26 February 2023, Writing - part xxx241 Writing a Novel, A New Male Romantic Protagonist, Details, Telic Flaw Resolution, Plots, Zero to Hero
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 30th novel, working title, Rose,
potential title Rose: Enchantment and the
Flower. The theme statement is: 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 cover proposal for Rose:
Enchantment and the Flower.
|
|
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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. Writing number 31, working title Shifter. I just finished 32nd novel, Rose.
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: Let me tell
you a little about writing. Writing
isn’t so much a hobby, a career, or a pastime.
Writing is a habit and an obsession.
We who love to write love to write.
If you love
to write, the problem is gaining the skills to write well. We want to write well enough to have others
enjoy our writing. This is
important. No one writes just for
themselves the idea is absolutely irrational and silly. I can prove why.
In the first
place, the purpose of writing is communication—that’s the only purpose. Writing is the abstract communication of the
mind through symbols. As time goes by,
we as writers gain more and better tools and our readers gain more and better
appreciation for those tools and skills—even if they have no idea what they
are.
We are in
the modern era. In this time, the action
and dialog style along with the push of technology forced novels into the form
of third person, past tense, action and dialog style, implying the future. This is the modern style of the novel. I also showed how the end of literature
created the reflected worldview. We have
three possible worldviews for a novel: the real, the reflected, and the
created. I choose to work in the
reflected worldview.
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.
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.
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.
With that said, where should we go? Should I delve into ideas and creativity
again, or should we just move into the novel again? Should I develop a new protagonist, which, we
know, will result in a new novel. I’ve
got an idea, but it went stale. Let’s
look at the outline for a novel again:
1.
The initial scene
2.
The rising action scenes
3.
The climax scene
4.
The falling action scene(s)
5.
The dénouement
scene(s)
The initial scene is the most important scene and part of
any novel. To get to the initial scene,
you don’t need a plot, you need a protagonist.
Let’s be very clear.
You can start with a plot, a protagonist, an idea, or an idea for an
initial scene. The easiest and most
controlled method is to start with a protagonist. As I’ve written over and over, a protagonist
must come with a telic flaw. I think it
is impossible to have a protagonist without a telic flaw, but I suppose you
could develop a completely lackluster protagonist without any telic flaw
connected to them.
Here is my list for the characteristics of a Romantic
protagonist. I am not very happy with
most of the lists I have found. So, I
will start with a classic list from the literature and then translate them to
what they really mean. This is the
refined list. Take a look.
1. Some power or ability outside the norm of society that
the character develops to resolve the telic flaw.
2. Set of beliefs (morals and ideals) that are different
than normal culture or society’s.
3. Courageous
4. Power (skills and abilities) and leadership that are
outside of the normal society.
5. Introspective
6. Travel plot
7. Melancholy
8. Overwhelming desire to change and grow—to develop four
and one.
9. Pathos developed because the character does not fit the
cultural mold. From the common.
10. Regret when they can’t follow their own moral compass.
11. Self-criticism when they can’t follow their own moral
compass.
12. Pathos bearing because he or she is estranged from
family or normal society by death, exclusion for some reason, or self-isolation
due to three above.
13. From the common and potentially the rural.
14. Love interest
Here is the protagonist development list. We are going to use this list to develop a
Romantic protagonist. With the following
outline in mind, we will build a Romantic 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
I’ll repeat. I just
finished up Rose, and I want to finish up Cassandra. I’m moving in that direction.
This is where I’m going.
I need to finish up Cassandra, and that’s what I’m going to do. That might take a month or so. At the same time, I want to write a follow-on
to Rose. Basically, I want to
finish up Rose, and resolve the overall telic flaw introduced in the
first novel. To do this, I need a
new protagonist. I could use Rose, and I
was thinking about this, but my readers suggested I should keep the number of
male and female protagonists about equal.
Not sure why, but I did get a great idea for an initial scene and for a
protagonist. I’ve been developing this
protagonist for my short form blog, but I can move some of that development
here and make some comments on it.
Here is the protagonist development list. We are going to use this list to develop a
Romantic protagonist. With the following
outline in mind, we will build a Romantic protagonist. I removed the breadcrumbs from the blog just
to make it easier to read. Here’s what
we have left.
a.
Plots required for the protagonist
to resolve the telic flaw - What I should really do is go through the list of classic
plots and pick those I would like to include in the novel. Maybe I’ll do just that.
b.
Obstacles that must be overcome for
the protagonist to resolve the telic flaw
Here is the list of classic plots from the list of over 100
greatest novels and books in English.
What we discovered is that novels are never a single plot—they are
multiple plots that fit together to eventually resolve the telic flaw. If you can grasp this, you can pick plots to
enhance and develop the entertainment in your novels. That’s what I want to do here. I’ll look at the plots and see what I can put
into this novel as well as try to develop more ideas for the development of the
novel and the protagonist.
Overall (o)
1.
Redemption (o) – 17i, 7e, 23ei, 8 –
49% - I
love a redemption plot. What’s Seoirse
to be redeemed from? This is very
difficult. I think I’d like to redeem
him from loneliness and isolation. He is
a sensitive person who is very outgoing, but he is also a secretive person,
very similar to his mother. I want him
to be like Rose too. Seoirse’s outward
appearance is chipper and friendly, but inside he wants to have close and great
friends. Rose will help him achieve, but
Rose is similar to Seoirse. They both
need a close friend and confidant. I
will give them both this confidant. Will
that solve the telic flaw… it might.
2. Revelation (o) –2e, 64, 1i – 60% - The revelation part
of the plot is more simple, but we need a revelation plot as well. Well, we don’t requires a revelation plot,
but as I write, every novel is the revelation of the protagonist. That is what we shall do. I have set up Seoirse as a boy, man, person
with some secrets. The readers won’t
know them all at the beginning, although I’ve told them to you in this little
development outline. I think the overall
information about Seoirse should make plenty of revelation, but I might be able
to build up some more with the writing of the novel.
3.
Achievement (o) – 16e, 19ei, 4i, 43
– 73% - I
didn’t mean to hit all three of the overall plots, but achievement is an
important plot in this novel. The main
early achievement for Seoirse will be the end of his assignment. Seoirse is supposed to look after Rose for
the second year of Form Six. His plan
will be to be rid of her, then he can go to Cranwell to become a pilot—that’s
his goal. But I want Seoirse to fall so
deeply in love with Rose and become so close to her and with her that he is
willing to do anything to stay with her.
We shall see if they will both go to Cranwell or where. Perhaps they will go together, but I have a
more important plan for Rose. We shall
see where that goes.
Achievement (a)
1.
Detective or mystery (a) – 56, 1e –
51% - I
haven’t thought much about this yet.
I’ve barely got much beyond the initial scene, in my thinking. I was pondering a little beyond, but I didn’t
make any notes and forgot some great ideas—oh well.
The detective or mystery plot is a
great plot. If you notice, it is in at
least 51% of the classics. It plays a
part in most successful novels. In fact,
all novels are a revelation of the protagonist, first, and the plot second. An official mystery is even better and more
important to work with. What kind of
mystery can we interject as a plot.
Ultimately, I want Rose to become the
official caregiver for Ceridwen.
Ceridwen is the great goddess of the Celtic and Gaelic peoples. She is an unbound goddess and reborn in every
generation. She lives as the maiden, the
mother, and the crone, dies, and is reborn from a couple of bound a Celtic god
and a goddess. Perhaps the discovery of
this and the appointment can be the mystery.
There can also be other events and plotlines in the novel. I’ve not pondered all the possibilities, but
many times these come, not through brainstorming, but through the writing
itself. Although, this is a very
overreaching plot idea—that is a mystery.
I don’t intend a detective plot, by itself.
2.
Revenge or vengeance (a) –3ie, 3e,
45 – 46% - The
revenge or vengeance plot is one to aim for.
I’m not certain how I can work this into the novel, but this plot is an
important one to use. I’m not a real fan
of revenge or vengeance. Not because of
any moral reason but because I like my novels to be fully entertaining—having a
vengeance character or especially a vengeance plot based on the protagonist
tends to be a downer for your readers.
The trick is a balance.
Usually, the most effective means to run a vengeance plot is
to have someone, antagonist, or minor character who is not happy with some
attribute or characteristic of the protagonist.
The vengeance is against the protagonist. If you work this right it can be very
effective. In Rose, I happily
had the two bad girls play this role. They were adverse to Rose from a class
standpoint and from their fashion viewpoint.
Rose rescued them and resolved this problem.
I’d like to have a similar vengeance
plot in Seoirse. I think the problem
children should be the instigators. They
or someone connected to them or their fangirls.
There might also be some advantage in using a vengeance plot against
Seoirse, but I think Rose would generate the most pathos, and fiction is all
about pathos.
The vengeance or revenge plot is very
useful and makes a great minor plot or a scene tension and release. I like the vengeance or revenge plot as a
multi-scene plot. We shall see how we
can bring this into the mix.
I was also just exposed to a great and
innovative plot construction based a little on vengeance or revenge. That’s a plot where the good boy fell in love
with the bad girl, and they were compelled to keep their love secret from their
peers and friends because of their social positions. This wasn’t the normal good boy and bad girl
characters I’m writing about. These were
basically comic criminal versus comic defender of justice. It’s a farce plot, but I was thinking about
just how powerful such a plot could be in the right hands.
The show I was watching played this
plot as a farce, but with very great emotional appeal. I’d really like to figure some way to bring
this into Rose and Seoirse. There are
other ways to apply this.
Another fun idea would be to have the
protagonist protected by the protagonist’s helper. That is have Seoirse and Rose in a strained
relationship where Seoirse is supposed to be the protector, but in reality Rose
is aggressively protecting him. I think
this would be an even more interesting approach to vengeance or revenge. Perhaps that isn’t as much vengeance or
revenge, but it is still a fun idea for a plot.
1.
Zero to hero (a) – 29 – 26% - All comedy novels and
telic flaw resolutions are zero to hero.
That’s a basic in literature.
There is no other way this can be.
If the protagonist resolves the telic
flaw, that is a comedy. This also means
the protagonist moves from zero to hero.
Note, the terms are pretty loose.
The main point is that in resolving the telic flaw in a positive manner,
the protagonist goes from not successful to successful. No matter the plot, point, or theme of the
novel, a positive resolution means the protagonist is a hero. You can take this as loosely or as strongly
as you wish. In successful (bestselling)
modern novels, as well as older novels, this is usually a very strong point.
What we would really like to do is to
drive our protagonist to the lowest state possible, from an achievement point
in regards to the telic flaw, and then in the revelation of the novel move them
to become the hero in the climax. This
is the formula, so to speak, for about every comedy novel in the Western
world. Certainly, every successful
comedy novel in the Western world.
Eastern literature is about the same.
I’m a real fan of the Sara Crew method
or The Little Princess method from the novel of the same name. Sara Crew starts at a high point and is
driven to the lowest of the low. She is
a wealthy girl who is loved by everyone.
She becomes an impoverished child who is abused and overworked as a
servant.
In my novel, Rose, Rose starts with nothing and in
the end is an aristocrat with great money and potential, at least as her
cover. In Seoirse, I want to start him
with much, reduce him to zero, and then build him back up again. Rose will definitely go through this
process. She will be beaten down, then
regain her authority and power. The
telic flaw resolution will encapsulate this.
The how is the real question. As I noted, you can move the zero mark in
many ways. Money is just one. We can bring the protagonist down in all the
ways noted in the list: money, emotions, mental, and all. The point is to pick one and move the protagonist
down the path.
3.
Romance (a) –1ie, 41 – 37%
4. Coming of age (a) –1ei, 25 – 23%
5. Progress of technology (a) – 6 – 5%
6. Discovery (a) – 3ie, 57 – 54%
7. Money (a) – 2e, 26 – 25%
8. Spoiled child (a) – 7 – 6%
9. Legal (a) – 5 – 4%
10. Adultery (qa) – 18 – 16%
11. Self-discovery (a) – 3i, 12 – 13%
12. Guilt or Crime (a) – 32 – 29%
13. Proselytizing (a) – 4 – 4%
14. Reason (a) – 10, 1ie – 10%
15. Escape (a) – 1ie, 23
– 21%
16. Knowledge or Skill (a) – 26 – 23%
17.
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)
Article (i) – 1e, 46 – 42%
Here is my list for the characteristics of a Romantic
protagonist. I am not very happy with
most of the lists I have found. So, I
will start with a classic list from the literature and then translate them to
what they really mean. This is the
refined list. Take a look.
1. Some power or ability outside the norm of society that
the character develops to resolve the telic flaw.
2. Set of beliefs (morals and ideals) that are different
than normal culture or society’s.
3. Courageous
4. Power (skills and abilities) and leadership that are
outside of the normal society.
5. Introspective
6. Travel plot
7. Melancholy
8. Overwhelming desire to change and grow—to develop four
and one.
9. Pathos developed because the character does not fit the
cultural mold. From the common.
10. Regret when they can’t follow their own moral compass.
11. Self-criticism when they can’t follow their own moral
compass.
12. Pathos bearing because he or she is estranged from
family or normal society by death, exclusion for some reason, or self-isolation
due to three above.
13. From the common and potentially the rural.
14. Love interest
Let’s use this list, again, to design a new
protagonist. That’s exactly what I’m
going to do.
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
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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