29 March 2021, Writing - part xx543 Writing a Novel, Turning the Telic Flaw into Curse 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:
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%
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.
If we have a protagonist, we have a
telic flaw. In fact, we should have an
internal and an external telic flaw. We
want to take the telic flaw and turn it into an overall plot and plots.
In looking at the classics and most
specifically, the plots in the classics, it became obvious that every novel
contains more than one plot. In fact,
all novels contain many plots that support the telic flaw resolution. This was unexpected for me. I just presumed that each novel just had a
plot, but evaluation of plots in a novel showed us this just wasn’t true. What is true is there should be only one
telic flaw in a novel and the various plots all work together to resolve the
telic flaw. We also saw that there can
be an internal and external telic flaw.
These are usually resolved in the same climax.
I showed and charted the various
plots we find in the first Harry Potty novel.
These are listed below. All of
these plot types and plots result in the resolution of the telic flaw of the
first Harry Potty novel.
In Harry Potty you have these plots:
Overall (o)
1.
Redemption (o) – 17i, 7e, 23ei, 8 –
49% - yeap, Harry must change and learn about wizarding or something.
2.
Revelation (o) –2e, 64, 1i – 60% -
yeap, the whole wizarding world
3.
Achievement (o) – 16e, 19ei, 4i, 43
– 73% - yeap, Harry must defeat Voldermort.
Achievement (a)
1.
Detective or mystery (a) – 56, 1e –
51% - yeap, Harry has to solve some mysteries
2.
Revenge or vengeance (a) –3ie, 3e,
45 – 46% - yeap, presumed since Voldermort murdered Harry’s parents
3.
Zero to hero (a) – 29 – 26% - yeap,
Harry is a hero from supposed zero (not a very good one)
4.
Romance (a) –1ie, 41 – 37% - yeap,
very slight.
5.
Coming of age (a) –1ei, 25 – 23% -
yeap, presumed.
6.
Discovery (a) – 3ie, 57 – 54% -
yeap, all about magic.
7.
Self-discovery (a) – 3i, 12 – 13% -
yeap, coming of age is self-discovery
8.
Reason (a) – 10, 1ie – 10% - yeap,
the end climax is based in the use of magic, chess thinking, riding a broom,
and figuring out what the philosopher’s stone can do.
9.
Knowledge or Skill (a) – 26 – 23% -
yeap, that’s magic.
10. Secrets (a) – 21 – 19% - yeap, everybody has a secret in the
wizard world
Quality (q)
1.
Messiah (q) – 10 – 9% - yeap, Harry
is a messiah.
2.
Betrayal (q) – 1i, 1ie, 46 – 43% -
yeap, Longshanks gets betrayed and that turns the success of Griffindor.
3.
Blood will out or fate (q) –1i, 1e,
26 – 25% - yeap, Harry was born to be the messiah.
4.
Magic (q) – 8 – 7% - yeap, it’s all
about magic.
5.
Camaraderie (q) – 19 – 17% - yeap,
with his friends.
6.
Curse (q) – 4 – 4% - yeap, the mark
and his power over Voldermort.
7.
Mentor (q) – 12 – 11% - kinda, you
get this more in the other novels, but Harry has his mentors throughout.
Setting (s)
1.
War (s) – 20 – 18% - yeap,
Voldermort is at war with the rest of the wizard world.
2.
Travel (s) –1e, 62 – 56% - yeap,
some travel to Hogswart and around.
3.
Horror (s) – 15 – 13% - kinda, it’s
low grade, but supposed to excite.
4.
Children (s) – 24 – 21% - obviously
5.
School (s) – 11 – 10% - duh
6.
Parallel (s) – 4 – 4% - yeap, with
the real world. This is a reflected
worldview.
7.
Fantasy world (s) – 5 – 4% - yeap,
there ain’t no real magic out there.
Item (i)
Article (i) – 1e, 46 – 42% - yeap,
the broom, the philosopher’s stone, the mirror
Here’s the question for us as
authors. If we have a protagonist with
his or her telic flaw (the telic flaw of the novel) can we plot shop to help
write and improve our novel? You’d think
the answer should be a resounding yes.
The actual answer is a resounding meh.
Most of the time, the protagonist and the setting determines large
portions of the plots. This is really
important to understand. Let’s continue on
with Harry Potty looking at the quality plots.
Quality (q)
1.
Messiah (q) – 10 – 9% - yeap, Harry
is a messiah.
2.
Betrayal (q) – 1i, 1ie, 46 – 43% -
yeap, Longshanks gets betrayed and that turns the success of Griffindor.
3.
Blood will out or fate (q) –1i, 1e,
26 – 25% - yeap, Harry was born to be the messiah.
4.
Magic (q) – 8 – 7% - yeap, it’s all
about magic.
5.
Camaraderie (q) – 19 – 17% - yeap,
with his friends.
6.
Curse (q) – 4 – 4% - yeap, the mark
and his power over Voldermort.
7.
Mentor (q) – 12 – 11% - kinda, you
get this more in the other novels, but Harry has his mentors throughout.
Now, we might be getting
somewhere. We may be able to choose
quality plots. Perhaps not, but I think
there is some scope here that the achievement plots didn’t. Let’s look at the curse plot.
What is Harry Potty without his
curse? Here’s a great curse plot, and I
admire Rowling for using it. In this
case, the curse isn’t really a curse at all.
Yes, everyone goes around stating how terrible a curse it is, but it isn’t
a curse at all. Except the kid has this
funny scar, the curse isn’t really a curse.
Harry is cursed to do good stuff.
In a true curse, the cursed has some
terrible problem and the curse must be broken to achieve the telic flaw
resolution. In Harry Potty’s case, the
curse doesn’t need to be broken and the telic flaw will be resolved while the
curse is on. In fact, without the curse,
Harry would be a deader.
That isn’t how curse plots are
supposed to work, but Rowling has given us an excellent example of how to use
this type of curse plot.
I too have written a curse
plot. My curse plot was a real one—the curse
had real consequences and put my protagonist into terrible problems, physical,
personal, and emotional. In my novel,
the curse was not necessarily broken, but it was countered. We’ve kind of made a map of how the curse
plot works and how to use it.
If you notice, in Harry Potty, the
curse plot is not necessarily an add-on, but it really has little play in the
overall novel. It marks Harry and caused
his survival, but as a continuing issue, it really isn’t. It does allow the
author to bring in the curse whenever she wants Harry to have special knowledge
or to foreshadow stuff. This curse plot
is a creative element that keep on giving.
The author can use it over and over to bring in all kinds of fixes and
foreshadowing.
The other type of curse, at the
other extreme, is the curse plot which completely upends the life of the protagonist. In the extreme, this curse must be ended to
resolve the telic flaw. In my novel Aksinya: Enchantment and the Deamon, this
is the curse. This curse defines the
entire novel, and the protagonist, Aksinya, must resolve it to resolve the
telic flaw. In fact, the curse is the
telic flaw. This is an example of a
curse plot that can’t be an add-on.
On the other hand, in my novel, Sorcha: Enchantment and the Curse, the
curse is a definite creative element that affects the protagonist, but it is a
curse that has positive and negative characteristics based on the actions of
the character. The curse can’t be lifted
and must be accommodated.
We see three different conditions in
the use of the curse plot. The first is to
define the protagonist, but it really doesn’t have many if any negative
effects, and doesn’t need resolution.
The second also defines the protagonist and the plot, causes negative effects,
and also doesn’t need resolution. The third
define the protagonist and the plot and must be resolved to resolve the telic
flaw.
The first two are pretty much
add-ons. They may define the protagonist,
but they do not define the climax of the novel.
The last is really the telic flaw of the novel.
What this means is that you can add
in a curse plot whenever it makes sense.
You can define the protagonist or just bring it in latter as a creative
element. This is a real add-on type
plot. I’m not saying to throw in a curse
plot willy-nilly, but when appropriate, in the context of the novel, it might
be a real entertainment builder. You can
see how innocuous it is for Harry Potty—it literally becomes an identification
means and an identifier for the protagonist.
It tells everyone, here’s Harry the cursed boy who beat the curse of
Voldermort. Kool use of the curse plot.
In the end, we can figure out what
makes a work have a great plot, and apply this to our writing.
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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