Writing - part xx656 Writing a Novel, Plots and My Novels, more on Antebellum

 21 July 2021, Writing - part xx656 Writing a Novel, Plots and My Novels, more on Antebellum

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

 

Antebellum has not been published yet.  Here is the blurb for it:

What if a house could store up all the living that had gone on inside it and then play it back?  What dramas pathetic and real would leak out of the walls and overwhelm the senses?  If that house had not been seen since a battle near the end of the Civil War, can you imagine the stories the house would play back to you?

Heather Sybil Roberts knew of such a house—it found her.  It was Bellfleur, the plantation house that belonged to her great grandfather.  The summer after she graduated from high school, the house called to her.  All she wanted was to save enough money to go to college.  Lord knows she worked hard enough; she had more jobs than anyone in the whole Parish, but she never seemed to earn enough.  And her father didn’t think much about girls going to college.  If her brother couldn’t complete a year, how could she expect to make it all the way through?

Then the house called her, and it showed her a world she thought was long dead.  Sybil Roberts, Heather’s namesake was the focus of that first visitation and all the others.  Over the too short summer, Heather lived a dual life in 1965 and in the 1860s. 

In the house, Heather saw the passage of Sybil from a happy girl to a young woman weary of war and responsibility.  Heather knew her visits in the house led to a momentous conclusion, but she had no idea what that end would be, and she feared it.

I wrote Antebellum as a memorial to the people I knew in the south.  It’s a novel that explains a lot about how people really think there, both the good and the bad.  At the same time, it expresses the feelings of the people during the Civil War period.  Antebellum is a science fiction and fantasy based historical novel.  It uses a plantation house as a time machine to show the readers the history of the 1860s and the 1960s.  I really did write this novel form the standpoint of the protagonist, but I didn’t realize that at the time.

I just had this great idea for a plot, the plot is entirely about the house, but a house can’t really be a protagonist.  What ended up happening is that the plantation house is the subject and setting for the novel, but Heather is the protagonist.  I did use a plot question for the development of this novel.  Here it is:

Antebellum asks a unique question:  what would the walls say if they could speak?  

This is the question I really wanted to ask:  what would a plantation house tell you if it could speak.  I completed over a years worth of research to write this novel, and that was in the time when research really meant deep study from hard sources.  I used mainly first person accounts from people of the 1860s and the Civil War for this novel.  I had lived in the area and conditions of the novel in 1960.  I didn’t have to research much of that at all.  Of course the people, places, and settings are mostly fiction, but with this fictional novel, I began the great trek to historical perfection.

 

This is a really fun novel with an excellent mystery.  It needs publication.

 

Let’s evaluate the plots.

Overall (o)

1.     Redemption (o) – 17i, 7e, 23ei, 8 – 49%  Antebellum is all about redemption.  Heather wants to redeem herself in the eyes of her father, family, and township.  She hasn’t failed at anything, but her brother couldn’t finish a year of college.  She wants to go and succeed, but she needs money.  In addition, we find Sybil, Heather’s namesake needs redemption as does the house Bellfleur.  In addition, Heather’s black friend an elderly man and the son of a freed slave from Bellfleur needs redemption.  This novel is thick with needs and eventual resolution for all.

2.     Revelation (o) –2e, 64, 1i – 60%  The revelation is not just Heather, but he history and mystery of the house including the connections in the modern world. 

3.     Achievement (o) – 16e, 19ei, 4i, 43 – 73%  The achievement in Antebellum is to discover where the house, Bellfleur is.  It hasn’t been seen since 1865.  In addition, there is another achievement which is for Heather to be able to go to college.

Achievement (a)

1.     Detective or mystery (a) – 56, 1e – 51% I wrote Antebellum as a historical mystery novel.  The mystery revolves around the house, but also has a lot to do with Sybil Roberts who is Heather’s namesake and who also hasn’t existed since 1865.  She has not grave, no death certificate, no tomb, no history beyond birth.

2.     Revenge or vengeance (a) –3ie, 3e, 45 – 46%  Not really at all.

3.     Zero to hero (a) – 29 – 26%  This isn’t really a hero based novel although Heather ends up as a kind of hero.

4.     Romance (a) –1ie, 41 – 37%  None.

5.     Coming of age (a) –1ei, 25 – 23%  Antebellum has a strong coming of age plot with Heather and her desire to know the truth about her and her family’s history.

6.     Progress of technology (a) – 6 – 5%  Nope.

7.     Discovery (a) – 3ie, 57 – 54%  Oh yeah.  This is a mystery and discovery novel of the best type.  It has all the elements of an archeological and historical mystery put together in America’s backyard.

8.     Money (a) – 2e, 26 – 25%  Money is one of the prime motivators in the novel.  Heather needs to use her 7 jobs to earn enough money to go to college.

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

10.  Legal (a) – 5 – 4%  Legal issues are all over the place in the sense of deeds, Family Bibles, and newspapers.  What I mean is that Heather uses all of these assets to try to unravel the mystery of the house and her history.

11.  Adultery (qa) – 18 – 16%  Nope.

12.  Self-discovery (a) – 3i, 12 – 13%  Yes, but I already mentioned the coming of age plot—that’s basically the same thing from a minor’s standpoint.  Heather is od enough that coming of age and self-discovery are mixed together.

13.  Guilt or Crime (a) – 32 – 29%  To some degree, but it’s not that strong of a plot.  There is some guilt born be the community and the families concerning the Civil War.  This is a resolved point in the novel.  

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

15.  Reason (a) – 10, 1ie – 10%  Yes, there is a strong sense of reasoning to discover the mystery and to resolve the ultimate problem.

16.  Escape (a)  – 1ie, 23 – 21%  A little with Heather’s desire to escape her township.

17.  Knowledge or Skill (a) – 26 – 23%  Knowledge and skill are the powers of reason and detective actions in discovering the mystery.

18.  Secrets (a) – 21 – 19%  Yes, this novel is all about secrets.  The house represents these secrets that are repressed and hidden in people’s hearts. 

Quality (q)

1.     Messiah (q) – 10 – 9%  Nope.

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

3.     Rejected love (rejection) (q) – 1ei, 21 – 20%  Nope.

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

5.     Love triangle (q) – 14 – 12%  Nope.

6.     Betrayal (q) – 1i, 1ie, 46 – 43%  Nope.

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

8.     Psychological (q) –1i, 45 – 41%  Oh yea.  Antebellum is ultimately a psychological novel.  One of the big deals I began to work with in my writing was the idea of the protagonist who experienced (with the readers) amazing or astounding events, but that protagonist was unable or unwilling to fully reveal their experiences because of the nature of them.  This continued for many of my novels.

9.     Magic (q) – 8 – 7%  Nope.

10.  Mistaken identity (q) – 18 – 16%  Nope.

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

12.  Anti-hero (q) – 6 – 5%  Nope.

13.  Immorality (q) – 3i, 8 – 10%  Nope.

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

15.  Camaraderie (q) – 19 – 17%  This is a strong plot between Heather and her friends as well as her sister.  There is also a strong link with Heather and Sybil.  Heather is just a likable person who is also completely intellectually distracted by her desire to make something of herself.

16.  Curse (q) – 4 – 4%  Yes to some degree the house is a curse on Heather’s family and on the community.

17.  Insanity (q) – 8 – 7%  Yes, Sybil may be not quite alive or sane.  This is one of the great mysteries of the novel and part of the psychological nature of the novel.

18.  Mentor (q) – 12 – 11%  Nope.

Setting (s)

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

2.     War (s) – 20 – 18%  Yes and no.  The Civil War plays prominently in the novel.

3.     Anti-war (s) –2 – 2%  Nope.

4.     Travel (s) –1e, 62 – 56%  Not really, but there is some country travel—that is around the town and countryside.

5.     Totalitarian (s) – 1e, 8 – 8%  Nope.

6.     Horror (s) – 15 – 13%  Oh yeah, horror is a very important part of this novel. I really built it up as a horror type novel with a historical and psychological mystery.

7.     Children (s) – 24 – 21%  Nope.

8.     Historical (s) – 19 – 17%  Oh yeah, this novel is steeped in history.  It is all about real history in bite sized chunks based on the mystery.

9.     School (s) – 11 – 10%  Not really.  There is a motivator about going to college, but Heather has graduated and is trying to get to college.

10.  Parallel (s) – 4 – 4%  Oh yeah, the parallel is between 1860s and 1965.  This is the ultimate comparison between times and people.

11.  Allegory (s) – 10 – 9%  Nope.

12.  Fantasy world (s) – 5 – 4%  Not really unless you count using the potential of the supernatural as fantasy.  This is more of a means to bring the readers back into time and history to show what those times and history are really like.

13.  Prison (s) – 2 – 2%  In some ways, Bellfleur (the house) has become a prison in time for Sybil.  This is a kind of plot, but not that powerful in the context of the novel.

Item (i)

1.  Article (i) – 1e, 46 – 42%  Yes and no.  There is no singular item, but there are various items that help uncover the mystery.  For example, the Family Bible, Sybil’s unused crypt stone, various records, the memorial and its poem, and all.

 

Now let’s see how these plots fit in Antebellum.  In the first place, Antebellum was my first attempt at making history come alive for my readers.  The history I was interested in showing was the history of the Civil War and how it affected individuals especially those in the South.  I chose a place and an environment I knew and studied primary and secondary source documents from the times.

 

Next, I needed a means of taking the reader back into time.  This was a supernatural element based on a house.  There are about four ways to take people back into history.  You can just write a typical historical novel.  This places the characters into the historical times.  You can use a science based time machine.  You can use a supernatural based times machine.  Finally, you can use a human witness of the past to convey history.

 

The problem with the first method is that you can’t make direct comparisons with the current times.  That is, unless you tell.  Telling undermines the entire point of writing a novel.  If you want to tell, write a technical paper on the times.  I’ve written historical novels set in the historical times, most specifically, Centurion, which was published.  This is just one method of producing an entertaining historical novel.

 

With Antebellum, the means of going back into history is the house, Bellfleur and the history and historical records in the setting.  In Dandelion Wine, Ray Bradbury uses human memories as a time machine that takes people back in time.  In Antebellum, I use the memories of the elderly in the community in the same way.  In addition, I show how Heather researches the past, but the real power of the history in the novel is the house itself.

 

From the very beginning, Bellfleur shows itself at first only to Heather.  She sees history play out through each of the rooms in the house as the house shows her what it remembers.  This is, of course, a supernatural or fantasy means of projecting history, but the power in it is the ability of Heather, and the reader, to compare the experience of the past with the experience and times in the present.  This is one of the great strengths of using this type of projection in literature.

 

From a purely plot standpoint, the novel is really a mystery on many levels.  The more Heather learns about the house, the greater the mystery becomes.  This is also a powerful literary technique, that is the use of mystery to compound mystery.  You see it used in many sources today and especially in visual arts like movies and shows.  The compounding mystery is a Romantic plot technique which forces the development of the apparent impossible resolution. 

 

In Antebellum, I give the reader many scenes where Heather experiences the house as the Civil War is being played out in the community and the past.  In the end, the Battle of Mansfield, an actual recorded Civil War battle is the climax of the novel.  This is the time when the house supposedly disappeared along with Sybil Roberts, Heather’s namesake. 

 

Yes, a supernatural outcome to a supernaturally based mystery thriller novel.  The point is that the use of the supernatural is almost transparent in the novel.  It’s like dreams or dream scenes where the readers and the protagonist get to experience the past through the eye (memories) of the house.  In the end, the resolution is between the house and reality.

 

Next, I’ll look at my published novel, Aegypt.       

 

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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