25 September 2023, Writing - part xxx452 Writing a Novel, Building a Protagonist, Power and Abilities
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.
I finished writing my 34th
novel (actually my 32nd completed novel), Seoirse, potential
title Seoirse: Enchantment and the Assignment. The theme statement is: 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 cover
proposal for Seoirse: Enchantment and the Assignment:
|
Cover
Proposal |
The most important
scene in any novel is the initial scene, but eventually, you have to move to
the rising action. I am continuing to write on my 30th novel,
working title Red Sonja. I finished my 29th novel, working
title Detective. I finished writing number 31, working title Cassandra: Enchantment and the Warrior. I just finished my 32nd novel and
33rd novel: Rose: Enchantment and the Flower, and Seoirse:
Enchantment and the Assignment.
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 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.
For novel 35: Eoghan and Aine, TBD
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.
My main focus, at the moment, is
marketing my novels. That specifically
means submissions. I’m aiming for agents
because if I can get an agent, I think that might give me more contacts with
publishers plus a let up in the business.
I would like to write another novel, but I’m holding off and editing one
of my older novels Shadow of Darkness.
I thought that novel would have fit perfectly with one potential agent
who said they were looking for Jewish based and non-Western mythology in
fantasy. That’s exactly what Shadow
of Darkness is, but they passed on it.
In any case, I’m looking for an agent who will fall in love with my
writing and then promote it to publishers.
That’s the goal.
The dependency I’d like to present in a
new novel is similar to Valeska but one where the protagonist falls
romantically in love with the focus. The
question is the focus.
Now, I’m looking and researching for a being
or character who would fit the needs of the book I’m proposing.
Don’t modify known settings, people, or
history unless you are writing alternate history. Modify, at will, those things that are not
known or recorded in history. That comes
to a very important point about historical fiction, even reflected worldview
historical fiction. That is that history
doesn’t record much of the mundane we wish to include in our novels.
If I’m going to develop a protagonist,
I need to bring out the protagonist outline.
I’ve got it somewhere in my writing—I just have to find it.
I
guess I’ll start with the Romantic part of the protagonist. Then I’ll move to the more specific pieces of
the protagonist. Most precisely, I’m
looking at the list of potential characters from my list of characters in my
other novels.
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.
I have
Áine as the potential focus of the novel.
She’s a Celtic goddess. This
focus isn’t set yet, but I need a protagonist, and I need to develop and design
one. I’m contemplating a son of the Stuarts
and the Calloways. Here’s the
information from my notes.
Elaina actually Evir Elisabeth Stuart, Gaelic:
Eamhair Ealasaid Stiùbhartach – The girl: she was blond with grey-blue
eyes and a very Nordic or Norman look.
Her long hair was tied in a tight French weave. She was tall and looked mature—much more
mature than Sorcha or Deirdre.
Old Raleigh
bike with a basket and a bell - an old Raleigh welded-steel frame girl’s
bicycle
Elaina actually Evir Elisabeth Stuart, Gaelic:
Eamhair Ealasaid Stiùbhartach g. Oxford
b. 1975 late to Wycombe Abbey a special student of Luna’s was being groomed for
work in Stela and the Organization. He specialty
is with the Fae. They are bound to her
because of her nobility and background.
She is not Fae but commands the Fae to some degree.
m.
James (Seumas) Donaidh Calloway b. 1971
c.
Eoghan (Owen) Ragnall Calloway/Stuart (Stiùbhartach)
c.
Aife (Eva) Eamhair (Evir) Calloway/Stuart (Stiùbhartach)
So, my protagonist Eoghan will have the very
special skills of charm and sensitivity to the creatures of the land. He won’t have any other general powers of
glamour. Now, to set up a
situation for him to meet the focus of the novel and for the initial
scene. That’s the protagonist’s helper
and the meeting between the protagonist, the protagonist’s helper and the initial
setting.
The main
point of the charm skill is that it is automatic and uncontrolled. Perhaps the fun part of this will be that
Eoghan can partially control his charm.
Charm should also be the reason he can evoke and partially control Aine. Now, to the initial scene.
If you
realize just how important the initial scene is, you can see why the entire
novel is based on and depends on it.
Therefore, I need an exciting and entertaining initial scene. The best plan for any initial scene is the
meeting of the protagonist and the antagonist or the protagonist and the
protagonist’s helper. I’m planning on a
meeting of the protagonist with the protagonist’s helper that would be Aine and
Eoghan.
I’m
thinking that my protagonist should be a young man but a graduate of the
schools and about his job in Scotland and in the area of Stirling. The family resides there which allows Seamus
Calloway access to Glasgow and Edinburgh.
It also allows Elaina to do her work for Stela. I guess I’ll place her in the research arm of
Stela since she wouldn’t be good for much else.
She doesn’t like to be around people, and she doesn’t like to work with
others.
There. I have a setting and a beginning. I don’t think I want Eoghan to be a student. He’s got a job working for the Loch Lomond
and The Trossachs National Park near Glasgow and Stirling. He’ll be a park ranger who’s just started
working, but has extensive experience in the wild and in the wilds of
Scotland. His parents basically just let
him run free while they went about their work.
That’s the pay they held to their philosophy of children and life. That’s also Elaina’s experience. Seamus basically had a stronger and loser upbringing.
I’ve
have time to think about it and here’s what I’m proposing. Eoghan works for the Scottish National Park
Authority as a Ranger. His specific job
is very unique—he takes care of the Fae that cause problems in the parks and
the surrounding areas. He gets his
assignments from his mother and then goes to work for the parks. Usually, he works in the Lock Loman and
Trossachs National Park. Most of the
problems are there. I’ll get to the
specifics in the future.
I
think we shall have Eoghan pursue a dangerous Fae in the park who has been
causing problems for farmers around the area.
I’m not sure what yet—that leads him to an Anglo-Saxon burial ground and
broch and we shall see what happens next.
2. Set
of beliefs (morals and ideals) that are different than normal culture or
society’s.
With
an idea for the initial scene and the protagonist, I can move forward with the
development. I’ll go on with the Romantic
parts and use them to develop the regular parts. We definitely want a Romantic
protagonist. In the second list or idea
for the Romantic protagonist, we need to set their moral compass, so to speak. They are different. This is one of the things that makes them
powerful as a character. If you like,
they are rebels and anti-establishment.
In the Victorian sense, that meant they were progressive and in many cases
rebelling from societal norms or morality, ethics, and proscriptions. In the modern era, that usually means the
opposite. Don’t get me wrong, a little
badness can be good in a good character, but in the modern world a little
badness is the norm. What is less normal
is the perfect and consummate gentleman or gentlewoman. Let’s make Eoghan a real gentleman. He’s trained but hasn’t had much opportunity
to use it. He’s a little rough around the
edges.
His
moral compass is obviously set strongly by his family and his abilities. Let me tell you a little about the world or
my reflected worldview. This is one of
the reasons I like it so much. In the reflected
worldview I write in, the Fae are based on the British mythos that you can find
nearly anywhere that goes into the subject.
The Fae are angels who were neutral in the battle for the heavens. Satan and the demons were the “bad” angels
and the “good” angels were those who supported God. That the is mythical origin of the Fae. The Fae are therefore fallen angels but not
those assigned to hell. They know God
and about God. They are just isolated
from God.
This
myth and reflected worldview allows me to express my characters in terms of
morality and ethics in a great context.
I can place them in church, for example, without much problem and give
them a Christin based ethos that can be compared in the world of the Fae. The Fae are supposed to be neutral, but many
of the Fae are adverse to humans and resent human interference. This provides a background for my characters
and their lies. This also provides an
automatic variance from the norm.
My
characters know and interact with the Fae, they are aware, as are the Fae of
God, angels and demons. This makes for
very powerful interactions and potential entertaining interactions. In addition, there is the background of the
beings of the land.
While
there are the Fae, there are also other creatures in this reflected worldview. Mainly, we see gods and goddesses of the land—those
from the Gaelic and Celtic courts (pantheons).
These beings were created by God to provide help and worship for the
people of the land before the revelation of the God. What revelation, you might say? The revelation of the Christ. I handle all of this in my reflected
worldview and it provides a moral and ethic basis for the gods, goddesses, and
those gods, creatures, and goddesses who might oppose the God.
So, what
is Eoghan’s set of beliefs that are different than his normal society and
culture. He knows the Fae, the creatures
of the land, angels, the God, and the gods and goddesses of the land. That gives him a moral basis centered on an
orthodox belief. His family goes to church
and practices all the strong tenants of Christianity. This is much more powerful than you can
imagine. This allows for all the basic
holidays, Saint’s feasts, as well as the myth structure about angels, the Fae,
and demons. There is much to this worldview
and a Romantic life in this worldview.
That’s about it. You’d think
Eoghan a “good” boy and he is. He does
have a strong desire to get away from his family and especially his
mother. She’s touched too so he’s pretty
much under her control, but this might be changing a little.
3.
Courageous
I
think this should go without saying, but modern writing and writers have made a
real mockery of human strength and courage.
Let me be very blunt. I’ve never
been excited about cowards or cowardice.
The very idea has never excited, interested or intrigued me. The idea of a person who is afraid or reticent
overcoming his or her fear and reticence and showing true courage.
This
is what I want in Aine (working title).
I want Eoghan to show courage about his work and what he does, but to
have him reticent about opposing his mother.
I see Eoghan as a quiet and underwhelming young man who doesn’t
interject himself unless someone is going to get hurt. He isn’t leading the charge unless he needs
to and no one else will. Aine will
encourage this.
Eoghan’s
real problem is his family. I mentioned
before Eliana has played a role in a couple of my novels. She is quiet and intentionally underwhelming
when she shouldn’t be. She causes real
problems for Dierdre and Sorcha when she could have helped them all. She was unwilling to stand up for herself and
her life was a serries of not really catastrophes, but minor hurts that she could
have prevented by standing up for herself and others. She never did.
I
really never wrote much more about her, but her line of training was the
opposite of the impetuous and half-cocked Deidre and the always ready
Sorcha. She could have used the special
relationships engendered in Cassandra: Enchantment and the Warriors. She might have become a great warrior like
all the others. Elaine never fully learned,
but she married Seamus and they had two children whom she wanted to raise like
her. She didn’t send them to Greycoat,
Wycombe Abbey, or even Monmouth where other children like them studied and got
special help and training. She kept them
at home and in the schools close by.
They achieved a grammar school education in the British sense and not
the special education they should have gotten.
Still,
Eoghan and his sister gained some degree of training their mother and father
never expected. Eoghan is a park ranger
with the Scottish National Park authority.
He was taught at their special training in law enforcement and all its attendant
training. The British military taught
many of his courses, especially in hand to hand, weapons, and the
wilderness. He knows more than his
mother would like, and he is strongly attracted to this life and this
training. He would like to be part of
the military and has had overtures. He
is naturally courageous and naturally good.
Then he finds Aine, and she will give him a purpose for his special
skills.
4.
Power (skills and abilities) and leadership that are outside of the normal
society.
The
Romantic protagonist is always a reluctant leader. Sometimes they are more reluctant than at
others. Their leadership is always based
in their core beliefs. They usually won’t
lead when it doesn’t support or detracts in any way from their core
beliefs. In general, the Romantic protagonist
and character is reluctant to take human life.
However, that doesn’t mean they are irrational or unwilling. For example,
the Romantic hero would have little problem fighting the German National
Socialists (NAZIs) or the Soviet International Communists. They would show great mercy and great
attention to the people, but that would not hold them back from fighting for
what is right.
This
also comes back to the core beliefs of the Romantic protagonist. I stated that Eoghan would be strongly aligned
with the Christian church. That’s a
belief out of the ordinary in the modern world.
You can expect his views and his actions to be balanced by his
beliefs. His leadership will be similar. I think you can see how I’m setting up this
character.
Aine
is the impetuous goddess. She always has
been. She is quick to anger, quick to
action, and quicker to realize the problems she’s caused. That’s why she was exiled to Scotland in the
first place. Did you get that. In the old tales and myths about Aine, she became
the goddess of kings and sovereignty because she bit off the ear of King Ailill
Aulom. This disfigured him permanently
and prevented him from continuing as king.
In Celtic (Irish) thought a man could not be king is he was disfigured
in any way. She prevented and ended his
kingship by her actions. This was either
to avenge her father or to prevent the king from raping her. I’ll use both. However, I’ll make the power of sovereignty one
of her skills.
Aine
is a leader and expects to lead. She
just naturally expects everyone to follow her.
Then she meets a real leader.
Eoghan is touched. He holds the glamour
of charm and sensitivity. He can control
it much better than his mother, but when he turns it on, no one can refuse
him. He just doesn’t use his power much
or often…and we will find that his power isn’t just glamour. He can convince people to follow. This is his real power and control.
Unfortunately,
Eoghan comes with a mother who doesn’t want her powers and doesn’t like her son’s
or daughter’s powers. This is where
things will get interesting and dicey.
With Aine in the picture, they will get even more interesting. I’m not certain what I will do with the two
of them when I get them together. This
in itself should be interesting. Just be
aware, it must have to do with the use of their powers of charm and sensitivity
in relation to leadership. That’s the
ticket.
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 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. Before I get to that, I want to
write another novel about dependency as a theme. 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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