14 August 2022, Writing - part xxx046 Writing a Novel, We are Refining the Protagonist, Powering Through, Tension and Conflict between Characters
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.
|
|
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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
I could easily write: if you develop a great protagonist,
the writing will come. That’s basically
what I do, but I know that doesn’t work for the inexperienced and the young
writer.
Writing is really exhausting when you are first
starting. The problem, as I see it is
getting into the rhythm of the writing.
When a writer is in the rhythm, the writing seems to come easily, when
they aren’t, who knows what you might get.
When I was a younger writer, I found many times I had no
idea where I was going or what was going on in my writing. Today, I realize the problem was with my
protagonist, and also with my plot development.
Let’s lump those together and call them writing development.
Below, I’ve left up the outline for the protagonist. This is what you need to develop to build a
proper protagonist.
1.
Define the initial scene
2. At the same time as the above—fit a protagonist into the
initial scene. That means the minimum
of:
a.
Telic flaw
b.
Approximate age
c.
Approximate social degree
d.
Sex
3. Refine the protagonist
a.
Physical description
b.
Background – history of the
protagonist
i.
Birth
ii.
Setting
iii.
Life
iv.
Education
v.
Work
vi.
Profession
vii.
Family
c.
Setting – current
i.
Life
ii.
Setting
iii.
Work
d.
Name
4. Refine the details of the protagonist
a.
Emotional description (never to be
shared directly)
b.
Mental description (never to be
shared directly)
c.
Likes and dislikes (never to be
shared directly)
5. Telic flaw resolution
a.
Changes required for the protagonist
to resolve the telic flaw
i.
Physical changes
ii.
Emotional changes
iii.
Mental changes
b.
Alliances required for the
protagonist to resolve the telic flaw
c.
Enemies required for the protagonist
to resolve the telic flaw
d.
Plots required for the protagonist
to resolve the telic flaw
e.
Obstacles that must be overcome for
the protagonist to resolve the telic flaw
Now, if you slavishly follow this outline for the protagonist, it will not
guarantee you a great or even a good protagonist. What it will give you is a protagonist
detailed enough to write about. I’ve
covered the idea of the great protagonist before. I’ll state again, and you should review what
I’ve written, you need a good Romantic protagonist.
The protagonist is developed simultaneously, in my mind with the initial
scene. There are other means to begin
your writing development, but I don’t, and I’ve shown you the pitfalls I’ve
discovered when using other methods or starting places. That doesn’t mean you can’t come at this
writing development from another standpoint.
Here are the four, in order of precedence, means of approaching the initial
scene. I have used all four in published
works. I recommend only the first two. The others can work, but they are not as good
at producing a great initial scene. This
is the first step, in my book, to writing development. As I wrote, it doesn’t matter how you got to
this point, this is where writing development begins. The list:
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
I think the proper organization and approach to the writing
itself is the best solution to writer’s black.
That’s why I spend so much time on the protagonist, scenes, and novel
development. I’m not an outline
writer—that is, I don’t like to write from an outline. You don’t have to be that organized. We aren’t writing technical papers here—we
are writing fiction.
So, the proper organization from my standpoint is the
organization that allows you the greatest latitude to write something really
good. That’s what writing development is
all about. Couple that with the
understanding of how to put together a scene, and you have enough organization
to write a great novel. Add to that the
protagonist, and you have everything.
If you remember, the novel is the revelation of the
protagonist, that’s really all you need—along with the organization.
If you are organized in this fashion, I see potential
success in the future. However, I know
everyone gets to the point where they say, “I can’t get any further.” Yeap, that happened to me why I was a
younger, less experienced writer. It
doesn’t happen anymore. The reason is
this: I fix or blow through problems with writing.
It doesn’t matter what the problem is. In writing, if you know the tricks, you can
always fix or blow through your writing problems. This isn’t a great single sentence description,
but I’ll try to explain just what I mean.
What I will do is look at the writing development and
especially, the scene development. We
will apply that to the protagonist development to get into the writing.
If you are stuck at the beginning, in other words, you
haven’t written anything yet, that is definitely a problem of protagonist
development and the initial scene. I
won’t go back over everything we have explored before, but we will start at the
beginning, and figure out how to solve the problem of writer’s block from the
initial creativity. Let’s use an outline
like this (this is a type of technical paper).
1.
Initial ideas (protagonist, initial
scene, and telic flaw)
2. The scene
3. Review and editing
4. Notes
5. Exercises
6. Ideas
7.
Picking up the pieces
We are moving on from the very beginning. I’m going to assume you have an idea with a
protagonist, an antagonist, a telic flaw, an initial setting, and an initial
scene. This is all you need to start a
novel. I showed you how to get to the
initial scene. I will also help you to
write it. I hope you have made it this
far. Usually, people get an idea for a
book and start writing. The problem
isn’t necessarily at the beginning but rather as the novel unfolds, they lose
the strength of their initial enthusiasm.
The muse is gone. I want to get
the muse moving. To kick it in the
backside and keep the creative and writing process going. That’s how we will get rid of writer’s block. The next stage is the scene.
We need to power through the scene writing process. By this, I mean, we must use the scene
development outline to force the writing to continue—that is a means to get rid
of writer’s block. So, here is the scene development outline repeated:
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
If you are writing the initial scene, you don’t technically
have a scene input. You are totally
dependent on creativity here. That is
what I took so much time with the initial scene, both past and present. You gotta have an initial scene. Most writers don’t have a problem with
this. They might have a lame or bad
initial scene, but they have an initial scene.
That’s why I tried to give careful help on how to get to that
scene. The rest is gravy—kind of.
You can have writer’s block at any time, but if you follow
the scene outline, you should be able to power through especially with a good
initial scene. You don’t have to have a
great initial scene—you just need an initial scene. Further, you don’t have to have it
written—yet. Let’s go through the scene
outline and see how to write the initial as well as all the other scenes in
your novel.
Write the scene using the output and creative elements to build the
tension.
We have the following elements, or we are planning to use the following
elements.
1.
Scene setting – setting elements
2.
Output – comes from the input
3.
Creative elements – promoted from the setting elements
4.
Plot – promoted from the creative elements
5.
Telic flaw – basis of everything
6.
Tension and release – the creative nature of the scene
You don’t have to have everyone of these to start writing, but with these
you can easily write a scene. I have, in
every case shown you how to generate these, but the real trick and the end
result is writing the scene. This is
where people’s writer’s block seems to kick in.
We have the basic pieces we need to write the scene—all the elements or
parts of the elements above. We have
reviewed our notes, the previous scene, and our ideas for this scene. As we can see, we have the general outcome
(output) of the scene. Now, we need to
write it in such a way that it is entertaining and exciting. Entertaining and exciting requires some
degree of conflict.
I’ve written about this before, and we are truly moving into the creative
action in writing. Not to say all the
parts of writing aren’t creative, but the other parts are self-evident, writing
the tension in the scene is imagination and creativity, and that’s about
it.
We do have the pieces or elements from the list about to produce and develop
that tension, but we need to apply imagination and creativity to those to
produce the conflict I’m writing about.
Conflict comes in many ways. You can
have conflict between characters, conflict with the setting, conflict from new
characters coming into the setting, or conflict with the antagonist. When I write, conflict between characters, I
mean conflict between the protagonist, major characters or the protagonist’s
helper. All of this is great conflict.
You can set this us many ways. Let me
list these means of producing conflict first:
1.
Conflict between the protagonist, major characters, or
the protagonist’s helper.
2.
Conflict with the setting.
3.
Conflict with external or non-major characters.
4.
Conflict with the antagonist.
Conflict between the protagonist and other characters as well as the
protagonist’s helper is some of the best and most powerful conflict. I recommend using this in a scene as much as
possible. I’m into long and short-term
rivalries, but just disagreements between major characters can fuel the tension
in a scene.
The next is just to interject a non-major character into the scene and use
that character as some type of foil for the protagonist. You don’t need a major foil, just a little
foil. This is the point where you have
small distractions that drive the tension in the scene. I mentioned that I did this in one of my
novels, Essie: Enchantment and the Aos Si.
The example I gave was a young boy whom I introduced into a single
scene. The boy was a grandson of a next
door neighbor of Mrs. Lyons and Essie.
Mrs. Lyons watched the boy on Wednesday when his grandmother and
grandfather were away. I can’t remember
all the details, but the problem was this boy and his exposure to Essie.
Although Essie, at the time looked like an fifteen year old girl, her mental
state was more younger, and her emotional state exceedingly younger. Even though she was a very old being, she had
reverted into a stage of mental innocence.
The young boy simply acted like any young boy. He expected Essie to be able to read and
write and to play games other than baby games, but Essie, at the time, was
still learning.
Thus, the conflict was simply that the boy hurt Essie’s feelings. This was a little important for Essie to
learn too. It was a great way of
developing pathos in the novel. Essie
and the boy had a little children’s tiff and Essie ran away. The boy didn’t appear in any other
scene. It wasn’t necessary.
Now, you might ask, what was the purpose of the boy in the entire
novel? Was he just for tension in this
scene? The answer is this:
1.
Revelation of the protagonist. Essie is the protagonist, and this little
tension and scene shows or reveals her as the protagonist. We didn’t know Essie could feel unhappy about
such things—this shows how emotionally involved she is and emotional changes in
the character.
2.
Tension development in this scene and Mrs. Lyons’
response. The really fun part of this
scene is Essie’s response to the boy and Mrs. Lyons’ response to them
both. Mrs. Lyons properly takes care of
the problem and helps guide them both to reconciliation.
3.
Telic flaw resolution.
At this point in the novel, we really have no idea who Essie really
is. This is part of that
revelation. The complete revelation of
just who Essie is will have to wait until the climax. In the climax, we see just who Essie is. It just takes about 100,000 words to get
there.
The best thing to do is to show you this scene:
In
the morning during breakfast, a knock came at the front door. Essie’s eyes turned wild, but Mrs. Lyons
touched her hands, “Just wait a moment.
I’ll see who is at the door. Wait
here, and don’t worry.” She pressed
Essie’s fingers gently.
At
the door, a young man walked in. He
looked about ten years old and well featured.
His hair shone a sun-kissed blond, and his face looked as if he spent
much of his time outside. He did. He was Cole Stevens and his grandmother, Amy
Paige, was Mrs. Lyons’ friend and next-door neighbor. Cole came over on Wednesdays when his
grandmother and grandfather left to play bridge.
Mrs.
Lyons had entirely forgotten the days, “Good morning, Cole.”
The
boy gave a slight bow, “Good morning, Mrs. Lyons.” He headed directly to the guest parlor.
Mrs.
Lyons rushed back to the kitchen. Essie
stood with her back to the kitchen door.
Mrs. Lyons stopped cold, “Essie.
Essie, are you all right?”
Essie
breathed out slowly, “There is another person in the house.”
“It’s
a child, Cole Stevens. He’s a nice
boy. You may play with him, and perhaps
he will read you a book.”
“He
sounded so young. Can he really read a
book to me?”
Mrs.
Lyons smiled, “If you convince him.”
Essie
bit her lip, “How can I do that?”
“Just
ask him.” Mrs. Lyons came and took
Essie’s hands, “Are you finished with breakfast?”
“Yes.”
“Then
come and meet Cole.”
“You
won’t leave, will you?”
“I
will read.”
Essie
nodded. Mrs. Lyons led her back to the guest
parlor. Cole glanced up when they
entered. He stood, “Who’s this?”
Essie
hung back. Mrs. Lyons pulled her
forward, “This is my great granddaughter, Essie. She’s visiting me for the summer.”
“Just
like I’m visiting my grandmother?”
“Yes
exactly.”
Cole
stuck out his hand, “Nice to meet you, Essie.
I’m Cole and I’m starting year six this fall. What year are you in?”
Essie
sucked on her lip. She eyed Cole’s hand
warily. Mrs. Lyons spoke gently, “You
may shake his hand.”
Essie
looked to the side. She whispered,
“Shake his hand?”
Mrs.
Lyons demonstrated. She touched Cole’s
hand and shook it. Cole kept his hand
out toward Essie. After a moment, Essie
touched his hand and quickly released it.
Cole
looked at her strangely. He asked,
“Would you like to play a game?”
Essie
didn’t look up, “I don’t know what a game is.
I’d rather read a book.” She
glanced at Cole, “Would you read a book to me?”
Cole
laughed, “Sure I can. If I read you a
book, will you play a game?”
Essie
glanced quickly at Mrs. Lyons, then turned her face away, but watched from the
sides of her eyes. Mrs. Lyons nodded.
Essie
nodded.
Cole
grabbed Essie’s hand and drew her to the bookshelves. He began looking at the
upper shelves while Essie searched the lower shelves. Essie came up with a children’s book about
Cinderella. Essie held it in her hands
for a moment without speaking. Cole
noted that she had stopped looking through the books and glanced at her
choice. He gave a slightly disdainful
glance at the book, but he plopped down on the gold carpet and opened the
book. Essie knelt behind him where she
could see the pictures. Cole began to
read. Essie stared at the book in a way
she never would have dared to look at a human being. Cole took a few backward glances at Essie. She appeared so entranced, the boy began
reading with gusto. He added voices to
the people and sound effects to the story.
Essie’s eyes became bigger and bigger.
The book was longer than a simple children’s fairytale, and Cole read
until just before lunch. When Cole
finished the book, Essie gave a tiny smile and a great sigh. Cole took that as a positive response, “Now,
let’s play a board game. Do you have any
favorites?”
Essie
shrugged, “I’ve never played a game before.”
“Never?”
Essie
shook her head.
Cole
eyed her suspiciously, “I’ll pick one for us to play, and I’ll teach you how.”
Essie
nodded.
Mrs.
Lyons realized later that she should have watched Cole’s choice of a game a
little closer. She glanced at the time,
“I’ll prepare tea and lunch. I’ll call
you when it’s ready.”
Cole
nodded. Essie pursed her lips. Mrs. Lyons walked to the kitchen to heat
water and make sandwiches.
She
heard the quiet mummer of Cole’s voice for a while. He seemed to be explaining the rules. After a moment, she caught a slight rise in
Cole’s voice. Then an outburst. Mrs. Lyons put down the meat and bread she
held and moved as fast as she could back to the guest parlor. When she entered the hallway, she saw and
heard the parlor exterior door open and slam shut. She rushed into the guest parlor.
Cole
sat dumbfounded in front of a board game.
Mrs.
Lyons bent toward him, “Are you all right, Cole?”
“Yes,
ma’am, I’m all right, but Essie’s a bit slow isn’t she?”
Mrs.
Lyons grasped the boy’s hands, “What did you say to her?”
Cole
blushed, “I just told her she wasn’t very bright for a girl of her age.”
Mrs.
Lyons grimaced, “She hasn’t been to school.
She doesn’t have any education.”
Cole
glanced down, “I’m sorry.”
“Did
she go out into the garden?”
Cole
nodded.
“Check
the tea water for me, Cole.” With a
hopeful lilt, “I’ll be back soon…if I can find her.”
Mrs.
Lyons hurried to the guest parlor’s exterior door. It had been locked. The lock hung open. She wondered a little about that. Outside, the sun shone heavy on the bursting
garden. Buds filled it and a few flowers
already opened to the day. The green
foliage looked lush and was already taking over the garden. The paths were already overgrown and Mrs.
Lyons didn’t have the energy to keep it up anymore. She usually hired a man from the village to
clean it up a couple of times during the deep summer.
The
garden possessed a low hedge within and a high hedge all around it. The garden stretched large and rambling,
filled with roses, small fruit and ornamental trees, and low interior
hedges. Four arched entrances marked
high hedges at the center of each side of the garden. Mrs. Lyons headed toward the closest arch
across from the guest parlor door and hoped that marked the direction Essie
fled.
The
birds were nearly silent when Mrs. Lyons entered the garden proper. She thought that seemed a little odd
too. Usually the starlings, robins, and
thrushes started up a continual racket when anyone entered the garden.
Ornamental
stones and low stone walls also formed the interior. They, with the low hedges, made a maze, but
not a very good maze. In the winter, the
wide garden could be viewed from one end to the other. In the summer, a jungle of ivy and trailing
flowered trellises all bounded and supported by hedges and the stonework
blocked any view.
Mrs.
Lyons headed toward the center of the garden.
That was the brightest part and the sun stood near zenith. It took her a few minutes to travel there. The way wasn’t straight at all. Mrs. Lyons eventually entered the open
place. At the center of the garden lay a
large flat stone encircled by an overgrown path. Other paths connected and meandered from it
to the arched entrances at the sides of the garden. None of the paths led straight through the
garden.
Essie
lay on the center stone. When Mrs. Lyons
entered the center of the garden, Essie immediately saw her and rolled over
away from her. Mrs. Lyons walked slowly
and carefully toward the girl. She stood
at her back, “Why did you leave the house?”
Essie’s
quiet voice barely rose loud enough to hear.
In the silent garden, Mrs. Lyons could hear her well, “You should ask
why I stopped.”
Mrs.
Lyons smiled, “I know why you stopped…you swore.”
“Yes,
I swore. I didn’t realize I would be
insulted.”
“Insulted?”
Essie
turned around more quickly than Mrs. Lyons could see. She half-sat, half leaned on the stone. Mrs. Lyons sat beside her. She reached around the girl with her
hand. When Essie didn’t protest, Mrs.
Lyons held the girl’s shoulder and pulled her a little closer, “What did Cole
say or do that insulted you?”
Essie
turned her face away, “I know I am slow.
I know I’m not very bright. That
boy didn’t have to say it out loud.”
Mrs.
Lyons put her other arm around the girl and pulled her closer still. Essie let Mrs. Lyons hold her. Mrs. Lyons whispered, “Why do you think you
are slow or not bright?”
Essie
didn’t look up, “I was always called berk, daft, dim, divvy, dozy, idiot,
numpty, nutter, prat, stupid, twit, wazzack…they all mean the same thing or
almost. They said I couldn’t learn and
that I shouldn’t learn…”
“Who
said that?”
Essie
closed her mouth tight.
“Was
it the Morfrans? Were they the ones who
beat and abused you? Did they keep you
in a cage?”
Essie
didn’t say anything.
“I
told you I would protect you.”
“Will
you teach me to read?”
Mrs.
Lyons smiled, “I will teach you everything you can possibly learn.”
Essie
snuggled closer in Mrs. Lyons’ arms.
Mrs.
Lyons sighed, “It is time for luncheon.
Cole will be eating with us.”
Essie
stiffened.
“Don’t
worry. I’ll watch him more closely. I’ll
find a game you can play together. I
promise.”
“Is
a promise like a swear?”
“It’s
very much like a swear—an oath.”
“I’m
hungry.”
“I
thought so.” Mrs. Lyons stood and pulled
Essie up with her. She took Essie’s hand
and led her back through the garden and to the guest parlor. They walked to the kitchen. Cole sat at the kitchen table. Mrs. Lyons released Essie’s hand, and she
slipped to the side of the table away from Cole. She didn’t look at him. Mrs. Lyons served tea and sandwiches. Essie deconstructed her sandwich and ate the
ham from the inside out. She licked the
butter from the bread. She drank milk
with a drop of tea.
Cole
watched Essie as if she was an alien creature.
He ate everything on his plate and drank his tea.
Afterward,
Cole helped Mrs. Lyons clean up the kitchen while Essie watched from the
table. When they finished, Mrs. Lyons
asked, “Shall we return to the guest parlor?”
Cole nodded. Cole led, followed
by Mrs. Lyons, and then Essie.
When
they arrived at the guest parlor, Cole turned suddenly. He held his hands in fists at his side and
made a tense bow, “I’m very sorry Essie.
I didn’t mean to make you mad or sad.”
Essie
nodded, but didn’t say anything.
Mrs.
Lyons moved to the bookshelves, “Essie said she would play a game with you, but
I shall select it.” Mrs. Lyons pulled
Candyland from the lowest shelf. She
handed it to Cole, “I should have told you earlier. Essie has not had much education. She can’t read yet. This game will be easy for her to play. One of my adopted greats brought it from the
United States. You must help her
understand.”
Mrs.
Lyons went to her seat at the side, and picked up her book. She kept a close watch on Cole and
Essie. Cole carefully explained the
rules to Essie. Essie didn’t know how to
count either, but she could match colors.
Cole helped her learn to count so she could play the game. Mrs. Lyons felt very happy with the way things
turned out.
In
the late afternoon, Mrs. Paige came to retrieve Cole. Mrs. Lyons greeted her at the door. When she called, Cole came quickly from the
guest parlor. Essie followed, but
remained in the hallway and watched as Cole departed with his grandmother.
When
Mrs. Lyons closed the door, Essie asked in her very quiet voice, “Will you
really teach me to read?”
Mrs.
Lyons let her lips rise into a bright smile, “Essie, dear, I will teach you
everything and anything you wish to learn.
You are not stupid—you simply haven’t been given the opportunity to
learn.”
Essie
took a deep breath, “That is not so…I know I am slow, but there are things I
can learn. I also realize this.”
Mrs.
Lyons sighed, “Let’s make dinner. When
you feel more comfortable, I’d like to take you to the pub in the village.”
Essie didn’t say anything. They prepared and ate dinner then went to
bed.
You can see how this character creates tension in the scene for Essie. You can’t see how the tension and the
incidents push through the entire novel.
You might catch that this little incident presses Essie to demand to
learn to read (in her own way). She also
learns to count. All of these are important
markers to bring Essie to an understanding of herself and her
capabilities.
All of these characters can oppose the resolution of the telic flaw, and
that’s okay. The antagonist always and
uniquely blocks or opposes the telic flaw resolution. That’s what we’ll look at next.
All of this can and will reduce writer’s
block. I do all these things as a matter
of course in my writing. This is just
some of the basics of writing. It’s the
kinds of ideas they never taught me in school.
We will continue to move along in the list of how
of get rid of writer’s block.
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.
F or more information, you can visit my author site http://www.ldalford.com/, and my individual novel websites:
http://www.ancientlight.com/
http://www.aegyptnovel.com/
http://www.centurionnovel.com
http://www.thesecondmission.com/
http://www.theendofhonor.com/
http://www.thefoxshonor.com
http://www.aseasonofhonor.com
fiction, theme, plot, story,
storyline, character development, scene, setting, conversation, novel, book,
writing, information, study, marketing, tension, release, creative, idea, logic
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