Writing - part xx289 Writing a Novel, more Redemption Plots

18 July 2020, Writing - part xx289 Writing a Novel, more Redemption Plots

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.

For a great plot, the resolution of the telic flaw has to be a surprise to the protagonist and to the reader.  This is both the measure and the goal.  As I noted before, for a great plot, the author needs to make the telic flaw resolution appear to be impossible, but then it happens.  There is much more to this.

Just what is a redemption plot?  I want to reiterate, a redemption plot isn’t a religious plot.  It can be a religious plot, but it doesn’t have to be or even need to be.  Harry Potty is a redemption plot.  Now, some might argue that Harry Potty is a religious plot—all seven of them.  When you write about messiahs and magic with all kinds of ceremonies and secret hidden groups, you are hitting right in the middle of religion.  A Christmas Carol is a strongly religious plot, but most redemption plots are not necessarily religious.  There are many things people can be redeemed from, and it is possible to have a spiritual redemption without religion at all. 

I’m not dissuading you from writing a religious plot, I’m just pointing out that redemption and religious plots are not the same and let’s move along further.  Almost every successful modern Romantic plot is a redemption plot.  I pointed out Harry Potty, but let’s expand to what we know.  A redemption plot is a plot where the protagonist has a change of mental, physical, emotional, or spiritual situation where they go from a negative state to some kind of positive state.  Here is a dictionary definition for redemption: the act, process, or an instance of redeeming.  So what is redeeming?  Redeeming from the dictionary is: serving to offset or compensate for a defect.  Then putting them together, redemption is: the act, process, or an instance of serving to offset or compensate for a defect.

My definition covers almost every zero to hero plot, which is practically every modern plot.  The dictionary definition is pretty close. Let’s look at it.  I’ll go with the dictionary definition: the act, process, or an instance of serving to offset or compensate for a defect.  This is exactly what zero to hero is all about.  The defect is the zero, whatever state that happens to be.  The hero is the offsetting or the compensating for the defect. 

For example, you can have a redemption plot where the defect is poverty.  The offsetting or compensating is wealth or success.  You can have a protagonist who is physically abused or spiritually depressed or mentally depressed or whatever the defect happens to be.  The redemption is not necessarily fixing the defect as much as it is offsetting of compensating for the defect.  I think this is important to note.  If the telic flaw is mental depression, then the protagonist can resolve this problem in many ways.  The protagonist might solve their problem--that’s one resolution.  The protagonist might offset their problem--that’s another resolution.  The protagonist might compensate for their problem—that’s still another resolution.  This is the power of redemption and a redemption plot.  There are many solutions and resolutions.  The protagonist’s mental depression might not be solved, but the point of the telic flaw is not to necessarily solve the problem, but to resolve the current telic flaw.  We see this in the Harry Potty novels.  Harry’s ultimate telic flaw is Voldermort.  The problem and telic flaw is not solved until the seventh novel.  In every case, the telic flaw of the current novel is resolved in the plot, but the telic flaw is not solved and the ultimate problem of the novels is not solved until the seventh novel.  The telic flaw is resolved in every case.  Each of these novels is a redemption plot.  In every case, the resolution is to offset or compensate for a defect.  The defect happens to be caused against Harry Potty by the antagonist, Voldermort.

YOU can view all modern novels this way.  Well almost all modern novels.  Many kid’s novels or noncomplex novels might not be redemption, but everyone wants redemption.  Everyone wants to correct their own deficiencies.  Many want to correct other’s deficiencies.  We want people to get better.  We want them to succeed.  Success in any fashion is a redemption plot and theme. 

If all her to zero plots are basically redemption plots, then what is the point in writing about it?  What’s so important about a redemption plot?   

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