Writing - part xx657 Writing a Novel, Plots and My Novels, Aegypt

 22 July 2021, Writing - part xx657 Writing a Novel, Plots and My Novels, Aegypt

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

SISince I'm writing about Aegypt, I should put the actual cover up:

In addition, here is the second edition cover that never made it into production, waah.

 

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

 

Aegypt was my second novel published by Oaktara.  Unfortunately, Oaktara is out of business.  Aegypt is also the first of a series of eight novels that trace history during the Twenty-Frist Century from 1926 until the 1980s.  It basically ties the supernatural to historical events not in a collusion way but as an explanation for some of the inexplicable. 

Aegypt is my second historical novel.  I mentioned that I used a supernatural house in Antebellum to take my readers back in history to show them history.  In the case of Aegypt I do two things.  First, I set the novel in 1926.  This shows the history of the times from this time and setting.  Second, I bring some people into the world from the ancient world.  The entertainment part of Aegypt is a mystery as well as the ability to speak to and experience people from the ancient world.  This is a variation of the four methods I described for you from Antebellum.  I guess I should get to the explanation of Aegypt.  Here’s the blurb from the back of the novel:

An unspeakable evil and an unbelievable power is about to be released into the world...

In the Tomb of Darkness and Light

If someone from the ancient world walked suddenly on the earth, what would they tell us about their times, and what changes would they observe in ours?  What if that person was revered as a goddess in the ancient world and evidenced a power beyond modern human understanding?  What if she were malevolent?

Fort Saint stands on a plateau between the salt deserts of the Chott Djerid and Chott Melrhir.  Four thousand years ago the chotts were filled–one salt and one fresh.  The fort coincidentally guards an ancient foundation where once stood a temple. 

The commander of Fort Saint, Lieutenant Paul Bolang discovered the foundation and unearthed Egyptian hieroglyphics on it.  His letter brought an archeological party to explore it.  And when the archeologists unearthed a tomb beneath, Paul was the only one who noticed a keen foreboding in the find.  Death followed the opening of the tomb and led Paul to uncover alone the existence of two other hidden tombs: the tombs of the Goddess of Darkness and the Goddess of Light.

Paul was present when the archeologists opened the tomb of the Goddess of Light and someone or something escaped.  Paul chased the being out onto the desert and captured a naked woman who spoke only ancient Egyptian. 

Paul struggled to communicate with woman who called herself Leora.  She claimed to come from the tomb, and she claimed to be the Goddess of Light—a claim she backed up with inexplicable powers.  Leora seemed benevolent, but she alerted Paul that her sister, Leila, the Goddess of Darkness wanted to also escape her tomb.  Leora warned that if Leila were released, she would visit only evil and suffering on mankind—that was her nature.

Now the archeologists have discovered the second tomb, the Tomb of the Goddess of Darkness, and they want to open it.   

I think you can see how this goes.  I should pass on some other information to you.  I wrote this novel before I figured out the best way to write a novel.  Here is the question I based the plot on:

 

When the world was young, people believed in all kinds of gods and goddesses.  In the novel Aegypt, I ask the question what would happen if modern people came face to face with a real goddess.

 

When I first started writing this novel, this is the real perspective I wanted to develop.  I did develop this perspective, but this is a very complex novel about Egyptian Hieroglyphics and mysterious Egyptian tombs in Tunisia.  My goal in writing this novel was to show you history from the eyes of a person who witnessed the escape of the Children of Israel from Egypt during Atonkamen or thereabouts.  The best way I thought I could do this was to bring back mummies similar to Bram Stoker’s The Jewel of Seven Stars.  The only problem was that Stoker’s mummies just disappeared.  I wanted my mummies to stick around and tell their stories.  That’s what Aegypt is all about.   

 

Let’s evaluate the plots.

Overall (o)

1.     Redemption (o) – 17i, 7e, 23ei, 8 – 49%  Aegypt is all about the redemption of Paul Bolang.  Paul learned to love bloodshed and war during the First World War.  He is estranged from his family for this reason because although his family was military and political, they were bloodless officers and courtiers and not field officers.  This is an important theme and plot driving the entire novel.

2.     Revelation (o) –2e, 64, 1i – 60%  The tomb and mystery of the tomb is the full out revelation of this novel.  After Leora is released from the tomb, her past becomes part of the revelation.    

3.     Achievement (o) – 16e, 19ei, 4i, 43 – 73%  The achievement part of this plot has multiple faces.  There is the achievement of the archeologists, of Paul Bolang, and of Leora.  They are in some ways different but converging.

Achievement (a)

1.     Detective or mystery (a) – 56, 1e – 51% Aegypt is a mystery about tombs, hieroglyphics, and history. 

2.     Revenge or vengeance (a) –3ie, 3e, 45 – 46%  The antagonist, Leila is all about revenge on the world.

3.     Zero to hero (a) – 29 – 26%  Not really, Paul starts as a hero.  The problem is keeping his hero status.

4.     Romance (a) –1ie, 41 – 37%  Yes, there is a wonderful and discovered romance between Leora and Paul. 

5.     Coming of age (a) –1ei, 25 – 23%  Nope.

6.     Progress of technology (a) – 6 – 5%  Not really.

7.     Discovery (a) – 3ie, 57 – 54%  Oh yeah.  This is a very powerful discovery novel about the mysteries.

8.     Money (a) – 2e, 26 – 25%  Nope.

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

10.  Legal (a) – 5 – 4%  Nope really.

11.  Adultery (qa) – 18 – 16%  Nope.

12.  Self-discovery (a) – 3i, 12 – 13%  There is some self-discovery, but most of the characters are established.

13.  Guilt or Crime (a) – 32 – 29%  There is some degree of guilt with many of the characters about their past and lives.   

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

15.  Reason (a) – 10, 1ie – 10%  Yes, the mystery and the resolution is all about logic and reasoning. 

16.  Escape (a)  – 1ie, 23 – 21%  Yes, from the tomb for light and darkness and at the end.

17.  Knowledge or Skill (a) – 26 – 23%  Knowledge and skill are what allow the resolution of the plotline and the entire novel.  This is especially true about the hieroglyphics and the mystery of the tombs.

18.  Secrets (a) – 21 – 19%  Yes, this novel is all about secrets.  The tombs and the people all hov secrets to be discovered.

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%  There is some degree of unintentional betrayal by the archeologists.  It is unintentional because they have different motives and ends than Paul or Leora.

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

8.     Psychological (q) –1i, 45 – 41%  Oh yea.  Aegypt is a very powerful psychological novel.  This is really the second novel where I took the protagonist and presented his view of the world in opposition to others and to the normal worldview.  In Aegypt, the experience of the protagonist goes against the normal world’s idea of reality—that is, Paul experiences the supernatural with the reader.  The reader knows what he or she has seen, but these experiences are contrary to the real world.  Is Leora really a woman and a goddess from out of time? Is there really an evil being in the other tomb?  Are there really creatures who can be recalled from death?

9.     Magic (q) – 8 – 7%  I’d not call this magic as much as the supernatural.  There is magic or enchantments going on to make the events occur—this is much of the tension in the novel.

10.  Mistaken identity (q) – 18 – 16%  Perhaps a bit of this between the goddess of light and of darkness. 

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%  Not really.

16.  Curse (q) – 4 – 4%  Perhaps a touch with Paul and his proclivity to warfare and leadership.

17.  Insanity (q) – 8 – 7%  Not really, the actual commander of Fort Saint is shown to be a drug addict and coward.

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 First World War sets the novel into play.

3.     Anti-war (s) –2 – 2%  Nope.

4.     Travel (s) –1e, 62 – 56%  Some travel mostly in the area of the Fort.

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

6.     Horror (s) – 15 – 13%  Oh yeah, horror is a growing part of this novel.  My editor said this is the kind of novel you can’t read at night in a dark room.  It’s filled with the kind of horror I like, a little light of some difficult supernatural ideas and evil.

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.  The history of the Foreign Legion, of Tunisia, of Egypt, and French occupation in the Northern Africa is woven around archeology and the setting itself.

9.     School (s) – 11 – 10%  Nope.

10.  Parallel (s) – 4 – 4%  Oh yeah, there is some parallel between ancient Egypt and the modern world.

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%  The tomb represents a prison with the need to escape.

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, books, writing, the items in the tomb, the implements and the tomb itself. 

 

Next, We’ll look more deeply 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  

fiction, theme, plot, story, storyline, character development, scene, setting, conversation, novel, book, writing, information, study, marketing, tension, release, creative, idea, logic