx086 Writing a Novel, more 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.

Yesterday, I gave you an example from Dragonsong.  I think this is a perfect novel for a new or experienced author to see how a simple but nearly perfect telic flaw is resolved in a beautiful climax.  It is highly pathos developing.  I hope I didn’t ruin the story for anyone.  I can assure you a simple explanation isn’t enough to ruin this climax—you need to read it to get the power behind it.  I’ll give you another example from my writing.

Aksinya: Enchantment and the Daemon can be read on this blog and my republication blog.  Since I’ve already given you this novel as an example, and you can read it for yourself, it seems like a great example for a telic flaw and climax. 

In Aksinya, the telic flaw is the demon.  Aksinya called a demon to protect her family, but she and the demon were too late—her family was dead.  The entire novel is about Akinsya’s fight to escape the demon.  Most of the novel is the revelation of Aksinya’s life and her fight against her own temptation and the demon. 

The build up to the climax is growing tempest of destruction as the demon enacts more and more horror against Aksinya, her associates, and her friends.  From the beginning, the demon brings people like puppies into Aksinya’s life.  Puppies that the demon intends to destroy one by one in front of her.  The great turning point in the novel is when Aksinya’s lady-in-waiting, Natalya, seduces Aksinya’s fiancé for Aksinya’s own good.  To defend her friends, Aksinya is forced to harm herself almost to death.  Aksinya beats her lady-in-waiting with a poker when she discovers that Natalya had sex with her fiancé.  She runs away because she believes the police will soon be looking for.  She finds comfort and help in the Orthodox Church.

When Aksinya returns to her house, she finds the Catholic Church wants to try her in an Ecclesiastical Trial for sorcery.  She finds the Austrian government wants to try her for stealing and the assault of Natalya.  Her house and all her family’s furniture and goods have been sold to pay her bills.

Aksinya is tried by the Catholic Church.  This condemns her friends from her school and her Catholic associates.  She is excommunicated even though she isn’t Catholic.  She is then tried by the Austrian gov.  The priest, Father Dobrushin, from the Orthodox Church in Wein defends her, but loses his position and ordination.  Aksinya wins in the Austrian court and is not deported back to certain death in Russia.  In the end, Aksinya has nothing and is still contracted to the demon. 

Luckily, Father Dobrushin, who defended Aksinya notes the demon is the same who tormented Tobiah and Sarah from the Apocryphal book of Tobit.  The priest convinces Aksinya to marry him just as Tobiah married Sarah.  He is able, in the climax to use a similar method to defeat the demon, but Aksinya is mortally wounded in the process.  Just as in Tobit, the Angel Raphael binds the demon and comes to the aid of Dobrushin and Aksinya.  The telic flaw is resolved and Aksinya is married to Dobrushin.

Aksinya is a much more complex novel than Dragonsong.  It is an adult novel about adult subjects.  I think you can see how the telic flaw drives to the climax and is resolved in the climax.  This is the point after all.  The development of the protagonist is exactly on these lines.

Really, you can’t develop a protagonist without a telic flaw to apply to them.  Let’s conclude this development 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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