18 April 2021, Writing - part xx563 Writing a Novel, Developing the Protagonist Using 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%
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.
We started with the overall plots. Began to develop a classic Romantic
protagonist. Then I applied the overall
plots to the character. Here’s the
result.
This is a
redemption plot and a telic flaw for the novel.
There can be more to this telic flaw.
Fro example, I’d like to add that in the redemption, our protagonist
needs to achieve some type of success.
Did you read that “achieve some type of success?” This is an achievement plot.
We will have
a revelation plot for our protagonist.
You know more now about the protagonist than the reader until reading
the novel. The point is to write the
plot to reveal the protagonist.
I’ve written
over and over that the best initial scene is the meeting of the protagonist and
the antagonist or the protagonist’s helper.
For this novel, let’s choose a protagonist’s helper. Our Romantic protagonist has a problem. She is alienated and isolated. Many of those features which make her a
perfect Romantic protagonist also make her a perfect candidate for
redemption. However, like many
protagonists, at first, she doesn’t feel like she needs to change. So, here is a great setup.
Shiggy has
been assigned a yet unresearched intelligence job and has been allowed the use
of the girl’s house. This is perfect
because the villagers think the house is haunted. The girl is literally and figuratively
haunting the house. Because she has the
power of glamour, she is perfectly capable of really acting like a
haunting.
This is the
environment Shiggy is coming into. Now,
we have a setup for the initial scene.
The secret of the girl is a wonderful secret and one we don’t want to
reveal too quickly or too haphazardly.
Here is what I’d like the initial scene to look like.
First, I’d
like to have Shiggy come to the house and explore it. During her explorations. She sees potential evidence of the girl, but it seems like the haunting
the real estate person in the village told her about. The only point is that Shiggy knows there is
no such thing as a ghost or a haunting.
Shiggy does know all about the Fae and Fae glamour. It’s all in my novel Sorcha: Enchantment
and the Curse. Unfortunately, this
novel is not published yet.
The girl is
eventually cornered and found by Shiggy.
That’s when parts of her story begin to come out. Shiggy sees potential and the novel
progresses along this plotline. This is
a very interesting plotline to me because this girl is in some ways the
opposite of Shiggy.
Our girl is
Rose Sinclair or Rose Craigie. I’m
setting this up as a secret and a mystery in the novel. It will be used as a red herring to draw attention
from the facts and confuse the protagonist’s helper. Setting up secrets is always a very good
idea.
What does
she look like? The desert rose is
delicate but very strong. I mentioned it
is poison. I didn’t say it is
tough. When touched it puts out its
poison. Thus let’s describe the mother
of our protagonist. She is delicate and
notably small for a modern world woman.
This is a characteristic means I use to describe the Fae. They are akin to the humans who lived in the
far past thus smaller than the norm.
They tend to be beautiful and striking.
Desert Rose would likely be red headed and slender. Her skin would be very pale.
Here’s what
we have. Rose Craigie has flaming red
hair. Perhaps the reddest hair seen on
any Scottish Lass. She was as slender as
a willow or perhaps a garden flower.
Thin and tall with the look of a wild flower. If you could see her eyes hidden in her
blazing red hair, you would see them as green as a tabby cat, but she kept her
head down and her eyes covered as much as possible by her hair. And if you could see her face, what a pleasure
you would behold. A thin but noble nose
and cheeks touched with rose. Lips fine
and red as if they had been recently pinched all set perfectly and delicately
in a heart-shaped face. She looked like
fine porcelain—the face of a doll in a human frame. Achingly beautiful, wonderfully made.
Do you see
how detailed the development of a protagonist is, and how connected the protagonist
is to the setting and the plot(s). I
wrote that as I developed the protagonist, I also developed a setting. Based on our protagonist, I required a house,
and I found one. I needed a place in
northern Scotland based on how I was developing my protagonist. I could have used some other place, but this
seemed to fit very well. I actually discovered
a house that was perfect. It was smaller
than I imagined the house I was thinking about, but Viera Lodge on the Orkney
Islands seemed like a perfect fit for what I wanted to write.
I needed a
place for Shiggy to go, that’s my protagonist’s helper, and at a safe house. Shiggy’s mission is important, but only in
context to the setting and the protagonist.
That’s how these things work in novels.
We have the
beginnings of a plotline with a redemption plot, a revelation plot, and a
potential achievement plot. We can then
add plots. Here is the first list of
achievement plots, and which of these plots can fit into this potential novel
with this protagonist?
Achievement (a)
1.
Detective or mystery (a) – 56, 1e –
51% - Yes, Rose Craigie must include a mystery.
Much of the basic mystery will be about Rose, but we can also add in
Rose and Shiggy. Shiggy comes with a set
of mysteries.
2.
Revenge or vengeance (a) –3ie, 3e,
45 – 46% - I’m not sure a revenge or vengeance plot has a place in this novel,
but I’ll leave this open. Perhaps there
is some degree of vengeance against her mother.
One might feel greatly unhappy with a mother who would abandon their
child.
3.
Zero to hero (a) – 29 – 26% - Oh
yes, I would really like to write Rose from who she is to who she could
be. I would like to write her to be a
hero in the end. This looks really fun
as a plot.
4.
Romance (a) –1ie, 41 – 37% - As a
secondary plot. Shiggy has a love
interest. I’d like to bring him in, but I
suspect there is little scope for Rose and romance, but it’s worth thinking
about.
5.
Coming of age (a) –1ei, 25 – 23% -
Definitely, this novel screams for a coming of age plot based on Rose’s age and
experience.
6.
Progress of technology (a) – 6 – 5%
- Nah.
7.
Discovery (a) – 3ie, 57 – 54% - Oh
yes, this is a built-in discovery plot.
The things to discover are about Rose, about Shiggy, about The
Organization, and Stela, and about Rose’s seelie relations.
8.
Money (a) – 2e, 26 – 25% - Perhaps a
little bit based on Rose’s desire to hold onto and purchase her house.
9.
Spoiled child (a) – 7 – 6% - Nah, I
expect Rose to be a bit high strung, but she isn’t a spoiled or bad child.
10.
Legal (a) – 5 – 4% - Maybe, we may
see some legal problems and interactions.
11.
Adultery (qa) – 18 – 16% - Nah, no
scope for this.
12.
Self-discovery (a) – 3i, 12 – 13% -
Oh yes, Rose and even Shiggy might be discovering all kinds of things about themselves.
13.
Guilt or Crime (a) – 32 – 29% -
Perhaps. There might be some scope for
this. I had some for Shiggy in her
novel.
14.
Proselytizing (a) – 4 – 4% - Nah.
15.
Reason (a) – 10, 1ie – 10% - Oh
yeah. Reason is the means of all my
novels’ climax and resolution.
16.
Escape (a) – 1ie, 23 – 21% - Yeah, limited. Rose will try to escape Shiggy, I can guarantee
it.
17.
Knowledge or Skill (a) – 26 – 23% -
Oh yeah, we are talking about the development of skills in Rose.
18. Secrets (a) – 21 – 19% - Yeah, there are all kinds of
secrets in this potential novel. Rose’s
secrets, Shiggy’s secrets, national secrets, and other secrets.
That’s the second list.
We chose some overall plots to use and now pulled in some achievement
plots. That’s where we will go from
next.
We can expand the achievement plots as we desire. We saw before that the achievement plots are
directly connected to the protagonist and the setting. In other words, we can’t really plot shop
much with these plots. In this regard, I
haven’t settled fully on the plotline or the storyline although I’ve started
developing it. With that in mind, let’s
look at the next set of plots, the quality plots:
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%
So, how can we use these:
Quality (q)
1.
Messiah (q) – 10 – 9% - nope, you
might be able to make a messiah plot out of this protagonist and plotline, but
I don’t like these plots and I’m not interested in that kind of novel.
2. Adultery (qa) – 18 – 16% - nope, I don’t intend to use this
plot type.
3. Rejected love (rejection) (q) – 1ei, 21 – 20% - there is a
possibility of this with Shiggy and her beau or with Rose and some potential
lover, but I don’t think so. Shiggy’s
relationship is pretty tight, and Rose is just the wrong type of protagonist for
this, especially in this novel. This might
be a good plot for the next novel about Rose.
4. Miscommunication (q) – 8 – 7% - yes, this is a perfect plot
and a great potential for this type of novel.
The trick is to figure it out and develop it for the protagonist,
protagonist’s helper, and other characters.
5. Love triangle (q) – 14 – 12% - I don’t think so.
6. Betrayal (q) – 1i, 1ie, 46 – 43% - Possible. The question is from where? I wouldn’t have Shiggy betray Rose. Perhaps that could be through
miscommunication. I definitely wouldn’t
have Stela or the Organization betray Shiggy—perhaps betray Rose because of
Shiggy’s mission. Perhaps a betrayal of
Rose or Shiggy by the Fae. Maybe a
betrayal by the company or person holding the house for sale. There are options, but I’m not sure where to
put it in.
7. Blood will out or fate (q) –1i, 1e, 26 – 25% - this is
definitely possible in this novel. The
expectations are what the Fae expect of Rose and of Rose’s mother Desert
Rose. In addition, there is an
expectation of Rose from Stela and the Organization. This is a possible plot although I don’t like
this plot.
8. Psychological (q) –1i, 45 – 41% - Oh yes, definitely the
psychological plot and Rose as well as Shiggy are a perfect plot for this
novel.
9. Magic (q) – 8 – 7% - I’ll call it glamour and not magic, but
yes, the supernatural will fit well in this novel about a child born of a
supernatural creature and a human.
10. Mistaken identity (q) – 18 – 16% - Yes, I’d like to use
this, but I’m not certain how to use it.
This is a definite plot to add.
11. Illness (q) – 1e, 19 – 18% - always a possible plot type in
every novel. We can add this
anywhere. This would be great for either
Shiggy or for Rose. Either one would
make a great few scenes. It is definitely
not an overall plotline, but a possible plot.
12. Anti-hero (q) – 6 – 5% - nah.
13. Immorality (q) – 3i, 8 – 10% - nah.
14. Satire (q) – 10 – 9% - oh yeah, this is always possible for
use.
15. Camaraderie (q) – 19 – 17% - definitely. I’m already planning to develop a close and
friendly relationship between Shiggy and Rose.
This will be a much different relationship than that between Shiggy and
Sorcha.
16. Curse (q) – 4 – 4% - perhaps. This could be a great add-on idea in the
novel.
17. Insanity (q) – 8 – 7% - nah.
Perhaps the indications of insanity or the use of insanity as a defense
for Rose. I can see that.
18.
Mentor (q) – 12 – 11% - oh yes, the
mentor plot is just the perfect type of plot to use between an alienated and
isolated girl and Shiggy.
Wow, we can see how these plots can be potentially
integrated into this novel. I’m not
certain of the details at the moment, but this is one method of thinking about
novels and about plots. We just go down
the list and see how we might use these plots.
We’ll look at the next group of plots.
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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