29 November 2021, Writing - part xx788 Writing a Novel, Using Camaraderie Quality Plots in Scenes - Example
Announcement: Delay, my new novels can be seen on the
internet, but my primary publisher has gone out of business—they couldn’t
succeed in the past business and publishing environment. I’ll keep you
informed, but I need a new publisher.
More information can be found at www.ancientlight.com. Check out my novels—I think
you’ll really enjoy them.
Introduction: I wrote the novel Aksinya: Enchantment and the Daemon.
This was my 21st novel and through this blog, I gave you the entire
novel in installments that included commentary on the writing. In the
commentary, in addition to other general information on writing, I explained,
how the novel was constructed, the metaphors and symbols in it, the writing
techniques and tricks I used, and the way I built the scenes. You can look back
through this blog and read the entire novel beginning with http://www.pilotlion.blogspot.com/2010/10/new-novel-part-3-girl-and-demon.html.
I’m using this novel as an example
of how I produce, market, and eventually (we hope) get a novel published. I’ll
keep you informed along the way.
Today’s Blog: To see the steps in the publication process, visit my
writing websites http://www.sisteroflight.com/.
The four plus one basic rules I
employ when writing:
1. Don’t confuse your readers.
2. Entertain your readers.
3. Ground your readers in the writing.
4. Don’t show (or tell) everything.
4a. Show what can
be seen, heard, felt, smelled, and tasted on the stage of the novel.
5. Immerse yourself in the world of your writing.
These are the steps I use to write a novel including the
five discrete parts of a novel:
1.
Design the initial scene
2. Develop a theme statement (initial setting, protagonist,
protagonist’s helper or antagonist, action statement)
a.
Research as required
b.
Develop the initial setting
c.
Develop the characters
d.
Identify the telic flaw (internal
and external)
3. Write the initial scene (identify the output: implied
setting, implied characters, implied action movement)
4. Write the next scene(s) to the climax (rising action)
5. Write the climax scene
6. Write the falling action scene(s)
7.
Write the dénouement scene
I
finished writing my 29th novel, working title, Detective, potential
title Blue Rose: Enchantment and the Detective. The theme statement is: Lady Azure Rose
Wishart, the Chancellor of the Fae, supernatural detective, and all around
dangerous girl, finds love, solves cases, breaks heads, and plays golf.
Here is the cover proposal for Blue
Rose: Enchantment and the Detective.
|
|
|
Cover
Proposal |
The most important scene in any
novel is the initial scene, but eventually, you have to move to the rising
action. I am continuing to write on my 30th novel, working
title Red Sonja. I finished my 29th novel, working
title Detective. I’m planning to start on number 31, working
title Shifter.
How to begin a novel.
Number one thought, we need an entertaining idea. I usually encapsulate such an idea with a
theme statement. Since I’m writing a new
novel, we need a new theme statement.
Here is an initial cut.
For novel 30: Red
Sonja, a Soviet spy, infiltrates the X-plane programs at Edwards AFB as a test
pilot’s administrative clerk, learns about freedom, and is redeemed.
For novel 31: Deirdre
and Sorcha are redirected to French finishing school where they discover
difficult mysteries, people, and events.
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 becomes inevitable in the climax.
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%
So, what is it about writer’s block? Many if not most authors and writers will
complain about writer’s block. When I
was a younger author, I would get writer’s block very often, but I’ve
discovered something very important about writer’s block. Writer’s block is a function of the plot and
not the protagonist. The correction or
resolution of writer’s block comes from centering our writing on the
protagonist instead of the plot. This is
what I’d really like to get into as a topic.
Here is an outline of how we will approach this.
1.
Problems
with a plot focus
2. Correcting with a protagonist focus
3. How to figure out a plot with a protagonist focus
4. Writing development
5. Fixing or blowing through problems with writing
6. How to write to prevent writer’s block
7. The Scene Outline
8. Exercises
9. Examples
10.
Conclusions
The novel is the revelation of the protagonist and the scenes,
not the plots, are the process of that revelation. In fact, the plots are really part of the
scenes. Now, some plots interact beyond
and between one scene, but this is the real point we should address. What really is the plot and how is the plot
connected to the scene and the telic flaw.
I didn’t want to address the scenes yet, so let’s start with
the plot(s). In the first place, we have
a telic flaw. This is the problem the protagonist must resolve. In a comedy, the protagonist overcomes the
telic flaw, while in the tragedy, the telic flaw overcomes the
protagonist. Where is the plot? That’s a great question.
Almost every novel is a revelation of the protagonist. The author uses various plots and nudges the
novel toward the telic flaw resolution. What
about these plots, and how can we create, invent, and/or use them?
Except for the protagonist, the telic flaw is the most
important point of any novel. It’s so
important that most people don’t even know what it is, yet it is the key point
of every novel, and as I’ve noted over and over, the telic flaw is a
characteristic of the protagonist. The
protagonist owns the telic flaw. Just
like Harry Potty and Voldermort. Voldermort happens to be the overall
antagonist as well as the telic flaw of all the Harry Potty novels. Then there are the plots.
Now, the plot or plots are the means of the telic flaw
resolution and they are the means of tension and release development in the
scenes. They are also the means of the
development of the rising action to the climax of the novel. They are parts, but look at the other parts.
Mainly, we have the scenes.
The scenes are cohesive parts of a novel. They are the building blocks of a novel. Yes, scenes are made of paragraphs,
sentences, and words, but you can’t have a novel without scenes. As I noted in the outline of writing 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
So, I have a telic flaw, and I know there are scenes. Each scene is filled with tension and
release. The tension and release are the
plot(s). In fact, the tension and
release are the plots. This is the
trick, and this is where we want to go.
We need to develop tension and release in the scenes and this happens to
be the plots.
In the development of a scene, we start with the output of
the previous scene. The author then
needs to design the output of that scene.
For example, in the Harry Potty travel scenes, the output of the
previous scene is that Harry Potty must go from London to Hogwarts. That becomes the input for the travel
scene. The output for the travel scene
is that Harry arrives at Hogwarts.
Anything else is purely for tension and release. The author then provides other plots in the
scene to create tension and release.
The focus of writing any novel is the scene. The scene is all about tension and
release. The tension and release comes
from the plots. This is how we bring the
plots into the scenes and into a novel. This
means that as an author, we have the scene input and output of the scene, we
need to choose plots to then write and install in the scene.
We have five types of plots: overall, achievement, setting,
quality, and item. From these plots, we
note that, in the scene, achievement, quality, and item can be set into many
scenes. Setting can be used as the
setting of the scene, however, there is generally less control over these
plots. In other words, when we move into
the scene, the setting is usually already set.
The other types of plots give us the opportunity to build
tension and release in a scene. In
general, it is difficult to demonstrate this without delving deeply into
examples. Instead, let’s review the
potential plots and see how we might use them.
We choose plots based on three things.
First, is the input and output of the scene. Second, is the telic flaw resolution. Third, is the tension and release of the
scene.
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%
Achievement plots are easy to apply
to scenes and to overall novels. Some
quality plots lend themselves very well to scenes and some do not. Still, just like the achievement plots, we
can pick and choose them based on our overall plot(s) to power the novel and
our scenes.
As I mentioned before, we want to
pick our plots first based on the input and output of the scene, second, the
telic flaw resolution, and third, the tension and release of the scene.
Quality plots are related to the
personality or characteristic of the protagonist and potentially other
characters. This is what makes them
harder, in general, to apply to a scene, however, if the focus is the scene and
not so much the novel, we will see how many of the quality plots an be easily
applied in individual and across scenes.
Let’s look at the camaraderie quality plot.
The camaraderie plot is one of the most powerful innovations
in fictional plots. There we were
plodding along in the Victorian Era, and suddenly from the minds of Zeus,
actually out of the prescient Romantic beginnings came the camaraderie
plot.
You don’t find the camaraderie until late in the Victorian Era and right as
the cusp of the beginning of the modern Romantic Era. It’s as if people were alone, independent,
and unafraid—then suddenly from children’s books like Robert Louis Stevenson
and Wind in the Willows, suddenly the Victorians began to acknowledge
and wish children to understand camaraderie.
I think this is very interesting.
The camaraderie plot is a great overall plot, but it really isn’t an
adventure maker—it’s an adventure supporter.
On the other hand, you can use this in scenes like no tomorrow.
For example, how about going out to breakfast, lunch, dinner, supper, the
pub (for drinks), or for bowling, shooting, you name it, that is the camaraderie
plot in a scene. Now, you don’t have to
roll in the camaraderie plot for any of these, but you are a dope not to. Any time you can get characters together for
dialog and for some mundane reason, you can use that to develop tension and
release. This is especially true in the sequel,
but let’s forget about sequels, what about the planning scene?
The sequel gets a lot of play, but the planning scene seems to be less
traveled. Look, if your protagonist or the
characters are getting together in a scene to do something, why not have them
get together before that to plan. You
don’t have to give it all away, but who doesn’t plan.
I like to bring the characters together in a planning session. Consider it the opposite of a sequel—it’s a prequel,
and why not, they gotta figure out what they are going to do.
The tension and release in such a scene can be driven by the camaraderie. In a camaraderie plot, we can have characters
who like, love, enjoy, hate, dislike, each other and so on. The point is to bring this out. Not that fighting is a good idea in the midst
of planning, but I can give all kinds of reasons and ideas on this. How about an example?
I should show you this, but I’ll describe it. So, in Blue Rose: Enchantment and the
Detective, Azure Rose is planning with Klava and Sveta and Kathrin Calloway
gets involved. Now, Klava and Sveta are
not enamored of Azure, but they are warming up to her. Kathrin is Azure’s avowed foil mainly because
her son Lachlan is perusing Azure and Azure has done some things Kathrin doesn’t
like. There is a powder keg awaiting the
match. At the same time, this is a camaraderie
plot and a planning session. You might ask,
where is the camaraderie? The answer is
that all of them have the same goals, but they don’t necessarily agree. I could show you this very fun scene, and
perhaps I should.
Here is the scene I promised you:
The ladies
stepped through a pair of French doors to a sunroom at the side. The room was well lit, but not from the
outside. The windows looked dark. Near the center of the room were a couple of
padded chairs and a love seat. In
between the seats sat a tea table.
When Azure and
Sveta entered, Mrs. Calloway already sat in one of the padded chairs. Sveta seated Azure in the chair opposite,
well separated from Mrs. Calloway by the tea table. Sveta and Klava sat on the love seat. Sveta rang for Harold. When he arrived Sveta asked him to bring tea.
Azure put up her
hand, “I’d rather drink Champaign.”
Mrs. Calloway
sniffed, “She is much too young for wine.”
Sveta ignored
her, “Harold, please bring Lady Wishart, Champaign.”
Harold
nodded. After a few moments, he returned
pushing a tea dolly filled with tea and a fine selection of appetizers from the
buffet. He placed a flute of Champaign
and a nearly full bottle in an ice bucket next to Azure. When he departed, Sveta poured the tea. They each took a sip. Azure drank a long swallow from her flute.
Mrs. Calloway
began to speak, but Sveta put up her hand, “Please, Mother, let me brief you on
the circumstances that require this meeting.”
Mrs. Calloway
wouldn’t be assuaged, “I do not like to be in the presence of this
schoolgirl. I don’t want her near my
son.”
Sveta sighed, “So
you said. I heard it all. Who couldn’t?
Listen to me. The Queen has asked
us to work with Lady Wishart…”
“In spite of my
warnings and protestations?”
“Yes, in spite of
all that. She has the favor of the Queen
and we have been directed to help her.”
“Help her do
what?”
Sveta sipped her
tea, “Lady Wishart is investigating the murder of magic users in the
Kingdom. We have been directed to aid
her in her investigations.”
“Why would Stele
be investigating the murder of magic users?
We investigate magic use and put an end to it.” Mrs. Calloway slitted her eyes at Azure, “Is
she involved in magic use?”
Azure lifted her
lip, “I have been insulted again. That
makes more than once in this house. I
won’t put up with it. Except that you
have information that I need, I’d have Lachlann take me home at once.”
Mrs. Calloway
snarled, “Take you home for what purpose?”
Azure turned Mrs.
Calloway a piercing stare, “She has insulted me again. I insist that she desist immediately.”
Sveta scowled,
“Mother that was an insult. Lady Wishart
does not deserve your attacks. She is a
virtuous lady whose actions do not merit your rebuke.”
Mrs. Calloway sat
back and stared in her tea, “If that is the case, then I do apologize. I am concerned about my son, and I am concerned
about nearly everything I have heard tonight.”
Sveta nodded, “We
share some of your concerns, but not necessarily about this lady or her
actions. The Queen is concerned about
the murder of her subjects. We know they
are involved in the use of magic, but Celtic gods are to blame for their murder
and Lady Wishart is investigating this with us.”
“Celtic
gods. Then this Lady is at great risk.”
“She is. She understands these risks, but she is
accomplishing her investigations for the Crown.
You should encourage and support her.”
“Why isn’t Stele
alone involved? This is a dangerous
business for any mortal being.”
“We know
this. The Queen understands, but the
Lady Wishart is the one who brought this to our attention, and the Queen wants
her to continue her investigations.”
Mrs. Calloway
looked up, “Raise your arm, Lady Wishart.”
Azure lifted her
left hand.
“Your right arm,
please.”
Azure lifted her
right hand.
Mrs. Calloway
sighed, “I thought I saw it before. Aife
has marked her as her warrior and head of her band, the Black Branch. I’m not sure what that means precisely, but
it indicates that she claims the support of at least one goddess in the
Kingdom.”
Azure sipped from
her flute and refilled it, “It means I have the support of one of the greatest
powers against magic and a punisher of gods.”
Mrs. Calloway
pressed her lips together, “That is to be seen.
Aife was punished herself.”
Azure stared at
her, “If Aife is successful, I want you to give her back the Isle of Shadows.”
Mrs. Calloway
puffed out her cheeks and turned red, “Who are you to make demands like that of
me?”
“I am the Lord
Chancellor of the Book and the Lady Wishart.
My mentor is Aife, head of the Black Branch. I want you to grant her, her original place,
the Isle of Shadows.”
Mrs. Calloway
sighed, “You do have a legitimate claim.
But why would I do that?”
“Perhaps one day
I will be your daughter-in-law.
Certainly, you would grant my petition if I protect the kingdom and meet
your requirements.”
Mrs. Calloway
turned redder still, “You said you don’t share my son’s affections.”
“I am
fickle. Perhaps I will seduce him and
take all I wish—then where will you be?”
Sveta slapped her
hand on the tea table, “Stop it this minute, both of you. My Mother did insult you, but you are simply
baiting her.”
Azure sipped her
Champaign, “I admit, I am baiting her. I
don’t have any power here. I was
insulted and demeaned. I don’t deserve
any of it.”
Mrs. Calloway
sighed. She put out her hands, “You do
deserve my censure for your actions against the Fae.”
“What do you know
of my actions with the Fae? I simply
take what is allowed by the Book. That
is my right.”
“Is this true?”
“Now that you
finally ask, yes, it is true. The Book
allows me to take a just recompense for my judgements.”
Mrs. Calloway’s
face softened, “Why would you do that?”
“Because I wish
to regain my estate. I have
nothing. I am penniless.”
“You are wearing
a rose colored Dior dress.”
Azure stood so
suddenly she knocked over her flute of Champaign, “The Crown bought this dress
so I could attend this party. If you
wish, I shall remove it at this very instant.”
Mrs. Calloway
waved Azure back into her seat, “That will not be necessary.”
Sveta put down a
napkin to wipe up the spill and refilled Azure’s flute.
Azure sat trimly
on the edge of her seat.
Sveta took a deep
breath and let it out. She put out her
hands, “Now that we have had everything out, may we get to the business at
hand?”
Mrs. Calloway
glowered, “I am not certain everything is apparent to me.”
Sveta closed her
eyes for a moment, then snapped them open, “Mother, I’ll try to make it as
clear as possible to you. You were wrong
about Lady Wishart. She is not cheating
the Fae—she is trying to regain her estate via one of the few options open to
her. She is not seducing our brother,
your son. He is courting her. She came here to discuss an investigation
that she started for the Crown. The
Queen directed Stele to support her.
This is the reason she is attending my party.”
“I see.”
Sveta turned to
Azure, “Lady Wishart…”
Azure let out a
tiny smile, “You may call me Azure—that’s what Lachlann calls me.”
Sveta closed her
eyes again, “You are obviously baiting my Mother again, Azure. Can we get to the business at hand?”
Mrs. Calloway
glared at Azure, and Azure returned her look.
Sveta smacked the
table again, “Klava, give your report.”
Klava had been
trying to hide her smile all evening.
She leaned forward in a very business-like fashion and handed a paper to
Azure, “Azure, these are the incidents of murdered magic users from the Stele
data. We investigated or provided a
cleanup for each of these locations, and we found a dead confirmed magic user
at each.”
Azure glanced
over the paper and gave a nod, “This matches with my data from the Golden
Cauldron Coven and from Scotland Yard’s records.”
Klava let out a
little sigh, “You knew about all these already?”
“Yes, yes, I
did.”
Klava nodded, “I
can provide some information that I suspect you don’t know. In Cumbria, there exists a hidden village
called Mahonby. I marked its approximate
location on the map I gave you. It’s
geographically centered on all of the early murders.”
Azure’s eyes
sparkled, “That is new information. I
noted the murders centered on something, but all I could find was the Long Meg
circle.”
Klava nodded,
“Long Meg is the way in.” She passed
another piece of paper to Azure, “If you go to Long Meg and follow these
instructions, you will be able to check out the village directly.”
Azure stared at
her, “This is too simple, what’s the catch?”
Klava stared
back, “It isn’t simple. This might be
very dangerous. If you investigate, you
will need to wear ancient Anglo-Saxon clothing. We believe Mahon and the others
might be hiding there. Mahon was
worshiped in this area in ancient times.”
Azure glowered,
“Why don’t you investigate yourselves?”
“We would, but
they would detect us immediately. The
village of Mahonby is a place out of time.
Sveta and I are not of that place or time, and Mrs. Calloway is too
recognizable in this type of place.”
“I see. May I bring Aife?”
“We would
recommend it. Aife is from this time,
culture, and place. She would be able to
help you as well as evaluate any oddities.”
“Oddities?”
“We already
concluded that some deity who is high in authority is somehow involved. We don’t have any idea who it might be. We do see that the murders are centered at
this geographical point. It happens to
contain Long Meg and the hidden village of Mahonby. Holding such a place out of time requires
great power. My conclusion is that whoever
is behind everything lives there.”
Azure leaned
back, “Very well. I’ll take Aife…”
Mrs. Calloway
squared her shoulders, “You will not take Lachlann.”
Azure snapped her
fingers, “I had no intention of taking him. He is insufferable.”
Mrs. Calloway
grinned, “Good. We can agree on one
thing.”
Sveta grabbed the
sides of her head, “What is wrong with you?
Both of you? My brother said he
loved you. Azure. Why would you think
him insufferable? Mother, Lachlann says
he loves Azure. He wants to marry her.”
Azure stood, “The
reason I don’t want Lachlann tagging along should be obvious.”
Mrs. Calloway
also stood, “My reasons should also be obvious.”
Sveta started to
laugh. Klava quickly joined in. Azure wouldn’t look at Mrs. Calloway, and
Mrs. Calloway wouldn’t look at Azure.
Finally, with the same annoyed expression, they both said at nearly the
same time, “What’s so funny.”
Sveta stood,
“This is so amusing. You and Azure both
don’t want Lachlann to go because of the potential danger. He won’t listen to either of you. He’ll do what he wants to do without any
by-your-leave.”
Azure glanced
down at her feet, “So he will.” She put
out her hand, “Thank you for your hospitality and information. I plan to act on it immediately.”
Sveta touched Azure’s
hand, and then Klava.
Mrs. Calloway
didn’t reach out to Azure. Azure spun on
her heel and headed back out to the ballroom.
Harold opened the French doors for her and she glided through. She spotted Lachlann immediately and made a
beeline for him. She grabbed his arm
with a, “Take me home.” And headed for
the front door.
James had been
speaking to him. James raised his hand,
but couldn’t get a word out before Mrs. Calloway grabbed his arm, “We’re going
home.”
They headed from the party at a discrete
distance behind Azure and Lachlann.
Exactly as I showed you, this is
the use of the camaraderie plot in a scene.
The comrades are both who you think and who you imagine. Azure and Kathrin (Mrs. Calloway) are like
peas in a pod. They just haven’t
reconciled themselves to it yet. The
others share various degrees of association and friendship. They are also comrades in the deepest sense
as working together. In the end, Azure
and Mrs. Calloway are reconciled to working together. That’s the point.
We’ll look at the next quality plot
tomorrow.
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%
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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