Writing - part xx652 Writing a Novel, Plots and My Novels, more about The Fox’s Honor

 17 July 2021, Writing - part xx652 Writing a Novel, Plots and My Novels, more about The Fox’s Honor

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 21^st 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 29^th 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 30^th novel, working title Red Sonja.  I finished my 29^th 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. 

 

For Novel 32:  Shiggy Tash finds a lost girl in the isolated Scottish safe house her organization gives her for her latest assignment: Rose Craigie has nothing, is alone, and needs someone or something to rescue and acknowledge her as a human being.

 

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. 

 

I evaluated the plots from the list of 112 classics 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.

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. 

 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%

Here is a list of my novels:

 

1*	SF	A Season of Honor (Honor III)	1986	P 08
2	1		30-Oct	Nov
2*	SF	The Fox’s Honor (Honor II)	1989	P 08
3	2		2-May	Oct
3	SF	The End of Honor (Honor I)	1995	P 08
9	3		13-Jul	Jul
4	HF	Antebellum	1991	*
4	4		7-Feb
5*	F	Aegypt	1992	P 08
5	5		16-Jun	Jan
6*	HF	Centurion	1995	P 08
8	6		1-Feb	Jan
7a*	SF	Athelstan Cying	1992	A
6	7		26-Sep
8 15	SF	Twilight Lamb	2007	A
7b*	8		8-Aug
9 16	SF	Regia Anglorum	2007	A
7c	17		23-Nov
10*	SF	The Second Mission*	1996	P 03
10	9		13-Nov	Aug
11	Fan	Illidin	1977	I
1			Sep
12	F	Sister of Light	1997	C
11	10		16-Aug
13	F	House	1994	I
7			23-Dec
14	F	Hestia: Enchantment of the Hearth	2006	*
13	11		28-Dec
15	Fan	Aramis	2006	I
12			27-Apr
16	HF	Japan		I
14
17	F	Sister of Darkness	2008	C
17	12		3-Jun
18	F	Shadow of Darkness	2008	A
18	13		14-Sep
19	F	Shadow of Light	2008	A
tt5t	14		24-Oct
20	F	Children of Light and Darkness	2008	A
20	15		1-Dec
21	F	Warrior of Light	2009	A
21	16		1-Feb
22	HF	Praetorian
22
23 23	SF	Shadowed Vale	2009	A
	18		10-May
24 24	SF	Ddraig Goch	2009	W
			25-Aug
25	F	Warrior of Darkness	2009	*
25	19		29-Oct
26	F	Dana-ana: Enchantment and the Maiden	2010	*
26	20		10-Jun
27	F	Aksinya: Enchantment and the Daemon	2010	A
27	21		1-Nov
28	F	Khione: Enchantment and the Fox	2011	*
28	22		1-Mar
29	F	Valeska: Enchantment and the Vampire	2013	*
29	23		26-Nov
30	F	Lilly: Enchantment and the Computer	2014	*
30	24		1-May
31	SF	Escape from Freedom	2014	*
31	25		2-Oct
32	F	Essie: Enchantment and the Aos Si	2015	*
32	26		1-May
33	F	Sorcha: Enchantment and the Curse	2016	*
33	27		1-Mar
34	F	Red Sonja	2016	W
34	XX		1-Mar
35	F	Deirdre: Enchantment and the School	2016	*
35	28		1-Jul
36	F	Blue Rose: Enchantment and the Detective	2018	*
36	29		1-Jul
37	F	Cassandra: Enchantment and the Warriors	2018	*
37			1-Jul
38	F	Rose: Enchantment and the Flower	2021	*
38			1-Mar

 

The Fox’s Honor was the second novel I completed.  It was the fifth published and the fourth by Oaktara.  Unfortunately, Oaktara is out of business.  You are see it on the web, but I’m not sure you can get a new copy.  I’d like to get a new publisher—I might be able to get it republished with them.

 

I wrote The Fox’s Honor to explain the complex issues that led to A Season of Honor.  There are many connections.  Specifically, The Fox’s Honor happens about ten years prior to A Season of Honor.  The prince Devon Rathenberg has assigned himself to start a civil war before the internal enemies of the Empire can start it themselves.  His hope is by doing so, he can beat the internal insurrection before it can gain a strong hold.  In the plan, Devon must die.  Before he dies, Devon Rathenberg has determined to declare his love to the woman he admires.  This is supposed to be his last act on earth.  Devon made a few mistakes.  First, the insurrection already was moving with the execution of the Lady Lyral and the Emperor.  Second, the lady Devon Rathenberg confessed to is the very astute and able Tamar Falkeep.  She won’t let Devon die.

 

Now, Devon Rathenberg has to fix the problems he caused and fight with the rebelling houses to recover the Empire.  Plus, now he has to contend with the Lady Tamar.  

 

Let’s evaluate the plots.

Overall (o)

1.     Redemption (o) – 17i, 7e, 23ei, 8 – 49%  Oh yes, the redemption plot is built in.  You have Devon Rathenberg who needs to redeem himself and his cause.  He also has a problem with Lady Tamar whom he confessed to then tried to jilt.  This irritated her.  Devon needs to redeem himself before almost everyone.

2.     Revelation (o) –2e, 64, 1i – 60%  The revelation is a more common plot and protagonist revelation.  It’s a complex adventure novel and plot.

3.     Achievement (o) – 16e, 19ei, 4i, 43 – 73%  The achievement is fixing the Empire that is on the surface, and that’s an important achievement.  Even more is that Devon Rathenberg must achieve his position, love, and family.

Achievement (a)

1.     Detective or mystery (a) – 56, 1e – 51% There isn’t that strong a mystery in the novel.  There are many secrets that are revealed in the execution of the achievements.

2.     Revenge or vengeance (a) –3ie, 3e, 45 – 46%  Devon Rathenberg must enact revenge against those who murdered the Emperor and against those who caused the insurrection.

3.     Zero to hero (a) – 29 – 26%  Devon Rathenberg is brought to zero by his near brush with death.  He loses everything and almost his love, that is Tamar Falkeep.  Tamar starts him back to the path of hero. 

4.     Romance (a) –1ie, 41 – 37%  The romance is keen in this novel.  It starts with the confession and grows with great strength to the conclusion.

5.     Coming of age (a) –1ei, 25 – 23%  None of that.

6.     Progress of technology (a) – 6 – 5%  Not so much as the technology of science fiction in the future.

7.     Discovery (a) – 3ie, 57 – 54%  The discovery plot is based on Devon Rathenberg’s infiltration of the Imperial planet.

8.     Money (a) – 2e, 26 – 25%  Wealth isn’t a plot.

9.     Spoiled child (a) – 7 – 6%  Nope.

10.  Legal (a) – 5 – 4%  Not really.  There are some legal issues involved, but not really much at all.

11.  Adultery (qa) – 18 – 16%  Nope.

12.  Self-discovery (a) – 3i, 12 – 13%  There are some degrees of self-discovery in the novel, but it isn’t that strong of a plot.

13.  Guilt or Crime (a) – 32 – 29%  Not really—it’s all intelligence operations.

14.  Proselytizing (a) – 4 – 4%  Nope.

15.  Reason (a) – 10, 1ie – 10%  Yes, tactical and strategic reasoning fill the novel and the whole resolution of the telic flaw.

16.  Escape (a)  – 1ie, 23 – 21%  Yes, Devon must get into and then out of the Imperial planet.

17.  Knowledge or Skill (a) – 26 – 23%  Yes, knowledge and skill are the means the protagonist and the protagonist’s helper use to resolve the telic flaw.  

18.  Secrets (a) – 21 – 19%  Yes, but not everywhere. 

Quality (q)

1.     Messiah (q) – 10 – 9%  Nope.

2.     Adultery (qa) – 18 – 16%  Nope.

3.     Rejected love (rejection) (q) – 1ei, 21 – 20%  A small touch of this with Tamar, but it’s resolved early.

4.     Miscommunication (q) – 8 – 7%  Not really.

5.     Love triangle (q) – 14 – 12%  Not really.

6.     Betrayal (q) – 1i, 1ie, 46 – 43%  Betrayal is a side issue that caused the problems in the novel.  It isn’t a full out plot in the novel.

7.     Blood will out or fate (q) –1i, 1e, 26 – 25%  Nope.

8.     Psychological (q) –1i, 45 – 41%  Kinda a little.

9.     Magic (q) – 8 – 7%  Nope.

10.  Mistaken identity (q) – 18 – 16%  Devon Rathenberg travels incognito and sneaks into the Imperial Planet.

11.  Illness (q) – 1e, 19 – 18%  Nope.

12.  Anti-hero (q) – 6 – 5%  Nope.

13.  Immorality (q) – 3i, 8 – 10%  Yes, Devon looks like the bad guy in the novel and must redeem himself.

14.  Satire (q) – 10 – 9%  Not really.

15.  Camaraderie (q) – 19 – 17%  Yes, between Devon, his brother in law, and Tamar.

16.  Curse (q) – 4 – 4%  Nope.

17.  Insanity (q) – 8 – 7%  Nope.

18.  Mentor (q) – 12 – 11%  Nope.

Setting (s)

1.     End of the World (s) – 3 – 3%  Nope.

2.     War (s) – 20 – 18%  Yes, big time intelligence setting within a wartime environment.

3.     Anti-war (s) –2 – 2%  Nope.

4.     Travel (s) –1e, 62 – 56%  Yes, much of the novel is about travel and fighting in space.

5.     Totalitarian (s) – 1e, 8 – 8%  Kinda, with the current  Emperor and Empire.

6.     Horror (s) – 15 – 13%  Not really.

7.     Children (s) – 24 – 21%  Nope.

8.     Historical (s) – 19 – 17%  Nope.  Unless you count Imperial history, but that’s really not what this means.

9.     School (s) – 11 – 10%  Nope.

10.  Parallel (s) – 4 – 4%  Nope.

11.  Allegory (s) – 10 – 9%  Nope.

12.  Fantasy world (s) – 5 – 4%  Nope.  Unless you count science fiction.

13.  Prison (s) – 2 – 2%  Nope.

Item (i)

1.  Article (i) – 1e, 46 – 42%  Yes, the rings.  Shawn gives his ring and his signet from the emperor to Tamar.  This ring plays an important part in the novel as an identification of Devon’s authority.

 

The Fox’s Honor is another of the books I wrote from the plot instead of the protagonist.  This still resulted in a great novel, but It would have been easier to write from the protagonist, Devon Rathenberg. 

 

As it happens in these circumstances, the novel usually gets written from the standpoint of the protagonist, it just takes more time and effort.  That’s my conclusion, I finished a great novel, but the time and the effort was greater because of the focus on the plot instead of the Romantic protagonist. 

 

Again, like A Season of Honor, I used a plot question as the theme to design the novel.  Here it is:

 

The Fox's Honor asks a unique question:  if a man of honor is required to die for what he believes; what happens if he is given back his life?  

 

The person who died for what he believed in is Devon Rthenberg.  His deliverer is Tamar Falkeep.  What makes this novel especially delicious is that just before he died, Devon Rathenberg declared his love for Tamar.  She is not the kind of woman to either accept such a declaration right away nor to let such an intimate claim just go away.  In other words, she wanted to force Devon to prove his love and give her the opportunity to accept it or not.  This provides a great love story and conflict.

 

It also provides a powerful plot where Tamar must risk her life and the honor to protect Devon.  All this is wrapped together in a novel that is already about intelligence, war, and space combat. 

 

Devon must leave Tamar and go to redeem his honor.  He accomplishes this is a very forward manner and at the same time gains Tamar’s brother as his ally.  In addition, Devon finds himself as the new titular head of the rebellion of the houses.  This cascades as a problem for Devon and Tamar because political difficulties mean Devon must lead a skeleton force to reclaim Tamar and the planetary system of Falkeep. 

 

As I noted, the novel is all about intelligence, war, space battles, and of course love.  The really fun part of the novel is that Tamar is no pretty wallflower.  She is a fully trained Lady from Lady Pembrook’s Finishing School where she excelled in political manipulation.  Political manipulation is what Tamar is all about.  This is a powerful type of plot and a very unusual one.

 

As I wrote, I wrote this novel to explain the circumstances of A Season of Honor.  They are both standalone novels but they fit with each other as a series.  We see the characters from one in the other.  I like The Fox’s Honor the best of the three.  It has plenty of the fun kind of action, adventure, and love. 

 

One of the really fun things I wrote into my science fiction novels is romantic love after marriage.  This is an intentional plot that I see as missing from much of classical literature.  I wanted to make sure it was a strong part of my science fiction.  You find this in my Chronicles of the Dragon and the Fox series as well as my yet unpublished Ghost Ship Chronicles series.

 

The final novel in the series and the first in the series, but the last one I wrote is The End of Honor.  This is the first novel that sets off the entire series and the war in the Human Galactic Empire.  We’ll look at its plots next.

 

In the end, we can figure out what makes a work have a great plot and theme, 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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