31 December 2021, Writing - part xx820 Writing a Novel, Using Fantasy World Setting Plots in Scenes, Example One
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 fantasy world
setting plot. The question is, of
course, can we use the fantasy worldview in a scene? Here is where we can really see the use of the
reflected worldview in writing.
I know you are thinking that the
fantasy world setting plot is only an overall setting plot, but Harry Potty and
the normalized magical world plot shows you are wrong. The reason is the reflected worldview. I can even give you examples, but let’s
define exactly what I am writing about.
There are three worldviews in
writing: real, reflected, and created.
The real worldview is the natural world with no spiritual, fantasy, or science
fiction trappings. It is the world as it
is in the glory of the current societal and cultural event horizon. This is where many if not most modern writers
write.
The created worldview is a
worldview that might or might not be based on either the real or reflected
worldview, but projected into a nonreal setting. Most science fiction is like this. Any time you are writing about things outside
of human comprehension in a setting beyond human knowledge, you are writing in
a created worldview. The reason it is
called a created worldview is that it is mostly created by the writer. For example, if I write about a planet other
than the earth or even the worlds of our solar system, if I create a setting
outside of human knowledge then that is a created worldview. To be more concrete, if I write about the
planet Pern as Anne McCaffrey does, that is obviously a created worldview. Likewise, If I write about the fantasy lands
of Lyonesse as does Jack Vance, that is a created worldview. Harry Potty can also be seen as a created
worldview. However, Harry Potty does
something that Pern and Lyonesse cannot.
Harry Potty moves between the real and the magical worlds presenting
them as coexisting, the magical not discernable by the nonmagical. This is the basis for potentially having a
fantasy world setting in a scene.
I will state that I consider Harry
Potty to be closer to a created worldview than a reflected worldview, but we
need to define the reflected worldview.
The reflected worldview is the worldview
based on what humans in any event horizon, society, and culture believed
existed. Therefore, dragons, fairies,
witches, gods and goddesses, demigods, monsters, magic users, sorcerers, and
all can exist in the reflected worldview depending on how the author uses the
materials from any human worldview. It
should be very easy to see how a fantasy world setting can exist in a scene in
such a novel. That is, if the fantasy
world is part of the reflected worldview, then certainly, the fantasy world
setting can exist in a scene.
You should know what I’m writing about. If your characters go to almost any part of
rural Britain, Wales, or Scotland, they will find people who believe in the old
ways and the old beliefs. That’s not
just Christianity, but rather the beliefs that existed before Christianity came
to the islands and those of Christianity itself. All these ideas are ones reflected in the
society and culture of the people. They believe
in saints, demons, fairies, gods, dragons, and all kinds of other
creatures. If you are in their lands,
they also think you can go to some fantasy realm through some means. Whose to say you can’t?
The reflected worldview takes
advantage of what people believe and have believed to produce a worldview that
is not real, but is reflected based on historical and cultural ideas. I love to use this worldview. Let’s look at the scene outline to see how we
can potentially put a fantasy world setting in a scene.
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
All we have to do is create the
circumstance for a character or characters to interact in a setting we can call
fantasy world. This is much like the
characters from Harry Potty moving to the real world to interact then go back
to their created worldview. Can you see
how Harry Potty is a created worldview, but then moves occasionally over to the
real?
In this case, we intend to have a
reflected worldview—our characters mainly interact in the real worldview, but
then occasionally move to a fantasy worldview setting for a scene or two.
This is a very powerful means of
using entertainment in scenes. The
reader looks forward to these unexpected crossings. It is like many of the magic based novels I
read as a child. You wanted the
protagonist to use their magical skills and abilities. These were exciting and entertaining. When the protagonist finally did, you were so
excited and happy. Likewise, in the psionic
type novels of Andre Norton, you looked forward to each use of the “power”
because that was a foray into the reflected worldview and the exciting point of
psionics and magic in general.
Taking a reflected worldview and
moving it into a fantasy world setting for a scene or two is an entertaining and
powerful way to develop a novel, especially a reflected worldview novel. I’ll provide some examples from my own
writing.
This is a scene from my novel, Hestia:
Enchantment of the Hearth. This is
the first of my enchantment novels. We
see modern Athens and suddenly are propelled into a fantasy worldview setting.
They
all started up the street toward the railway terminal where, through experience,
they knew they could find an inexpensive hotel.
The sun fell below the hills and left a faint afterglow of deepening
twilight. The lights of the city streets
blinked on intermittently, each with a hiss.
Almost reluctantly, the shop lights sighed on and illuminated the
streets with colored neon advertisements for cigarettes and ouzo. As they walked up Athinas past Ermou, the
shops became a little seedier and set closer together. Hestia’s head cast back and forth as though
she tried to take in everything at once.
The artificial lighting seemed to confuse her. At one particular shop, her nose went up, and
she sniffed the air. She stopped in her
tracks. Angela and the two men continued
a couple of steps ahead. Hestia’s head
moved as though on a swivel. She faced
the darkened shop doorway. Backlit in
the shop’s open entrance lounged a slight, small man. A funny hat covered his head. At Hestia’s attention, he quickly ducked back
into the store behind him.
Hestia
matched the small man step for step, and quickly blocked the entrance while he
tried to close the heavy door in her face.
Hestia was much stronger or more determined—almost immediately he gave
up, and she followed him through the glass and wood door. It slammed behind her with the tinkle of a
mechanical bell.
Alarmed,
Angela ran back to the shop door and looked in.
The glass door was mirrored so she could not see inside. Angela pushed the door open and walked in
behind Hestia.
The
little man stood half behind the counter as though he tried to escape. He hesitated, one foot forward as though he
were about to run, while the other was set firmly in place. His features were unusually broad. He sported a goatee and had dark close set
eyes. The beard was curly and the hair
that escaped around the brim of his hat was a brown halo of curls. His legs seem strangely made, and he rocked
on them with a mincing nervous gait.
Phil
and Jack stepped into the small shop behind Angela, and Hestia raised her hands
to keep them all from moving any closer.
The
small man spoke, “Greetings Hestia, goddess of the hearth.” He bowed deeply.
A
laurel branch suddenly appeared in Hestia’s hand. The little man glanced at it with agitation,
“There is no need for that, dear Hestia.”
She
pointed the laurel branch at him, “Nomius, when you are about, there is always
need. Where are your brothers?”
“Here
and there about the world. My great
brother is dead.”
Hestia
raised the branch and made a benison, “That means a wonderful peace for my
naiads and dryads, and for all the girl children of men.”
Anger
flickered across the features of Nomius.
His face calmed as suddenly, “You speak, great goddess of things you do
not understand.”
“I
understand them very well, misbegotten creature—I do not share your putrid
desires. But enough of this foolish
speech. Who else of the demigods still
walk among men?”
“There
are few, and only those whom you would not greet with kindness.”
“Are
they here?”
“Some.” Nomius made a sudden dash for the opening
behind the counter and Hestia’s wand swept upward. Nomius paused in full flight and was
still. He stood on one strangely
articulated leg as though rooted to the spot.
Hestia did not move any closer.
“I
had not finished speaking to you Nomius,” her laurel wand made a tiny motion
and the little man’s face became mobile again.
“This
is not comfortable, great goddess.”
“It
is not meant to be, satyr,” Hestia almost spat the name.
“Is
that a satyr?” asked Angela, “a real satyr.”
Nomius
answered, “Yes, beautiful lady. I am
Nomius, but not properly a satyr. I am a
demigod in my own right.”
“Lady,”
said Hestia, “Do not speak your name or any of your names before this
creature. In spite of what it claims, it
is a satyr, and a creature of some power.
I ask you again, Nomius, who else is here and walking among men?”
“You
cannot compel me without force, and force you will not bring to bear on me.”
“I
can leave you there for a day and night and see later what you will tell me.”
Already
trickles of sweat poured down the sides of the satyr’s face, “Is this
true? The goddess of the hearth will
leave me to suffer?”
Hestia’s
features pulled into a grimace of disgust, “You are not a creature of the
hearth or town. You are a thing of the
woodland. I feel little pity for you. You are a cause of great suffering for my
children.”
“Your
children have forgotten you, great goddess.
They worship me and my kind, now.”
“Is
this true?” Hestia half turned to Angela.
Angela
shook her head, “I don’t know.”
“Great
goddess and great lady look at my shop and see if it isn’t a source of worship
in this world.”
The
counters were covered with arcane images: pentagrams and dark candles, semi
pornographic art, reproductions of phallic satyrs, mosaics from
“The
lady knows,” said Nomius, “these things are worshipped in this time and place.”
Hestia
answered him, “I’m sure you sell soothsaying and oracles as well. I know your touch.”
The
little man’s head dipped as much as was possible.
“I
still must know who else works with you here, and who still acts against the
men of this city-state.”
The
satyr chuckled. His laugh was curt and
strangled, but not bowed, “You do not yet understand the world of today, great
goddess. You do not rule here—we
do. This is no city-state, and there are
no hearths or hearth fires kindled to you.
The ancient gods and goddesses are gone.
They do not have a place anymore.
We are all that is left, and we accept the worship of men that once was
yours.”
“What
of the new God?”
Nomius
made a face, “The new God is nothing to us.
He is not here, and He does not take what is ours.”
“This
new God fills you with fear. I smell
your fear.”
Nomius
didn’t say anything.
“Tell
me, who of the gods and demigods still work their ways on mankind?”
Nomius
pursed his lips.
“I
give you one more chance to answer me now, otherwise I will leave you until
tomorrow.”
The
satyr pressed his lips more firmly together.
“Very
well. I will see you tomorrow and hear
you speak then.”
“Wait,
great goddess.”
“You
will tell me what I want to know?”
“No. I only ask that you lock up my shop. If you leave me here, I will be defenseless
against anyone passing by, and you will never hear what you want to know.”
“Very
well.”
“In
my pocket are the keys.”
Hestia
did not move, “I will release one arm so you may take out your keys. Put them on the counter.” She made a slight motion with the tip of her
willow wand.
Nomius
grunted and his left arm moved. He
clenched and unclenched his hand as though the flow of blood was suddenly
restored. His face registered a wash of
pain.
“Slowly
Nomius,” warned Hestia.
Nomius
contorted himself and dug into his right pocket, “You didn’t make this easy for
me, great goddess.”
“I
did not intend to.”
After
a moment of fumbling, Nomius took out a big ring of ancient keys and placed
them on the counter.
“Lady,”
Hestia half turned her head toward Angela, “take the keys, but use caution.”
Angela
walked to the counter. She stared at the
keys. Then she cautiously stretched out
her hand, and grasped the ring. With
inhuman speed, Nomius reached over the counter and flipped the ring over
Angela’s hand. The ring closed
immediately over her wrist, and she flinched back, shaking the ring and keys as
though with that action she could fling them from her arm.
Nomius
laughed aloud mirthlessly.
Hestia
waved her wand and his laugh was immediately bitten off. The sweat sparkled in the curls of his hair
and beard and dripped off the sides of his face. With a second motion, Hestia’s wand came up.
Nomius
mouth fell open again, but he shut it immediately.
Angela strained
at the ring and tried to pull it over her hand.
The harder she pulled the tighter the ring became.
“Lady,”
called Hestia, she waved Angela over.
Angela
whimpered, but came to Hestia. A look of
panic filled Angela’s features, and she pulled with all her might at the
tightening ring.
“Stop!”
Hestia demanded, “Show me the ring.”
Fear
widened Angela’s eyes. She held the ring
up for Hestia to study. Hestia didn’t
touch it. She carefully inspected the
ring and the keys. It rested loosely on
Angela’s arm, but the marks of the keys showed on her sun-darkened skin. The ring appeared like old brass, a heavy
patina covered it. No symbols or breaks
were immediately visible on it. The
heads of four keys, one new and three ancient, were threaded on the ring. Of the old keys, the first was iron, the
second brass, and the third copper. She
whispered to Angela, “Don’t try to remove it.
It is an ancient enchantment.”
Then she addressed the satyr again, “Nomius, I demand you tell us how to
remove this ring.”
Nomius
pressed his lips more tightly together.
Hestia yelled threats and commands at him for a while longer, but he
would not speak again. Finally, she
pronounced, “Tomorrow, I will come in the morning. Be ready to answer my questions then, or you
will remain here forever, unmoving.” She
waved the laurel branch again, and though Nomius’ lips trembled, even the sweat
stopped on his brow as though frozen in time.
“Come,” she waved to the three behind her.
Jack
and Phil left immediately, but Angela held up the ring on her arm. Hestia shook her head, “I cannot remove it
now. I must think on these things. There is much more here than I expected to
find.”
They
left the small shop and found themselves alone on the street.
“Angela,”
said Hestia, “Lock up the door of the shop.
If Nomius was not lying about that too, one of the keys fits this door.”
Angela
dashed the sudden tears of frustration out of her eyes with the back of her
left hand and tried the modern looking key on the door. It fit, and the door locked with a snap.
“Come,”
said Hestia, “It is time to find an inn and wine. There is much to think about before the
morning.”
As I noted, this scene moves the
reader from modern Athens to a fantasy construction in Athens. In this fantasy construction, magic and
satyrs can exist. Hestia works some of her
magic, and Nomius places a cursed set of keys on Angela’s arm. These keys will be part of the resolution of
the novel. This is an important scene
for many reasons, not the least the keys and Nomius himself.
This scene also presents a reflected
worldview. In the history of the world,
real people wrote and believed in Hestia and the satyr Nomius. This is all information a reader can find for
themselves about the world—it isn’t a created worldview. In addition, the keys in the scene are all
part of a reflected worldview. That
means the keys are real keys recorded in history and having a place in the
historical and cultural world.
This is a means of bringing a
fantasy world setting plot into a scene.
I’ll show you another tomorrow.
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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