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Tuesday, August 16, 2022

Writing - part xxx048 Writing a Novel, We are Refining the Protagonist, Powering Through, Release in the Scene

16 August 2022, Writing - part xxx048 Writing a Novel, We are Refining the Protagonist, Powering Through, Release in the Scene

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

 

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 release

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. 

After you have built up the tension in the scene, usually through some type or degree of conflict, you need to release it.  The idea of the scene with tension and release is similar to the idea of a novel with rising action and climax.  We use a different term to delineate between the scene and the novel. The reason is that the scene can have many tension building segments and many tension release points.  One is usually sufficient, but in many complex scenes the tension might be building for many reasons only to be released at more than one point.  You can also have many tension increasing elements followed by a single blowup release.  It is further possible to have a single tension building segment followed by multiple releases in the same scene.  You can also draw tension across scenes.  Ultimately, the climax is a tension development across many scenes that has a singular release at the climax.  This release resolved the telic flaw of the novel.

With all these options, what do we do?  The answer is simple, just write.  I can’t give you any formulas for any tension and release because scenes can be as varied as novels and short stories.  In fact, a good scene can usually be made into a good short story because the tension equates to some type of rising action, and the release equates to a mini-climax.  Let’s not mistake the release for the climax—that isn’t the point of the scene release.  That’s why we use different terminology and that’s why we emphasize the release nature of the scene release. 

In any novel, the scene release, except in the climax scene should not provide any resolution of the telic flaw.  We can provide all kinds of small or large victories to the protagonist, but really, we want the climax to be unexpected until it is inevitable.  Usually, the tension and release isn’t totally unexpected.  This is really difficult to show without some kind of example.  I’ll try to give you some. 

My favorite example is usually the Christmas party tension.  I’ll start with an Essie example.  This comes from Essie: Enchantment and the Aos Si. 

On Monday afternoon, a large black Bentley drove up to the front door of Mrs. Lyons’ cottage.  A rather severe looking woman stepped out first.  She didn’t wait for the driver to open the door for her. 

Essie and Mrs. Lyons awaited Claire and Seasaìdh’s arrival in the garden.  When they heard the automobile’s tires crunch up the drive, Essie ran around the side of the house, and Mrs. Lyons walked through the house.

Essie arrived first and stood quietly observing everything.  She stood close to the cottage and almost disappeared into the background.

The woman by the automobile waited a moment before she walked to the cottage door.  She glanced about, and in spite of the background or perhaps because of it, her eyes immediately found Essie.  The woman possessed a very plain face with many freckles.  Her hair looked nearly white, but still showed red highlights.  She pulled it back into a severe bun.  The woman smiled, and her face changed, everything changed.  Her brows rose, and her lips turned gently upward.  A touch of hardness still remained in it, but she appeared very pleasant now.

Essie moved unconsciously toward the woman.

The woman moved toward Essie.  The woman put her hands out as if tasting the air with them.  She opened her mouth as if allowing the world to better enter her heart and soul.  The woman bent slightly and put out her hand, “I am Seasaìdh, and just who are you?’

Essie reached out her hand and touched Seasaìdh proffered fingers.  Seasaìdh’s hands looked rough and red.

Seasaìdh’s eyes opened wide at Essie’s touch.  She didn’t say anything.  She didn’t make another move.  Perhaps her fingers trembled slightly.  She stared at Essie.

Essie raised her eyes to Seasaìdh for a moment, but then pulled them back to the ground, “I’m Essie Lyons.”

Seasaìdh held her smile, “Essie you are.  I’d no idea Aunt Tilly had a relation living with her.”

“I’m her daughter.”

Seasaìdh’s eyes opened a touch wider, “Her daughter, you say.  Then Essie Lyons, whatever your origins, we shall be fast friends—I know it.”

“Friends?  I’ve never had a friend before.”

Seasaìdh’s smile widened, “Then you may start with me.”  Seasaìdh wrapped her rough strong fingers around Essie’s small delicate ones.  She gently led Essie to the Bentley.  At that moment, at one side, the front door of the cottage opened, and from the other, a small girl with flaming red hair rushed around the back of the automobile. 

Mrs. Lyons stood in the doorway. 

The little girl stopped suddenly.  She stared at Essie then she moved her eyes with a glance at Mrs. Lyons then Seasaìdh, and finally back to Essie.  She pointed her finger, “Just who is that, Aunt Tilly?”

Seasaìdh led Essie to the little girl.  She really wasn’t that little.  For a seven year old, Claire was quite tall—she stood more than four feet tall.  In comparison though, Essie appeared very small—she was not quite five feet.  Both Seasaìdh and Mrs. Lyons were tall women.

Claire took a small step forward and repeated, “Aunt Tilly, who is that person?”

Essie hid slightly behind Seasaìdh.  Mrs. Lyons swept from the house and came down the lawn.  Before she could arrive there, Seasaìdh drew Essie forward, “Claire, this is Aunt Tilly’s daughter, Essie Lyons.”

Claire looked Essie up and down.  Essie kept her eyes carefully on something else.  Claire put her hands on her hips and cocked her head, “You, Essie, just how old are you?”

Essie wasn’t sure what to say.  She thought a moment, “I don’t know how old I am.”

Claire’s eyes slitted, “Well then what year or form are you in?”

Essie’s quiet voice asked, “What is a form?  I don’t know what a year means like that.”

“For crying out loud, year in school—what year have you completed in school?  Years are one through eleven.  The sixth form includes years twelve and thirteen.  Obviously, you are not in the sixth form, or you would understand this.”

Essie stared at her feet, “I haven’t gone to school…”

“Not gone to school.  Really, I say, you look at least…,” Claire looked her up and down, “at least twelve, and you haven’t gone to school?”

Mrs. Lyons finally reached them, “Claire that is enough.  I’ll tell you about Essie later.  Don’t badger her.”

Claire turned toward Mrs. Lyons and stuck out her hand, “Good day, Aunt Tilly.”

“Welcome to Lyonshall, Claire, and you too Seasaìdh.  I see you’ve already met Essie.”

Claire turned slightly toward Essie, “I’ve met her, but we haven’t been properly introduced.”

Seasaìdh frowned, “Claire, I gave you an introduction.”

Claire moved toward Essie.  She stuck out her hand, “I’m Claire Davis.”

Essie looked at the girl’s outstretched hand.  She slowly put out her hand.  Before she could fully extend it, Claire grasped it.  Essie jumped.

Claire’s lips moved up in a mischievous grin, “And you are Essie Lyons.  Very nice to meet you, Essie.”

Claire let go and Essie stared at her hand.

Claire sniffed, “Aunt Seasaìdh and Aunt Tilly, you can’t fool me with that one.  Aunt Tilly is much too old to have a child.  How can you, Essie Lyons be Aunt Tilly’s daughter?”

Aunt Tilly let out a sigh, “Come inside Seasaìdh and Claire.  I told you I would inform you all about Essie.”

Claire cocked her head again.

Aunt Tilly started toward the door, “Come along Essie.  Seasaìdh, tell your driver to bring your things to the guest rooms.”

Seasaìdh smiled, “Yes, Aunt Tilly.”

They all went up to the door to see Claire and Seasaìdh’s things placed in the two furthest guest rooms. 

Inside, Claire asked, “Won’t I be staying in the first room?”

Aunt Tilly didn’t look back, “That’s Essie’s room now.  You’ll have the room across from your Aunt Seasaìdh.”

Claire pursed her lips.

Mrs. Lyons led them all into the parlor while the driver carried their bags into the proper rooms.  Seasaìdh supervised. 

When Mrs. Lyons entered the parlor, she stated, “Essie, please prepare tea for everyone.”

Essie turned and walked to the kitchen.

Mrs. Lyons sat in her wingback chair, and Claire sat on the sofa.

Mrs. Lyons crossed her arms, “Let’s get this out immediately Claire.”

Claire crossed her arms, “Let’s.”

Mrs. Lyons glared at the girl, “The first is this, Miss Claire Davis.  Essie is my adopted daughter.  She is a very special child.  You must do your best to help her learn.”

“What do you mean exactly about help her learn, Aunt Tilly?”

“Just what I said.  Essie has not ever been to school.  She is just learning to read.  I want you to read to her and help her.”

Claire’s mouth fell open.  Her eyes sparkled, “I can teach her?”

“Yes—you may teach her.  In fact, I expect you to teach her, and to be a kind instructor to her.”

Claire pressed her hands together.  Her eyes still sparkled, “I will be kind, and I shall teach her.  I’ll be like her sister.”

Mrs. Lyons smiled behind her hand, “You do that.”

Claire’s smile slipped, and she glanced out of the sides of her eyes at Mrs. Lyons, “Do you think she will listen to me?”

Mrs. Lyons sounded stern, “Yes.  Yes, she will listen to you—as long as you have something to teach her, and as long as you are kind to her.  Listen very closely to me, Claire.  Essie is a very special child, and she is my child.  I’ll let you have a part in helping her learn, but only if you can be kind to her.”

Claire crossed her heart and raised her hand, “I swear, cross my heart, to be kind to her.”

“You’d better.  I’ll be watching you.”

They heard Seasaìdh let the driver out through the front door, “Thanks Tom.  Come back and pick us up in two weeks.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Seasaìdh stepped into the parlor.  She sat in the opposite wingback chair, “I heard you discussing Essie—have you already told all?”

Mrs. Lyons eased back into her chair a little more, “Not all.  Claire and I were just discussing how she would be helping me during this visit.”

Seasaìdh twisted her lips to the side and glanced at Claire, “Really.”

Claire looked smug, “Really.”

“Well good that.  I’m not sure what I’ll do to keep myself busy.  This is the first vacation I’ve taken since I started at the church.”

Mrs. Lyons nodded, “You should’ve taken a break before now.”

“That’s what Father Malloy said.”

“I’ve lost track.  How many years has it been?”

Seasaìdh smiled a little crookedly, “Twenty years.”

“Twenty years!  Has it been that long?  Then again twenty seems to be a bit short--”

“Well, perhaps more like thirty years—I’d still be at it if the good Father hadn’t computerized the books.”  She looked a little sheepish, “I came up on the red scale for vacation time.”

“I should say so.  Why only two weeks?”

“Well since Mrs. Rowle retired, I’ve been the staff super.  I really shouldn’t be away as long as two weeks.”

Mrs. Lyons shook her head, “You should, and you should enjoy yourself while you’re here.  What would you like to do?”

Seasaìdh rolled her eyes, “I dunna what to do with myself if I’m not cleaning.”

Claire laughed, “Aunt Seasaìdh always sounds more Scottish when she gets upset.”

Seasaìdh frowned, “Oh, that’s how you can all tell.”

“Yes it is.  We still play the K and S game, you know.”

Mrs. Lyons turned her head as if she hadn’t heard aright, “The K and S game?  What’s that?”

Claire let out a mysterious grin, “The Klava and Sveta game.”

Mrs. Lyons brow raised, “What on earth is the Klava and Sveta game?”

Claire leaned forward, “It is where you watch for Aunt Seasaìdh and report her position and activities during the day.  It is all part of the training…”

Mrs. Lyons pursed her lips together, “Wherever did you hear any of this?”

Claire shrugged, “We learned about it from the second years…it’s been part of the school since Aunt Klava and Aunt Sveta attended there.  You should hear all the stories about them…they were amazing.”

Mrs. Lyons rolled her eyes, “I’ve heard all the stories.  Every one.  I heard them direct from the mouths of the perpetrators, usually the day they happened.”

“Did you know about the time Aunt Sveta broke into the British Museum and almost died?”

“Well, it didn’t exactly happen that way.  Your Aunt Seasaìdh and I were there.”

Essie brought in the tea things on the large platter.  She carefully placed the platter on the table.

Mrs. Lyons nodded, “Thank you Essie.  You may pour the tea.”

Claire plucked her lower lip, “You let her serve?”

Mrs. Lyons squinted her eyes at Claire, “She is my daughter, and she may serve the tea in our house.”

Claire sat back slightly chagrined.

Essie poured the tea and offered biscuits to everyone.

After Essie served everyone, Mrs. Lyons sipped her tea, “We were discussing what Seasaìdh can do with herself during her two week vacation.”

Seasaìdh asked, “Do you have any cleaning that needs doing?”

Mrs. Lyons glared, “Seasaìdh, you shall do no cleaning—not a single lick.  Claire and Essie may clean.  You shall not.”

Seasaìdh’s shoulders fell, “Then I dun know what to do with myself at all.”

Essie cocked her head, “You might read to me and tell me stories—that is, if you would like.”

Claire half-stood, “But that’s my job.”

Mrs. Lyons waved her back down, “That is indeed your job, Claire.  Perhaps when you are reading to yourself or entertaining yourself, you might instruct Aunt Seasaìdh to read to Essie and entertain her.”

Seasaìdh’s face glowed, “Might I really entertain Essie?”

Claire looked a bit put out, “I shall instruct you, Aunt Seasaìdh as to when your help is required.  Otherwise, I shall aid Essie with her studies.”

Essie put her hands together, “Thank you, Claire.  Thank you, Aunt Seasaìdh.”

Seasaìdh sipped her tea, “What I would like to know, is how Essie came to be your daughter, Aunt Tilly.”

Everyone suddenly froze.

Aunt Tilly returned her teacup to its saucer, “Essie was abandoned, and I decided to give her a family and a place to live.  It is as simple as that.”

Into her tea, Seasaìdh whispered, “It isn’t as simple as that…”

Mrs. Lyons raised her head, “What did you say, Seasaìdh?”

“Twas noth’n.  I’m happy she is here to help you.  We’ve been worried about you liv’n alone out here.”

“Tush, you needn’t worry about me at all.  I have Essie and Essie has me.”

Claire bit into a biscuit, “Why doesn’t Essie eat any biscuits.  Doesn’t she like them?”

Essie smiled, “I’ve eaten enough for now.  I’m happy with just tea.”

“But your tea is all milk.”

Essie’s smile broadened, “I like milk.”

Claire’s brow creased, “I see.”

Mrs. Lyons folded her hands, “When we’ve finished our tea, Essie and I will help you get settled and then we’ll walk to the village for dinner.”

Claire’s head jerked up, “At the Royal George pub?”

“Yes, at the Royal George pub.”

Claire gave a little cheer.  

Next, I’m going to identify and remark on each point of tension and release in the scene.  This is a good scene for that.

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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