04 January 2022, Writing - part xx824 Writing a Novel, Using Prison Setting Plots in Scenes, Example Two
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 prison setting
plot. Perhaps the most famous prison
setting plot comes out of The Count of Monte Christo. This is also a scene setting plot, because
the entire novel is not set in a prison.
I can give some examples from my
writing of a prison plot setting, but I’m getting ahead of myself.
The answer to the question, can you
have a prison setting plot in a scene is obviously, yes. In fact, very few novels use an overall
prison setting. More often than not, the
prison setting is a scene setting. Of
course, the prison scene setting is a great scene setting especially when you
need or want to use it. In fact, I’d
suggest using it whenever you have the opportunity—what do I mean by that.
In the scene examples I will show
you, the point is that my characters were accused of criminal acts or behavior
and were busted. Anytime you have the circumstance
of police or the authorities involved, you can potentially use a prison scene
setting. Your characters get busted and
go to a cell until they get bailed out or released. This hasn’t happened to most of us, but it is
a staple of anyone who watches television or crime dramas.
If you aren’t familiar, just do a
little reading and study. I suspect any
police officer will explain jail procedures to you. You might be able to read about them on
line. The point is to use them when
necessary to spice up your scenes and setting.
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
In this case, our input will be
getting arrested by the police or some authorities. Additionally, you have some kind of activity
input based on illegal activity or the appearance of illegal activity. It’s not like this happens all the time, but
I’m certain any good author can imagine such a circumstance and write about
it. As I noted, I’ll give you some
examples tomorrow.
This is from my novel Sorcha:
Enchantment and the Curse. This is an
incomplete scene, but it shows the circumstances that got Shiggy and William in
jail, and those that got them out. It’s
a prison setting.
They
walked down a dark street with few other passersby. As they approached the mall a man stepped out
with his hands in his jacket pockets, “One moment.”
Major
Easom stopped immediately. Shiggy and
William caught up to them.
The
man lifted his hand in his pocket and stepped toward Sorcha, “Missus, I’d like
your purse, and you two gentlemen, pass me your wallets.”
Dustin
stepped in front of Sorcha.
William
moved quickly forward to Sorcha’s side.
Sorcha
gritted her teeth, “Is this a robbery?”
The
man stopped and pressed his hand in his coat pocket so it appeared as if he held
a pistol, “That’s a little rude. You
will be sharing your property with me tonight.
If you do it without making a fuss, we will all walk away without any
injury. You’re a pretty lady.” He put out his other hand, “If you hand me
your purse immediately, I might let you off with only a little feel. If you don’t and these gentlemen don’t hand
me their wallets, someone won’t be going home tonight.”
Sorcha
stepped back, “Shiggy take him down.”
The
man moved forward. Shiggy tried to step
around William. Her pistol was already
in her hand.
Dustin
jumped in front of Sorcha and a gunshot went off. Dustin fell to the ground without a
sound. Sorcha screamed. Shiggy never thought she would hear such a
sound come from Sorcha’s lips. Then
Sorcha went down. She fell on top of
Dustin and everything became confused.
William
blocked Shiggy’s path. She leapt over
the two on the ground and before the man could get off another shot, Shiggy
grabbed his pistol and wrenched his hand upward in his jacket. She struck a blow against the man’s temple
with enough force to break his neck.
Another shot went off close enough to Shiggy’s hand that she felt the
bullet graze her palm. The man dropped
to the sidewalk like a stone. Shiggy
stood over him trembling. The man didn’t
move. Shiggy disarmed him and stood with
two pistols in her hand. By then, people
began moving toward them. The street
seemed to fill with people. They heard a
bobby’s whistle. Shiggy turned back
toward Sorcha and Dustin. Sorcha lay
halfway on him and bawled. She glanced
sad eyed at Shiggy, “Holster your weapon, Shiggy.”
Blood
pooled under Dustin onto the sidewalk.
William moved toward Sorcha and Dustin.
Sorcha glanced at him, “Block Shiggy, while she puts away her weapon.”
William
looked down then at Shiggy. He moved
over to her while Shiggy lifted her skirts and holstered her graphite pistol.
When
they turned back and moved toward the two, Sorcha had already rolled Dustin
over. She pulled his coat up and his
pants to the side then pressed her hand over the pulsing wound in his hip. William ran to her with Shiggy right behind
him.
Sorcha
pressed her hand on his wound, blood welled between her fingers. She cried, “This is why I didn’t want to love
anyone. This is why I can’t love
anyone.”
William
added his pressure to hers and they lay there on the cold concrete watching the
blood flow in slowly decreasing amounts.
A
bobby ran up to them. He stepped to the
robber first, “This man is dead. Who did
this?”
Shiggy
raised her hand, “I did. He tried to rob
us and shot our friend.” Shiggy still
held the man’s pistol. “Please, you must
call an ambulance.”
“Already
on its way from Charing Cross.”
Shiggy
moved toward the bobby, “Do you have any first aid equipment?”
The
bobby lifted his pistol, “Put down that weapon immediately.”
Shiggy
placed it on the ground.
“You
girl, step to the side and get down on the sidewalk.”
Sorcha
nodded to Shiggy.
Shiggy
did as she was told.
The
bobby watched Shiggy carefully while he stepped over to the other three, “That
looks bad.”
Sorcha’s
eyes looked immensely sad, “It is… bad.”
They
held on to Dustin while the ambulance came.
The orderlies took over. They
immediately applied everything they had to the wound and brought a stretcher. Sorcha got into the ambulance with Dustin
over the protests of the bobby and the orderlies. They didn’t delay, but allowed her in. The ambulance took of down the street to
Charing Cross hospital not a block away.
Shiggy
remained on the ground with William standing at the side. That’s when the bobbies really descended on
them. They zip tied Shiggy’s hands
behind her back and roughly searched her.
That’s when they found her pistol and dagger. A policeman opened her blouse and removed the
graphite dagger while a police woman removed her pistol and holster. They inspected her clutch and stared at her
when they discovered her extra magazine and teargas spray. Shiggy was mortified. All the more because William couldn’t do
anything but watch.
The
bobby who initially arrived pushed back his hat, “You’re a walking arsenal of
very illegal weapons, lady. You’re
coming to the station with us.” He
glanced at William, “You too.”
A
second ambulance arrived for the robber, but the orderlies declared him dead at
the scene.
They
unceremoniously trussed Shiggy up and tossed her into the back of a patrol
car. A police woman held a pistol on
Shiggy the entire time. William had to
ride in another automobile.
At
the station, a woman police officer strip searched Shiggy, they photographed
her, fingerprinted her, gave her an orange jumpsuit, and locked her in a cell
by herself. When the door closed behind
her, Shiggy stated, “May I make a telephone call?”
The
policewoman just stared at her, “What do you think this is America?” She left.
Shiggy
sat on the bunk and fidgeted. Angel sat
on her shoulder and blubbered. Shiggy
hopped Angel didn’t poison her or anyone else.
She was already in enough trouble as it was. Eventually, Shiggy lay down and went to
sleep.
In
the morning, Shiggy heard the door open to her isolated cell area. A police woman entered. Shiggy ran her fingers through her hair. She likely looked terrible. Sorcha would not be pleased, and orange
didn’t match her complexion at all.
The
woman stared at her for a moment, “You don’t look as dangerous as the report
says, but I’m not taking any chances.
Get up and step to the bars.
Shiggy
moved to the front of the cell.
“Drop
your suit.”
Shiggy
unzipped it and let it fall to her ankles.
“Turn
around.”
Shiggy
did.
“Pull
it back up and step to the back of the cell.”
Shiggy
moved back.
The
woman opened the cell door and motioned with a baton, “Come out and keep your
hands up and in sight.”
Shiggy
meekly complied.
The
woman poked her in the back, “Move forward to the cell block door. I don’t want any problems from you.”
Shiggy
stepped out of the cell block into a bright office area. On the other side, she spotted Sveta. Sveta didn’t look very happy at all.
The
police woman pushed Shiggy with her baton, and they moved toward Sveta, “Is
this the one?”
Sveta
nodded, ‘That’s her.”
William
came from the other side with a bobby behind him. He wore an orange jump suit as well. His face was unshaven, and Shiggy thought her
looked wonderful and masculine. She
could barely contain herself. She want
him to hold her and console her. She
wanted to see Sorcha and Dustin. She
felt terrible. She hoped she looked well
enough that William wouldn’t think badly of her.
Sveta
stood on the other side of a low metal railing.
She took an obvious breath, “These two are the ones I’m looking for.”
A
police woman constable glanced at Shiggy then back to Sveta, “This girl is one
dangerous twit. According to the record,
she killed a man last night and came in here packing an illegal pistol, dagger,
and teargas. She had illegal weapons in
her purse, and on her body. She might
have shot another man. Are you certain
you want her?”
Sveta
grimaced, “I have a missive from the Crown that allows me to take charge of
your prisoners. I want Ms. Shiggy Tash
and Mr. William Cross.”
“Those
are the ones. Ms. Tash doesn’t have any
records under British registry.”
“That’s
why I’m taking her and Mr. Cross.”
“Oh. I see.
Would you like them in chains and shackles?”
“That
won’t be necessary.” Sveta turned to
Shiggy, “Are you all right Shiggy?”
Shiggy’s
eyes filled, “No. No, I’m not all
right. I want my things, and I need my
clothing. Sorcha will kill me.”
The
constable lifted his lip, “They’re all state’s evidence and illegal. You won’t be seeing them again.”
Sveta’s
voice turned hard, “I am allowed to take their property for them. It’s in the missive.”
A
male constable spoke up, “This man was also carrying illegal weapons on his
person.”
Sveta
nodded, “I’ll take them too. They don’t
need to change.”
“Them’s
station property—their orange duds.”
Sveta
glared at him, “You may charge the Crown.
I’ll bring them back to you in a few days.”
The
constable lifted his other lip. He
turned to the bobby and then the woman police officer, “Put them into chains
until you place them in this lady’s automobile.”
Sveta
showed her teeth, but she didn’t say anything.
They
frog-marched Shiggy and William outside with ankle and wrist chains. At Sveta’s black Bentley, they unlocked the
chains and William and Shiggy stepped in.
William held the door for Shiggy and Sveta. The Bentley had club-seating. Sveta sat facing them. She turned her head, crossed her legs, and
put her chin on her hand. When the door
closed, Sveta spoke to the driver, “Bob, take us back to Lyon’s House.”
“Yes,
mum.”
Sveta
didn’t move, “We’re in a pickle now.”
Shiggy
cried, “Where’s Sorcha and Dustin? Is he
all right?”
Sveta
smiled a little, “Dustin is alive. He’s
in hospital and should recover. He
hasn’t woken from surgery yet.”
“And
Sorcha,” Shiggy wiped her nose with the back of her hand.
“Sorcha’s
with him. Been with him all night.” Sveta handed Shiggy a handkerchief, “You
might as well wipe it on the jumpsuit. I
intend to return them as they are to that ghastly constable. You might let Angel wipe her nose on it
too.” Sveta turned her head and gave
Shiggy a genuine smile, “I’m proud of you, Shiggy and you, William. You handled this very terrible circumstance
very well. I don’t think anyone could
have done better.”
William
pressed his lips together, “What about our records?”
“Ah. That’s just the problem. I’ve got our department on it, but you are
both currently recorded in the British criminal system, and at the moment,
under criminal indictment. The Crown
posted bail for you both.” Sveta reached
for the bag beside her on the seat, “I almost forgot.” She handed the bag to William, “Take your
equipment.”
William
began pulling clothing and weapons out of the bag. He handed a brazier and panties to Shiggy,
“These are yours. I’m sure.”
Shiggy
blushed.
Sveta
blushed too, “You might as well put them back in the bag.”
William
first handed Shiggy all her clothing and equipment. She looked through them.
He
asked, “Is everything there?”
Shiggy
looked through her clutch. She returned
her extra magazine and other items to the gold bag, “I have everything.”
“Mine’s
all here too.”
He
placed all his things back into the bag and held it open for Shiggy.
Shiggy
held everything in her lap and pressed it close, “Let me hold on to it until we
get to the house. I don’t feel
comfortable without it.”
As I wrote, the output can be being
released from prison, escaping from prison, or staying in prison. Lots of options here.
Not all my characters are going to
jail. I have a few other examples I can
show you. Perhaps one that is a little
different than the ones I showed you.
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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