16 December 2021, Writing - part xx805 Writing a Novel, Using Horror Setting Plots in Scenes, About the 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 noun: horrors
"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.
Below is the example, but I realized I should have given
some explanation about just how this example shows a horror scene plot and how
this novel isn’t really an overall horror plot.
If you already read the example, just look below it. If you haven’t or want to review, here it is:
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?”
I’m really not a horror genre
writer, but I am a reflected worldview writer.
What’s that mean. Well, I don’t
seek to write in the horror genre, but I do use a classic reflected
worldview. What that means is that dragons,
fairies, gods, goddesses, demigods, vampires, werewolves, demons, and all kinds
of other creatures and beings can exist in my novels, just like they do in the
imaginations of the average person in our world. I’ve said it before. Most people don’t really believe in witches
or dragons, but they know about them and imagine them and love to read about
them. The reflected worldview is the
world we imagine and understand both culturally and socially. Who’s to say it isn’t true?
A reflected worldview isn’t
necessarily a horror setting, but it can be.
It’s the use of the elements of the worldview. For example, Dracula by Bram Stoker is
definitely a horror plot novel. The
gothic horror plot completely envelopes the novels. Dracula is also a reflected
worldview. The average person doesn’t
really believe in vampires, but the collective knowledge of the average person
knows all about vampires. That’s how the
reflected worldview works.
I don’t write in the horror genre,
so in my novels, overall, I’m not trying to incite an intense feeling of fear,
shock, or disgust in my readers, but I’m happy to do that for a scene or two or
three.
Here is an interesting thought. I was submitting some of my novels to a press
that publishes mostly supernatural fiction.
I described my novels as supernatural suspense, I write novels that I hope are suspenseful. To me suspense means exciting with a touch of
fear and pathos. Those are the kinds of
novels I like to read, so I thought everyone would like that kind of
supernatural fiction. The publisher
said, they didn’t publish any kind of suspense and no supernatural
suspense. I’m not sure how that is
exactly possible. How can you introduce
the supernatural without some degree of suspense. I suspect the publisher meant something
different than I did with the term suspense.
In any case, we need to be very careful about how we describe the genre
of our writing. That entire idea blows
me away. You would think a publisher
wouldn’t reject a work simply by it’s descriptive genre. I mean, I can see how a non-science fiction
publisher might balk and reject a science fiction novel out of hand, but a
supernatural publisher rejecting supernatural suspense just seems silly to
me.
This made me think about how I
describe my writing and my genre. I hope
the term suspense isn’t a negative or really, what terms are a negative to
publishers. Perhaps we should just call everything
dystopian and that will give everyone a chance, Ha ha.
Anyway, looking at the
example. I do want to produce pathos
(intense appropriate emotion) in the reader that is shock and fear. I’m not so much into disgust, but that’s okay
in some circumstances. In this example,
Deirdre and El are going to investigate the haunted house. Lauren already told them a little about
it. This is the great explore she
promised the girls back tat school.
Deirdre and El head for the kitchen
end of the house. I try to build up a
little excitement about the house and the exploration. Then Deirdre disappears. This is written in a suspenseful way. I want the reader to be fearful and
shocked. I’m trying for some excitement—in
this scene.
This is what it is all about. I’ve already had a few horror and excitement
type scenes. Here is another one, but I’d
still argue that the novel genre isn’t horror at all. I would have called it supernatural suspense,
but maybe that is too dangerous a term for many publishers. How about a supernatural mystery novel? Or what about a magical mystery?
Her horror plot is a great plot to
use anywhere it fits. You can just pick
it for a scene like I did. I was
building up to this scene for a while.
Da is one of the big helps for Deirdre and Sorcha in the resolution of
the telic flaw of the novel.
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
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