Writing - part xx176 Writing a Novel, Protagonist Examples: Glawen Clattuc

27 March 2020, Writing - part xx176 Writing a Novel, Protagonist Examples: Glawen Clattuc

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 21^st 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

Ideas.  We need ideas.  Ideas allow us to figure out the protagonist and the telic flaw.  Ideas don’t come fully armed from the mind of Zeus.  We need to cultivate ideas. 

1.     Read novels. 

2.     Fill your mind with good stuff—basically the stuff you want to write about. 

3.     Figure out what will build ideas in your mind and what will kill ideas in your mind.

4.     Study.

5.     Teach. 

6.     Make the catharsis. 

7.     Write.

The development of ideas is based on study and research, but it is also based on creativity.  Creativity is the extrapolation of older ideas to form new ones or to present old ideas in a new form.  It is a reflection of something new created with ties to the history, science, and logic (the intellect).  Creativity requires consuming, thinking, and producing.

If we have filled our mind with all kinds of information and ideas, we are ready to become creative.  Creativity means the extrapolation of older ideas to form new ones or to present old ideas in a new form.  Literally, we are seeing the world in a new way, or actually, we are seeing some part of the world in a new way. 

So, modern characters must look like the reader’s impression of the protagonist.  This is an interesting problem as culture and society change as does the impression of the readers.         

I’ve been presenting the means to develop protagonists and characters your readers will enjoy—precisely those that will entertain your readers.  Mainly, the ideas I’ve proposed are these: seeking knowledge, readers, decisions the reader would make, pathos building, and overall, entertaining. 

If we agree, any breech between the protagonist and the reader is not desirable, we can move forward.   

Most of the novels I have read that I really enjoyed I not only liked the protagonist, I loved the protagonist.  I can throw out examples:

1.     Johnny Rico from Starship Troopers

2.     Sara Crew from A Little Princess

3.     Menolly from Dragonsong and Dragonsinger

4.     Anthony Villiers from New Celebrations

5.     Lord Darcy from Randall Garett’s novels

6.     Horatio Hornblower from the C.S. Forester novels

7.     Keith Gersen from Jack Vance’s Demon Princes

8.     Adam Reith from Jack Vance’s Tschai

9.     Glawen Clattuc from Jack Vance’s The Cadwal Chronicles

10.  Flavia DeLuca from Alan Bradley’s novels

11.  Douglas Spaulding from Dandelion Wine

These characters are fun, entertaining, enjoyable, and likable.  I want to evaluate what makes them such good characters.  Let’s move on to Glawen Clattuc.

Jack Vance loves to write about common heroes.  What is a common hero?  There are real heroes in the world.  Real heroes are always common heroes.  In the real world there is no one who is a god, a messiah, a lucky person, a fated person, or a superhero.  In the real world, there is a singular messiah, and a singular God.  Everything else comes from the fertile minds of writers and dreamers. 

We see real heroes, common heroes.  No these are not the people the world tries to foist on us as fake heroes.  Real heroes, common heroes risk their lives to save others.  They stand up to public opinion and risk their reputations to prove the truth.  However, they are not simply believers, they are doers.  They are the ones who literally risk their lives for others.  This is the definition of a hero, and there are no heroes who are not like this.

Real heroes, common heroes can die, and they know it, yet they are still willing to put their lives on the line for others.  This is a characteristic of Jack Vance’s heroes.  Further, real heroes, common heroes don’t necessarily acknowledge that they are heroes.  They feel like what they did as a hero, anyone would do.  This is also a characteristic of real heroes, common heroes.

Jack Vance presents us with common heroes in his novels.  Glawen Clattuc just happens to be one of these common heroes.  He isn’t pictured as a reader or necessarily one who studies to the exception of other skills—and that’s the point.  Study and education for the Romantic protagonist isn’t just book learning and the classroom.  Glawen Clattuc’s studies include learning to fly an aircraft, learning military and policing skills, learning the skills of his community and planet, and learning to investigate.

Glawen Clattuc is the classic common person who becomes a Romantic protagonist theough the development of the character in the novel.  I must also mention that Glawen Clattuc and the three Cadwal novels may be the most complex intertwining of a protagonist in the plot of the novel itself.  The planet of Cadwal doesn’t exist because of Glawen Clattuc, but the plot, theme, and circumstances of Cadwal are uniquely dependent on the actions of Glawen Clattuc.  This is a wonderful novel without an “end of the world” theme that projects an end of the project or end of a business.  The Cadwal conservatory will be taken over by the antagonists if Glawen Clattuc can’t stop them.  I highly salute this type of theme.  It is a real human theme.  It is cast large, but it isn’t an inane and ridiculous “end of the world” theme that pervades so much of modern trite literature, movies, and books. 

The Cadwal novels project true human problems and issues that are huge in the lives of the characters, but small in the context of the world or universe.  Like all real problems, if resolved or not resolved, the world continues, lives continue, society continues.  I can’t help remarking this because this type of novel is the kind of novel I want to read, not the trite messiahs, magicians, or “end of the world.”

So, what makes Glawen Clattuc such a lovable character is that he is skilled, rational, reasoning, intelligent, balanced, wise, and all.  The reader can’t help but agree with his actions and behavior.  In the face of the opportunity to make bad decisions, Glawen Clattuc in almost every case makes good decisions.  He always makes the decision the reader would make—or the author composes the situation where Glawen Clattuc makes the correct and agreeable decision—to the reader.  Remember, it is the reader whose mind we must embrace and bring into agreement with the protagonist or the protagonist whose actions must agree with the reader.  Anything else risks losing the reader from the suspension of disbelief.

This is the main point, Glawen Clattuc set in a world and a universe where he is beset by circumstances all potentially against him, always makes the decision the readers properly expect of him.  The result is success which readers also applaud.  This in itself isn’t a Romantic positon or supposition, this is the good and proper development of a great protagonist.  The Romantic characteristics of Glawen Clattuc are not extraneous to his character, but they are in addition to this very important concept of meeting the expectations of the readers.

Are the readers ever surprised?  The answer is yes, many times.  They are astounded and astonished by the plot not by the actions of the protagonist.  This is part of the power of all beloved protagonists and especially Jack Vance’s novels.  Now I want to reread it.        

Next, we’ll look at Flavia DeLuca.

The point is that we need to keep our readers content and pleased with our characters while presenting the revelation of the protagonist and the plot.    

The beginning of creativity is study and effort.  We can use this to extrapolate to creativity.  In addition, we need to look at recording ideas and working with ideas.    

    

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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