Writing - part xx239 Writing a Novel, Protagonists Plots and Theme Angela Matheson

29 May 2020, Writing - part xx239 Writing a Novel, Protagonists Plots and Theme Angela Matheson

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.         

Here is the list of characteristics for great protagonists (this is based on the concept of a Romantic protagonist):

1.     Hero, independent, and individualistic – characters who truly risk their lives for others.

2.     From the common ilk – as opposed to the nobility and wealth.

3.     Educated – both seeking education and study and loving to read and learn.

4.     Focus on the inner world of the protagonist – the mind and motivation of the protagonist.

5.     Celebration of nature, beauty, and imagination – the expression of the mind of the protagonist.

6.     Rejection of industrialization and social convention – from urban to rural.

7.     Idealization of woman, children, and rural life.

8.     Inclusion of supernatural or mythological elements.

9.     Inclusion of historical elements.

10.  Frequent use of personification.

11.  Emphasis on individual experience of the sublime.

12.  Discovery and skills—the protagonist finds his or her special skills and abilities and uses them to resolve the telic flaw.

13.  The readers agree with the mind (thoughts and decisions) of the protagonist

I added the last statement, but really this last statement is a direct reflection of 4, 11, and 12. 

My ultimate point is that first I develop a great protagonist and the plot and theme of the novel I want to write comes directly out of that protagonist.  Every great protagonist comes with his or her own telic flaw.

Yesterday, I gave you an example of Azure Rose from my novel, Blue Rose: Enchantment and the Detective.  I showed how she was a Romantic protagonist and how she herself resulted in a plot and theme for the novel.  In other words, I didn’t develop a plot or a theme first, I developed a great protagonist and found the telic flaw, plot, and theme from her revelation.  Azure Rose came with a plot and a theme.  I’ve done this before and at the risk of repeating myself, I’ll do this a couple of more times or more.  Here is a list of my completed novels and protagonists:

A Season of Honor (Chronicles of the Dragon and the Fox III), published, Shawn du Locke

The Fox’s Honor (Chronicles of the Dragon and the Fox II), published, Devon Rathenberg

The End of Honor (Chronicles of the Dragon and the Fox I), published, John-Mark

Antebellum, not published, Heather Sybil Roberts

Aegypt, published, Paul Bolong

Centurion, published, Centurion Abenadar

Athelstan Cying, not published, Den Protania

Twilight Lamb, not published, Den Protania

Regia Anglorum, not published, Nikita Protania

The Second Mission, published, Alan Fisher

Sister of Light, not published, Leora Bolang

Hestia: Enchantment of the Hearth, not published, Angela Matheson

Sister of Darkness, not published, Leora Bolang

Shadow of Darkness, not published, Lumière Bolang

Shadow of Light, not published, Lumière Bolang

Children of Light and Darkness, not published, Kathrin McClellan

Warrior of Light, not published, Daniel Long

Shadowed Vale, not published, Nikita Protania

Warrior of Darkness, not published, Klava Calloway

Dana-ana: Enchantment and the Maiden, not published, Byron Macintyre

Aksinya: Enchantment and the Daemon, not published, Aksinya

Khione: Enchantment and the Fox, not published, Khione

Valeska: Enchantment and the Vampire, not published, George Mardling

Lilly: Enchantment and the Computer, not published, Lilly

Escape from Freedom, not published, Scott Phillips

Essie: Enchantment and the Aos Si, not published, Essie

Sorcha: Enchantment and the Curse, not published, Shiggy

Deirdre: Enchantment and the School, not published, Deirdre Calloway

Blue Rose: Enchantment and the Detective, not published, Azure Rose

Hestia: Enchantment of the Hearth, is currently not published.  The protagonist of this novel is Angela Matheson.  This is the first Enchantment novel I wrote.  I wrote the enchantment novels to focus on an aspect of redemption and creatures or being presumed to not be redeemable.  Angela Matheson is another excellent example of how a protagonist defines the telic flaw, plot, and theme. 

Hestia: Enchantment of the Hearth is a supernatural mystery thriller novel.  Let’s look at just who Angela Matheson is, look at her as a Romantic protagonist, and then see how the telic flaw, plot, and theme come directly out of her development.  When I write “development,” I don’t mean how she changes through the novel, but rather how I developed her before I wrote the novel.

Here is who Angela Matheson is.  First of all, she is Angela Jean Matheson, Ph.D.  She is an associate dean of Archeology for a famous Midwestern University.  I don’t think I tell you exactly which university, because it doesn’t matter for the novel.  She worked very hard to get to her current position as a professor and an expert on ancient Greek archeology.  Her boss is Dr. Adams, the Dean of the Archeology department.

The setting for this novel is very important.  It is an isolated Archeological site in Greece.  They and two of their graduate students, Jack Agnos and Phillip Ryan, are investigating and uncovering an ancient Greek town.  All the places are the sites are real and historical.  I’ve visited many of them personally. 

The initial scene of the novel, Jack Agnos is translating an ancient spell that is supposed to conjure a deity.  I basically took an ancient Greek spell to evoke Mithras and changed it to evoke Hestia.  Ah, who is Hestia?  Hestia, is the Greek Goddess of the Hearth.  She is one of the original Titans and the only remaining Titan.  She was literally the most important god or goddess in the Greek world.  You find in history many times the most important and common things get the least press.  Hestia is like that.  She has fewer Myths, poetry, or any other writings, but she was always the first libation and the first sacrifice.  Hestia was the first god evoked in the day and the last in the night.  So, when Jack Agnos accidentally conjures Hestia, suddenly the world is very different for three of the four archeologists.  Since Angela Matheson is their favorite teacher and leader, she is the protagonist of the novel.  She also bears the problems brought up in the novel.  Much of that comes from her.

Here is the gist of the issues.  What would you think if a no kidding actual Greek goddess became a physical being in your world?  What if this goddess really had some god-like powers?  What if she were looking for her purpose and reason in the world?  I just try to imagine with this novel what normal people like Angela Matheson, Jack, and Phillip would think and do. 

Everyone has problems and Angela Matheson has perhaps more problems than most.  She is looking for something to believe in.  Dr. Adams doesn’t believe in anything—he ignores the evidence of Hestia right in his face.  Phillip believes in God, and Jack is seeking.  What happens when an actual deity gets right in your face, and you can’t ignore her?  More than that, what do you do with the actual deity, God?  What happens when you discover the Greek Orthodox Church has been working with displaced deities since the time of Christ?  Alright, there is a lot there.  Let’s look at Angela Matheson as a Romantic protagonist:         

  

Angela Matheson is not a hero.  She wishes she was, and her students might think she is, but she isn’t.  Part of the novel is about standing up for the truth.  She is independent, but not as individualistic as many of my protagonists.  She is dependent on the others around her.  This also comes out of her own childhood trauma.  She lives with a middle name which became her younger brother’s first name.  He died, and she feels that she could never live up to his potential in the eyes of her parents.  It’s complicated.  Angela Matheson definitely comes from the common as well as the other characters—they are just normal striving students and professors.  The education part is very strong—graduate students and professors.  Everyone is seeking education and is educated. 

The inner world of the protagonist – the mind and motivation of the protagonist are the most important factors in the novel.  And it isn’t just the protagonist.  All of the principle characters are looking for knowledge and truth.  The celebration of nature, beauty, and imagination fits with the movement from the urban to the rural and the idealization of women, not so much children, and the ancient rural life of the Greeks.  These are all parts of the setting of the novel.

With a goddess and many demi-gods, you can’t help but see the supernatural and mythological elements.  All of these are calculated to bring richness and reality to the myths of the Greeks.  The historical elements are very pronounced and fit within the times and the place. 

I’ll mention discovery and skills—it is the discoveries of Angela Matheson but not her own skills.  The discovery nature of the novel is about Greek mythology and the real elements of it reveled in the current world.  The individual experience of the sublime is found strongly with the redemptive nature of the work.  Each person and every god, goddess, and demi-god is seeking pretty much the same thing—truth.  Only Dr. Adams isn’t looking and doesn’t care.

So, the telic flaw of the novel is what to do about Hestia.  Literally, is Hestia really a goddess and what does it mean in the world.  This telic flaw is connected directly to Angela Matheson through her taking responsibility for Hestia.  The plot then is the discovery of this truth.  We find in the novel that there are other or another Greek god or goddess who wants to thwart the archeologists.  That god or goddess becomes the focus of the plot.  Further, the theme should be obvious—it’s about the purpose of gods and goddesses in the world—that is if they really existed.

I hope you can see that the entire plot, telic flaw, and theme came out of the development of this character.  This is exactly what I mean when I write that the plot, theme, and telic flaw comes directly out of the protagonist.

Ultimately, 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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