10 December 2020, Writing - part xx434 Writing a Novel, Betrayal 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 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 29th 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 30th novel, working
title Red Sonja. I finished my 29th 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. Here’s the list of plots I’ve looked at
already:
Here is the list of classics that
everyone should read. What I want to do
is evaluate this list for the plots.
1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR
Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Dandelion Wine – Ray Bradbury –
Best modern novel in English.
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible – Most important book to
understand Western culture.
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George
Orwell
9 We The Living – Ayn Rand
10 Great Expectations - Charles
Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas
Hardy
13 Dune – Frank Herbert
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare –
better to see as plays
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 The Cadwal Chronicles – Jack
Vance
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Green Pearl Novels – Jack
Vance
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With the Wind - Margaret
Mitchel
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott
Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 Starship Troopers – Robert
Heinlein
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor
Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis
Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth
Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles
Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma -Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 Atlas Shrugged – Ayn Rand
37 The Tale of Genji - Murasaki
Shikibu
38 The House of Seven Gables
- Nathaniel Hawthorne
39 The Scarlet Letter
- Nathaniel Hawthorne
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 Dracula – Bram Stoker
43 Till We Have Faces – C.S. Lewis
44 Le Morte D'Arthur - Thomas Malory
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie
Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM
Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd -
Thomas Hardy
48 Ivanhoe – Sir Walter Scott
49 Lord of the Flies - William
Golding
50 The Fountainhead – Ayn Rand
51 What Katy Did - Sarah Chauncey
Woolsey under her pen name Susan Coolidge
52 A Little Princess - Frances
Hodgson Burnett
53 The Secret Garden - Frances
Hodgson Burnett
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane
Austen
55 The Jungle Book - Rudyard Kipling
56 Kim - Rudyard Kipling
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles
Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 Beowulf – Unknown
60 The Odyssey – Homer
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Moonstone - Wilkie Collins
64 The Maltese Falcon - Dashiell
Hammett
65 The Count of Monte Cristo -
Alexandre Dumas
66 As I Lay Dying - William Faulkner
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Robinson Caruso – Daniel Defoe
69 The Red Badge of Courage -
Stephen Crane
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Don Quixote - Miguel De Cervantes
73 Heidi – Johanna Spyri
74 Hans Brinker - Mary Mapes Dodge
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Inferno – Dante
77 The Big Sky – Arlo Guthrie
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace
Thackeray
80 The Black Arrow - Robert Louis
Stevenson
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles
Dickens
82 Treasure Island - Robert Louis
Stevenson
83 The Gulag Archipelago - Aleksandr
Solzhenitsyn
84 The Miser – George Eliot
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 For Whom the Bell Tolls – Ernest
Hemmingway
87 Tarzan – Edger Rice Burroughs
88 The Death of Socrates – Plato
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes -
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 I, Robot - Isaac Asimov
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De
Saint-Exupery
93 Huckleberry Fin – Mark Twain
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 Gulliver’s Travels - Jonathan
Swift
96 Matilda – Roald Dahl
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre
Dumas
98 The Canterbury Tales - Geoffrey
Chaucer
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
- Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo
101 The Once and Future King – T.H.
White
102 The Deerslayer – James Fenimore
Cooper
103 The Black Book of Communism –
Various
104 Ben Hur – Lew Wallace
105 The Robe – Lloyd C. Douglas
106 The Pilgrim’s Progress – John
Bunyan
107 The Histories – Herodotus
108 Lives – Plutarch
109 The Call of the Wild – Jack
London
110 Stand on Zanzibar – John Brunner
111 The Shockwave Rider – John
Brunner
112 The Aeneid – Virgil
This is what I did. I looked at each novel and pulled out the
plot types, the telic flaw, plotline, and the theme of the novel. I didn’t make a list of the themes, but we
identified the telic flaw as internal and external and by plot type. This generally gives the plotline.
We have a list of all the major
plots from this list of classics in literature.
The question is what can we do with it?
This is the first step in evaluating our results. I took a percentage of the results based on
the number of classics.
Modern writing is all about the
Romantic—both Romantic protagonists and Romantic plots. This is where we are going and this is the
focus of modern entertaining literature.
In the end, we can see there are
just a few baseline plots that are characteristics of most classics. These are the revelation, achievement, and
redemption plots. When I write these are
baseline, I mean that they are overall plots that might also have a different
plotline or other plots directly supporting them. Here’s what I mean exactly about each of
these plots:
Redemption: the protagonist must make an internal or
external change to resolve the telic flaw. This is the major style of most
great modern plots.
Revelation: the novel reveals portions of the life,
experiences, and ideas of the protagonist in a cohesive and serial fashion from
the initial scene to the climax and telic flaw resolution.
Achievement: the novel is characterized by a goal that the
protagonist must achieve to resolve the telic flaw.
I evaluated the list of plots and
categorized them according to the following scale:
Overall (o) – These
are the three overall plots we defined above: redemption, achievement, and
revelation.
Achievement (a)
– There are plots that fall under the idea of the achievement plot.
Quality (q) – These are plots based on a personal or character
quality.
Setting (s) – These are plots based on a setting.
Item (i) – These are plots based on an item.
All of the plots we looked at fall
into one of these five. Let’s do that:
Overall (o)
1.
Redemption (o) – 17i, 7e, 23ei, 8 –
49%
2.
Revelation (o) –2e, 64, 1i – 60%
3.
Achievement (o) – 16e, 19ei, 4i, 43
– 73%
Achievement (a)
1.
Detective or mystery (a) – 56, 1e –
51%
2.
Revenge or vengeance (a) –3ie, 3e,
45 – 46%
3.
Zero to hero (a) – 29 – 26%
4.
Romance (a) –1ie, 41 – 37%
5.
Coming of age (a) –1ei, 25 – 23%
6.
Progress of technology (a) – 6 – 5%
7.
Discovery (a) – 3ie, 57 – 54%
8.
Money (a) – 2e, 26 – 25%
9.
Spoiled child (a) – 7 – 6%
10. Legal (a) – 5 – 4%
11. Adultery (qa) – 18 – 16%
12. Self-discovery (a) – 3i, 12 – 13%
13. Guilt or Crime (a) – 32 – 29%
14. Proselytizing (a) – 4 – 4%
15. Reason (a) – 10, 1ie – 10%
16. Escape (a) – 1ie, 23
– 21%
17. Knowledge or Skill (a) – 26 – 23%
18. Secrets (a) – 21 – 19%
Quality (q)
1.
Messiah (q) – 10 – 9%
2.
Adultery (qa) – 18 – 16%
3.
Rejected love (rejection) (q) – 1ei,
21 – 20%
4.
Miscommunication (q) – 8 – 7%
5.
Love triangle (q) – 14 – 12%
6.
Betrayal (q) – 1i, 1ie, 46 – 43%
7.
Blood will out or fate (q) –1i, 1e,
26 – 25%
8.
Psychological (q) –1i, 45 – 41%
9.
Magic (q) – 8 – 7%
10. Mistaken identity (q) – 18 – 16%
11. Illness (q) – 1e, 19 – 18%
12. Anti-hero (q) – 6 – 5%
13. Immorality (q) – 3i, 8 – 10%
14. Satire (q) – 10 – 9%
15. Camaraderie (q) – 19 – 17%
16. Curse (q) – 4 – 4%
17. Insanity (q) – 8 – 7%
18. Mentor (q) – 12 – 11%
Setting (s)
1.
End of the World (s) – 3 – 3%
2.
War (s) – 20 – 18%
3.
Anti-war (s) –2 – 2%
4.
Travel (s) –1e, 62 – 56%
5.
Totalitarian (s) – 1e, 8 – 8%
6.
Horror (s) – 15 – 13%
7.
Children (s) – 24 – 21%
8.
Historical (s) – 19 – 17%
9.
School (s) – 11 – 10%
10. Parallel (s) – 4 – 4%
11. Allegory (s) – 10 – 9%
12. Fantasy world (s) – 5 – 4%
13. Prison (s) – 2 – 2%
Item (i)
1.
Article (i) – 1e, 46 – 42%
We defined the overall types of
plots. Almost every novel falls under
the redemption, revelation, and/or achievement plots. A novel can contain all three of these overall
plots. I’ve also stated that all comedy
plots can be called zero to hero. This
is still true. I could have placed zero
to hero as an overall plot, but I left it under the achievement overall
plot. What’s interesting is that in our
evaluation of the classics, only 26% of their plots included a specific zero to
hero plot. Part of the reason is the
movement of literature from the Victorian to the Romantic.
We evaluated the “overall” plot
types. It’s time to look at more
specific plot types. The first is the
quality plot. Here’s the list from the
classics.
Quality (q)
1.
Messiah (q) – 10 – 9%
2.
Adultery (qa) – 18 – 16%
3.
Rejected love (rejection) (q) – 1ei,
21 – 20%
4.
Miscommunication (q) – 8 – 7%
5.
Love triangle (q) – 14 – 12%
6.
Betrayal (q) – 1i, 1ie, 46 – 43%
7.
Blood will out or fate (q) –1i, 1e,
26 – 25%
8.
Psychological (q) –1i, 45 – 41%
9.
Magic (q) – 8 – 7%
10. Mistaken identity (q) – 18 – 16%
11. Illness (q) – 1e, 19 – 18%
12. Anti-hero (q) – 6 – 5%
13. Immorality (q) – 3i, 8 – 10%
14. Satire (q) – 10 – 9%
15. Camaraderie (q) – 19 – 17%
16. Curse (q) – 4 – 4%
17. Insanity (q) – 8 – 7%
18. Mentor (q) – 12 – 11%
I’ll repeat my definition of the quality
plot:
Quality (q) – These are plots based on a personal or character
quality.
The betrayal plot is one of the most
popular plots found in the classics.
Amazingly, 43% of gotta read novels include betrayal. Does this mean humans really are this
untrustworthy or that in fiction writers, betrayal is a common fear or
idea.
We see small and large betrayals
every day—some touch us, but is it really 43% of lives, stories, and
novels. As I think of it, I have used
the betrayal plot in some of my novels.
Usually, in my novels, the betrayal comes from an antagonist or a very
negative character. I also don’t think I’ve
made the betrayal plot an overall plotline in any novel. I use it for scenes and not for telic flaw
resolution; however, the betrayal plot is a very credible and important human
plot. I like to use it differently than
most.
I like to turn the betrayal idea
around. Here’s an example from my novel,
Shadow of Light.
On that day, Zhou
provided a gala dinner for the British and the Chinese teams. He also invited the delegations from the
other Beijing Embassies—they included the Soviets and mostly only other
communist nations. The large open room
of the conference center was precisely decorated with red banners and the
People’s Republic of
Sir Reginald bowed. Madam Mao presented a bouquet of red flowers
to Sir Reginald. He handed a flower to
each of the people on his small staff.
Madam Mao handed a bouquet to Premier Zhou. Chairman Mao gestured to Sir Reginald and the
Brits followed the Chairman and his lady into the banquet hall. They were seated by precedence. Chairman Mao and Madam Mao sat at the head of
the table. Sir Reginald and his team
were seated to the left of the Chairman.
On the right sat Premier Zhou, and Zhang Wentian, Wang Jiaxiang, and Li
Kenong. The Chinese translators stood
just behind the table. Next to Lumière
sat the Soviet ambassador. She didn’t
know him and did not worry much about his recognition.
At the end of the dinner, as the dessert
was being served, the Soviet ambassador stood, “Chairman Mao, in the name of
the
The room became absolutely silent.
Chairman Mao turned to Lumière. Recognition illuminated his eyes, “Svetlana
Evgenyevna Kopylova, I wondered where I had seen you before.” Chairman Mao stood, “I thank you, Mr.
Ambassador for your good wishes and congratulations. Stalin is dead, I am happy his ideas and his
Little Bird are not. Mr. Khrushchev
should be careful since the British have conscripted Stalin’s most effective
and beautiful aid. I for one am
amused.” He sat, filled a fresh cup of
tea himself and passed the cup to Lumière.
Lumière knew the honor of the tea. Whether for political reasons or not, Mao
made fun of the Soviet Ambassador’s comments and toasted Lumière himself. With trembling hands, she picked up the cup
and stood. There was no longer any
purpose in deception. She had been
recognized. Lumière raised her head and
said in perfect and lilting Chinese, “Gracious Chairman and Madam Mao. I salute your friendship and your kindness. Although I once spoke for Comrade Stalin, I
now speak for Queen Elizabeth. There is
no attempt at deception, but simply the privacy of a woman and her simple
skills. The gracious Du Fu spoke my
thoughts exactly:
After long escort, from now on we part,
In vain green mountains reflect my emotion.
What day will we grasp the cup again?
Last night we traveled together under the moon.
In each region, you are eulogized and cherished,
In three reigns old and new you have been honored.
I return alone to my riverside village,
To live the last of life in solitude.”
Lumière sat down, and the hall erupted in
applause. The Soviets were completely
paralyzed. The Soviet ambassador’s mouth
formed a thin angry line, but he was compelled by good taste to clap a couple
of times.
Chairman Mao made a gesture to his
wife. Madam Mao took the pot of tea
between them and stepped toward Lumière.
Lumière immediately stood and met Madam Mao halfway between their
seats. Lumière bowed with the cup
outstretched between her fingers. Madam
Mao filled the cup. They both returned
to their seats. Before Lumière sat, she
took a sip from the cup, “You honor me gracious Chairman and gracious lady.”
Chairman Mao stood with her, “Please
drink again most perfect lady and grace us with another poem. Your voice is exquisite and your taste is
beyond compare.” He sat.
Lumière took another sip from the cup and
held it up with both hands, “Du Mu was also my friend in thought:
Much feeling- but it's just as if there's
none,
I think behind my cup, but cannot smile.
The candle has a heart- it too hates parting,
In our place, it sheds a tear at dawn.”
The room erupted in applause again. Chairman Mao stood and clapped. He wiped a tear from his eye. Everyone in the room stood. Chairman Mao raised his hand, and they all
returned to their seats, “Mrs. Diakonov.
You speak like my mother once spoke to me. You speak as though you were Chinese
yourself. I pronounce you a friend of
the People’s Republic of
The Soviet ambassador’s face appeared as
though he could kill Lumière right there.
Sir Reginald stared angrily at her.
Premier Zhou stepped to Lumière and bowed, “Dear Lady, you saved my and
Sir Reginald’s negotiations as well as the face of both your and my
people. I thank you with all of my
heart.”
Sir Reginald strode to Lumière’s side,
“Don’t say a word in Chinese to the Premier.
I am completely embarrassed.” He
whispered, “Mrs. Diakonov, or whoever you are, you are obviously, a communist and
a spy.”
Lumière bowed her head. After Sir Reginald’s words were related to
Premier Zhou, Zhou responded, “Sir Reginald, you are much mistaken, Mrs.
Diakonov saved you and me too. She is
the wisest woman I have met, and if she were a man, I would greatly fear her.”
Lumière sucked in a deep breath.
Sir Reginald turned to Lumière, “I will
speak with you later.” He signaled the
delegation’s guards, “Please take Mrs. Diakonov into custody. Ensure she does not escape her rooms and that
she does not communicate with anyone except me.”
Lumière was led away.
Aleksandr helplessly watched her go. Sir Reginald turned back to Premier Zhou,
“Sir, thank you for everything. This
dinner was especially fine, and we were honored by the participation of
Chairman Mao.”
Premier Zhou raised his hand, “Sir
Reginald, Mrs. Diakonov expressed such a beautiful parting to us and to the
Supreme Chairman that your words are both redundant and unpleasant. I look forward to reconvening our discussions
next year as we planned. Please ensure
Mrs. Diakonov is present. She must speak
directly to us in Chinese next time.”
The premier turned and walked away.
Sir Reginald sputtered quietly. He gracefully retreated back to the embassy
grounds and his quarters. When he
arrived there, he glanced around confused and realized he had sent his right
hand man, so to speak, to detention, and he had no one else he could completely
depend on. He called in his translators
and the permanent embassy staff. When
they sat around the conference table, Sir Reginald exclaimed, “What happened
with Chairman Mao and Lumière at the dinner?
I didn’t understand any of it.”
Aleksandr began to speak. Sir Reginald slapped his hand on the table,
“Mr. Diakonov, I don’t want to hear from you.
You are part and parcel to this conspiracy.”
The lead at the embassy looked up from
the table, “Sir Reginald, Mrs. Diakonov saved us and our negotiations.”
“That is what Zhou said. I didn’t understand what he meant. What went on that I don’t understand?”
The embassy head continued, “The Soviets
tried to submarine us by revealing their knowledge of Mrs. Diakonov openly to
Chairman Mao. We didn’t expect that kind
of direct confrontation from them. They
basically called her a spy for us and for them, as well as a communist.”
“Well, isn’t she?”
Aleksandr cried, “No she is not.”
“You be quiet, sir. I can’t trust a word that comes from your
lips right now.”
“Apparently, Mrs. Diakonov was once
Stalin’s Little Bird. Svetlana Kopylova
was a highly placed director in the
“So she is a spy and a traitor?”
Aleksandr spoke up, “No, she works for
the British government. She was a
defector from the
Sir Reginald sneered, “That doesn’t mean
she is not a double agent. That’s
exactly what the Soviet Ambassador said.”
The embassy lead opened his hands,
“Chairman Mao gave Mrs. Diakonov the highest honor he possibly could.”
“What?
What do you mean?”
“He praised her. He said he was amused, and offered tea to
her. Offering tea directly from your
hands is the highest honor you can make in Chinese society.”
“I know that. What did she do? I had no idea she spoke Chinese.”
“She thanked the Chairman in perfect
Mandarin Chinese and recited a Chinese poem.”
“Was that good?”
“Sir Reginald, it was so bloody
good... It was so good that Mao
instructed Madam Mao to refill Mrs. Diakonov’s cup.”
“And what does that indicate?”
“Mao could not socially refill a woman’s
cup. He sent his wife, Madam Mao. It was the highest honor he could give to
Mrs. Diakonov. But Mrs. Diakonov is an
absolute genius.”
“How so?”
“She could have remained seated at her
place. That would have been most
correct. What she did was she took her
cup to Madam Mao.”
“Why does that mean anything?”
The British ambassador tapped his fingers
on the table, “Instead of waiting for Madam Mao, Mrs. Diakonov stood and took
the cup and met Madam Mao half way. That
indicated the respect and honor Mrs. Diakonov and our British delegation hold
Chairman Mao. You saw, her gesture was
not lost on the Chairman, he stood, praised her, asked her to drink, and
invited her to give the party another poem.”
“Why is that so special?”
“What is special about it is that she
did. On the second invitation, the guest
is free to politely decline. The
invitation is provided to allow such a declination—usually a single poem is
considered the epitome of taste. She
gave another perfectly chosen poem. This
again greatly honored the Chairman.” The
ambassador grew excited, “You heard what Chairman Mao did for her?”
“No, I didn’t understand it.”
“He declared her a friend of the People’s
Republic of
“So what you are telling me, sir, is that
Lumière both saved the day and almost caused the failure of our mission?”
“Sir Reginald, I wouldn’t exactly express
it that way.”
“She speaks perfect Chinese—she never
told me she ever ate in a Chinese restaurant.
She was a Soviet defector—I thought she was a French émigré. She once was a highly placed communist—I
thought she was a member of the Labor Party.
Good God man, she deceived me and all the rest of us. The Soviets called her on it, and she luckily
bailed herself out. I don’t find that at
all uplifting. I find it dangerous and
potentially traitorous.”
“Whatever you call it, Sir Reginald, it
was brilliant. She was brilliant. I have never seen anyone act so perfectly
Chinese, even the Chinese themselves.”
Sir
Reginald didn’t have anything to say in response to that.
This is a betrayal plot, but a
backward betrayal. My protagonist was a
covert agent betrayed by the Soviets.
That betrayal also revealed her to the British and to the Chinese
Communists. The betrayal was turned
backwards, but in the novel resulted in the British putting a lockdown on the
protagonist—which then leads to the next scene and escape.
The betrayal plot is a common plot
and can result in some very excellent entertainment and writing. Use it well.
In the end, we can figure out what
makes a work have a great plot, and apply this to our writing.
Let’s 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
Greatt blog I enjoyed reading
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