13 April 2023, Writing - part xxx287 Writing a Novel, A New Male Romantic Protagonist, Details, Telic Flaw Resolution, Setting Plots, Prison
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%
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) – 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% - The End of the World
plot and theme was kinda dead following Noah.
Noah was the first and a real end of the world plot. Guess what? The world hasn’t ended since Noah, but that
hasn’t stopped the end of the world plot at all—it hasn’t even slowed it
down. You think that the fact that the
world hasn’t ended since Noah would at least slow it down, but, no, it’s going
strong and it shouldn’t be.
The reason it shouldn’t be is because
it is unlikely and it’s trite. Okay, the
first to propose the end of the world during the nuclear Soviet era probably
had a good idea, but everyone knew it could happen—that’s why it’s trite in the
first place. The obvious is always
trite. Real authors don’t look for
trite, they look for the unique and the unusual.
Look, the world was going to be
destroyed due to warfare, comets, nukes, now global warming, global cooling,
and so on. Just finding a new way the
world would come to an end is not an excuse to write it into a plot. Plus, there is no low level end of the world
plot. What would you have, the partial
end of the world, or the part way end of the world, or a little bit of the end
of the world?
This
is an all or nothing plot.
Plus, the end of the world plot is a
religious plot. Yes, the end may be
secular, but the point is always preaching and religion. In other words, if you don’t change your
ways, the world will end. This isn’t an
individual redemption, but a world wide redemption—that’s a revival. I’ve never written an end of the world plot,
and I don’t intend to. The purpose of
writing is entertainment, and the end of
the world is not entertaining—unless you are an angel or a demon.
I don’t intend to put any end of the
world plot in Seoirse.
2.
War (s) – 20 – 18% - You gotta have a war
or make up a war to use this setting plot.
Hey, there is a lot of lot here.
You don’t need an official war, and you
don’t need an international war. How
about a drug war or a cold war. That’s
exactly the setting many works from the 1960s to the 1980s used—that is the
cold war. A cold war makes for some of
the very best war setting plots—without a shooting war. Or I should write without a war outside the
shadows. In real life, they shot at me
plenty during the cold war—I should know.
War is a pretty good setting plot. I did use this to some degree in Rose. In Rose, Shiggy’s reason for going to
the Orkney Islands was to investigate illegal international smuggling by
international powers (governments). Rose
and Shiggy got caught up in the warlike actions that shut the smugglers
down. Later, in the novel, the Chinese
attacked, or tried to attack Rose, in retaliation for the incidents at the
Orkneys. These were both war settings
during peacetime. And that’s just one
way to use the war setting plot. In
other words, you don’t have to look for a war or make up a war, you can use an
intelligence or a high level crime situation to inject this type of plot into
your novel.
Now, what about Seoirse? The entire play of ideas in Seoirse already
orbit around intelligence operations and work.
They already include circumstances of potential international
issues—these are all you need for a cold war plot, so to speak. Will I use them? I dunno, but probably. One of the main points I’ve made in the past
about the climax for any modern Romantic novel is action and adventure in the
resolution. I hold to that, and the war
plot makes this easy and powerful.
Perhaps that’s too much equivocation, but I’ll not try to argue that
every action and adventure setting or situation is a war plot, however, when
you make it multinational and international with high stakes, it’s pretty much
a war setting in a war plot.
Whatever we do, as we develop our novel
to the climax, plan for some type of high energy action and adventure. That usually includes some kind of high end
peril. I just like to advocate for a
little crime, spying, and real action. I’m
sure I’ll fit something like this into Seoirse, or I’ll do as I have in the
past with novels and play the Fae courts against the human and god courts. That’s always a great war setting that no one
else knows about.
3.
Anti-war (s) –2 – 2% - The anti-war plot is
a very modern plot. The reason is easy
to understand. An educated person could
never believe it or subscribe to it.
Anyone who has read about the Roman Empire and especially Carthage knows
that anti-war as a plot or theme ends with massacre and the end of your culture
and society. That’s why the anti-war
plot is modern, so limited, and not believed by any educated person—most
readers are reasonably educated.
You can be certain that the war plot is
both effective and entertaining. The anti-war
plot is just silly and depressing. Its
greatest problem is that it is not entertaining. You might ask how can a war plot with all its
destruction and horror by entertaining and the anti-war plot not be. Well, why do you watch Marvel movies? There are millions of the regular people who
die and all kinds of destruction in the Marvel movies while the gods and
goddesses in funny suits commit most of the destruction while saving the
world. Notice, there are always war
plots in the Marvel movies.
The war plot, for humans, not gods and
goddesses, brings out courage, bravery, tactics, fighting for the rights of
others, fighting for the good of humankind, and all those other great and moral
ideas. On the other hand, the anti-war
plot focuses on the opposite. Yeah, Johnny
Got His Gun, but only a middle schooler could conclude that living in the
Soviet Union or Nazi Germany would be a good end for humankind. And, that particular book is both depressing,
and not read much anymore. Even For
Whom the Bell Tolls and A Farewell to Arms are depressing and not
very interesting especially in the aftermath of the greatest war, World War
Two. Kurt Vonnegut sold a lot of anti-war
novels, but his books aren’t in the list of classics mainly because they are
not entertaining or even interesting.
You can say what you will about the horror of war, but the horror of
living in a fascist or communist state is much worse. The Road to Serfdom is paved with war
and the anti-war faction are more than willing to apply their propaganda to
encourage obedience.
In any case, I don’t like the anti-war plot, and I don’t
intend to use it in Seoirse. If
anything, I’ll have a war plot in an intelligence setting. The positives of such a plot out way any
negatives. In fact, if you want to
promote any anti-war point, you might as well provide it in a war plot wrapper. I wouldn’t use any anti-war plot—they are
pretty indefensible, but you can make some great entertainment points in a war
plot.
4.
Travel (s) –1e, 62 – 56% - Now we are getting
into the real plots that drive literature and especially modern
literature. It should not be a surprise
that the first novel in the English language, Robinson Caruso, was
driven by a travel plot. Robinson was
travelling on a merchant tour when he was shipwrecked. The preintial scene
event was this travel and this was the cause of the entire novel.
In general, the travel plot has been a fixture in all
novels, but it really took off as transportation moved from walking and carts
to more modern means. It was also driven
by population movements, war, and exploration.
In the East, the travel plot has always
been a mainstay in their writing from the very beginning. The idea of the walking tour and the tour for
self-reflection is a huge part of Eastern thought and literature. This continues in near parody into today.
Now, I use the travel plot extensively
in my novels. In most modern novels, the
travel plot almost always furthers the plot and moves the novel along toward
the resolution. Almost no novel begins
and ends in the same place. In fact, one
of my first novels Antebellum, has almost no travel plots, which is
odd. It is set in a single southern
community, and the greatest traveling is to town. There are some travel points, but nothing
outside of the local community. I’d say
that is a great example of a novel with zero to little travel plot.
In most cases, my novels require my
characters to move from place to place both to further the plot and to discover
how to resolve the telic flaw. Now,
movement in itself isn’t the plot in a travel plot. The use of travelling is a critical element,
but the use of the traveling is also an important ingredient in the travel
plot. So, the movement of the characters
may be as important as getting the characters together in a single place while
they are travelling and allowing them to communicate and interact. The communicate and interact is a very
important part of the travel plot.
You already know I am using travel
plots in Seoirse. Seoirse himself goes
to Monmouth to keep an eye on Rose. Rose
runs away when things go south for her at Monmouth. She travels the rails until Seoirse catches
her. This is a main type of travel plot
and I intend to use more than this. The
ability to move characters around to new settings and to move to those new
settings is the real power of the travel plot.
We shall see what we can do in the development of the novel, but I
expect to use Seoirse as the means for Rose to travel, and that will be his
job.
5.
Totalitarian (s) – 1e, 8 – 8% - This is a pretty
powerful and wonderful modern plot. You
must have some type of totalitarian regime.
Now, you might conclude, quite correctly, that any monarchy or kingship
of any kind is totalitarian. The funny
thing is that most people don’t see kings or monarchies as totalitarian, when
they completely are. This is the problem
with the ancient or the past with the current.
The Victorians didn’t know any
better—they just had Victoria. They
loved their totalitarian leader.
Fortunately, today, the monarchy in most nations doesn’t have the power
to be a real totalitarian. However, you
have a lot of totalitarian choices today.
Some in history and some in the modern world. In fact, some of the nations of the world
today sure are looking like 1984, even if the media tells us they
don’t. Truthfully, with the totalitarian
plot in the modern world, you risk looking like the Victorian who might have
protested the absolute power of Victoria.
So, the only real way to establish this plot effectively is to place it
in a historical context like the German National Socialists (Nazis), the
Italian National Socialists (Fascists), the Spanish National Socialists
(Fascists), the Soviets (Communists), the CCP (Chinese Communists), or other
communists, the Myanmar dictatorship, and there are some other similar
dictatorships.
For this reason when I wrote Escape
from Freedom, I made a science fiction created worldview as the
setting. I made my own communist
totalitarian place to build my setting.
Now, you can do this on a lower level, for example, you can present a
school or a city governance as a petty dictatorship. Unfortunately or fortunately, I really don’t
have any setting or venue to produce such a setting. Indeed, except in the historical or the
created, the totalitarian setting plot is a little difficult to pull off.
I’ve done it in just that sense. I set some of my historical novels in Nazi
Germany, Vichy France, the Soviet Union, and in Communist China. In addition, I set Escape from Freedom in
a created worldview (another planet). I
don’t think I’ll have this opportunity with Seoirse. Now, it might be possible to categorize much
or the British actions in the modern times as totalitarian, but I don’t really
want that type of setting. Perhaps just
pushing a few buttons might be worth it, but in general, I’m not looking for
that setting, and the totalitarian plot really requires a dedication to
it. It becomes a centerpiece plot and
not just a side plot.
So, I don’t intend to use the totalitarian plot in Seoirse.
6.
Horror (s) – 15 – 13% - Horror is indeed a
setting based plot. Generally, you can
use this plot in almost any novel except perhaps a unicorn and star fluff
novel. Really, the horror plot can significantly
spice up any novel and especially any reflected worldview novel.
One of the greatest features of the
reflected worldview novel is that you never know who or what you might meet,
and you never know just what the encounter will be like. For example, one of my favorite little scene setups
is where a human character meets some very dangerous and different
creature—usually under supervision. The
point is, for example, to meet a troll and see how potentially dangerous and
powerful the troll is, but at the same time turn the tables with the mind and
actions of the troll. In other words,
see the troll as more than a dangerous, powerful, Fae creature, and as more
than a Dungeons and Dragons attack machine.
Usually in this type of novel, I later have the character interact with
the creature under a different situation.
Sometimes, I use the interaction as a means of the telic flaw
resolution. The power of this in the
reflected worldview is amazing.
This is why, although I wrote that you
should never write about vampires, I have actually put vampires in a couple of
my novels. They are some of these great
creatures who are worth writing and reading about. Especially worth reading about when they are
different than your readers might expect.
Now, about horror settings.
The horror setting isn’t just about a
place. Characters and situations can
bring in a little horror, and obviously, there are varying degrees of
horror. There is always the full out
Stephen King horror setting and novel, or you can just interject a little
excitement in a scene with a little horror.
Obviously, all horror has some degree of reflected worldview in it. You can’t have the supernatural without a
reflected worldview and horror usually requires some degree of the
supernatural. In fact, even if you are
using a full out real worldview, the appearance of the reflected is the basis
of the horror even if in the end, Scooby Do discovers that the horror was all
made up.
Now, about Seoirse. I really want to bring in horror as part of
the reflected worldview. The way I
intend to do this is by introducing the supernatural into the general setting
of the novel. I can do this because Seoirse
is able to interact and see the supernatural and so is Rose. Their entire existence and connections will
be through this setting. I’ll be able to
do this to a degree I haven’t before. In
most of my novels like this, there is one sensitive character while the rest
are not. In the case of Seoirse, I have
multiple sensitive characters. The
horror will be not so much like a total evil Stephen King scenes and
situations, but more like a continual situation of revelation and
excitement.
That’s the degree and type of horror I’ll interject into Seoirse—the
type that is a continual ah for the reader.
I want them to get the sensation that they are seeing and interacting
with the characters in a totally different but real world that lies just at the
edge of not imagination, but the world.
7.
Children (s) – 24 – 21% - The children’s plot
is a wonderful plot. In some degree,
Robyn represents a children’s plot. Robyn
is a precocious and a genius child. This
is a flat out children’s plot. In some
small degree, in Seoirse, this children’s plot with Robyn will continue. The rest of bad girls and those Rose is
supposed to look out for are all youths, which is pretty much a child.
Although many of my novels include youth and sometimes
children, they are not young adult of children’s novels. I really haven’t included a ten year old
protagonist, like Flavia Deluca, in any of my novels. Also, my novels with young adults are adult
novels and not young adult novels. You
might ask what is the difference?
The difference is between a plot and an
overall theme in the novel. For example,
my two Deirdre and Sorcha novels are both about teenaged school girls who get
involved in adult circumstances. These
might be read by young adults and the characters are youths, but the subjects
and the circumstances are adult. That
doesn’t mean they are adult in terms of sex, but rather adult in terms of
maturity and situations. Yeah, the line
is very grey and wide. As I wrote, a
young adult might be able to read and enjoy my novels—if their vocabulary and
maturity is that of an adult’s because I write for adults and not youth or
children.
Still, the children’s plot brings
children, including youth into a plot.
In the early classics and the Victorian Era, the children were like
those of A Christmas Carol. They
played an important role, but they were pieces and not really important
characters. Tiny Tim was about the
highest level they could aspire to. Then
came Oliver Twist and Jane Eyre.
These characters were children and protagonists. They drove the novels and interacted with
other children. In many cases, like
Jane, they grew to maturity in the novel.
Just mentioning these few novels from the Victorian Era should indicate
the difference between young adult and adult literature.
In any case, the point in Seoirse is to
present an adult novel that also includes youth and perhaps children. Robyn is the child here. The bad girls are youth. Rose and Seoirse are both close to
youth. The novel will be an adult one
but happen to include some parts of a children’s plot. The purpose is to present a pathos situation
to the reader. By the way, part of the
importance of the children’s plot is to develop pathos. In the case of Seoirse, the pathos is with a
precocious and genius child. In
addition, we develop pathos with youth who act like children. There is also power in the development of
characters like Seoirse and Rose who are youth who act like adults (most of the
time). This is what makes the children’s
plot very powerful.
I should mention the classic use of the
children’s plot—that is adults having and who have children. The pathos is familial and that is what
drives this normal type of plot.
8.
Historical (s) – 19 – 17% - What is surprising
about this plot is that it is only about 17% of the classics. This is interesting because I think the
historical plot should be in any real or reflected worldview novel. I think the historical plot should be in
every novel except the created worldview, and even the created worldview has
room for some historical view. For
example, the basis of a science fiction or a fantasy or a magic worldview can
be historical in the past. This many
times makes for a much more powerful created worldview. I posit the created Harry Potty
worldview. It doesn’t have much of a
historical basis, but it does have a compelling basis in the real world—the
world of the muggles.
Now about the historical worldview. The point is to place or set your plots in a
historical and real context. I do this
all the time and at varying levels.
Perhaps the highest level is to take a real world historical event and
project your novel into it. Or perhaps,
you can say launch your novel into it. I
did this with my published historical novels: Centurion, Aegypt, and
The Second Mission. They were and
are historically based novels, and the historical permeates them. This is how I approach and write all my
non-science fiction novels.
If the highest level launches a novel into
a time or setting in history, the lower levels of historical basis place
historical reality into a novel. In this
case, the novel may or may not be based in a historical event, perse, but the
elements of the setting and the novel can be based on the real world and
history. For example, I place real world
places and things and sometimes people into my novels. Sometimes I do it on the high, like real
ambassadors, princes, kings, leaders, and all, and sometimes I do it on the
low, like business owners, waiters, workers, and so on.
I love to place the real world into my
novels for the times, and I research the places and the times significantly to
do just that. For example, in my novels
about the Soviet Union and Communist China, I accomplished significant research
to accurately describe the place and the times.
In some cases, I used historical figures and people. The orbits of my characters intersected and
interacted with these people and these places on the high level and the low
level. Even my novels that are of a
modern character are set specifically and firmly into a place and time. For example, in Lilly: Enchantment and the
Computer, you will recognize all kinds of places around Seattle and
Tacoma. In Khione: Enchantment and
the Fox, you will recognize Boston and Boston University. I placed these novels in places I lived and
went to school. In any case, they
represent the real and the real world in reflected worldview novels—this is a
powerful historical plot and means of developing a novel.
Seoirse will use just this type of
historical setting and historical plot.
The times are the near future, but the places will be the same and real
places. Some of the people will be real
and their living spaces real. Some will
be made up, but the basics will not be.
For example, the basic setting is Monmouth. All the places around Monmouth and the place
itself will be recognizable to the traveler or the resident. The historical and the real will permeate the
novel. The point for me to determine is
how much. For example, will I use real
world and current events to propel some of the scenes and perhaps the overall
plot and telic flaw resolution. You can
do this or you can have a novel set in time and place, but with events and
projections that are entirely logical, but made up. In Rose, I have a Russian and Chinese
smuggling operation that British intelligence is investigating. That is not real, but it could be real.
This is what I’ll do in Seoirse to a
large degree. I’ll setup in time and
place a fun and entertaining plot, events, and situations to resolve the telic
flaw.
9.
School (s) – 11 – 10% - Guess what? Seoirse from the beginning is a school
setting plot. I really like the school
setting for many reasons. How do I
begin?
The best reason for incorporating a
school setting plot when you can is that everyone in the first world has been
to school. That’s the best and most
compelling reason. Every reader, or
almost every reader who will buy and read your novel as well as every publisher
who might publish your novel has been to school. They understand the school setting and even
weird or unusual school settings will get their attention and their
interest. Just look at Hogwarts in Harry
Potty. Both adults and children love the
setting because they are all familiar with it.
There is more to this type of setting.
Even those who hated school when they
were in it, love the idea of the school setting. Most people imagine school with dreamy-eyes
even when their own experiences were not positive. They believe on some level, there is a
possible good school and fun school experience.
Most of the time we as authors want to give them that, and actually, the
entire school setting provides some very powerful positives and negatives. I write about these all the time. I try to incorporate the good experiences in
school as well as the negative. For
example, I’ve had my characters develop friendships and comrades. I’ve also had them in competition,
contention, and fights. I especially
like to present the good girl (boy)/bad girl (boy) situation as well as the
wealthy versus the poor (paying versus scholarship). In fact, the paying versus scholarship
students is one of my favorite methods to bring contention, fighting, and
tension into a school setting. I use it
because the paying versus scholarship is one of the main classical themes and
plots in the Victorian and the Romantic revival in school settings. These are powerful tropes in the school
setting and most readers can identify with them. In fact, that’s why they are so easy to use
and well received. I wrote it and I’ll
write it again, readers like the school setting because it is familiar to
them. There is more than that for me.
One of my prepublication readers
happened to like the way I integrated the school setting into Children of
Light and Darkness. This novel isn’t
published yet, but the encouragement and the ideas about the school setting in
the novel drove me to include it in other novels. I’m to the point that I really like
incorporating the school setting into my novels. I’ll go further.
It may not be obvious to you, but the
school setting isn’t just for primary or secondary school. It can also be collegiate, university, and
post graduate. I’ve used these too in
the school setting. I intentionally set
two of my universities as the school setting for undergraduate and graduate
level characters and protagonists. This
is the power of the school setting. In
fact, I haven’t tried the post graduate type of late in life schooling, but
that’s a possibility too.
So, yes, Seoirse is a very strong
school setting—at Monmouth.
10.
Parallel (s) – 4 – 4% - Since no one reads or
publishes literature anymore, the very best you can do is allegory and parallel
plots. I really like allegory, but
unfortunately, most readers aren’t well read enough to make it work that
well. I will get into the idea of the
allegory next, but the next best plot for expanding and exciting your readers
is the parallel plot.
The parallel plot can also be used in
varying degrees of strength. As I
alluded, the full out parallel plot is really just an allegory. The lowest degree parallel plot is the long
figure of speech. Parallel isn’t copying
another’s plot as much as it is adapting an older plot or idea and grafting it
into your novel. I know you want an
example.
Let’s say I grab a historical event and
incorporate it into my writing. For
example, the fire in the upper ward at Windsor Castle. I incorporated this historical event in my
novel, Deirdre: Enchantment and the School. I provided a parallel explanation and setup
for this event and used the event as an important plot and plot development in
the novel. This is a type of parallel
plot. That’s just one way to develop a
parallel plot. There are many others.
You don’t have to use history, you can
use literary events. For example, in one
of my newest novels Cassandra, but I might title it, Casandra:
Enchantment and the Warriors, there is a parallel using the ideas of The
Man in the Iron Mask. The entire
point is that Cassandra has been held as a prisoner in Saint Malo since
1528. By the way, there is a historical
parallel as well since, Mary Queen of Scots was held prisoner near Saint
Malo—just for not as long. I mention
this in the novel.
In Cassandra, I have multiple
parallels that point to real world as well as literary plots. The power of this is great. Those who are familiar with the literature
get an entirely powerful experience and understanding of the novel and ideas in
the novel. In addition, those who
understand about Mary, Queen of Scots will get an even better idea of what is
going on in my novel. These literary and
historical allusions and parallels increase the entertainment and excitement
value of the novel. In addition, the
reader might be even more interested in these circumstances, other novels, and
events.
As I’ve noted before, in my writing in
the reflected worldview, my readers don’t need to look for more information, I
usually supply it in the novel as a revelation of secrets in the context of the
novel, but if a reader happened to look up a subject in my novels, they could
easily get much more information and even figure out some of the pieces of the
puzzle in the novel. Probably not enough
to figure out the telic flaw resolution, but certainly enough to discover some
of the secrets. This is a balance I’m
aiming for. The parallels accomplish the
same. For the knowledgeable, they give
hints and helps to understanding. For
those who are not familiar, when and if they do become familiar, it points back
in time through allusion. This is one of
the main powers of great literature. We
don’t write or read great literature anymore, but the parallel makes a work
potentially timeless and more powerful.
What about Seoirse?
Yes, I will try to incorporate as many
parallels as possible in the novel. I’m
not sure how or where at the moment, but I’ll figure it out. Some of the most powerful and interesting
parts of developing any reflected worldview or historical novel is sneaking in
the parallels. Many times they come as a
eureka moment or just a whim. Sometimes,
they are planned from the beginning, but that’s more of an allegory in concept.
Just the point that in Seoirse, I’d like to use the
historical myth and idea of the Ilse of Shadows and Aife points to a parallel
plot. The point is to take some of the ancient
Celtic myths and turn them into part of the plot.
11.
Allegory (s) – 10 – 9% - The real difference
between the parallel plot and the allegory plot is simply degree. The allegory should be a complete or near
complete parallel to another work or history—usually another work.
I call my novel, Aksinya:
Enchantment and the Daemon a semi-allegory.
It’s pretty much a full on allegory, but that’s the question of
degree. This novel is more than a
parallel and a little less than an allegory.
How’s that?
Okay, Aksinya is an allegory
based on The Book of Tobit from the apocrypha. All the major characters and ideas are
paralleled from Tobit to Aksinya.
The novel isn’t a slavish allegory, it’s just a very good parallel. The main ideas and the main points of Tobit
are also the main ideas and points in Aksinya. I’d say composed in a more elegant and
entertaining wrapper. That’s part of the
point of the allegory. That is, we don’t
want to repeat the story the allegory is based on, we want to wrap up the ideas
in a beautiful and fun wrapper. In
addition, as you likely know an allegory isn’t usually just a repeat or
development of a storyline, plot, or characters. It is all of these plus another add. Let’s write about that type of allegory.
The allegory I’m getting to is what you
likely first thought of when you read the word—an allegory like Pilgrim’s
Progress. Pilgrim’s Progress
is an allegory of the pilgrim on the Christian path to salvation. It uses the world to show this allegory—that
is this spiritual journey is given a physical framework. This is another type of complex allegory. I’m less into this type of allegory compared
to a high end parallel. However, the
allegory like Pilgrim’s Progress if it’s pulled off well can be a great
novel. Notice, Pilgrim’s Progress
is usually not considered a novel—funny that.
Now, I’m not into the Pilgrim’s
Progress type of allegory—that’s too much proselytizing for me. Not that I don’t agree with the proselytizing
that’s going on, but that is generally why the novel is not considered a
novel—it’s a piece of proselytization.
Ancillary knowledge gained from fiction is awesome—an author trying to
teach me is just a distraction from the entertainment. So, back to the high end parallel.
I haven’t thought of writing Seoirse as an allegory of some
other piece of fiction or ideas. It’s
just not on my radar screen at the moment.
Plus, I tend to get ideas that are unique in their scope and writing. Allegories are pretty rare in my writing
while parallels are the norm. I’ll include
many figures of speech and perhaps a few parallels in Seoirse. I’ll likely not turn it into an
allegory. Then again.
12.
Fantasy world (s) – 5 – 4% - This is an odd plot
in the classics. I suspect we shall see
it used more often in the future. Just
like science fiction, the fantasy plot just hasn’t been taken seriously in much
classical literature. As I noted, I
think that might change. Mostly, magic
realism as a genre has come on the scene, and boy, do readers like magic
realism.
Part of the problem is that all those literazis in the
universities don’t take science fiction and fantasy much less magic realism
seriously. They still see them as fringe
fiction and not literature at all. They
also don’t understand the entertainment nature of fiction either. That’s why most of their stuff isn’t
published. Readers want
entertainment. The literazis want to
change the world. Someone should tell
them. This is also why you won’t learn
to write good fiction in the university.
Check how many novels they have published.
Okay, back to the fantasy world
plot. It’s actually a fantasy plot which
is a reflected worldview plot which is usually a magic realism plot, but it
doesn’t have to be. Harry Potty is a
magic realism plot, but not a reflected worldview—or not much or one. Harry Potty is actually a created worldview.
What I want to do with a reflected
worldview is to bring in the elements of human thinking that everyone knows,
but few really believe. In some cases,
people just haven’t thought much about the reflected worldview. The supernatural is the reflected
worldview. This means that God, angels,
and demons are all part of the reflected worldview. I don’t mean this in a negative fashion. I simply want to point out that if you are
engaging in a worldview with God or gods, you are in a reflected
worldview. The supernatural lies outside
of the creation (universe) therefore it can’t be proven by the scientific
method. On the other hand, many if not
most humans believe in certain elements of the supernatural. As you expand the supernatural, you might
find fewer and fewer adherents, but that doesn’t make it any less interesting
as a subject or as a plot.
In the case of the fantasy plot, we are
taking a reflected worldview, basically the supernatural, and imposing it on
reality—thus magic realism. Magic
realism simply means taking the supernatural and placing it in a normative
social or culture setting. Thus Harry
Potty.
Seoirse is just like this. This is also the realm of my writing. I take all the elements of the supernatural
and apply them to my novels. As you
already know, Seoirse is like this. Rose
is the child or a Fae being and a human.
Rose has supernatural powers I call glamour. This is the power of the Fae. In addition, my novels include gods and
goddesses from the past. I also include
God and angels. All this in a normal
social setting. The point is the fantasy
world is a reflected one. It includes
all the stuff we really aren’t certain about or are very certain about. I’m certain about God. I just extrapolate based on that supernatural
basis. If there is God, there must be
other supernatural beings and powers.
Again, this isn’t new, this is magic
realism which was once called fantasy.
There is much much more to this.
In Seoirse, I intend to make Seoirse an underling of Rose. He is the focus, but Rose is the power. The story and the plot will unfold from
there. Fantasy world plots are wonderful,
and I’m glad they are making their way as magic realism.
13.
Prison (s) – 2 – 2% - Believe it or not,
but the prison setting plot is very useful.
It is an easily graduated type of plot—so you can move from full out Count
of Monte Cristo to having your characters arrested and processed. I’ve used all of these levels.
The full out prison setting plot can
also be graduated. For example, in my
novel Shadow of Light, a dragon keeps my protagonist and her lover
captive in his lair in China. This is
much more complicated than the sentence makes it seem.
In addition, I used a similar captivity
(prison) motif for Warrior of Light but with another of the patron
Chinese creatures of the four cardinal compass points. There is my reflected worldview connection
for these novels—right out of Chinese mythology and filled with Chinese life
and culture.
I also used the full on prison setting
for Sister of Light and Shadow of Darkness. In these novels, the German National
Socialists (Nazis) held my characters in prison. I also alluded to the Soviet use of prisons
and people’s asylums in Sister of Darkness. In all, I’ve found the full on prison setting
very useful and entertaining.
You might ask, how can you get
entertaining out of a prison setting? Just
look at The Count of Monte Christo for a great example. You can also write, like I did, about
captivity under a merciful, but misdirected creature, the Dragon in my novel, Shadow
of Darkness. You can also have a
cruel and capricious jailor like the creature in Warrior of Light. In any case, the prison setting is very
powerful and entertaining when coupled with a comedy novel.
Now, about the low level use of the
prison plot. I like to get into the real
world with all my reflected plots—therefore, don’t you get irritated when in a
book or movie, obvious actions that should bring police and other forces simply
provide a meh. Or how about when characters
never call the police for obvious police-like situations. In my novels, I play these situations just
like the real world. My characters are
real characters and not playacting characters.
When a pistol is fired in a British village, the constable comes to see
what is going on (Essie: Enchantment and the Aos Si). When Rose is attacked and is winning a fight
against a couple of adult criminals, Robyn called the police, and an ambulance
(Rose: Enchantment and the Flower).
The same thing happens again when Robyn discovers where Rose is
hiding. She brings along the police. In some of my novels, Dierdre: Enchantment
and the School and Sorcha: Enchantment and the Curse, the characters
are arrested and put in prison until they can be retrieved. Sometimes circumstances end up that way in
the real world. In addition, in some
cases, the characters are on the other end of the criminal attacks, like the
example from Rose. In Lilly:
Enchantment and the Computer, Lilly and Dane are attacked by vengeful students.
Now,
how shall we use the prison setting plot in Rose. I have a great idea, but I’m not sure how to
make it work. I was thinking that after
Rose stops the big fight and returns that the mothers of the bad girls would go
into full on fix mode and have Rose take the girls or certain girls to the Isle
of Shadows and Aife for training. The
Isle of Shadows is the warrior training school and island where Aife trains her
forces. There is also a potential for
confrontation and fighting between Aife an her sister who runs a similar
school. This is what I have in
mind. There is always the potential for Rose
or Seoirse or both to be incarcerated for some reason and need release. This is a great entertainment and suspense
bit. We shall see.
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
The Novel: theme statement.
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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character development, scene, setting, conversation, novel, book, writing,
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