20 April 2021, Writing - part xx565 Writing a Novel, Still 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 now have a Romantic protagonist. She is a girl named Rose Craigie. Her father was James Sinclair and her mother
Desert Rose Craigie, a garden Fae who had beguiled James.
Because of her background, Rose is isolated and
alienated. This is the telic flaw. There are other external issues around this
internal telic flaw, but they can be handled through achievement plots. The overall telic flaw is internal and
requires a redemption plot. Rose must
change to achieve her telic flaw resolution.
We also defined a protagonist’s helper. I brought Shiggy Tash out of my other novels
for this purpose. Shiggy will make a
wonderful protagonist’s helper.
I’ve developed an initial scene. This is the most important scene in the
novel. In this case, it will be the
meeting of the protagonist and the protagonist’s helper—Shiggy and Rose.
Now, I’m going to pare down the list of plots to those we
can definitely use.
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.
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.
7.
Money (a) – 2e, 26 – 25% - Perhaps a
little bit based on Rose’s desire to hold onto and purchase her house.
8.
Legal (a) – 5 – 4% - Maybe, we may
see some legal problems and interactions.
9.
Self-discovery (a) – 3i, 12 – 13% -
Oh yes, Rose and even Shiggy might be discovering all kinds of things about themselves.
10.
Guilt or Crime (a) – 32 – 29% -
Perhaps. There might be some scope for
this. I had some for Shiggy in her
novel.
11.
Reason (a) – 10, 1ie – 10% - Oh
yeah. Reason is the means of all my
novels’ climax and resolution.
12.
Escape (a) – 1ie, 23 – 21% - Yeah, limited. Rose will try to escape Shiggy, I can guarantee
it.
13.
Knowledge or Skill (a) – 26 – 23% -
Oh yeah, we are talking about the development of skills in Rose.
14. 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.
Quality (q)
1.
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.
2.
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.
3.
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.
4.
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.
5.
Psychological (q) –1i, 45 – 41% - Oh
yes, definitely the psychological plot and Rose as well as Shiggy are a perfect
plot for this novel.
6.
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.
7.
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.
8.
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.
9.
Satire (q) – 10 – 9% - oh yeah, this
is always possible for use.
10.
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.
11.
Curse (q) – 4 – 4% - perhaps. This could be a great add-on idea in the
novel.
12. 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.
Setting (s)
1.
War (s) – 20 – 18% - This is always
an option, we could use any modern conflict as the catalyst for Shiggy’s
mission. This is worth pursuing.
2.
Travel (s) –1e, 62 – 56% - Yeah, I
expect to put in some travel plots. We
need to mix up the plots with some movement and some fun connections. At the least, we need to speak to Mrs. Calloway
and perhaps the head of the Organization or MI-6.
3.
Horror (s) – 15 – 13% - A little fear
and scare is always good. The trick is
to see how we can make this play.
4.
Historical (s) – 19 – 17% -
Definitely then not. This is set in
about 2025 so modern but slightly future.
The history will be the reality of the events and the times leading up
to the novel.
5.
School (s) – 11 – 10% - I’m thinking
that this might be a fun add. Not sure
it can fit, but I did put Essie in a school setting, and you wouldn’t think
that from the beginning of the novel.
6.
Parallel (s) – 4 – 4% - Yes,
parallel with the modern world.
7.
Fantasy world (s) – 5 – 4% - To some
degree. This will be a reflected world
novel with the supernatural and British and Scottish myth.
8.
Prison (s) – 2 – 2% - I don’t think
this can fit at all, but this is always a potential depending on how much
trouble Shiggy and Rose can get into. Shiggy
did get herself put in prison for about a week in the last novel, but it wasn’t
her problem—kind of.
Item (i)
2.
Article (i) – 1e, 46 – 42% - Oh yes,
I would really like to bring in an article plot. I’m not sure where this would fit, but an article
plot might be really fun. Perhaps there
was a will or another piece of paper that granted the Viera Lodge to Rose. This might make a fun setup, or then again,
she might not be able to keep the place.
Her hope might be to recover it in the future. It’s not the most sought after piece of
property or house. There is also other
possibilities for articles. Perhaps a
book or books. I’m always thinking about
mythical items to bring into my reflected worldview novels. I’m not certain what type of item or what it
could be. Perhaps Rose’s mother left her
something or she finds something with her glamour. Perhaps Rose finds she can use some kind of
device that has been impossible for others.
Or even better, perhaps her special skills allow her to achieve
something no one else has been able to do.
I alluded to this through my Valeska novel. Leroa, one of the major characters could hide
using shadows as no other person could.
She used her skills to infiltrate and surveille. Perhaps Rose can discover just such a
skill.
We defined
this skill as part of the Romantic protagonist development. Here’s what we have.
Rose can
determine the composition of things especially chemically. We won’t make this a magical or a glamour type
skill, but rather a skill developed though experience. In other words, Rose can tell you the general
composition and whether there is a poison or other dangerous substance. We can add an uncanny ability to put things
together.
Rose has an
ability to conceal herself when she is surrounded with flowers. Like the Desert Rose appears very tempting
and beautiful but is a poisonous flower.
Let’s make her naturally and unintentionally beguiling. She is beautiful from her father and her mother. She has a natural glamour from her mother
that is of being a hidden and poisonous flower when among many. She can discover secrets—that is the
composition of people as well as of things.
Rose is super
good with others. Unnaturally good while
being absolutely resilient. She is
teachable, but needs to be won. These
are some pretty fun secrets and skills to reveal. Remember, this is a revelation novel. The point is to have a bunch of fun secrets
to reveal. Rose’s special skills are
just part of that revelation. We will
emphasize these by having her aid Shiggy in her work.
The development of the protagonist’s skills comes late in
the game. They also can grow with the
plots and the novel. If you didn’t
notice, this protagonist and plot development has required enormous research,
and there is still more to do. I have
enough to start writing, and that’s what I did.
Perhaps I’ll show my work in a future post.
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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