Writing - part xx675 Writing a Novel, Plots and My Novels, Shadow of Darkness

 9 August 2021, Writing - part xx675 Writing a Novel, Plots and My Novels, Shadow of Darkness

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

    Since we are looking at Shadow of Darkness, here is the proposed cover:

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

 

I finished Sister of Darkness and suddenly I was on a roll.  I mentioned that at some point between Hestia: Enchantment of the Hearth and Sister of Darkness something finally clicked in how to approach a novel.  Before, until Hestia, I used the standard plot based idea and construction to write my novels, in Sister of Darkness, I discovered that starting with a protagonist and developing from an initial scene was the best way to write a novel.  Shadow of Darkness just proved that to me. 

 

I’ll give you even more information tomorrow, but with Shadow of Darkness I started with Lumie’re in Berlin at the end of the Second World War.  Hitler was dead, and the Red Army was cleaning out the last German resistance.  Lumie’re was my protagonist, and Lumie’re’s initial scene was when she tried to travel east after Leila, the Goddess of Darkness. 

 

Here is some of the information on the novel:

 

Whoosh… flash… boom, an explosion nearly steals the life of Lumière Bolang. It robs her of her memory, voice, and mobility. She becomes a victim, like so many other children of the violence of the Second World War.

 

 

Lumière Bolang is the daughter of the goddess of light and her warrior. Her soul was tainted through the actions and teaching of her aunt, the goddess of darkness—or so Lumière believes. She believes this so strongly, that after she, her mother and father conquered the goddess of darkness, Lumière ran away from them—forever. Her mother and father thought she was dead. Lumière took with her, the goddess of darkness’ “changed” tablet and her servant, Oba.

 

 

When Lumière and Oba attempt to escape Berlin at the end of World War II, she is caught in a firefight and almost killed. Lumière is rescued by a Jewish Soviet reporter and nursed back to life. She learns to speak and read Russian, and he takes her to Moscow.

 

 

Lumière injuries are extensive—they affect her legs, her speech, and her mind. Lumière can’t remember anything before the explosion, but when she meets Oba again, horrible dreams haunt her. The dreams are so terrible, the local commissar wants to send Lumière to a people’s asylum—a mental institution. Instead, her Jewish friend takes her to the newly opened Moscow convent. There, he believes, Lumière can get the help and protection she needs.

 

 

At the convent, Lumière’s incredible language ability becomes evident. The Patriarch of the Orthodox Church begins to use her as a translator to tempt the Soviet intelligence system. The Patriarch wants a spy in the NKVD, the precursor of the KGB, for the Orthodox Church—Lumière could be that spy.

 

 

Beria and Abakumov the chiefs of the NKVD and the MGB take the bait, and Beria installs Lumière as the head of Embassy Relations. Her skills are also too tempting for Stalin who accepts her as his translator, Stalin’s Little Bird. Stalin makes Lumière the head of the Department for International Understanding and puts her in charge of all advanced language study in the Soviet Union.

 

 

Meanwhile, Lumière is learning more about her own past. She determines that she needs to study Chinese to help her flush out the goddess of darkness who is now influencing the communists in China. That is when Lumière meets Aleksandr, an associate professor of Oriental languages in Moscow University. Aleksandr falls in love with Lumière—a love she is certain she cannot return.

 

 

In 1953 Stalin dies, Beria and Abakumov are imprisoned. Lumière’s life hangs in the balance. All thoughts of her mission to China disappear. She must escape to the West before the Soviet state led now by Khrushchev, purges her directorate and her life.

 

Let’s evaluate the plots.

Overall (o)

1.     Redemption (o) – 17i, 7e, 23ei, 8 – 49%  Shadow of Darkness is about the redemption of Lumie’re.  Lumie’re believes she is tainted and can never be redeemed.  Shadow of Darkness shows how wrong she might be.         

2.     Revelation (o) –2e, 64, 1i – 60%  I really hit my stride with this novel.  This is a revelation novel about the USSR during the cold war right after World War Two until the death of Stalin.  Anyone who is interested about this period in the USSR will learn much more than most history books can tell.   

3.     Achievement (o) – 16e, 19ei, 4i, 43 – 73%  Lumie’re’s achievement is to discover who she is.  This becomes a great mystery that even those who have read the other novels can like.

Achievement (a)

1.     Detective or mystery (a) – 56, 1e – 51% In Sister of Darkness, Paul and Leora’s daughter Lumie’re is kidnapped by Leila, the Goddess of Darkness.  At the end, Paul and Leora think Lumie’re is dead, but she isn’t.  She is lost in the USSR.  This is a powerful mystery.   

2.     Revenge or vengeance (a) –3ie, 3e, 45 – 46%  There is very little of vengeance in this novel.  

3.     Zero to hero (a) – 29 – 26%  Lumie’re becomes a hero again in this novel.

4.     Romance (a) –1ie, 41 – 37%  Aleksander falls in love with Lumie’re but Lumie’re can’t love herself or anyone else.     

5.     Coming of age (a) –1ei, 25 – 23%  Yes, this has a very strong coming of age plot with Lumie’re.  Lumie’re has a terrible situation of recovery from captivity and abuse.

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

7.     Discovery (a) – 3ie, 57 – 54%  The discovery plots revolve around Lumie’re and her mysteries, especially who she is.

8.     Money (a) – 2e, 26 – 25%  Not really.   

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

10.  Legal (a) – 5 – 4%  Nope. 

11.  Adultery (qa) – 18 – 16%  Nope.

12.  Self-discovery (a) – 3i, 12 – 13%  More of coming of age, but yes, self-discovery for Lumie’re.

13.  Guilt or Crime (a) – 32 – 29%  Yes, Lumie’re continues to believe she has been tainted and polluted by her aunt’s instruction and activities.  

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

15.  Reason (a) – 10, 1ie – 10%  Yes, the resolution as well as Lumie’re’s opposition all come through reason.

16.  Escape (a)  – 1ie, 23 – 21%  Yes, Lumie’re eventually fights to escape the USSR.

17.  Knowledge or Skill (a) – 26 – 23%  Knowledge and skills are the tools that are used and that Lumie’re is unconsciously learning.

18.  Secrets (a) – 21 – 19%  This novel is filled with secrets and revealed secrets.

Quality (q)

1.     Messiah (q) – 10 – 9%  Nope.

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

3.     Rejected love (rejection) (q) – 1ei, 21 – 20%  Yes, rejected familial love is a strong concern in the novel.  In addition, Lumie’re rejects Aleksander’s love.

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

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

6.     Betrayal (q) – 1i, 1ie, 46 – 43%  This isn’t really a strong plot type in the novel, although the entire Soviet system is one of betrayal.

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

8.     Psychological (q) –1i, 45 – 41%  This is a psychological novel on many levels. 

9.     Magic (q) – 8 – 7%  Not really—Leila, Leora, and Lumie’re all have spiritual powers but it isn’t magic in the normal sense.

10.  Mistaken identity (q) – 18 – 16%  Yes, no one knows who Lumie’re is.

11.  Illness (q) – 1e, 19 – 18%  Yes, a small part of the plot.

12.  Anti-hero (q) – 6 – 5%  Nope.

13.  Immorality (q) – 3i, 8 – 10%  Not really

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

15.  Camaraderie (q) – 19 – 17%  Yes, there is a large degree of moving camaraderie based on associations and groups.

16.  Curse (q) – 4 – 4%  Nope.

17.  Insanity (q) – 8 – 7%  Yes, the local commissar thinks Lumie’re is insane and wants to send her to a people’s asylum.

18.  Mentor (q) – 12 – 11%  Yes, Lumie’re becomes a mentor for many in the USSR and the Orthodox Church.

Setting (s)

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

2.     War (s) – 20 – 18%  Yes, the Cold War.

3.     Anti-war (s) –2 – 2%  Nope.

4.     Travel (s) –1e, 62 – 56%  Yes, travel all over the USSR and the eventual escape.

5.     Totalitarian (s) – 1e, 8 – 8%  Yes, with Stalin’s USSR.

6.     Horror (s) – 15 – 13%  Yes, there is a touch of horror in the novel it is a type of suspense novel.

7.     Children (s) – 24 – 21%  Not really.

8.     Historical (s) – 19 – 17%  Yes, the novel is filled with historical information, events, and people.

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.

13.  Prison (s) – 2 – 2%  Yes, Lumie’re is imprisoned in varying places.

Item (i)

1.  Article (i) – 1e, 46 – 42%  Yes, the changed black/gold table (Osiris Offering Formula) is a key item in the plot of the novel.

 

Next we’ll look at Shadow of Darkness in greater depth.

 

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