12 April 2021, Writing - part xx557 Writing a Novel, More Turning Overall Plots into the Protagonist
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%
This time,
let’s start with the plots that we found define the protagonist, and then
determine a telic flaw from that. We
will develop a protagonist and a telic flaw from archetype plots.
I’ve never tried this before but is sounds interesting. Perhaps I’ll determine a protagonist with a
telic flaw I want to write about.
I guess I should approach this in as logical a fashion as
possible. So, I guess we should start
with the overall plots. Here’s the
list.
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%
Perhaps one method would be to write a list of the various
types of plots. For example, let’s start
with redemption. What things might a
person be redeemed from. Let’s realize
our list won’t be comprehensive. There
are possibly millions of things a person could be redeemed from, but let’s make
some kind of list. I’ll put down a whole
buch of things—even ones I’m not very interested in:
Redemption:
1.
From some kind of life of sin or
immorality – this is a classic redemption.
This might include criminality, murder, stealing, adultery, rape,
pornography, prostitution, general immorality, and all. This is actually a classical type of redemption,
but it isn’t all there is.
2. From some kind of curse – this is a type of redemption found
in the classics. This is one of my
favorites to use. Here’s some
specifics. How about from being a
vampire, a werewolf, a family curse, a specific curse, from magic use, from
some other esoteric physical belief.
I’ll leave that to your imagination.
I can think of some things, but it might get ugly. We’ll here is an example, in the days of
Galileo much of the world believed in an terra-centric (earth-centric) solar
system (universe). Galileo observed the
solar system was helio-centric (the earth revolved around the sun). Such a redemption from a false belief to a
true scientific belief, could be seen as redemption from an esoteric physical
belief.
3. From an incorrect or evil system of belief. For example, from a cult or a different
religion. A classic is from paganism to
Christianity. This is also a type of
classic and historical redemption. The
opposite is true to some people. For example,
an atheist might consider redemption from religion to atheism. This is a pretty varied view of the world.
4. From lack of success to success. This includes from poverty to wealth, from
ignorance to education, from lack of training to training, from lack of skills
to skilled. If you remember, the
redemption plot means the protagonist must do something to change, this becomes
very clear.
5. From physical, emotional, or mental slavery. This really has legs. If the term slavery seems too far, how about
from an abusive relationship or abusive job or an abusive situation. This is a very common theme and plot
today. Think about the Red Badge of
Courage where the protagonist is afraid and a coward. That is this type of redemption.
6. From a life of penury to a life of value and success. Perhaps this is too much like number four
above, but this is kind of a mix of four and five. The idea that people are locked in a cycle of
poverty or of lack of education is this point.
7.
Are there more—yeah I think so. I’ll try to think of more for tomorrow when
we look at the revelation plot.
Revelation
1.
The protagonist, but this might be
too general.
2.
The life of the protagonist—that’s
just the plot of the novel.
3.
The secrets of the
protagonist—that’s the life of the protagonist
4.
Okay, we can see this is a very
general kind of overall plot. It’s still
important. The protagonist needs something
to reveal. In the past, that is in the
Victorian Era and before, the revelation of the protagonist was a new
idea. The authors did it, but they had
little perception of this idea. In
general, in the early development of the novel, the authors were more
interested in presenting a revelation of the plot and not the protagonist. In the earliest novels, the authors couldn’t
help but reveal the protagonist because they were journal style novels. In a journal, the revelation of the
protagonist is a given, but even with these novels, the author’s focus was on
the plot (what the protagonist did) and not necessarily the protagonist. As the novel evolved and matured, the
protagonist became more and more important, while the plot became less
important. This is not to say the plot
wasn’t important, but look at novels like David Copperfield or The
Christmas Carol or Great Expectations. These are all Victorian Era novels, but their
focus is more on the protagonist and the protagonist revelation than the plot. As I noted, the plot is still important, but
a rambling plot is an indication of a protagonist revelation. In the modern era, we see even more focus on
the protagonist with the true development of the Romantic protagonist. Just look at Harry Potty or any other modern
and especially youth novels. Yeah, there
is a strong plot, but the protagonist is the focus. The revelation of the protagonist is the most
important part of these novels. Where
you see a dilution of this is with multiple protagonists and with multiple
plots. Game of Thrones and The
Martian Chronicles are examples of these types of novels. In fact, you will find in most short story
style novels, this is true. In any case,
the revelation of the protagonist means we need an interesting and exciting
protagonist. Long story short…
Let’s go ahead and transition to the achievement plot.
Achievement
1.
Wealth
2.
Position
3.
Education
4.
Any goal
5.
Magic
6.
Athleticism
7.
Defeat enemy
8.
Save someone or something
9.
Profession
10. Redemption
11. Solve crime
12. Solve mystery
13. Find something
14. Uncover mystery
15.
Discover something or someone
Above are our lists of overall plots. We definitely want a redemption plot—there
are must so many, and we really want a matching achievement plot. Let’s start with the concept of the Romantic
protagonist and move from there.
The Romantic protagonist comes from the common man (person
okay). Literary critic Northrop Frye
noted that the Romantic hero is often "placed outside the structure of
civilization and therefore represents the force of physical nature, amoral or
ruthless, yet with a sense of power, and often leadership, that society has
impoverished itself by rejecting". He
or she is also introspective, displays the triumph of the individual, melancholic,
wanderlust, misanthropic, alienated, and isolated. In looking at the modern Romantic protagonist,
we need to deconstruct these traits.
1.
From the common person is obvious.
2. Outside the structure of civilization means the person has
been trained and educated outsaid the norm.
They are iconoclastic and many times ancient in their views.
3. Force of physical nature in modern literature means the
character has some skills and abilities that are based in physical nature. Those skills and abilities are usually self
discovered, but they are discovered skills.
Harry Potty is an example with his magical skills.
4. Amoral or ruthless means willing to put aside convention for
ultimate success. This plays into the
concept of the triumph of the individual.
In other words the Romantic protagonist uses every force and ability in
his or her nature to succeed. The Romantic
protagonist is often a moral power outside of the norm. Think of Harry Potty and the rule breaking he
accomplished to succeed and just to have fun.
5. Sense of power and leadership means just what it says. The Romantic protagonist has a sense of power
based in their outside training and education.
Think of the Jedi Knights from Star Bores. These knights had a strength of power and
leadership based on their esoteric training which was a force of nature (the
Force). The Romantic protagonist is
usually a reluctant leader, pulled into leadership by circumstances.
6. Society has impoverished itself by rejecting. In other words, the Romantic protagonist
usually is leading a group or being given the leadership of a group who is
outside of the norms of society. The Jedi
Knights are this example, but you can see other examples in history. The World War Two partisans or secret groups
working inside or outside of the normal government systems. Superhero movies are filled with examples.
7. Introspective means intellectual. This is a kind of codeword for
intellectual. In the past, every protagonist
and every reasoned person considered themselves an intellectual. An introspective intellectual is a person who
actually thinks about his or her knowledge and understanding of things. The introspecting protagonist is one who
contemplates his or her actions beforehand and reasons them through. This is especially true if the protagonist contemplates
the reason and results of his or her actions.
8. Triumph of the individual means the protagonist is many
times isolated and rejected for their views which then come true in the context
of the novel. The Romantic protagonist resolves
the telic flaw through reasoning and action usually by themselves. Flavia de Luca is a great modern
example. She is an isolated child who
uses her intellectual and chemistry knowledge to solve murders.
9. Melancholic doesn’t mean depressive or depressed—it means
thinking especially about their thoughts and emotions. Contemplative is probably a better modern word.
10. Wanderlust is another old world term that needs explanation. Wanderlust simply sets us up for the travel
plot. In the past, many times the
protagonist was unwilling to travel for almost any reason. Today, travel is not uncommon. In fact, the travel plot is very common in
the classics and especially in modern literature. You can read wanderlust in terms of the
Romantic protagonist as willingness to travel and ability to travel. Not so special in those terms, is it.
11. Misanthropic literally means hating humanity, however, the
Romantic protagonist doesn’t hate humanity, but rather rejects certain aspects
of common societies and cultures. For
example, the Romantic protagonist in the industrial era might reject industry
and support the country ideal. In the era
of pastoral ideals, the Romantic protagonist might reject the country ideal for
the city and industrialism. During a
religious period, the Romantic protagonist might reject the conventional and
catholic for the Reformation and restoration.
The Romantic protagonist is counter-cultural which doesn’t necessarily
mean what you might think. The Romantic protagonist
in a counter-cultural period might be a classic nerd, while during a
conservative period, the Romantic protagonist might be a revolutionary. Romantic protagonists do tend toward the
revolutionary, but always counter-cultural to the times.
12. Alienated doesn’t necessarily mean a loaner. The Romantic protagonist’s ideas and ideals
are not generally accepted because he or she is counter-cultural. This makes the character alienated from the
culture and society, but not from the counter-culture or from his or her
groups. The Romantic protagonist is a
reluctant leader, but nearly always a leader.
13.
Isolation is like alienated. Isolated means from the common culture and
society.
All these characteristics are common to the Romantic protagonist,
but not all required or all inclusive. Let’s
take these and begin building a protagonist from the plots.
I’m leaving up the lists so we can use them for
reference. Let’s put together a Romantic
protagonist and then apply the overall plots.
I’ll build a great Romantic protagonist.
I may or might not use this protagonist in the future, but let’s just
take a look at making a really good one.
Let’s just go down the list.
From the common means we need a protagonist who is not from a wealthy or
noble family. That includes politics or
leadership. This is a normal person from
a “normal” family. When I write normal, we
need to take into consideration the event horizon, the culture, and the
society. Let’s not build a setting yet,
but let’s start with a normal person from a normal background within the
eventual context of our setting, society, and culture. I really like to go down my list of potential
protagonists from characters in my other novels. I won’t do this yet, but that’s my usual
start—let’s go on to the next characteristic.
Outside of the structure of civilization. This is really pressing us towards a setting
and time. I’d like to resist this at the
moment. In today’s culture in the USA or
Europe, we could take a person who was homeschooled. We could also make a character who was
educated in a foreign nation or in an excessive environment. For example, a child educated in a Soviet
Gulag or a CCP Gulag. You could have a
child from an unusual backwoods life. Or
you could have a child from a common schooling background whose background was
unusual. I’ve taken children from an
uncivilized background and brought them into a common school before—that’s
fun. Let’s keep this in mind, but there
are all kinds of outside the structure for our protagonist.
Force of physical nature.
In my literature, I like to use the mythical and the supernatural. Let’s begin to set our protagonist. How about a child raised in a wild
environment? I like to use Britain and
there are still places in the United Kingdom and in Britain that are wild. The USA or Canada would be great places for
the wild origination setting. The reason
I mention these places because the English language is common. I don’t mind working in other languages, but
English is the focus of my readers and English readers appreciate English
speaking characters—especially those who can speak other languages. Let’s keep this as an open point—I haven’t
set the protagonist yet.
Amoral or ruthless.
This is more of a characteristic than a setting object, but you can
imagine a character whose parents or family was killed by some antagonist. The reasons for this attitude or
characteristic are more important than their use of them. Perhaps we should have a character whose
family was involved in spying in one of the nations we mentioned. The child was orphaned through some means and
now has to live on his or her own.
Sense of power and leadership. Again this is more of a characteristic than a
setting object. Our protagonist should
have been on his or her own for a while.
He or she is mentally and emotionally strong and has a natural
leadership aura.
Society has impoverished itself by rejecting him or
her. This protagonist has great or
growing skills, but he or she is not appreciated for what he or she can do.
Introspective means intellectual. He or she loves to read and study. He or she wants education. If you notice, the normal education was
denied to a degree by being outside the structure of civilization. These are not all inclusive, but we are
taking the extreme in this development.
I mean by that we are building an entirely Romantic protagonist based on
all the characteristics of a Romantic protagonist. Our protagonist loves to read and study. He or she would like more of an
education. We haven’t set the age or
place yet. The age makes a great difference. If a youth, there is a possibility of going
to school or boarding school. If older
then university or a graduate program.
If an adult, then some means of learning new skills or education. That means some training program.
Triumph of the individual.
Our protagonist might be helped, but he or she triumphs because of his
or her skills and abilities.
Melancholic. Okay,
deep thinking and slightly disturbed. I
don’t mean emotionally, but mentally.
This is the constant tension of the Romantic.
Wanderlust. Yes, our protagonist
is willing or has been forced to move around.
For example, as you can see in the setup, our protagonist might have
been chased out of his or her homeland or place to some other.
Misanthropic. Our
protagonist is wary of others for good reasons.
We setup the point of a person who was orphaned and chased out of his or
her normal place. If we have the child
of a spy or perhaps some other isolated person, this gives a great reason for
mistrusting others.
Alienated and isolated.
Yes, we are moving just toward this circumstance.
We can reduce some of our lists and begin seeing how we can
put this together in a protagonist.
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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