20 August 2023, Writing - part xxx416 Writing a Novel, Seoirse, Marketing Materials, The Web
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 31st
novel, working title, Cassandra, potential title Cassandra: Enchantment and the Warriors. The theme statement is: Deirdre and Sorcha
are redirected to French finishing school where they discover difficult
mysteries, people, and events.
Here is the cover
proposal for Cassandra: Enchantment and
the Warriors:
|
|
|
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.
For novel 33, Book girl: Siobhàn Shaw is Morven McLean’s savior—they
are both attending Kilgraston School in Scotland when Morven loses everything,
her wealth, position, and friends, and Siobhàn Shaw is the only one left to
befriend and help her discover the one thing that might save Morven’s family
and existence.
For novel 34: Seoirse is assigned to be Rose’s protector
and helper at Monmouth while Rose deals with five goddesses and schoolwork;
unfortunately Seoirse has fallen in love with Rose.
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.
I’m now writing Seoirse, and since I
retired from my day job, I’m back to a chapter a day. I could likely write two chapters a day, but my
brain gets tired. I think it’s important
to report again on how to write a novel.
Let’s start at the beginning.
I already developed the protagonist for
this novel: Seoirse Séamas Wishart. That
is his name in Gaelic. His common or
English name is George James Wishart.
Why the difference. It all has to
do with the worldview of my novels. The
worldview is reflected and therefore the supernatural exists. We are mainly writing about the common and
mythical supernatural in the world. I’d
like to say that whatever the basis for the usual supernatural in human thought
exists in the reflected worldview of this and my novels. Thus there are vampires, werewolves, fairies,
the Fae courts, dragons, gods, goddesses, and other mythical creatures. They aren’t the world. They world of my novels is the world you see
around you. The supernatural aspects are
generally unseen, unknown, and rare.
They exist like the supernatural exists in the world today: generally
unseen, unknown, and rare. That’s the
basis of the world in my novels.
This is where I am with Seoirse. I’ve been writing a chapter a day. That means I’ll likely have a completed novel
in less than a month. That’s what I
usually do when I have an idea and a novel to write. I’m also writing pretty exclusively when I
should be working on a publisher or an agent.
I’ve titled my most recent novel, Seoirse:
Enchantment and the Assignment. I
think it’s time to start on the marketing materials. I’m still editing, but I’m reaching the end
stages of that. I know I went through
marketing materials not that long ago with Rose, but that seems like the
right way to go, plus, that will force me to work on them—I’d really rather be
editing. That’s the most fun for
me. Reading your own work and fixing the
large and small details to make it as perfect as possible is the best part ever
of writing. I’d have to say, writing it
in the first place is a close second, but when you see the completed novel on
your screen, and you experience the interplay of characters and plot, that’s
makes life worth living and writing worth writing.
I do need to write this again. I write to entertain. The number one person I’m trying to entertain
is me. If my novels aren’t entertaining
to me, how can they be entertaining to anyone else. Further, I write what I love to read. When I produce a novel, it’s because I love the
ideas in the novel. I craft it to be as entertaining
and exciting as possible. Now, on to
marketing materials. Here’s the basic
format I use. I’ll explain this as I go
and as I populate it.
Title of Work:
Seoirse: Enchantment and the Assignment
Author(s) Name:
L. D. Alford
Type: Either Screenplay or Book
Book
Length: Either # of words for books, or #
of pages for screenplays
130,790 words
Keywords and Market Focus:
Fiction, military, military training,
intelligence operations, adventure, supernatural, Fae, fairy, Scotland, Rousay,
Britain, United Kingdom, Monmouth, MI6, goddess, Dagda, organization, the King;
will fascinate anyone interested in mystery, intelligence operations, and the
Fae—will appeal particularly to those who enjoy mystery and magic realism
novels.
Genre:
Magic
Realism Mystery
Author
Bio: Approximately 120 words
The finest entertainment in fiction
is an escape into a real and inviting world—so asserts L. D. Alford, a novelist
who explores with originality those cultures and societies we think we already
know. He builds tales that make ancient
and modern people real to us. His
stories uniquely explore the connections between present events, history, and
the future—he combines them with threads of reality that bring his fiction
alive. L. D. Alford is familiar with
technology and cultures—he earned a B.S. in Chemistry, an M.S. in Mechanical
Engineering, a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering, and is a graduate of Air War
College, USAF Test Pilot School, and Air Command and Staff College. He is widely traveled and has spent long
periods in Europe, Asia, and Central America.
L. D. Alford is an author who combines intimate scientific and cultural
knowledge into fiction worlds that breathe reality.
Synopsis: Approximately 1000 Words
Seoirse
Wishart, the handsome, accomplished, witty and gentle second son of Lady Azure
Wishart, Chancellor of the Book of the Fae, graduated from Eton and is on his
way to Cranwell to achieve his dream to become a pilot officer in the British
Air Force and eventually the Chancellor of the Book of the Fae. Unfortunately, his boss, Ms. O’Dwyer calls
him to a special meeting. Seoirse works
for the Organization, a group under the MI structure, and for Stele, the branch
under the Organization that protects Britian from the supernatural.
The very
special meeting is all about Lady Rose Tash, who is also present. Rose is half-Fae, wondrously beautiful, a
lady of the Fae, and elevated by the King to be the Lady Tash. She is the only person in the world who can handle
certain supernatural girls under Stela training at Monmouth Haberdasher’s
School for Girls in Wales. Rose
encountered some difficulties during her last semester at Monmouth while caring
for Robyn. Robyn is an accidental
Goddess of Light and a precocious nine-year-old.
During
the last semester, the Chinese Communists attempted to capture Rose. An emergency recall thwarted them but took
Rose out of commission for a month. That
problem was resolved, but Ms. O’Dwyer wants Seoirse as Rose’s protector and
handler. That isn’t the end of both their
problems.
Also, at
Monmouth, for oversight are four other dangerous girls: Sophie, Phoebe, Sveta,
and Klava. Sveta and Klava are the
future Goddesses of Light and Darkness, and Sveta has the beak about everything. The brilliant but immature, Robyn has been
incessantly jabbing at Sveta. The
situation and Rose’s assignment is to take care of these five girls, get them
through their year of schooling, and prevent them from harming themselves or
others. If Rose can accomplish this, she
can have her house and property back. Seoirse
must oversee Rose.
All
begins reasonably well, and Rose engages her aristocratic tea party
strategy. It worked with Robyn and their
class last semester, it should work with these girls. Only it doesn’t. Sveta discovered the truth about Rose: her
background, her assignment, her training, and her weaknesses. The anger of dozens of years bubbles out of
Sveta, and she attacks Rose. When Robyn
steps in to protect Rose, Sveta takes the opportunity to rid herself of
Robyn. That’s when Klava, the sister
Sveta abused all her life, acts to stop Sveta and Robyn. That’s also when Rose moves to save them
all. Rose stops and protects, all of
them. In the process, her hands and arms
are injured and her clothing is burned completely away.
Rose lost
everything—she was injured, the classroom was ruined, and all her plans,
literally, burned up in Sveta and Robyn’s fire.
She runs away and causes one of the greatest catastrophes in Stela’s
history—the loss of one of their most powerful and dangerous agents. That’s where Seoirse comes in.
He must
find and return Rose. He must also
figure out how she and the Organization can succeed. It isn’t just about five dangerous girls
anymore—it’s about the most powerful half-Fae being who can control them.
Seoirse finds
Rose on the Caledonian Sleeper. She’s
using glamour to hide and happens to be in the same state as when she
left. He brings clothing and a fake ID
for her. Seoirse takes Rose captive. They travel back to London where Ms. O’Dwyer renegotiates
Rose’s contract.
In the
aftermath of the incident at Monmouth, Rose takes every piece of advice Seoirse
provided. She makes Sveta her vassal and
renames her. She forces the other girls
to change their lives. She sets up
training for them through Seoirse and the Organization. She creates a new military training program—one
she knows these rejects from previous Stela training will covet and desire. Rose is their leader and overseer. Seoirse is the conduit and the means. At the same time, Seoirse has fallen in love
with Rose. He wants to be her
boyfriend. Meanwhile, Rose is trying to
make everyone’s dreams come true. She’s
willing to take any pain and suffering on herself to achieve her goals and
theirs.
Rose and
Seoirse take the five dangerous girls to the Isle of Shadows for training in
military and intelligence subjects. At
the same time Rose has worked out training for Seoirse. He doesn’t fully understand everything Rose
means for him to do, but she’ll beat that into him.
The
training goes well, but there are complications. How can there not be with five dangerous
girls and their very dangerous trainer?
Seoirse just has to keep it all it control. In the end, two field trips go well, and the
dangerous girls are on their way to success at school and with others. Then the real crisis occurs.
During a
visit to Briarashe, Rose demands Lady Wishart allow her to marry Seoirse and make
him the Chancellor of the Book of the Fae.
They quarrel. Rose steals the
Book of the Fae, and that unleashes another crisis. Lady Wishart demands a trial.
Seoirse
escorts Rose to the gathering of the Gaelic gods and the Fae to determine the succession
the Book of the Fae. During this
encounter, Rose is found to have stolen the Book. Her right hand and arm are injured from
illegally writing Seoirse in as the Chancellor of the Book. Meanwhile, when Rose throws herself at the
mercy of the Courts, Titania, the Queen of the Fae makes a startling
confession. Rose is her illegitimate
child, a Princess of the Fae. That
doesn’t resolve all the problems, but Lady Wishart agrees to allow Seoirse to
continue as the Chancellor of the Book, Rose may marry him in the proper time,
but Rose must face a bare bottom spanking as decreed by King Oberon. For stealing the Book and writing in it, ten
swats to be applied by Seoirse. When the
punishment is complete, so is this tale, but there is obviously more in store
for Rose and Seoirse.
Synopsis: Approximately 500 Words
Synopsis: Approximately 200 Words
Concept
of the Work: Approximately 250 Words
Cover
Proposal
Okay,
this might not be the most artistic and best cover proposal, but let me show
you the proposed cover from Rose: Enchantment and the Flower:
The most important reason for me to design and make a cover proposal is for my webpages. This also gets into the whole idea of webpages and internet presence.
If I had
a publisher at the moment or even an agent, with a strong chance of publication
of one of my novels in the next few months, I’d be getting a URL (that’s a
website) for Seoirse: Enchantment and the Assignment. The reason is that you really should have a
website for each and every novel. As it
is, I’ve been reusing my extra websites for my novels and because I’d rather be
writing, I’ve let down my updates for my websites.
In any
case, that’s my excuses and reasons. If
I were you and just finishing a new novel or a first novel, I’d develop a
website. Almost the first moment I had
the opportunity to develop a website, I did.
I purchased the URL from godaddy, and at the time, used the Microsoft
web publisher to modify my websites. I
got spoiled with that. Today, if you
want to modify your own, you need to use a program that drives the HTML code. Then you have to upload the files to your
website. With the proper file names,
they will present when they are addressed with a browser. If any of this is unfamiliar to you, I’m not
intending to teach you all about how to write HTML code, use, or upload it, but
I can give you some advice on how to go about developing and working with
novels on websites.
If you
look at my poor excuses for websites (today, they were pretty good ten years
ago or so), you will see I own the names of many of my novels. I also own www.lionelalford.com and www.ldalford.com. I also own www.alfordfamily.com. Just plain alford.com was already taken. For my novels, some of the direct URLs were already
taken, so I couldn’t get them, but many are in my control. If you look at the end of this blog, you can
see all of the URLs for my published novels.
If the
URL for your title has been taken, just add novel or story to the end of the word
or title and get that URL. I haven’t checked
to see if Seoirse is taken or not. I
might not use Seoirse.com as the URL, because it would be too hard for many to
spell and pronounce correctly. I also
will not use the full title of any of my enchantment novels just because that
makes the title too long. Further, as I
wrote before, I expect my publisher to want to change the title of my enchantment
novels. They will either want me to
figure out a new title or just use the major name Seoirse as the
title. They might even want to have Seoirse
with a subtitle Enchantment and the Assignment or something else
entirely. I just proffer the current titles
as place holders for the novel until I can get a publisher and they recommend a
new title.
Now,
about titles and websites. Sister of
Light was originally titled Goddess of Light, but my publisher
thought that it was better for their market to call it Sister of Light. The same for Sister of Darkness. That was great by me. I already owned the URLs for the Goddess
titles. I just registered the other
titles. That’s why I have some extra
URLs hanging around. As you can see from
my other novels, I reused the URLs. I’ve
also grabbed up URLs around some of my titles.
That’s how it works too. If you
have a bestseller or even a pretty good seller, you might want to own the URLs
around the work.
You also
want to own the URLs around your name or pen name. I own LionelAlford.com and also
ldalfor.com. AlfordFamily.com is the
overall basis for the sites. That’s usually
the way you organize and work your multiple URLs. You have an overall site and the others are
subordinate to that site. That doesn’t
mean the address is any more complex than the name and the three-letter. For example, www.aseasonofhonor.com takes you to
that site even though it is subordinate to www.alfordfamily.com. That’s just how the organization of the sites
works. There is so much more I could
mention and we could get into about websites, but the maim point I want to make
is this. Websites are all about
pictures, glitz, and not necessarily about just words. I always make a cover proposal and I put it
on the page or a page for the novel. I
guess I need to get to work on that.
Registration:
WGA, ISBN, or Library of Congress, Write the number.
None
Other
Information: If you have more work, a website,
anything interesting and professional, especially any awards or recognition.
Blue Rose:
Enchantment and the Detective www.LumiereNovel.com,
the child of a Fae is discovered and trained to become a powerful asset in
British supernatural intelligence.
Deirdre: Enchantment and the School www.HestiaNovel.com, the child of a Fae
secretly attends a girl’s boarding school until Deirdre discovers her.
Sorcha: Enchantment and the Curse www.GoddessoftheHearth.com, a
cursed woman becomes a deadly spy at the hands of a dangerous mistress.
Essie: Enchantment and the Aos Si www.HearthGoddess.com, a matron rescues
and educates the Queen of the fae.
Lilly: Enchantment and the Computer www.GoddessofLightNovel.com, a
math genius girl gets a boyfriend and becomes a Japanese goddess.
Valeska: Enchantment and the Vampire www.GoddessofDarkness.com, a
British agent accidentally becomes involved with a vampire.
Khione: Enchantment and the Fox www.GoddessNovel.com, a graduate student
discovers a demigoddess in modern
Aksinya: Enchantment and the Daemon www.AksinyaNovel.com, a Russian princess
calls a demon to protect her family.
Dana-ana: Enchantment of the Maiden www.Dana-ana.com, the mystery of Dana-ana Goewyn.
Hestia: Enchantment of the Hearth www.EnchantmentoftheHearth.com,
the misadventures of archeologists in modern Greece.
Antebellum www.AntebellumNovel.com
the mystery of a house that has been missing since the American Civil War and
the girl who is called to it.
The Second Mission
www.TheSecondMission.com is a
historical fiction novel about ancient
Centurion www.CenturionNovel.com published
January 2008 and Aegypt www.AegyptNovel.com also published in
January 2008 are historical fiction novels from OakTara Fiction www.OakTara.com
The Chronicles of the Dragon and the Fox is a science
fiction series published by OakTara Fiction
The End of Honor (published, July 2008) www.TheEndofHonor.com
The Fox’s Honor (published Oct 2008) www.TheFoxsHonor.com
A Season of Honor (published Nov 2008) www.ASeasonofHonor.com
Ancient Light is a suspense series published by Broadstreet,
Eleutheria, September 2014 in a three-in-one www.AncientLight.com.
Aegypt (second edition published by
OakTara Fiction, 2014) www.Aegypt.com
Sister of Light (published by OakTara
Fiction, 2014) www.SisterofLight.com
Sister of Darkness (published by OakTara
Fiction, 2014) www.SisterofDarkness.com
More information is available at www.ldalford.com
L.D. Alford has more than 70 technical papers published in
international journals on flight test, military policy, flight safety, space,
and cyberwar. His military aviation
writing is featured as Military Aviation Adventures on www.wingsoverkansas.com.
Reviewer’s
quotes.
1. No more than 3 sentences about the content of
your manuscript.
2. One sentence about successful works similar
to yours.
3. No more than 2 sentences about yourself. (use
3rd person)
L. D. Alford is a novelist whose writing uniquely explores
the connections between present events and history—he combines them with
threads of reality that bring the supernatural alive.
Dr. Alford is a scientist and widely traveled author who combines
intimate scientific and cultural knowledge into fiction worlds that breathe
reality.
4. No more than 2 sentences that include
“other,” i.e. any reasons, relationships, or other factors that might make your
work more attractive.
Rose:
Enchantment and the Flower continues the magic realism themes
introduced in L.D. Alford’s Enchantment and
Ancient Light novels. It is a standalone novel.
Rose: Enchantment and the
Flower is exciting magical realism mystery fiction from the
celebrated author of Blue Rose: Enchantment and
the Detective, Deirdre: Enchantment and the School, Sorcha: Enchantment
and the Curse, Essie: Enchantment and the Aos Si, Lilly: Enchantment and the Computer, Valeska: Enchantment and the Vampire, Khione: Enchantment and the Fox,
Dana-ana: Enchantment of the Maiden,
Hestia: Enchantment of the Hearth, Aksinya: Enchantment and the Daemon,
Antebellum, and published novels: Centurion, Aegypt, The End of
Honor, The Fox’s Honor, A Season of Honor, Sister of Light, and Sister
of Darkness.
I left in generic information which
I’ll likely modify a little in the development of the marketing materials. I’ll go over each second and try to be
consistent with what I’ve written before, but who knows what jewels a little creativity
will produce.
I want to write another book based on
Rose and Seoirse, and the topic will be the raising of Ceridwen—at least that’s
my plan. We shall see.
More
tomorrow.
For more information, you can visit my
author site http://www.ldalford.com/, and my individual
novel websites:
http://www.ancientlight.com/
http://www.aegyptnovel.com/
http://www.centurionnovel.com
http://www.thesecondmission.com/
http://www.theendofhonor.com/
http://www.thefoxshonor.com
http://www.aseasonofhonor.com
fiction, theme, plot,
story, storyline, character development, scene, setting, conversation, novel,
book, writing, information, study, marketing, tension, release, creative, idea,
logic
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