Writing - part xx281 Writing a Novel, Plots, Interlaced Plot

10 July 2020, Writing - part xx281 Writing a Novel, Plots, Interlaced Plot

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. 

I’ve worked through creativity and the protagonist.  The ultimate point is that if you properly develop your protagonist, you have created your novel.  This moves us on to plots and initial scenes.  As I noted, if you have a protagonist, you have a novel.  The reason is that a protagonist comes with a telic flaw, and a telic flaw provides a plot and theme.  If you have a protagonist, that gives you a telic flaw, a plot, and a theme.  I will also argue this gives you an initial scene as well. 

So, we worked extensively on the protagonist.  I gave you many examples great, bad, and average.  Most of these were from classics, but I also used my own novels and protagonists as examples.  Here’s my plan.

1.      The protagonist comes with a telic flaw – the telic flaw isn’t necessarily a flaw in the protagonist, but rather a flaw in the world of the protagonist that only the Romantic protagonist can resolve.

2.      The telic flaw determines the plot.

3.      The telic flaw determines the theme.

4.      The telic flaw and the protagonist determines the initial scene.

5.      The protagonist and the telic flaw determines the initial setting.

6.      Plot examples from great classic plots.

7.      Plot examples from mediocre classic plots.

8.      Plot examples from my novels.

9.      Creativity and the telic flaw and plots.

10.  Writer’s block as a problem of continuing the plot.

Every great or good protagonist comes with their own telic flaw.  I showed how this worked with my own writing and novels.  Let’s go over it in terms of the plot.

This is all about the telic flaw.  Every protagonist and every novel must come with a telic flaw.  They are the same telic flaw.  That telic flaw can be external, internal or both.

We found that a self-discovery telic flaw or a personal success telic flaw can potentially take a generic plot.  We should be able to get an idea for the plot purely from the protagonist, telic flaw and setting.  All of these are interlaced and bring us our plot.

Let’s see how this works.  These are just general ideas, but I think we can get a great plot idea from them.  Start with self-discovery.  I’d like to start with a protagonist who needs self-discovery.  As I noted more than once, the protagonist comes with a telic flaw.  Let’s make a character who needs self-discovery.  How about a modern kid who just graduated from high school and doesn’t know what to do with his or her life.  Pretty common and generally appealing.  This could be a great protagonist.  Let’s make that kid none self-directed.  Meaning he or she doesn’t really know what they want to do.  They are not motivated by their family’s occupation, by education, nor by service, but they do want to “find themselves.”  That’s the character.  To begin building a romantic character, let’s make them from the common ilk.  They are neither wealthy nor poor.  That’s the basic character. 

This character comes with their own telic flaw—the telic flaw of self-discovery.  This character need to “find themselves.”  This is not a complete character and the plot is amorphous.  We don’t have a plot, just an outline for a protagonist.  Then let’s begin to flesh out this protagonist.  I’d ask next what is the setting?  Much of this depends on my desires and skill as a writer.  If I want to write within my event horizon, I might choose the time I went to high school or perhaps a very critical time in history.  You know them: prior to the Civil War, prior to World War I, prior to World War II, prior to Korea, prior to Vietnam, Prior to Desert Storm, prior to the Twin Towers, remember the Alamo, remember the Maine, or any other critical time in history.  You might even add, prior to the communist Chinese Pandemic of 2020.  The reason for these times in history is they give the author and the protagonist a forced view of success beyond wealth, schooling, or simple occupation.  You could also choose a time in the future: the First Bug War, the First Intergalactic War, the First Intersolar System War, the Mars and Earth War, the Mars and Asteroid Belt War, and so on.  Why stick with wars or war.  The idea of war motivating a person to national service is the answer, but a person might be motivated to some other type of national service or some other service occupation.  The point here is the twist or the appeal to service.  There is definite excitement for service as a soldier, seaman, airman, intelligence officer, operative, agent, spy, counterintelligence officer, or how about a grunt troop or less obvious service.  How about logistics? 

Let’s set out character in the late twentieth century right before the twin towers.  Our protagonist is as we described, but wants to enter military service because they are finding themselves.  Let’s make our protagonist a male, and he really wants to be in a combat force because he thinks that will make him a man, help him get girls, and make something of him.  Our intrepid protagonist has problems in boot camp.  He barely passes, but he is great at solving logical problems.  The military loves to have logical problems on their tests, and out protagonist is great at them.  He is assigned to a logistic center moving supplies around.  He’s about to quit the military or at least only serve one term, and then the twin towers are hit and the country goes to war against militant Islam.

Our protagonist suddenly finds himself figuring out how to move supplies in a logical fashion to the Middle East.  Now, in reality, a basic soldier, airman, marine, or sailor would not have this degree of responsibility, but we can set up the situation such that, our protagonist helps the officer in charge somehow.  That our protagonist is somehow the secret hand helping in the development of logistic plans and movement.  This isn’t so difficult to imagine.  It could happen, not that it necessarily would happen.  You could also have this protagonist at a noncommissioned officer level when the war hits.  He could have been a great troop and just gained an appreciation for logistics slowly over time.  That’s the model, to some degree, for Johnny Rico.  Johnny Rico was a grunt troop.  This protagonist is a logistics genius.  That’s what we need to build him to be.

So, we have a protagonist, a setting, a telic flaw, and the basics of a plot.  The plot is our soldier moving upward in logistics by solving more and more difficult problems.  I don’t think I would attempt this plot unless I were a logistics person.  Here’s where who you are makes a huge difference. 

If you want to write this plot, you must have intimate knowledge of logistics and especially military logistics.  If you have been or are in the military, you might have some chance with this plot.  If you are not, you will have to spend many hours in study to write it.  I could possibly write such a plot based on my experience, but I’d rather move the setting back in history.  Perhaps to the Civil War or World War I.  The reason is everyone from those wars is pretty much dead—no one would be able to say whether my plot and circumstances were accurate.  Good study should be able to provide the best info possible from the history.  On the other hand, modern events and science fiction events are both similar.  Readers expect them to match to some degree.  And especially to match history and common current experience.  You have to be on your toes for modern and future complex stuff. 

Here’s how the plot has to work.  We need to build up to a specific, likely historical event either a peripheral made up historical event or one big enough to fit with our plot.  The plot is a build-up in logistic successes by out protagonist.  This is where detailed and in-depth knowledge of logistic comes in.  The author needs to make a series of scenes where the protagonist solves logistics problems of increasing difficulty up to a climax.  These logistics difficulties need to appear to be impossible to resolve, but the protagonist is able to resolve them through logic, reasoning, and superior knowledge.  That’s pretty difficult without knowledge in the field.  I didn’t say this plot was for everyone.  I wrote that this is how to develop a plot. 

If you are into outlining, I’m not.  Outline the scenes and the events for tension and release for each scene building to the climax.  If you are like me, figure out a wonderful initial scene to introduce the protagonist, telic flaw, and the logistics theme and plot, and go for it.  Each scene feeds into each other scene to the climax.  You need an idea for the climax, but the rest should write itself, if you are familiar with logistics.  There is the rub, and something we need to discuss—experience and plots.            

In any case, lest start with the idea of an internal and external telic flaw.  Then let’s provide it a wrapper.  The wrapper is 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  

fiction, theme, plot, story, storyline, character development, scene, setting, conversation, novel, book, writing, information, study, marketing, tension, release, creative, idea, logic