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Wednesday, December 15, 2021

Writing - part xx804 Writing a Novel, Using Horror Setting Plots in Scenes, Example

15 December 2021, Writing - part xx804 Writing a Novel, Using Horror Setting 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.  

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%

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.  Then, there are setting plots.

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.

Setting plots are based on the setting of the novel or the scene.  Now, here we have a slight conundrum.  There are obviously some setting plots we might not be able to use in a scene.  I will try to place each of them in a scene, but I can’t guarantee we can be successful.

Let’s look at the horror setting plot.  This setting plot is super easy to use in any scene and just like the travel plot, should get as much play, but it doesn’t.

Horror is kind of a new idea.  It wasn’t really until Bram Stoker invented the Gothic horror novel that anyone really had the idea of mixing horror into a novel.  Then the genre and the idea took off.  Today, we see all kinds of horror plots used in all kinds of literature.  For the moment, let’s define horror:

1.

an intense feeling of fear, shock, or disgust.

"children screamed in horror"

·        a thing causing a feeling of fear, shock, or disgust.

plural nounhorrors

"photographs showed the horror of the tragedy"

·        a literary or film genre concerned with arousing feelings of horror.

"a horror movie"

This is pretty good and I think we can use this well.  The definition of pathos is any intense feeling in the reader.  The point of horror is to give the reader an intense feeling of fear, shock, or disgust.  In using horror, we are focusing the use of pathos. 

Now, just like other uses of pathos, the point isn’t to produce intense feeling in the protagonist of other character.  In fact, some of the most powerful uses of pathos and horror is when the protagonist doesn’t appear to be affected by the situation at all.

For example, our protagonist might stick his hand into a sewage tank to retrieve an important item.  The protagonist might not flinch at all.  The author needs to make the reader flinch, not the character.  This is the power of pathos and of horror.  Let’s review the scene outline.

Here is the scene 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

 

The scene outline helps us with the use of the horror setting by showing use that we can apply this plot in the setting, the scene tension and release, and the scene output.  You might be able to bring it into the kicker as well.

In the first place, we can use a horror setting.  A haunted house works great.  That’s all you need.  You can also turn a normal setting into a horror setting.  For example, the characters explore the attic because they heard something.  Don’t forget the setting, but don’t neglect the tension and release either.

You can take a perfectly normal setting and turn it into a horror setting simply by the tension and release development.  The characters are sitting down to lunch and they hear something from the basement.  Instant tension development.  The release could be the meter man—just checking the meter, to a ghost.  Maybe a ghost meter man.  Pay your utility bills on time. 

You can also turn the release into a horror output.  For example, the meter man checked the meter, but left a bomb ready to explode.

In this case, the kicker could be, “Sorry for the trouble.  I won’t see you next month.”  That is as the meter man/bomber pushes the button.  Hope it was a dud. 

The horror setting plot is very useful and powerful.  I’m surprised it isn’t found in more classics, but then horror isn’t a favorite genre of the literati.  I can give you an example of the horror plot in a scene from my novel Cassandra:  The girls are going to investigate a “so-called” haunted house.

       They continued along the path as it wound deeper and deeper into the woods.  They crossed a couple of small streams and traversed a few long flower covered meadows.  Their trek led them up the side of a rising hill.  At the top lay a large cropped meadow, and in the center, a ruined stone house.

       The house contained two stories and a connected kitchen at the back.  The roof was fallen in on one side, but the stones and the house appeared whole.  The front door hung half open on a single wooden hinge. 

       Laura pulled off her pack and laid it in the sheep and goat cut grass, “There it is.”

       Deirdre asked, “How do you know that house is haunted?”

       “My brothers told me they heard scratching and crying from inside.  They said, when there is no wind, you can hear cries and the sounds of blowing and rattling windows.  Everyone thinks it’s haunted.  That’s why I thought we should explore it.”

       Sorcha plopped down on the sundrenched grass, “I think we should have Iris check it out first.”

       Everyone turned toward Angélique.

       Angélique lifted her lips slightly, “Of course.  Please Iris, would you take a look around.”

       Iris made a face, but she gave a tense smile and gathered the frollick together.  As one, they flew around the girls and rushed toward the old house.  They spread out in a large fan that expanded and separated into clumps of two and three fairies and dove though the broken windows, doors, cracks, and high grass around the house.

       Laura opened the picnic basket and pulled out a large blanket, “I think we should have lunch while Iris is checking.”

       Everyone felt tired and ready for a break.  They all plopped down on every side of the blanket and handed around the cold food, sandwiches, and drinks as Laura handed them out.

       When everything was laid out, Angélique took the small bowl and honey and filled the bowl.  She placed it carefully just off the edge of the blanket on her side.

       Everyone picked up a sandwich and drink and began to eat. 

       After a while, Elodie asked Angélique, “Why place the bowl and honey off the blanket?”

       Angélique didn’t pause a moment, “Because there might indeed be strange Fae creatures here.  The blanket creates a boundary, a place, so-called.  Fae creatures may not enter a human space that is defined by human things like an enclosed house, enclosed fence, or walled barn.  The blanket makes this a fenced space.  My frollick are no problem although I shall not invite them into this space.  If the frollick flushes out some strange Fae, we are safe on this blanket.  The Fae will be attracted to the honey, I will be able to detect them although Deirdre and Sorcha should be able to see them.”

       Elodie stared intently at the place where the bowl stood, “You will tell me if one comes, won’t you?”  She turned her glace toward Sorcha and Deirdre.

       They both shrugged their shoulders.

       After they had eaten most of the sandwiches, Angélique announced, “My frollick are returning.  I can feel them hovering around the bowl.”

       Sorcha and Deirdre both nodded.  They could see the fairies gathering and sampling the honey in the bowl.  Cassandra quietly watched them too.

       After a few moments, Iris returned to her seat on Angélique’s shoulder.  She spoke slowly at Angélique’s ear. 

       Angélique announced, “Iris says she found nothing of interest although there is a touch of the strange about the place.”

       Laura asked, “A touch of the strange?  What is that exactly?”

       Angélique sipped on her soft drink, “There might have been a Fae presence at this place and in this house in the past.  She felt some indications.  I suspect she is simply adding to our interest—the Fae are like that.”

       Laura sat back on her knees confused, “What do you mean—like that?”

       Angélique pursed her lips and smiled, “If Iris reported there was nothing at all, what purpose would there be in exploring the place?  She owns a tendency to exaggeration.  The Fae are not very benevolent, their help comes at a price, thus the honey.  But that isn’t really a sufficient gift to absolutely guarantee their complete candor—if any gift could make that assurance.”

       Laura laughed, “So there might be something inside?”

       “That is always possible.  I would stay together in groups of two, and I suggest those who are sensitive pair with those who are not.”

       Elodie grasped Deirdre’s arm.

       Laura took Sorcha’s hand.

       Cassandra glanced at Angélique.

       They carefully placed all he remains of their meal in the hamper and left the blanket and bowl of honey in their place.  Then they all stood and excitedly headed toward the old house.

       Laura and Sorcha moved straight toward the front door.  It was already opened enough so the girls could squeeze through.  Angélique and Cassandra followed them.

       Deirdre stopped and glanced at Elodie, “Why don’t we check the back door and the kitchen?”

       Elodie swallowed and held tight as Deirdre led them through the lower grass to the back of the building.  The grass here was higher than that at the front and the sides of the house.

       Deirdre examined it carefully.  The kitchen roof appeared whole and the door was shut.  She pulled Elodie with her to the stone stoop.  The door latch still worked and the door opened on nearly silent hinges.  Deirdre gave an excited commentary, “The high grass means the sheep and goats wouldn’t come close enough to eat although the grass here is very fresh and abundant.  Plus the door is oddly solid and oiled.  Either some person has used this place or…”

       “Or what?”

       “Perhaps we shall find something interesting.”

       Elodie trembled in her coat even though the day was sunny and relatively warm.

       They stopped a moment in the open doorway and glanced inside.  The kitchen looked nearly spotless.  The floor was packed dirt, but looked swept.  An old table and some old chairs sat around it.  They couldn’t see much else because it was dark inside. 

       Deirdre pulled an electric torch from her pocket and flashed it within the interior.  The light of her torch was insufficient to make out much more.  So with Elodie still holding on to her, she stepped into the kitchen.

       Deidre moved to the first shuttered window on their right and unlatched it.  The shutters opened without a sound and the window was whole but the old glass not very clear.  It still illuminated the interior better than her torch. 

       The kitchen held a large open hearth on the left and another window on the right.  Deidre went to the next window and opened its shutter.  The room filled with sunlight.  It looked as immaculate as an old kitchen could ever be.  No dust touched any of the surfaces.  Deirdre went to the table and dragged her fingers across it.  Although the wood was rough with age, the tabletop was oddly clean.

       Elodie touched it herself, “It looks like someone has been living here.”

       Deirdre sighed, “Yes, that’s just it.  Perhaps someone has been using this place.  It seems solid enough.”

       On the far side of the kitchen where it attached to the house, lay another door.  It looked as well kept and solid as the door to the outside.  Deidre went to it and tried the latch.  It opened nearly silently to a room within the house.  This room was filled with cobwebs and dust.  The floor was stone that looked like it had been washed more than once by rain.  Debris filled the corners and the ruins of a table and broken chairs filled it.  Against one wall lay an old broken and rotted sideboard on the other was a cabinet falling to ruin.  Scattered sunlight shown through the ceiling, and they could see a broken portion of the roof and the room above.

       Deirdre tapped her lips, “Let’s look around the kitchen.  Perhaps we can find a clue to who might be using this part of the house—the rest doesn’t seem to be in the same repair as this.”

       Elidie nodded.

       They left the door open but returned to the homey looking kitchen.

       Deirdre remarked, “The chairs look fine, but I don’t think they are really whole.”

       She stepped to the hearth and searched it.  On the right side of it lay a small cupboard built into the wall, she opened it to find a closet and pantry.  Inside were broken cups and dishes.  Though chipped and broken, they all looked as if someone had cleaned them and polished them.  The pantry was otherwise empty.  Deidre entered it and moved to the back.  It wasn’t well lit like the rest of the kitchen.  Elodie stood warily in the panty doorway and watched her.

       At the back of the pantry were empty shelves all carefully dusted and clean.  As Deirdre moved to the side, she stepped on something slightly spongy and tried to step back.  A cracking sounded at her feet, and she flashed her torch downward while she jumped back.  She was too late.  She felt the floor give way beneath her.  Deirdre let out a choked cry and fell through the floor.

       Elodie screamed.  She froze to the spot.  Now, she couldn’t see into the pantry at all.  It seemed as if the place suddenly turned as dark as night.  She stood transfixed for a long moment then yelled, “Deirdre.  Deirdre where are you.  Are you alright?”

       No sound came back to her.  No call.  No noise.  It was as if with the darkness came a sudden and abrupt stillness like the loss of light that created a compete silence.  She didn’t hear Deidre fall.  She didn’t hear a single word.  She couldn’t see or hear anything inside the blackness of the pantry.  With another yell, she ran back out into the kitchen.  She glanced at the door into the house, but decided against entering that place.  Instead she ran back out of the kitchen and rushed toward the front of the house.

       Deirdre fell what seemed an immense distance.  She quickly realized that she had fallen through a trapdoor in the floor.  It was likely the door into the root cellar.  As she fell, many thoughts went through her head until she hit the ground below with a thump.  She hit soft packed earth on her back.  That knocked the wind out of her, and the torch out of her hands. 

       She lay on the ground trying to get back her breath and wondering if she had broken anything.  Slowly the breath came back to her lungs.  All she could hear at first was her own wheezing breath as she fought to refill her lungs with air.  When it came back, it flooded her chest with dust and the smell of damp earth.  Then, she heard something else too.

       She tried to choke off the sound of her raspy breaths to hear it.  The space around her seemed rather large.  It echoed as though it was as big as the kitchen above.  The sounds of a ragged sob touched her ears, and she realized her eyes were closed.  She opened them almost as an after-thought, but with a frantic need to look around her.  Above her lay nearly complete darkness as though the roof rose either very high above her or something else caused some unusual blackness.  She could see the rungs of a broken wooden ladder, but only the first couple before the darkness enveloped them.  In her peripheral vision, she noted a couple of spots of illumination in the cellar.  To her right, in one corner, her torch, still lit, illuminated feebly a stone wall and corner.  It had flown out of her hands all the way to the other side of the place.  Behind her also was a slight glow.  That worried and mystified her.  She heard muffled sounds coming from that spot.  It sounded as though someone else was inside the cellar with her.

       Slowly and soundlessly as she could, Deirdre rolled to the side and brought her feet under her.  As she moved and turned, the sounds became more obvious.  A slight glow like marsh fire lit the other corner at the far end of the cellar from her.

       Deirdre’s eyes didn’t seem to be adjusting very quickly to the darkness as though something was preventing her sight.  She slowly stood and backed to the ladder.  She felt its rungs against her back and considered climbing them.  The muffled sounds continued from the area with the slight glow.  She could see it now, a pallet heaped with rushes stood against the back wall in the far corner of the room.  She could make out nothing else in the strange darkness of the cellar.  Her torch in the other corner barely broke the darkness of the place.

       Trembling from head to foot, Deirdre moved slowly and as silently as possible toward her torch.  After all, Iris reported there was nothing dangerous in the house.  A thought struck her, the Fae were notorious with their incomplete reports.  Iris had not reported there was nothing dangerous or that there was nothing in the house, only that there was nothing of interest to her—that is, to the Fae.  That could mean anything.

       The ground beneath her feet was soft earth.  Deidre thought she didn’t make much noise as she moved to the corner and gingerly picked up her torch.  She shined it toward the corner, but the illumination of the torch wasn’t sufficient to break through the darkness.  The muffled sounds continued from the corner.  Deidre wondered how whatever was in the place with her hadn’t heard her fall through the trapdoor.  She slowly moved toward the pallet.  Before she had covered a few steps however, her thoughts caught up with her.  She might see the Fae, but she carried little to protect her from the Fae or any other creature.  Even a human being in an enclosed space like this could become a danger to her.  Perhaps that’s what Iris meant, nothing of interest to the Fae, but a criminal or an unexpected lodger might be very dangerous to her.  She stepped back slowly to the ladder.  Perhaps her best plan was to escape and find the others.

       When she placed her foot on the first rung, it held.  She stepped onto the next.  It sagged beneath her weight and she heard a loud crack.  The wood split and sent her foot jarringly back to the first rung.  The sound echoed in the cellar like a shot.

       The sounds suddenly stopped and a shape sat up on the pallet.  A voice like the tinkling of bells rang out from the corner, “Who’s there?  Who’s there?  Have you returned?”

       The voice rang gentle and odd like the sound of water in a stream or a chime in a soft breeze, “Who’s there?  Who has come to my place?”

       Deirdre didn’t make a sound.  She froze with her hands clinched on the ladder. 

       The shape began to move.  It rose up on the pallet and began to take slow steps toward Deirdre.  As it moved, Deirdre could tell, the glow came from it.  Its figure became more visible as it moved closer and closer to her.  Deidre let go of the ladder and backed against it.  She shut off her torch. 

       As soon as the torch went out, the figure seemed to become more visible.  It was a person or some creature that looked like a person.  It was not as tall as Deirdre and it seemed like the shape of a girl or young woman.  It was naked, and Deidre could tell it was shivering or that the glow around it trembled. 

       Deirdre pulled the cross from under her blouse and coat.  She held it in front of her.

       The naked girl cringed slightly and stopped moving toward her, “Have you returned?  I’ve kept the kitchen clean and ready, although the house was beyond my power to protect.”  She stared at Deirdre, “I don’t recognize you.  Who are you?”

       Deirdre cleared her dry throat, “Don’t come any closer.” 

       “Are you threatening me?”  She looked around, “You’ve broken my door and my ladder.”

       “It was an accident.  The wood is rotten.  I couldn’t help it.”

       The girl covered her face, “I know the house is failing, but I’ve no other place to go.”

       “Who are you?”

       The girl got a very sly look on her face, “I’m the keeper of this house.”

       “It isn’t much of a house anymore.”

       The girl wailed, “I know that.  I know it is falling to ruin.  I can’t stop time, and I can’t stop the world.”

       “What are you waiting for?”

       “My family has gone.  I’m waiting for them.”

       “Your family?”

       The girl put her hands over her face, “They lived here for a long time.  I saw generations of them born and die.  I took care of them and the house.”  She trembled.

       Deirdre noticed the air felt chill especially in the damp cellar, she asked, “Are you cold?  You have no clothing.”

       “I’ve never had any clothing.  It hasn’t been necessary.”

       “But you are cold.”

       “The hearth fire has been dead for a long time, and I’m not allowed to build a fire.  It isn’t my place or my skill.”

       “Would you like to come with me?”

       The girl’s face turned up toward Deidre.  It held a rapturous look, “I would do anything to have a family again.”

       Deirdre stuttered, “I’ve not much of a family to offer you.  What would you want?”

       “Nothing except a family.  I can cook and clean.  I can’t make a fire, but I can use a fire.  I can put out a fire.”

       “You are obviously Fae.”

       The girl licked her lips.  He face became more evident as time went by.  Her features were small and her body petit.  Her hair was silver and her eyes were a clear blue flecked with gold.  She looked like a very young woman but barely grown.  Deidre didn’t think she appeared very dangerous.  She didn’t seem threatening.  Deirdre pulled off her coat and handed it to the girl, “You look cold.  Put this on.”

       The girl stepped back, “No one has ever offered me such a gift.  It is a gift, isn’t it?”

       “Very well.  I gift you this coat.  You may come with me.”

       “If I come with you, and you gift me such a pleasant thing…”

       Deirdre cocked her head, “You may come with me until you decide what to do.”

       “What to do?  Why, you would be my family.  Will you offer me a place?”

       “I’m not sure what you mean.  You may come with me.  I’ll give you my coat until I can get you something better.”

       “There is nothing better,” the girl stared longingly at the coat.

       Deirdre held it out, “Come on take it.  I can see you shivering.”

       “You must place it on my shoulders.  I can’t take up such a gift myself.”

       Deirdre warily stepped toward the girl.

       The girl put up her hands, “Would you put away your cross.  It will hurt me.”

       Deirdre tucked it back under her blouse, “I still have it on, so you can’t hurt me.”

       “Mistress, if you promise to give me a place, I will never be able to harm you.  I’m not certain I can harm anyone on this earth.”

       Deirdre stepped up to the girl.  She watched and moved carefully.  She placed her coat on the girl’s shoulders.  The moment the coat touched her body, there was a blaze of golden light all around them.  Deirdre felt warmth course through her body.  The hairs on the back of her neck stood up.  Though she stood in a cold cellar, she felt suddenly warm and safe.

       The girl put her hands over her face and began to sob, “You are so kind to me.  You are my mistress and my family.  You will give me a place.  Where you are, I am.”  She smiled between her tears, “My name is Glenda it means clean and good, but I’m allowed only one syllable so you should call me Glen or Da.  Now, you must tell me your name, mistress.”

       Deirdre could not stop her words.  They flowed out of her mouth as though she had suddenly lost control of her lips and tongue, “I am named Deirdre Oighrig Calloway, but you must call me Deirdre Bolang or just Deirdre.”

       The girl’s eyes widened, “Calloway.  Then you must be related to The White Lady.  We are well met Deirdre Oighrig Calloway.  I shall call you mistress or Mistress Deirdre.  I shall henceforth be Glenda Calloway-Eile, for I am adopted into your household.  You must choose what you shall call me, mistress.”

       “Well, Glen sounds too much like a boy’s name and you are much too beautiful to be called that, so I shall call you Da.”

       The girl grabbed Deirdre’s hands, “I shall be Da for all time.  Your Da, and your servant.  Please promise to leave me much to do in your house dear mistress.”

       Above them, they heard loud clomping of shoes and louder voices calling for Deirdre. 

       Deirdre cupped her hands and responded, “I’m down here in the cellar.”

       Da turned and put her arms around Deirdre.  Her grasp was strong, but also gentle, Deirdre barely felt her touch.  Da smiled she put her hand in Deirdre’s and made a sign with the other, “I shall let the world run apace, and the darkness and silence be natural again.”

       The darkness in the cellar changed immediately.  Deirdre could see around her as though her eyes suddenly adjusted to the light.  Down through the broken cellar door flew Iris.  The moment Iris’ eyes lit on Da, she stopped.  Da raised her hand and Iris flinched. 

       Deirdre grabbed Da’s free hand, “Please don’t.  Iris is a friend of my friend.  She means you and me no harm.”

       Iris stuck out her chest, “My mistress and my frollick would have made mincemeat of you, Bean-Tighe.”

       “Bean-Tighe?”  Deirdre looked more closely at Da, “So you are a Bean-Tighe.  I thought they looked older.”

       Da smiled, “We must all start somewhere.  Most of my kin do look ancient, but I am a young creature only hundreds of years old with only a single family that I served before.”

       Iris flipped her hand, “All that is true.  It is an inexperienced and young beast.  Ugly and naked too.”

       Da stuck out her own thin chest, “Not naked.  My mistress has graced me with a coat.  It is my coat and a gift.  What has your mistress given you?”

       Iris ignored Da.  She turned her glance to Deirdre, “What did you do you foolish child of Eve.  You have gifted some clothing to a simple house fairy.  Do you know what you have done?”

       Deirdre shrugged her shoulders, “Been kind to a Fae?”

       Iris swooped closer, “No, you have bound this creature to you and your household forever.”

       Deirdre didn’t seem concerned, “That really doesn’t matter to me.”

       “We shall see.”  Iris rose up and flitted back through the broken trap door.

       In a moment many eyes glanced down at her.  Sorcha called, “Deirdre, are you down there.  Are you all right?”

We’ll look at the next setting plot tomorrow.   

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

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