31 March 2023, Writing - part xxx274 Writing a Novel, A New Male Romantic Protagonist, Details, Telic Flaw Resolution, Setting Plots
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%
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% - I’m not a fan of the
messiah plot at all. This plot is way
overused in modern literature—it should be rejected unless you hit on a real Dune-like
novel idea. Let’s write a little about
the messiah plot so you can spot it easily.
Yes, Dune has a very strong classical messiah plot. This isn’t saying much because the messiah
plot is a relatively modern plot type.
It just didn’t appeal at all to the early writers. This is one of the reasons I’m not a fan, the
other reason is what it has turned into in the modern era.
The most well-known messiah plot is
Harry Potty. Harry is a full-on
messiah. And here is the problem of the
messiah plot. In Dune, Paul
Atradies had to become like a god to be the messiah. A messiah always has god-like powers. The ascent of Paul from an aristocrat to a
god is the entire point of the novel.
This is very entertaining and new (at the time) in Dune. In Harry Potty it’s just overdone.
Harry Potty is a god, if you didn’t
notice. He has god-like powers, in fact
all the wizards and witches have god-like powers. They are all like gods. This is a very sad situation, especially for
the readers. The expectation of a
messiah is that they have god-like powers and they change the world for the better. That’s exactly what Harry does, but in
addition, the Romantic protagonist is supposed to come from the common and have
skills that they discover and develop to make them uncommon. The idea of the Romantic protagonist is that
anyone can be like them if they have similar skills they develop. For the reader, the question is, how can I
ever be like Harry—he is a messiah.
Now, readers will live with the idea of
a special skill like magic or sorcery as long as it is presented
correctly. This is the magic plot. Unfortunately, Harry isn’t just about
magic—Harry is all about saving the world through the defeat of the being who
cannot be defeated except by Harry. This
is a full-on messiah plot mixed with the fate or the blood will out plot. Harry is an aristocrat born into his messiah
persona—he did not become, he was born.
The other obvious messiah plot in the
modern era is the Marvel or DC universe.
These movies disgust me. They are
all about gods not humans. The moment we
bring in a god, the entire plot is usually about saving the world. That’s cute, but it is a messiah plot not a
human plot. I don’t like messiah
plots. Now, I do have a confession.
My Aegypt novels (Ancient
Light) have goddesses as characters and protagonists. Isn’t that a messiah plot? I’d say no.
My characters are thrust into roles and skills they must develop and
learn. They self-discover their skills,
and they then develop them. This allows
the reader to feel like the magic character—the powers of the goddesses is a discovered
skill that isn’t like a messiah or like a normal god. In addition, their powers are limited in
scope, so they can’t wield them to save the world or sometimes themselves. In other words, their god-like powers are
very limited and are similar to human level skills. They just have some senses and abilities that
are extra-human. In addition, in my
novels, the characters are not messiahs.
They are not saving the world as much as they are living in the world
and trying to make it better with what they have available.
I don’t like messiah plots and I don’t like messiah
characters. I don’t intend to have this
plot in Seoirse.
2.
Adultery (qa) – 18 – 16%- I’ll skip this plot
here as a quality plot because I already covered it under the achievement
plots. You might ask, what is the
difference? I’ll answer that because it
is important.
The achievement plots are all about
striving for a goal. The quality plots
are about the interjection of a quality into the novel or the plot. The protagonist with an adultery achievement
plot is striving for adultery. On the
other hand, the protagonist of the adultery quality plot isn’t striving for
adultery, but still achieves it—it is a quality of the protagonist and not a
goal. Yes, these aren’t that different,
but I think you can see there is a difference.
Achievement is a goal, while quality is an accident (or a quality in
itself).
I’m not a fan of either, but you can
see how the adultery quality plot might be used in a novel like Seoirse. If Seoirse were coerced or tricked into a
relationship that hurt or offended his love for Rose or Rose’s budding love for
him, that could be an effective adultery plot.
As I’ve mentioned before, with adultery, we are writing about the full
gamut from all-out sexual betrayal to mistaken betrayal through
miscommunication or misunderstanding.
These two are great plots we will get to, but they are seldom used in
modern writing. Or at least they aren’t
used as much in modern Western writing as they are in modern Eastern
writing.
The Eastern authors interject the
miscommunication and misunderstanding plots strongly into their writing. This is very similar to the Victorians. The adultery plot at the miscommunication or
misunderstanding and below the sexual level is prevalent in these types of
plots. For example, the protagonist sees
his love interest on a date, communicating privately, or in a compromising
situation with another. The entire
incident is an intentional or an unintentional setup, and the protagonist
doesn’t see the result. There is a
misunderstanding or an intentional misunderstanding. How might this work in Seoirse.
I’ll not say if I’ll use this, but let’s propose that Rose
wants to get Seoirse off her back and out of her life. She’s upset with him for more than one reason
and knows of his infatuation. Therefore,
Rose invites another person to take her to a dance. She dances and speaks with this person while
ignoring Seoirse. The result will be a
non-sexual adultery plot. In a more
risqué novel, this could turn into a full-on adultery plot. Now, I’ve used my entire time discussing this
type of plot. I guess it’s worth
it.
3.
Rejected love (rejection) (q) – 1ei,
21 – 20% - I
didn’t mean to spend so much time on the adultery quality plot, but I had some
good information to write about.
Likewise, you can see how the adultery quality plot feeds into the
rejected love plot.
The rejected love plot is a great plot,
but I find it’s not used nearly as much in the West as in the East. The rejected love plot is a staple in about
50% of Eastern works while it just isn’t found that much in the West. I’d also say, although I haven’t made a
proper survey that romance as a plot is alive in the West but not in any way
that really pushes the romance buttons.
Romance used to be about two people
finding out about love and then learning to love one another. I’d say romance today is all about sex and
relationships and little about love.
That’s to be expected because love is not about the physical—love is
completely about the spiritual and mental.
Love is what you do based on how you think. It is about the doing, but not about bodies
in some kind of sexual ecstasy.
Hollywood led the West away from real love a long time ago.
What does this have to do with rejected
love? Well, rejected love is one of
those deep concepts in romance. Rejected
love comes in many flavors and is a powerful motivator and plot. Perhaps the most common in the East is
unrequited love. This is also a
potential plot in the West, but much less used.
The very idea that someone might be in love but unwilling or unable to
express it, is foreign to the Western ideas of love. In the East, as I wrote, it’s very common.
I can and I can’t see this with
Rose. I would like to use this as a plot
in Seoirse with Rose or with Seoirse. I
think it might work with both or either.
For example, Seoirse could feel that he is in no position to propose
love to Rose. That could all be based in
his assignment, his initial interaction with Rose, and Rose’s cover as an
aristocrat. In addition, Rose herself
could feel she can’t express her love (if there is any) for Seoirse because of
her work, her position, and her experiences with him. This is just one possibility for the rejected
love plot. There are others.
The other plots tend to use other
characters in the love experience. For
example, we might have a character who is in love with Rose or Seoirse and
obviously rejected. It could also be
possible to have a character from Seoirse’s past (Rose really has no connection
to such a thing in her past) who is in love with him and rejected by him. I used this for Sorcha in another
novel—Sorcha and George Mardling. This
was a very important plot in my novel Valeska: Enchantment and the Vampire
and Sorcha: Enchantment and the Curse.
As I wrote, in both of these novels, the same rejected love plot played
an important part in the development of the telic flaw problems. Also, in Valeska: Enchantment and the
Vampire, the misunderstanding of rejected love led to the telic flaw and
the telic flaw resolution.
There
is a very powerful approach to rejected love—miscommunication and misunderstanding. When people are in love, the potential for
both of these increase significantly.
The possibility of jealousy and the “misses” combine to a very powerful
plot and motivations in a plot. This
might be the best and many times the most entertaining spectacles in any
romance or romantic type plot or situation.
The potential for unrequited love with jealousy and miscommunication or
misunderstanding is a staple in Eastern literature. Not as much in Western literature. It should be.
4.
Miscommunication (q) – 8 – 7% - In the previous topic
of rejected love, I mentioned the miscommunication plot, and here it is. This is perhaps one of the least used but
most effective and entertaining plot available to the writer.
I didn’t think much of the
miscommunication plot until I started reading Eastern literature. Like the Victorian Era, the miscommunication
plot is rife in Asia. The reason is their
culture. The Victorian culture and
society was notorious for unwillingness to communicate directly. They wouldn’t talk much about illness, sex,
or bathroom activities much less about love or romance. Something similar affects Asian cultures. There is a strong reluctance to speak out or
talk about things that are uncomfortable.
Now, in the West, we think we are great
communicators, but we really aren’t.
There are many things Westerners are unwilling to confront in any
media. We just aren’t that upfront about
the unmentionables. Now, on to
miscommunication.
You don’t need to have unmentionables
or very unmentionables to interject a miscommunication plot in any novel—all
you need is miscommunication. The
characters don’t need any real reason to not communicate properly or forthrightly. It does help to have impediments to the
further communications to allow the miscommunication plot to grow and
fester—that just makes the reveal even better.
What might such a plot look like?
Well, perhaps the best way in is
gossip. A little gossip goes a long
way. If the gossip is juicy and less
descript the better. Here’s an
example. Let’s say we want to project
Seoirse as falling in love with Rose, but the gossip is that Seoirse has a
girlfriend back at home. Someone even
puts a name to her. Rose before really
knowing Seoirse would have very little reason to address this subject. Seoirse could hang around Rose for a long
time before the subject would even come up.
This little false love triangle (Seoirse doesn’t already have any
girlfriend) could build over time to the point where Rose decides to go on her
own date or associate with some other man.
Where the situation could come to a head is when and if Seoirse asked
Rose on a date. At that point, she could
ask him point blank and that would end the miscommunication (or not). Or she could turn him down without clearing
the problem. This is one of those
unmentionables or doesn’t have to be mentionables. Even in Western culture it’s considered
impolite to address gossip if you think it’s true.
So,
this little plot is a great plot. The
example I gave is just an example of one type of setup—there are many. There are many ways to use this little
plot. You can even put up one character
who is really good with gossip to stir the pot over and over with juicy bits
that drive the protagonist and the other characters bonkers. That makes for a miscommunication novel—this
is a favorite in the East. It could have
great traction in any modern novel.
5.
Love triangle (q) – 14 – 12% - Then we actually get
to the love triangle plot. This is a
great plot, and like the adultery plot, it doesn’t require a full-on betrayal
or full on double love interest to be used properly. What does that mean?
The usual love triangle that most
people think of is the woman or man who is pursued by two lovers and can’t or
won’t choose between them. In this
classic love triangle, we have an ambivalent, usually protagonist, who is
indecisive, and the indecision drives the reader crazy (or at least it does
me). This type of love triangle was
popular during the Victorian Era. The
classic trope is the protagonist or the love interest is choosing between love
and security. Many Victorian novels
start with the premise that the parents chose love over security and the novel
begins with penury for the offspring.
Ever read Oliver Twist or Jane Eyre? This is the basis for both of these Victorian
novels. There are other ways to set up
the love triangle.
The classic Eastern set up is the
protagonist (usually female) is forced into a relationship with the man she
doesn’t desire while infatuated with the boy back home. These are interesting setups. The end can be very different than the reader
might imagine. In some cases, the girl
falls for the man who is forcing or strongly pursuing her, while she realizes
her love back home isn’t really her love.
On the other hand, the usual old-school resolution is the boy back home
comes and steals the girl away, and they defeat the bad rich or powerful
guy. In the tragedy version, both end up
dead and the girl gets no one. This is
just another type of love triangle plot.
The one I’d like to use is based in miscommunication and
misunderstanding. In this type of love
triangle, the female (Rose) is pursued by more than one suitor. In fact, you can have many more than one or
two. Seoirse is the primary, but he has
competition, and he isn’t making himself as clear to Rose as he should. Rose is undecided, but you have Seoirse and
perhaps one or two other men pursuing her.
She is willing to accept the attentions and go on dates with men other
than Seoirse. This drives Seoirse into
action. He must gain Rose’s attention
from the others. In a romance novel,
that would be the entire novel, but I’m not intending to write just a romance
novel. This is just one plot in the
entire novel. It’s a great plot, but
just one of the plots.
6.
Betrayal (q) – 1i, 1ie, 46 – 43% - The betrayal plot is
an important and common one in the classics.
Human betrayal is perhaps one of the most common plots in all of
literature. Well, it’s right up there
with redemption. The problem with the betrayal
plot is that it is a betrayal plot. Now,
let’s parse this plot a little—you can have big betrayal or little betrayals
and that’s still a powerful betrayal plot.
You can also have intentional, unintentional, accidental, and for your
own good betrayal plots. Let’s look at
all of these.
The first point is the degree of the
betrayal. You can have a high degree of
betrayal like a husband or a wife (adultery) or the right hand man
(person). I hate these types of novels. They are popular and include many of the
classics, but I’m just not a fan. The
very idea of having your entrusted person commit an intentional betrayal
bothers me. It bothers many classical
authors, so although the high level betrayal is a modern plot—it’s kind of
sporadic in the classics. I like a
lessor degree betrayal.
This is a great tension developer. Not the high-end betrayal, but the little
betrayals—these might be as little as a small indiscretion, like in a
conversation, little pokes. It can
increase to the level of letting out information and betraying the group crowd
or the protagonist. Such a betrayal is
on a much lower level than the right-hand person letting the cat out of the
bag. You can have all kinds of small
betrayals that drive the tension and release of scenes. Now, let’s look at the intentional,
unintentional, accidental, and for your own good.
An intentional betrayal is the classic
big type of betrayal. The right-hand man
sells out the protagonist for money, fame, or position. So it goes.
Boring and unexciting, to me. The
unintentional is more interesting.
The right-hand man leaves a clue for
the evil forces and that leads to the end of the rebellion and the capture of
the protagonist. Really fun. It could also be the protagonist who makes
the mistake. This is similar to
accidental. The degree is the only
difference. What I mean is that the
unintentional was an intentional action that unintentionally led to the
betrayal. The accidental is simply an
action unrelated to the betrayal that led to it. For example, in the unintentional betrayal, a
character makes some mistake that leads to the betrayal. In the accidental, no one makes any mistake,
but the betrayal happens. Something is
overheard or the enemy makes a good guess, and so on.
The for your own good betrayal is
pretty popular today. I’ve used it with
the bad characters. I’d advise using it
when it’s worthwhile. In the for your
own good betrayal—some character thinks they know best and better than the
protagonist and betrays them for the own good of the protagonist. This can take away the sting of the betrayal
from the character who makes the betrayal.
The character can be further redeemed.
Even the protagonist can make such a betrayal. This can be a very powerful betrayal.
Now,
how can I use this plot in Seoirse? I’m
thinking low level betrayals from Rose’s enemies and Seoirse’s opponents. That’s about it. This is a great type of plot and should be
used in a low degree in any novel.
7.
Blood will out or fate (q) –1i, 1e,
26 – 25% - This
is one of the classic plots we really don’t use any more. I don’t suggest using it in the modern era or
in modern literature. I’m not sure this
type of plot can get any novel published today, although the fate plot has made
a come-back in some of the junk literature of our time. Let me explain.
The Greeks and the ancient world
introduced the fate plot. Suffice to
say, before Christianity and really Judaism became the philosophy of the West
and really the rest of the world, every person believed humans were fated by
the gods. This idea came out of the
evolution of religion. I’ll
explain.
All religions began with animism. Animism is the idea that spirits exist in
anything that moves, lives, or grows.
When your society doesn’t understand anything about science or the basis
of the world, animism is your next best assumption. Why do things have life or move—obviously
spirits live in them. The spirits must
be placated to prevent disaster and to allow a good life. For example, you must placate the spirit of
the apple tree if you eat or harvest the apples and so on.
In the evolution of religion, with
literacy, animism turns into Pantheonic paganism. In Pantheonic paganism, the spirits are still
around to make the world move and live, but now there are gods who govern all
and to some degree control the spirits.
The gods and the spirits must be appeased. The reason the gods are tied to literacy is
that gods represent those ideas which can only come with the written word—like
love, music, thought, and so on. Many
older spirt concepts that are extra area or being also become god-ideas, fire
and Zeus for example. In any case, both
animism and Pantheonic paganism point to the idea that fate rules human
life. Humans are fated by the gods. The Greeks called this pathos. In addition, the gods are fated—the Greeks
called this kronos.
It wasn’t just the Greeks—all early
cultures fully believed that all human existence and life was fated. The Greeks were just one of the first cultures
that applied literacy to fiction, and we have many of their plays and stories
(myths). Almost every Greek and ancient
world plot is about how man is fated and how the gods control the fate of
man. In addition, I should mention, that
in all ancient societies and especially notable in Greek culture, fiction and
writing was directly tied to religion and the gods. All those Greek plays were written for
religious festivals and celebrations.
The idea of the fate of mankind changes
once a culture develops philosophy—then religion evolves into mysteriums. By the way both Christianity and Judaism went
directly from animism to something different that is not mysterium or
gnostic. All other religions followed
and still follow the evolution of religion.
By the way Christianity itself caused the last evolution in religion
which is Gnosticism. Christianity is not
gnostic, but Gnosticism is caused by the discovery of science with the idea
that humanity is not fated.
So what does all of this have to do
with writing? All early writing is based
on the plot that humans are fated.
That’s all there is. Actually,
you can see other plots within this basic plot, but when push comes to shove,
the telic flaw resolution of almost every Greek play and story is fate. This plot became a holdover when the novel
was invented. Fate plays a huge roll in
early novels. Then came the Victorian
Era.
In the Victorian Era and before, the
watchword for plots was the blood will out plot. This is based on fate and the idea of the
right of kings. Right of kings, by this
time, had boiled down to the idea of the aristocracy. In other words, humans were fated because of
their birth. If you had a high-level
birth, you were destined for high level stuff.
If you were of a low-level birth, you were fated to penury and the slums. Because, in the Victorian Era, we see a
suddenly expanding middle class who were becoming aristocratic (not by birth)
by wealth, the wealthy class became part of the blood will out class. In addition, the aristocrats were never very
plentiful (they couldn’t support a huge book selling market), but the wealthy
could and did.
These ideas of blood will out, which
came out of the idea of fate, were the watchword for almost all Victorian
plots. Just look at any of the Victorian
classics and you will see, for example, Oliver Twist. Oliver was born of one wealthy parent who
married for love to a lower-level person.
His blood will out, and so in the novel, we see how because of his blood
(his birth) he is much greater and more special than all the people of the
slums he meets. In fact, those in the
slums either die in the slums or they can be redeemed, but they are still from
the slums while Oliver, with almost zero skills at all becomes the head over
all. Pretty stupid theme and plot, but
this is the classic Victorian plot.
Nearly all Victorian novels follow this plot. The big change happened with the end of the
Victorian Era and the beginning of what I call the Romantic revolution.
In began before the end of the
Victorian Era and was pushed forward by the American Dream. The American Dream was the idea that any
person could rise to wealth—birth and previous wealth and success didn’t
matter. We see this change in youth
(children’s) novels from the times. In
the classic Victorian Era youth novel, the antagonist and the bad characters
are the charity students. They are
rightfully overcome by the aristocratic and the wealthy. In the Romantic revolution, we suddenly see that
the aristocratic and wealthy become the antagonists and the bad characters, and
the charity students are the heroes and heroines. What a change—the change was from blood will
out and fate to the Romantic protagonist who is the common person who can and
will succeed.
In
any case, although I depict Rose as aristocratic, and Seoirse has some
aristocratic roots, blood will out or fate will not be plots in the novel I’m
proposing.
8.
Psychological (q) –1i, 45 – 41% - Where blood will out
or fate is a real old world plot, psychological is a real modern and new world
plot. I’m being a little factious
because the earliest psychological plot and novel is likely The Tale of
Genji which is also the oldest known novel in history. Other historians and writers have pointed out
the psychological features of other old pieces of writing. Perhaps the first and most important question
is this: just what is a psychological
plot? I can answer that.
The non-psychological plot is
interested in the outward activities (action) and dialog of the characters and
specifically the protagonist. The
psychological plot is interesting (and focuses) on the internal and mental
workings of the mind of the protagonist or other characters. Do you see a problem with this?
This is the irony of the Romantic
protagonist. If you remember, the focus
of the non-Romantic protagonist is on their actions and words almost
entirely. There is almost zero interest
or inspection of their thoughts, and their mental frame of reference is
entirely developed through their emotions or words and that’s about it. In the Romantic protagonist, the reader and
the writer are both interested in knowing the mind of the protagonist. The why and frame of mind for their actions
and words are the main focus of the Romantic protagonist. I have written over and over, this is a real
problem for the modern author. Modern
readers want Romantic plots and Romantic protagonists, but modern writing
should always be showing and not telling.
The conundrum is how to split these hairs, and the psychological plot
doesn’t help you.
For these reasons, I’m not a fan at all
of the psychological plot. I think such
a plot tells way too much. I’d much
rather have my protagonist bound to a protagonist’s helper who can bring out
their mind in dialog. I’d rather use
emotions to show the mind ad thoughts of the protagonist. That written, I do intend a psychological
plot for Seoirse in the fullest sense of the term, because Seoirse will be a
Romantic protagonist.
What I’d like is to bring out Seoirse’s
mind through Rose. The tools I’ll use
are emotions, dialog, and circumstances (events) where Seoirse can display his
thinking without going with narration into his mind. I want to let the characters show the story
and not the narration tell it.
The fabric of the psychological plot for Seoirse will be his
mind in falling in love with Rose.
That’s what readers want to know about and they what to know what the
protagonist is thinking about in terms of romance and love. That’s what I’ll do, but remember, this is a
very difficult plot to use in the modern world and with Romantic type
characters—at least and make it work out really well.
9.
Magic (q) – 8 – 7% - Magic is my kind of
go-to plot. It isn’t a common classical
plot, but in the modern era, it has become a force unto itself. We have seen the advent of the magic realism
genre. This is a great genre and can
represent the reflected worldview. This
is the worldview I use in all my writing.
I intend to use it in Seoirse and to use a magic plot. Just what is a magic plot.
In the magic plot, magic is developed
and used to help resolve the telic flaw of the novel or to just create the
tension and release in the scenes. I
also like and encourage the use of magic as a discovered skill and one that is
developed. I already intend to bring the
supernatural into Seoirse, because that is a basis for Rose and the reflected
worldview I developed for Rose.
However, I also intend to have a magic-based plot.
Now, let me write a little about the
reflected worldview and magic. In the
first place, we have three basic worldviews we can write under: real,
reflected, and created. Real is the
basic worldview of the common era and what science as well as society and
culture hold as truth. That’s
basic.
The created worldview is a worldview
developed by the writer for their novel or novels. This is usually a worldview for science
fiction and the future, but Harry Potty is a created worldview, and many
fantasy novels are created worldview.
Then what is the reflected
worldview? The reflected worldview is
not based in the real or even the truth—it is rather the worldview that culture
and societies accept or hold to. It is
also a worldview that a reader can address with research. For example, a vampire can exist in a
reflected worldview. Do vampires really
exist? The real worldview would
state—no. However, any reader can
research the idea of the vampire.
Indeed, the vampire exists as an idea in almost every culture and
society in the world. A vampire can
exist in a reflected worldview. There
are a host of other creatures who can exist in a reflected worldview, but not
in a real worldview. Here’s where the
created and the reflected worldviews diverge.
If the ideas in a novel can’t be supported by real-world research, it
can’t be reflected. Harry Potty’s
problem is the magic system—it isn’t based on any cultural or societal ideas on
magic. It was just made up—created. Let me explain by writing about my “magic”
system.
In my reflected worldview novels, magic
is not good. In fact, magic is the use
of faith in the world to manipulate the world.
I use C.S. Lewis’ view of the world and ideas along with P.E.I Bonewitz’
theory of magic based in the Golden Bough for my magic. In my reflected worldview, miracles come from
God and magic from the forces of the earth (Satan, if you like). In my worldview, just like English myth, the
Fae (fairies and other creatures) were the neutral angels cast out of heaven to
earth. The Fae use miracles, which I
call glamour to make things happen in the world. My human characters use glamour of miracles
and strongly oppose any magic use.
That’s just the reflected worldview of my novels. That’s the worldview I intend for Seoirse.
Now, to specifics. I’m not certain which specific magic type
plots I will use. I know the basis for
the initial scene and following will be strongly based on this plot. Seoirse will have to use his skills as well
as Rose hers. The resolutions and the
development of the overall plot in the novel will depend on these magic
plots.
I would also like to include a magic discovery plot for Seoirse. That is, I’d like to see him discover some
skill with glamour that he can use or develop through the novel. This is a powerful Romantic skill development
type plot and theme that readers love.
We shall see.
10.
Mistaken identity (q) – 18 – 16% - This is a great
classic plot that you don’t see much in the modern world. However, this is a wonderful and very
entertaining plot. Remember, The Man
in the Iron Mask, The Scarlet Pimpernel or a host of other mistaken
identity novels in the Victorian or near the Victorian Era? There were many. These are the primary plots of some of these
novels, and as The Scarlet Pimpernel shows, mistaken identity can also
be secret identity.
The entire idea is to set up a plot based on mistaken
identity. I’ve written how this and
miscommunication can be the basis for an adultery or a betrayal plot,
especially an adultery and a betrayal plot that gives the writer wiggle
room. What is wiggle room?
Don’t write yourself into a
corner. Yeah, if you already have
figured a way out, that’s great—you might continue into your corner. That’s usually not the way I write a
novel. I definitely think ahead, but if
you haven’t figured it out yet, I don’t like plots that make my protagonist
less likable to my potential readers. I
also don’t like deus ex machina resolutions (the calvary comes out of the
woodwork). This is because I write about
protagonists whom I want to redeem. Yes,
a protagonist needs something to be redeemed from, but usually self-destructive
behaviors like full-on betrayal and adultery can’t get your readers very happy
even with redemption. It’s possible, and
if I ever get an idea that works out well, I’ll use it. I’m just cautious about certain subjects, and
you should be too. It really depends on
your audience and who you are writing for.
I’m writing for as large an audience as possible. So, what about mistaken identity?
This plot allows you to attribute all
kinds of badness (a secret identity allows the attribution of all kinds of
goodness) to your protagonist with the out that it wasn’t them at all. This becomes a wonderful secret that can be
revealed in the novel or the climax of the novel. In addition, the mistaken identity plot can
fit into many other plots. How might I
use this in Seoirse.
That’s a great question, and this is a
great plot. I’d rather not apply this to
Seoirse or to Rose. However, this might
work very well with one of the bad girls or a set of them. I’d planned something like this—the blowup
that leads to the initial scene with Seoirse.
Followed by a reconciliation and training on the Ilse of Shadows. Rose would lead this training. Seoirse would be in the background. The main point would be to beat into the bad
girls a little training so they will follow and comply with Rose as a teacher
and leader. I could interject an
antagonist who is trying to jinx Rose’s training and the success of the others. This might allow a mistaken identity
plot. I’ll have to contemplate. I like this idea very much. Another add might be to have someone connect
the missing girls to Rose as the perpetrator and give her a bad name. Also possible.
11.
Illness (q) – 1e, 19 – 18% - Illness is a great
plot. It has had its ups and downs
especially since Victorians didn’t like to speak about any illness at all. The Romantic protagonist and characters don’t
lend themselves to illness as a plot either.
Some of the most powerful illness plots are those where the protagonist
overcomes the illness and learns or learns to overcome other problems in their
lives. One of the greatest examples of
this is What Katey Did.
What Katey Did was one of the most
transforming novels in English. It was
about a young woman on the cusp of adulthood (going to high school in the
1850s) who injured herself while disobeying her father. The end result was that she was bedridden for
six months recovering from a back injury.
Katey learned to become a gracious person based on her injury and
recovery. She was redeemed as a person. This is the power of the illness plot.
There are many others. I think in Love Story, the protagonist
or the protagonist’s helper gets cancer and dies. The end result is human growth and
understanding. That’s a modern view of
the illness plot. Your characters don’t
have to die to be redeemed, but that still makes for a great tragedy.
Ultimately, an illness plot is supposed
to result in a redemption development of some kind. However, the illness plot can be less
dramatic than that. Eastern literature
and movies use the illness plot as a trope for people to show kindness,
attention, and improve romance encounters.
These are usually low level illnesses, like colds. For some reason people don’t get sick in
Western literature or shows unless they are going to die. In fact, the point of someone getting sick in
a Western work seems that they are intended to die.
I’d say the Eastern plot idea if a
great one. Why not have Seoirse or Rose
get sick and then be helped by the other or other characters. This can lend some depth and interest to the
novel. In fact, the entire idea of
helping a sick character—especially one with a cold or the flu just seems
inviting. I did use the injury plot
(illness plot) in Rose when she was hurt fighting off the beer and
cigarette sellers. That was a fun use of
this plot.
As you can see, you can use injury as well as illness for
this plot. The point is to build pathos
and to continue to develop the overall plots in the novel. It isn’t a willy-nilly plot, but it is
definitely an add-on type of plot. It
can be very useful. I think I’ll use
it.
12.
Anti-hero (q) – 6 – 5% - I’m not a fan at all
of the anti-hero plot, but I should explain about this plot and why, and also
explain how it could be used and used well—just not applied to the protagonist
(or maybe applied to the protagonist).
Just what is an anti-hero? The anti-hero is generally a protagonist in a
novel. Here is just one definition from
a questionable source, but this gets across the point in a reasonable fashion.
“An antihero (sometimes spelled as anti-hero)[1] or antiheroine is
a main
character in a story who may lack conventional heroic qualities and
attributes, such as idealism, courage,
and morality.[1][2][3][4][5] Although
antiheroes may sometimes perform actions that most of the audience considers
morally correct, their reasons for doing so may not align with the audience's
morality.[6] An
antihero typically exhibits one of the "Dark Triad" personality traits, which
include narcissism, psychopathy,
and Machiavellianism.[7]
There is a controversy over what exactly defines an antihero.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines an antihero as "someone who lacks
heroic qualities", yet scholars typically have differing ideas on what
constitutes as an antihero. Some scholars refer to the "Racinian"
antihero, who is defined by several factors. The first being that they are
doomed to fail before their adventure begins. The second constitutes the blame
of that failure on everyone but themselves. Thirdly, they offer a critique of
social morals and reality.[8] To
other scholars, an antihero is inherently a hero from a specific point of view,
and a villain from another.[9] This
idea is further backed by the addition of character alignments, which
are commonly displayed by role-playing games.[10]”
Seoirse is a Romantic protagonist and
some might conclude that a Romantic protagonist has some of the characteristics
of an anti-hero. I don’t agree, and I
think I can give a much better definition of the anti-hero.
An anti-hero is a protagonist who has
similar characteristics of an antagonist.
What does that mean? The purpose
of the protagonist is to resolve the telic flaw. The purpose of the antagonist is to prevent
the resolution of the telic flaw.
Everything else is drivel. This
means that the purpose of the anti-hero is to prevent the resolution of the
telic flaw. A protagonist like this is
simply working cross purpose to any comedy resolution of a novel. I know some people won’t like this
definition—they like the idea of the bad boy or bad girl protagonist. However, no matter the basis of the
protagonist (bad girl or boy), the purpose of the protagonist, in a comedy, is
to resolve the telic flaw. Having a bad
girl or a bad boy character is immaterial to the point.
Now, the most important characteristic
for the reader is not bad or good, but rather reasonable and logical. Is and are the actions of the protagonist
(and other characters) reasonable and logical.
I’d say the writer always wants the protagonist to be acceptable (I like
lovable) to the reader. The reader needs
to like the protagonist, not necessarily as a friend or an intimate, but rather
as a person. I’m certain you know many
people whom you admire, but would rather not be your friend. So, how do we apply this to a novel?
The idea of the protagonist or other
character who is cross purpose with society or a culture is a classic Romantic
theme and characteristic. This is a
great approach to a character. We can see
that Rose is already there. She is
acting as an aristocrat in a non-aristocratic world, and she is
succeeding. She is also acting in other
ways as well. Many of these are
anti-cultural and some anti-social. She
is manipulating people and a school, and she is good at it. Now, what about Seoirse?
We need to have Seoirse as a counter to
Rose. I didn’t intend to make Rose an
antagonist, but you can have a nice antagonist.
I intend the pair to be a protagonist and protagonist’s helper group
with another antagonist. The point isn’t
an anti-hero, but rather a classic Romantic character.
Now, having bad girls or bad boys as characters is just
entertaining. There is also the power of
redemption and there is the perception of badness when badness doesn’t exist at
all. Remember, one person’s bad habits
can be another’s normal, and I’m not writing about immorality or perversion,
but rather just activities that are outside the mainstream. This is becoming a trope in modern
literature, and I should point out that the unusual has always been a focus of
all literature. The unique and special
is what makes a protagonist interesting.
Your protagonist doesn’t have to be bad or anti anything, but they
certainly should be Romantic. That’s
basically what we are writing about in the aggregate.
13.
Immorality (q) – 3i, 8 – 10% - You might guess that
immorality is not my favorite plot. You
are right, but just like the other difficult plots, this one can be structured
and used without pushing your protagonist into immorality.
How can you do this? You use the immorality plot but have your
protagonist either be innocent or seeking redemption.
Sin ain’t just sin. In our normal thinking as humans, we see sin
or immorality in grays and not black and white.
For example, in our current society, we see murder as horrific, manslaughter
as not a big deal (even if someone dies) and sexual sin as nothing much at all
(even when families and children are devastated). So much for immorality.
In Lilly: Enchantment and the
Computer, I had an immorality plot with Lilly, the protagonist’s
helper. She was hacking and stealing
from people. This is considered a low level
sin in the modern world. Part of this
plot was that Lilly was redeemed and repented of her crime and immorality. You can see, there is a lot you can do with
this plot.
In Seoirse, I intend perhaps to either have Rose’s or
Seoirse’s actions to appear immoral—perhaps they commit some crime, together or
separately. We might even have Rose
commit some infraction or immorality that she doesn’t fully understand. That might be difficult because Rose has a
cover and is well trained. The point is
that there are all kinds of ways to interject this type of plot for a basically
moral protagonist and with moral characters.
14.
Satire (q) – 10 – 9% - Satire is the use of
humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's
stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and
other topical issues. Most specifically,
satire is a very complex concept in writing.
Although only about 9% of the classics include a satire plot, satire is
a commendable and worthwhile function of the figures of speech applied in any
writing. I use satire all the time in dialog,
and I suggest that you do too.
Satire can have a broad appeal or a not
so broad appeal, but it is always a worthwhile feature of any writing. The question you might have is how do we
interject satire into a normal novel? As
I noted, dialog is one of the easiest and safest ways to input some
satire. Figures of speech go a long way
to build dialog and to improve all writing.
A little political dig, especially historically based, or a cultural dig
in conversation makes a great little exposure for satire. Let me warn you, be cautious of modern issue
and problems in satire. Let me give you
some examples.
In my novels about the Soviet Union, I
make all kinds of historical satire in the dialog about issues and people that
are long past. Most are dead, and the
issues are cold. The Soviet Union sits
on the ash-heap of history, so it is fair game.
In my more modern novels about Britain, I occasionally will throw in a
satirical comment related to the times in the novel. Since the issues are past and no one really
cares about them much anymore, they make great satire. So, history is great for satire. What you should be cautious of is modern and
contemporary problems.
If you write satire about contemporary
issues, you run the risk of irritating your readers. Now, I know, some of you will say you are out
to change the world, but as you should know, the purpose for fiction is
entertainment. If you want to change the
world write sermons and not novels. The
big deal is that satire about contemporary issues, always has the potential to
run off your readers. For example,
satire about global warming will irritate those who believe in it like a
religion. Now, you can take potshots
about anything as long as you don’t dwell on it too long. What I mean is that a small satirical remark
by any of your characters adds to the writing, but a long harangue on any
subject will likely drive them away. In
fact, long harangues on any subject in a fiction novel has the potential to
drive away your readers.
In my novel Centurion many of my
male readers and some historically based female readers told me they loved the
details about the Roman Legions.
However, many of my female readers said they skipped the historical
fighting stuff and loved chapter 17 and beyond because that’s where the love
story part of the novel started. Oh
well. That’s less about satire and more
about content appealing to your readers, but satire is a specific type of content.
Here is what I plan to do with Seoirse. I’ll include satire in the dialog and the
narrative to fit history and the times.
Since its broadly about the near future, that shouldn’t be a
problem. I’ll not have any historical or
contemporary harangues of any kind. I’ll
keep down the satire as it relates to contemporary issues, but I might throw in
a little allegory. In fact, I always
include some degree of allegory in these novels. That’s the major point of their
theme—redemption of the characters—especially the very special characters
involved in the novel. Allegory is usually
a very safe method of satire. We’ll get
to that subject eventually.
15.
Camaraderie (q) – 19 – 17% - This is one of the most marvelous of
the modern plot types. It pretty much
started with The Wind in the Willows where mole from the separated urban
runs away and meets rat in the rural and we get the camaraderie plot. Rat and mole represent the real power of the
camaraderie plot. They are from
different backgrounds and even species, but they find friendship and
companionship together. In the Victorian
Era this was almost an impossibility, but rat and mole promoted it to the
children of the English speaking world.
Today, the camaraderie plot could be
used more than it is. This is a
wonderful plot and one I attempt to promote and use in all my novels. At the lowest level, the camaraderie plot is
the protagonist and the protagonist’s helper working together and building
companionship and even love. At a
greater level, it’s friendship with a group or in a group.
My latest novel, Cassandra, yet
unnamed, is all about friends and friendship.
In it my two main characters, who are at Notra Dama at Saint Malo are
befriended by two other school girls.
They additionally make friends with a vampire and Cassandra, who is a
very long lived person. I know I wrote
not to write about vampires, but I wrote about a vampire, and here I have a
secondary character who is a vampire. A
vampire just fit in the novel, and I wanted to complete the idea of the
redemption of the vampire. In any case,
the camaraderie plot is an important plot in the telic flaw resolution of this
novel. I want to do something similar in
Seoirse.
In Seoirse, I want to focus on the relationship between Rose
and Seoirse, but the bad girls and Robyn are all satellites orbiting Rose and
now Seoirse. In addition, there are the
other girls in Robyn and Rose’s past house at Monmouth who are still their
friends. Of course, there will be new
friends in the sixth form. All in all, I
have the perfect setup for the camaraderie plot, and I intend to use it. It may or may not be one of the main telic
flaw resolution plots, but we shall see.
16.
Curse (q) – 4 – 4% - The curse plot
doesn’t get much play in the classics or the modern world. This is a truly old-world plot. You see it more in ancient works rather than
modern ones, and you see it used very rarely in those. What is it about the curse plot? I think it has legs, but I likely won’t use
it in Seoirse.
Let’s write a little about the curse plot. I’ve used it in one of my novels. In Sorcha: Enchantment and the Curse,
the protagonist, Shiggy, is cursed. Her
curse is a classical one from the Irish.
The point of the curse plot is very complex. It is to set up a supernatural circumstance
that appears to have no resolution. This
happens to be the classic setup for a Romantic plot. Curses can potentially have a resolution, but
they always appear to either have a very difficult one or a full on death
type. For example, in The Lord of the
Rings, the curse plot involves a ring that causes the wearer to fall slowly
under its curse. The curse can only be
resolved by the death of the owner or the destruction of the ring. Bad ends all around. Both the positives of the curse plot and the
curse of the curse plot is that it always requires a supernatural resolution
for redemption. You can see this in the
eucastrophy (Tolkien’s word) at the end of The Lord of the Rings. Of course, The Lord of the Rings is a
created worldview that hearkens to a reflected worldview.
I’m going to write Seoirse in a
reflected worldview. I wrote Sorcha:
Enchantment and the Curse in a reflected
worldview. The point of Sorcha
was to show how the person who was cursed could be redeemed. In fact, the curse wasn’t lifted at all, the
one who was cursed learned to overcome it, but still was plagued by it. That is the classical problem with curses,
for example, Shiggy’s curse allowed her to attract men and women to her, but
not supposedly the love of her life. It
allowed her to defeat the enemies of her sovereign, but not without a loss of
her own. It allowed her to be a friend
of the Fae, but required her allegiance to them. The results of her redemption allowed her to
overcome the negatives of her curse.
Thus Shiggy took on the elements of curse and they became a power for
her to wield. That’s just one way to
handle a curse plot.
I don’t intend to place a curse plot in
Seoirse, but then again, I might. The
curse plot is rare, but it does allow you to move very easily into the
supernatural and to provide a very positive and powerful redemption resolution
for the plot. The only problem with the
curse plot is that it really requires care in handling and in the
resolution. Like all Romantic plot
resolutions, it must be crafted with care.
It must seem impossible until it is inevitable, and that’s always a bit
tricky. We shall see. I like this plot, but I’ve not used it much
at all.
17.
Insanity (q) – 8 – 7% - The insanity plot is
a pretty limited use plot. As you can
see, it is only found in about 7% of the classics. It isn’t a very popular plot although it’s
become somewhat more common in the modern era.
I’m not sure this is a good thing.
Like all plots, the insanity plot has pretty distinct levels
or degree which make it more useful than it appears. In general, the idea of the Romantic
character and the potential for a character who lives and works outside the
norm of society and culture provides some of this push to an insanity plot.
For example, what do you do or how do
you handle a character who acts outside the norm of society and culture? Is that person insane or simply
different? In some ways, the actions of
the odd person might look insane to some cultures and societies. In closed and authoritarian societies, the
insane can be locked up in a sanitarium or a special hospital. I used this in my Soviet setting novels. My protagonist was not insane, but her
response to captivity and torture made her appear insane to the commissar for
her neighborhood. This is just one
example of a lower degree insanity plot.
Having others think your protagonist is
insane is always an interesting insanity plot.
As I noted, the Romantic protagonist might seem insane in some cultures,
and might be persecuted in others. So,
what will I do with Seoirse?
I’m not sure there is room for this
type of plot in this novel, but I’ll keep my options open. The entire idea of the supernatural in the
world gives an opening for an insanity plot.
In the real world some people might think a person who sees or believes
in the supernatural is insane. This is
always an available plot in the reflected worldview.
I’ll add a final note. The insanity plot can be a real downer. I can’t imagine any novel with a full out
insanity plot that isn’t. If this is
what you are aiming for, go for it, but as I’ve written, I like a lower degree type
plot that is more palatable to most readers.
18.
Mentor (q) – 12 – 11% - The mentor plot is a
pretty new idea for a plot. You see some
connections to the Victorian Era especially in novels like Oliver Twist. You know the thieves’ mentor, Fagan. Unfortunately, most of the mentor plots from
this period are like that—bad mentors for bad people. It is as if the blood will out plot automatically
gave the wealthy and the aristocratic no need for any help. Yes, they did think that way.
In any case, with the Romantic
revolution at the end of the Victorian Era, we see all kinds of mentor plots
suddenly crop up. They are all akin to
the camaraderie plots. Suddenly, the
high and mighty can help the poor and lowly and visa versa.
The mentor plot is a very powerful and
good plot especially when connected to the Western notion of education. I’m not as strong a fan of the Eastern view
of the mentor plot. In the Eastern view,
the mentor usually makes the character figure it out on their own, and little
communication goes between the two. You
see this all the time, and I really dislike it.
I want the characters to communicate and help each other—that’s the
overall purpose in the mentor plot.
In the Western view of the mentor plot,
the mentor can become like a protagonist’s helper. In some cases, communication might not be
forthcoming, but usually the mentor communicates with the character being
mentored. I can go for that. The best setup is when they both feel free to
communicate with each other. This allows
the author to show the mind of the protagonist through communication. The open communication line is what makes the
mentor plot very powerful in modern writing.
Picture the protagonist able to speak
openly to their mentor and to get out ideas and problems. This is powerful. In Seoirse, I’m not certain how I want this
to work. I suspect I’ll set up Rose as
the mentor and Seoirse as the mentee. This
is just one means of making the plot work.
This would allow Seoirse to express himself while Rose keeps her mouth
and ideas shut from him. This is an
interesting and potentially good take on the mentor plot. I would have to have something Rose could
teach him—I suspect glamour might be the thing.
The interdependency is what makes the protagonist’s helper character so
good and important. When that is coupled
with the mentor plot, it even gets better.
By the way, I used a mentor plot between Shiggy and Rose in Rose. This was a very powerful plot that showed
Rose’s slow acceptance and acquiescence to Shiggy as her mentor and trainer. In addition, Rose filled a mentor spot for
Robyn and the other girls in Rose. That’s
how you use a good mentor plot.
Setting (s) – I guess I should write a little about the use and power of
setting plots and especially in the context of Seoirse. The setting plots are really great because
they are based specifically on the setting or settings you provide as an
author. My main setting for Seoirse is Monmouth,
but all I have to do to move the setting is to invoke a travel plot and move
the characters to the new setting. I’ve
already mentioned that I was planning on a travel plot based on the initial
scene. I also mentioned about a setting
of the Ilse of Shadows. Let’s write
about this a little.
One of the best ways
to use the setting plot idea is to move to a setting that supports the
plot. We’ll get into this as we look at
the various setting plots, but the travel plot is perhaps the most useful of
all the plots in the setting category.
Not only does it move your characters to a new setting and potentially a
new setting plot (or other plots)—it also allows a plot of its own. Just moving your characters from one place to
another provides an opportunity for a new and especially a travel plot. I’ll discuss this with the travel plot.
In any case, the
setting plots are just fun because they provide plots based on settings, and also
give the writer an opportunity for new ideas and new plots. I can’t emphasize this anymore than I
am. The quality and achievement plots require
some real thought and work based on the protagonist. These plots can be added on, but need deep
development and perhaps changes in the protagonist, but the setting plot just requires
a change of place. Now, some of the
setting plots are very specific, but others are not. We’ll see.
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
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