Writing - part xxx503 Writing a Novel, Building a Protagonist, Fitting, Refining the Protagonist, Details, Telic Flaw Resolution, Alliances

15 November 2023, Writing - part xxx503 Writing a Novel, Building a Protagonist, Fitting, Refining the Protagonist, Details, Telic Flaw Resolution, Alliances

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 21^st 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 31^st 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 34^th novel (actually my 32^nd 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 30^th novel, working title Red Sonja.  I finished my 29^th novel, working title Detective.  I finished writing number 31, working title Cassandra: Enchantment and the Warrior.  I just finished my 32^nd novel and 33^rd 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, a Scottish National Park Authority Ranger, while handing a supernatural problem in Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park discovers the crypt of Aine and accidentally releases her into the world; Eoghan wants more from the world and Aine desires a new life and perhaps love.

 

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. 

2. Set of beliefs (morals and ideals) that are different than normal culture or society’s.

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. 

3. Courageous

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.

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

Eoghan must be an introspective character.  We have a protagonist’s helper to aid him in expressing his mind, but he won’t let out much or as much as Aine wants and that will help drive the novel.  Remember, in writing a novel, secrets are your best friend.   

6. Travel plot

I don’t expect a really powerful travel plot like I provided in Rose and Seoirse, but we need to get Eoghan and Aine into the regular world and into regular society—that’s where the differences and the interactions with people and each other can really play out.  Plus, there is no way after about 1500 or more years in a crypt that Aine wants to remain holed up in a rural or wilderness area.  She’s for society and culture, plus part of the real fun in the novel is for them both to have new and exciting experiences together.  The travel plot makes all this possible.

7. Melancholy

Eoghan is like his mother Elaina and his sister.  They are all touched by their mother’s and family’s depreciation of their aristocracy.  They lost all in the game of promotion and house.  They lost in the game of thrones, so to speak, but they all have charm and sensitivity to the Fae and beings of the land.  That makes them powerful in their own way, but powerless in society.  This is what we will change in Eoghan.  That’s one aspect of the novel’s telic flaw.      

8. Overwhelming desire to change and grow—to develop four and one.

This is the desire that will consume and empower Eoghan.  This is what will drive him and Aine forward in the novel.  He will have special skills, but the reader will realize that it isn’t the skill but the dedication and work behind the skill that leads to Eoghan’s success.    

9. Pathos developed because the character does not fit the cultural mold.  From the common.

I’m sure there are other ways to develop this pathos in the novel.  For Rose and in Seoirse, I used some other methods and means based on Rose’s qualities and skills to develop pathos.  In general, I used dependency and the military situation in Seoirse to build pathos.  This is easy with females, but a little less easy with males.  With females, the pathos becomes situational.  For men, the pathos is dependency based.  I’m planning and building a male protagonist, so these are important considerations.  With Seoirse, I could play off the female development of pathos and the male pathos.  I think this is a great means of designing pathos.  I might be able to do this for Eoghan with Aine too.              

10. Regret when they can’t follow their own moral compass.

In the end, Eoghan might regret some of his actions and the results of his actions.  This creates a situation that provides tension and release.  It also continues the tension and release in what is called a sequel by some writers. 

11. Self-criticism when they can’t follow their own moral compass.

In any case, self-criticism will be a characteristic of Eoghan, and it will drive Aine crazy.  Aine will be from an era where people made decisions based on life and death.  She isn’t used to second guessing.  I can imagine one of their discussions. 

To solve a problem, she says just kill someone or something.  Eoghan says no, and that astounds her.  Perhaps she will need to learn to be self-critiquing.   

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.

I will point out that with many and normal Romantic protagonists, the exclusion and self-isolation is intentional and permanent.  They desire it.  The exclusion and self-isolation caused by being an orphan or a partial orphan are also permanent and tend to develop automatic pathos in the reader for the Romantic protagonist.  I won’t use this for Eoghan. 

13. From the common and potentially the rural.

In any case, we want our Romantic protagonist to be out of the common.  We can work this in many ways, but the ultimate point is to convince the reader that the Romantic protagonist is just like them and not really special at all.

14. Love interest

So, we’ll have a great setup for this novel, this Romantic protagonist, and this protagonist’s helper.  What will really be fun is seeing Aine totally outside her comfort zone for many reasons trying to win over Eoghan.  I need to think on the details, but that’s what I’m thinking.  She’ll try all the wiles she knows and all the wiles she can figure out.

Meanwhile, Eoghan will want her to be mellow and gentle, but that’s not her way.  Can these lovebirds recover from each other?  Can they find love?  Will Aine have her way with Eoghan, or will she chicken out.  We shall see.  That’s what a love interest is all about. 

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 – I’m developing the initial scene, and I’m building it in my mind.  Here’s what I’m thinking.  Eoghan is a hard-working, isolated, and very skilled man.  His job is taking care of the supernatural issues in the National Parks of Scotland and Britian.  He has been assigned a case from his mother through Stela.  Stela is the group under “the Organization” that handles protecting Britian from the supernatural.  I should note there is a significant system, not large in numbers, but high in power and connections to do just this.  They are under the Crown and by “the Organization.”  Eoghan’s mother, Eliana is a real recluse who works for the Crown and who has aristocratic roots, but from an old line of royalty of the British.  She is touched.  That means she has the power of charm and sensitivity to the supernatural.  That’s why she’s in charge of the part of Stela that handles small issues of supernatural problems.  She works at home and investigates so others can handle the problems in the field.  That’s what Eoghan does.  Eoghan’s sister wants to do work similar to Eoghan.  So far she’s not allowed. 

Now, for the initial scene, Eoghan has been sent to Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park near Glasgow and Stirling to handle a supernatural nuisance.  I think I’ll make this a very dangerous kind of Scottish Fae.  Eoghan has to apply some strength and power against this creature.  In the end, he will be injured, but he will discover a hidden old Anglo-Saxon graveyard with an inscription and a crypt.  The creature will lead him there and his injury with the power he has to exert will allow him to find the place.  Perhaps to protect himself he’ll need to escape to this hidden oasis of protection. 

There Eoghan will find the inscription and the crypt.  The injured and escaping Eoghan finds an ancient and secret Anglo-Saxon graveyard in the wilds of the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park.  There, Eoghan finds the inscription and a crypt.  Of course, since he has nothing better to do—he’s waiting for the dangerous Fae creature or creature of the land to go away.

When he inspects the inscription, he finds he can read it.  He and his family are experts at languages and especially ancient British languages, actually Gaelic and Celtic languages.  This is one of the skills of Stela and a trained skill of Eoghan and his family.  This comes from a deep and long running training and experience of these families. 

Because Eoghan can understand the inscription, and I think I’ll make it an ancient but kind of obvious Anglo-Saxon joke or riddle.  They really liked their jokes and tricks.  The joke will be at Aine’s expense and saying a curse or making fun of her will result in her being released from a spell holding her.  Then Eoghan will have to rescue her from the crypt. 

Aine is an interesting being and focus.  She is an unbound goddess.  This means she has some life and some death.  She is a being with fettered powers who is not fully human but not fully a goddess.  She is a being made to point to the eternal and to the real Dagda.  The Dagda is the Celtic and Gaelic name for God.  Part of Aine’s problem is that she was made and then captured and interned before the revelation of the Son of God.  This is something she will experience and learn in this novel.  This is a recurring theme in my novels of this type.  This fits directly into the mind and knowledge of Eoghan.  If you remember, as a Romantic protagonist, he has a moral compass and a ethos based on Christianity.  This will meet Aine’s needs like nothing else and will endear her to Eoghan.  Also, Eoghan will he a good teacher and helper.

The final part of this initial scene will be Aine and Eoghan’s trek back through the wilderness.  They will have to defeat the creature of the land and make their way back to Eoghan’s home.  There the creature of the land will become an issue, and we shall see other interactions that force Aine and Eoghan to move forward.

2.     At the same time as the above—fit a protagonist into the initial scene.  That means the minimum of:

a.      Telic flaw – I already wrote the theme statement for this novel.  Here it is:

 

Eoghan, a Scottish National Park Authority Ranger, while handing a supernatural problem in Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park discovers the crypt of Aine and accidentally releases her into the world; Eoghan wants more from the world and Aine desires a new life and perhaps love.

 

b.     Approximate age – I already wrote that Eoghan is between 19 and 21.  I think I settled on 20.  Here’s the details:                        

m. 2005 James (Seumas) Donaidh Calloway b. 1971 m. at 34 y.  2028 57 y. 

                                                            c. b. 2008 Jan Eoghan (Owen) Ragnall Calloway/Stuart (Stiùbhartach) – 2028, 20 y.

                                                            c. b. 2012 Aife (Eva) Eamhair (Evir) Calloway/Stuart (Stiùbhartach) – 2028, 16 y.

                                                            Aine appears about 16 y.

c.      Approximate social degree

 

      For Eoghan, he will be from an interesting background that allows him some opportunities, but most of them will be due to himself and not his background.  This is why I’d like to get Rose involved.  Rose has wealth and position, and she will know who should be her friends. 

    

d.     Sex - male

 

      As I wrote, pathos can never be directly engaged.  For example, having your characters sit around and cry about something is the surest way to bathos, however, having your protagonist face a trying and important emotional issue without shedding a tear can have your readers reaching for the tissues.  If you remember, pathos is the entire point of tension and release and the novel itself, you are on the right track.  The selection of the sex of your protagonist and especially of a Romantic protagonist can have a great effect on your novel.

2.     Refine the protagonist

You can see the initial characteristic of the protagonist is his or her physical description.  This is vomited forth when the character is introduced.  This defines the way the character looks plus some other characteristics that we shall see.  This is a very important characteristic and perhaps the most important about the protagonist.  I’m not in favor of the limited or zero description of the protagonist that has become popular today.  In fact, I think one of the most egregious problems with modern writing is the lack of sufficient description.  I go by the Arlo Guthrerie rule of thumb of 300 words of description for every major setting and character and 100 words of description for every minor setting and character.  We’ll see how all this works eventually, but for now, we are refining the protagonist with the stuff we can show immediately through description.     

a.      Physical description

 

Eoghan (Owen) Ragnall Calloway/Stuart (Stiùbhartach) was a young man of average stature, height, and build.  He was so average you might miss him in the crowd except he was a man no one could miss.  His bearing wasn’t really different from most other men, but you couldn’t miss him in any group.  His height wasn’t taller than others, he was average, but for some reason he always stood out.  His face was pleasant and somewhat nondescript, but it wasn’t nondescript at all.  It was striking in the most unstriking fashion.  He just looked regal while seeming completely normal.  Women couldn’t keep from looking at him, and men all wanted to be his friend.  They flocked around him, but never hid him or overwhelmed him.  All the time, he seemed like the calmest and most reasonable person.  He was the person you wanted to invite for any reason, tea, a meal, a game, a walk—just being near him was calming and wonderful.  Even when words didn’t pass from his lips, the time was delightful.  Men wanted to hear his voice and women to touch his hand.  His voice was unimpressive and quiet, but filled with promises and strength.  It was as if every word that came out of his mouth bolstered and strengthened even when he didn’t say something erudite or when he remarked about the weather.  It was uncanny and soothing, never unnerving or worrisome.  Even his name, Eoghan Ragnall Stuart felt noble while sounding so unnormally normal.  If you called him by his Anglicized name Owen Ronald Calloway, it still sounded noble but normal.  And then his smile was always encompassing, but unassuming.  It had a slightly gloomy bent as if he took even happiness and jovialness in a sober and thoughtful way so even the most lame jokes became important and intelligent even when they weren’t.  Eoghan was always the life of the party, but unfortunately, he didn’t attend many parties at all.  He was too busy as a Scottish National Park Authority Ranger handling small difficulties for the Crown and Stela.

       

b.     Background – history of the protagonist

 

      You don’t need to write it all down, but you might as well.  One of the most important things I’ve learned about writing is to make notes when you write so you don’t mess up your novel with conflicting information.  For example, if you write that your character has red hair, and then describe their beautiful blond hari later, you will have a real problem.  Let’s hope you or your editor catches it.  This is one of the real killer problems that will knock your readers out of the suspension of disbelief.

 

      i.     Birth

m. 2005 James (Seumas) Donaidh Calloway b. 1971 m. at 34 y.  2028 57 y. 

                                                            c. b. 2008 Jan Eoghan (Owen) Ragnall Calloway/Stuart (Stiùbhartach) – 2028, 20 y.

                                                            c. b. 2012 Aife (Eva) Eamhair (Evir) Calloway/Stuart (Stiùbhartach) – 2028, 16 y.

                                                            Aine appears about 16 y.

                                                                                                                                    I have more than just Eoghan listed here.  I’ve pegged his birth at January 2008.  At this point, I don’t think I need more fidelity.  If the actual date comes up, I’ll likely put it at 23 January.  That’s kind of a joke or an author’s input.  My birthday happens to be about that time.  When I need an actual date in any novel, I just use some month with the 23^rd day.  That always makes things easy.  Why not, if the actual date is not based in history or the fidelity isn’t important.  Now, once you establish a date like that, you need to base the rest of the time, when necessary on it.  In this case, I don’t think I’ll have to.  If I need a second date, I usually use another date from my history and family.  It has no purpose except to give a specific date to an event—especially an event that really doesn’t need that kind of precision. 

                                                ii.     Setting – the setting for this novel is in Scotland and most specifically Stirling between Glascow and Edinburgh.  Eoghan and his family live on the outskirts of Stirling in a cottage with three bedrooms, a parlor, a kitchen and dining area, and a secret office.  There is a garage that started life as a barn with plenty of room for at least two cars and some extra space and a guest room above it.  I should get to the description—I’ll do that in detail when I write the novel.  The main point is that Eoghan’s parents are slightly isolated because they want to be.  Eoghan’s mother dislikes the effect she has on others and secludes herself away from society because of it.  His father is somewhat similar.  He doesn’t like attention either—he got too much of it as a child, and he works in a nondescript office in Glascow for the Organization.  His main job is organizing and managing the Organization operatives and agents working in Scotland.  It’s an important job, and usually a quite one.  It might get a bit frenzied when Aine shows up with Eoghan. 

 

                                    Eoghan’s mother works in the secret office.  She has enough internet speed and connections to do her job very well.  She is an expert in her field which is detecting and declaring the jobs Stela must handle in Scotland.  She works mostly by herself, but gets help from the main office.  Usually, there isn’t any help, the main office sends her information and she makes the decisions.  It has been very helpful for her to use Eoghan to handle many of the suburban problems.  She was frazzled when she had to interview and assign agents to the work.  Now, she does it through the computer, text (iphones), and email.  She can speak directly to her son when necessary. 

 

                                    Perhaps I’m getting too much into the family already.  I’ll get more about it when we get to family.  This is mainly the setting part.  I think we have enough details, but I’ll proceed to the initial scene setting.  This is Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park near Glasgow and Stirling.  This is one of two current Scottish national parks.  It’s a scenic area with some wilderness.  It has some real hidden gems and hidden places.  One will be the place Eoghan finds the Cemetery and crypt.  We’ll describe this area and the places when we begin with the novel.  There are some great pictures to use and I’ve been to the general area before.  It will be in the height of summer.  Next, we’ll write about Eoghan and his life.

 

                                              iii.     Life

 

                                    Eoghan’s room is in a cottage near Stirling.  The cottage is old and small so his room must be old and small.  There is a door that opens into a sitting area with a large dormer that forms a sitting area.  The dormer has three windows with a built in seat that also acts as storage.  Across from the dormer is a single bed and at the foot of the bed, closest to the door is a desk and chair.  The walls are all covered with drawers at the middle and built in cabinets at the bottom and top.  The only open wall space is on the wall with the desk the sloped walls beside the dormer and the ceiling.  Therefore, there isn’t anything hanging on the walls except an old scouting poster above the desk.  This is in a handmade frame with awards encircling it nearly completely.  It’s so filled with awards from scouting and wilderness events.  Everything is neat and tidy.  Everything is in its place. 

 

                                    If you open the cabinet doors you will find books on book about the wilds and animals of Scotland.  If you open the drawers you will find all kinds of collections of animals, insects, and birds of Scotland.  You won’t find any clothing.  You will find some gear, knives, and equipment.  You would have to open the large drawers built into and under the bed to find Eoghan’s clothing neatly laid and folded into place.  He and his siter does everything to take care of themselves and their things.  He basically built most of the storage and washes all his clothing.  He and his sister make the meals.  That tells us a lot about Eoghan just looking at his room and his life.

  

                                               iv.     Education

 

                                    What did Eoghan’s education look like?  I’ll posit that he had a very normal education except that he was educated and trained by his mother and father in his special skills and abilities.  In general, this means he learned language skills from both in the fashion of his father’s family.  The Calloways educated their family in languages through their use in the home.  The Calloway family knew many Asian languages, but they passed to their families Celtic, Gaelic, Welsh, Anglo-Saxon, French, German, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew.  The normal languages found in British Grammer School and private schools are Latin, French, and German.  The others are based on the family background and trade.  Their trade is in languages and politics.  I need to explain a little about the Calloway/Stuart (Stiùbhartach) families.

                                   

                                    So, for Eoghan, I’ll posit that he has been in private schools from the beginning.  The same for his sister.  If I need to, I’ll produce the school names, but the real turn for Eoghan is that while all his classmates went on to university, Eoghan chose to go into the Scottish National Park Authority.  This surprised his friends, but not his family.  He was already working part time with the National Park Authority.  That’s to be covered in the work subject area.       

 

                                                v.     Work

 

                                    Eoghan really liked the scouts and the military type discipline there.  He loves the wilderness and the work he does in rounding up and encouraging the Fae to play nice with humans.  He would really like to be involved with the military, he just doesn’t know about it and how to go about it.  In spite of his education and his opportunities, he didn’t fully comprehend the possibilities that were open to him, and he isn’t necessarily stuck in his current job—he just likes it.  He can’t imagine another job that would get him what he really wonts, but he hasn’t met many in the military.  I intend for that to change.  He will meet Rose and Seoirse.  

 

                                               vi.     Profession

 

                                    Eoghan, on the other hand, is quiet and subdued—the quiet kind of leader who you are happy to entrust yourself with.  This is a different type of leadership, one I never broke out before in just this way.  Bruce Lyons was this type of leader.  He had been wounded in the past and was a very hands-on but entrusted leader.  I really didn’t build much on this because I didn’t write any novels where he was the protagonist.  He was always a supporting character.  Eoghan will be the protagonist and Aine his prod.  This will be similar to Tilly and Bruce.  Tilly was my very Tigerish character.  Aine will be more manipulative and just as bouncy as Tilly.  She’ll be a girl with a heart of gold who wants her man to be the very best for her and for the world.  I see Eoghan as a man in the military who fits in the Special Operations and Special Missions field and who becomes the leader of an organization like the Organization.  This is where many of my leaders go.  The main point for me is to drive them in the writing into those positions.  I’m running about five years ahead of the world.  We shall see where that gets us.

  

                                             vii.     Family

        

b.     Setting – current – In looking at the background of Eoghan, we’ve touched on the modern and current setting of Eoghan.  I’ll mention again, his parents, Eoghan and his sister Eva live in a small cottage in Stirling, Scotland.  He works for the Scottish National Park Authority and handles special problems for them.  His mother sets up the work.  In fact, she identifies the Fae issues or gets the information for them from Stela in the Organization.  The big deal here is that Eoghan works for the Organization and Stela whether he knows it directly or not.  In fact, I might just have him be ignorant of the entire situation about the Organization and Stela.  What would be luscious is to have Seoirse or Rose explain to him, Aine, and Eva about these organizations in the British intelligence structure. 

 

I really do have much more to do in the actual development of the character(s), protagonist and setting, but part of this outline, is just that, it’s an outline.  I have all the real details I need, for example, to describe the characters and the settings.  What does that mean?

 

Well, unbeknownst to you, I researched a place for their cottage and I already noted about the place they live.  All I have to do now, is either imagine it or find a picture and describe it.  That’s what I recommend to you.  For very important settings, like houses and such, I just look for the place I want, then I describe it to the best of my creative ability.  I might add a little bit here and there.  That’s what I’ll do for Eoghan’s house.  I’ll find a proper picture of a typical Scottish cottage in the woods, and I’ll describe it in the novel.  I’ll do the same with the people.

 

Let’s write about describing people.  In the first place, normal people make terrible characters and descriptions.  Even the most beautiful or handsome or the most interesting are generally not the stuff of legend and novels.  The best thing to do is imagine and tack together your protagonist.  I like to look for the unusual or very interesting in characters.  I suspect, I’ll look for the most righteously Irish looking girl for Aine.  I’ll take her description from myth and try to find the most outlandish and amazingly Celtic girl to make her.  I’d like her to not look like a modern person thinks of as beautiful or perfect. 

 

Ever seen any pictures of people from the classical eras of painting and art?  The people don’t look anything like our idea of beauty today.  Every remember Twiggy?  She was the supper skinny model from the 1960s.  She looked emaciated, but for a few years that was the perception of beauty in the eyes of the illuminate. 

 

One of the most interesting ideas in historically based literature and especially reflected worldview is the way the world, people, and their ideas have changed over time.  Fully grown and full sized Fae women and men are much shorter and smaller than modern women and men.  That’s because they are very long lived and their forms were made when the world and humanity was smaller.  Likewise, a creature from the past like a vampire might appear much different than we could imagine simply because of the time difference and the society and culture the creature came out of.

 

I think I’d like Aine to look like a beauty from her times, which means she might not be very appealing to many modern people.  Her looks might be very Celtic, but very Celtic might be very different than the modern ideal of beauty.  This little tension and this little bit of difference is one of the powers of this type of writing.  The point is to build entertainment through these differences and intricacies.   

                                                  i.     Life

                                                ii.     Setting

                                              iii.     Work

d.     Name - Eoghan (Owen) Ragnall (Ronald) Calloway/Stuart (Stiùbhartach)

 

      I waited until now to write about Eoghan’s name.  Let’s start with his first name: Eoghan:

 

The boy's name Eoghan \e(o)-ghan\ is pronounced Ohn/Own. It is of Gaelic origin, and its meaning is "born of yew (tree); youth". In Irish legend, Eóghan was the name of one of the two sons of Niall of the Nine Hostages (the other was Conall). Anglicised forms of the name are Ewan, Euan, Ewen (mainly used in Scotland), Owen and Eugene. It is not etymologically related to the names Eóin or Owen.

 

This isn’t all: 

 

      Gaelic Baby Names Meaning:

In Gaelic Baby Names the meaning of the name Eoghan is: Young fighter.

 

Greek Baby Names Meaning:

In Greek Baby Names the meaning of the name Eoghan is: Well-born. Famous bearer: Prince Eugene of Savoy; American playwright Eugene O'Neill.

 

Irish Baby Names Meaning:

In Irish Baby Names the meaning of the name Eoghan is: God's gift. From a Gaelic word for youth. Also a.

 

Scottish Baby Names Meaning:

In Scottish Baby Names the meaning of the name Eoghan is: Young; youth.

 

Comes from an old Irish word and means “born of the yew tree.” In Northern Ireland the name Eoghan is found in Tir Eoghan, County Tyrone or “The Land of Eoghan” and is often accompanied by Roe in memory of the Irish patriot Eoghan Roe (“Red Eoghan”) O’Neill who won a great battle over the British at Benburb in 1646.

 

One of the reasons I chose this name is the many meanings and the many connections to different cultures—especially the Gaelic and Celtic cultures.  The meanings are a little different in each one.  In addition, Eoghan has connections in Greek as well as the ancient British languages.  If you didn’t notice, the pronunciation is a little different based on Gaelic, Celtic, or Greek.  I also want to use this as an idea in the novel.  The meanings of the name will come into play, but that’s just how I like to use the names of my characters.  The name gives the reader insight into the character and especially the background of the character.  Notice also there is an Anglicized equivalent.  This is also important.

 

Let’s look at his middle name, Ragnall:

 

Ragnall, Raghnall, Raonall, and Raonull are masculine personal names or given names in several Gaelic languages.

 

Ragnall occurs in Old Irish, and Middle Irish/Middle Gaelic. It is a Gaelicised form of the Old Norse Røgnvaldr, Rǫgnvaldr, Rögnvaldr. This Old Norse name is composed of two elements: regin, meaning "(German) Gods"; and valr, meaning "powerful".[5] It has also been suggested that Ragnall could also represent the Old Norse Ragnarr as well. Ragnall can be Anglicised as Ranald and Ronald, and Latinised as Reginald, Reginaldus.

 

The modern spelling is Raghnall in Scottish Gaelic and either Raghnall or Raonull in Irish. Anglicised forms of Raghnall include: Ranald, Rannal, and Ronald.

 

The final -ll sound of the Gaelic names are de-vocalized, and to non-Gaelic-speakers this suggests -d sound. In this way the name is similar to the various forms of the Gaelic Domhnall, which can be Anglicised as Donald.

 

The name Ragnall comes from old Norse languages that actually mean decisive ruler. The meaning of Ragnall is beside the point in many cases because it would have been given to the firstborn son of a family. It is a name that has lived on in a few spellings, and you still find it used in Scandinavia today.

 

Yes, I wanted an Anglo-Saxon connection.  Notice, there is an Anglicized equivalent, Ronald.  With his first name, we have a meaning of: born of yew (tree); youth, freedom, and young fighter along with decisive ruler and gift of the gods.  These pair well with his last names: Calloway/Stuart (Stiùbhartach).

 

Stuart and Stewart are clan names and the names of the royal house of Scottland.  That’s where Elaina comes from.  Stiùbhartach is the origin of the clan and the name Stuart.  This is the classical name.  So, we have a protagonist whose Gaelic name is:

 

Eoghan Ragnall Stuart (Stiùbhartach) his formal name has the Stiùbhartach as the family name.

 

His Anglicized name is:

 

Owen Ronald Calloway/Stuart

 

The Calloway stays because that is his father’s name.  So, in Britan proper, he would be:

 

Owen Ronald Calloway

 

Now, you might ask, why the different names and why use them?  I’ll get to that, next.

 

About names.  I’m in the air on my way to Southeast Texas.  I’m flying myself.  Now, about names.

 

In my novels, the name matches the characters and especially the protagonist.  The names have a historical meaning and reason as well as a personal meaning and reason.  Therefore, Eoghan Ragnall Stuart has a meaning in history.  This is what a reflected worldview is all about.  The reader should be able to look up the name and the history of the family and gain some degree of information about that name and family.  The Stuarts are the royal family of Scotland.  That should tell you something about Eoghan.  In addition, although I’m not a fan of the idea of right of kings, I am a fan of the idea that different humans and families have certain powers granted to them by the Dagda (God).  This is exclusively a reflected worldview.  The idea of such powers is religated to myth and history, but it could be true.  In the past, and even now many people believe in such things.  That’s the reflected worldview.  In addition, I named my children for specific historical and classical reasons—why shouldn’t a child or any person have a handpicked name that means something important for their lives.  Even if they don’t live up to the dream of their names—that name has meaning, and in the reflected worldview, it has an important meaning.

 

Eoghan means born of yew and youth, also well-born and God’s gift.  Historically, and in myth it has meanings beyond just the name.  In addition, it sounds so Scottish with an Irish touch.  That’s because it is an ancient Gaelic and Celtic name.  That’s the point.  It will sit well with Aine.  Already, I wrote that Aine will be smitten by this young man Eoghan.  How can she not be?  He will release her from an over thousand year captivity.  How can you not love the person who did that.  In addition, Eoghan is good looking and charismatic.  Aine will be as Irish as Irish and Celtic can be.  She will be not beautiful by today’s standards, but beautiful by her times standards, therefore, she will think she is beautiful.  I need to eventually write her description, but I know she will be too short for the modern world.  She will be too skinny, and too brash, and too outspoken.  She will be dangerous with and without a weapon, and she will wield power—the power of Aine.  I need to define that too.

 

Now, about Ragnall.  I wanted a name that ties Eoghan to the way past, and Ragnall is a Gaelic and Celtic but comes from the Norse connections to the cultures.  The name means “powerful god.”  Aine will also understand this, plus I get to give Eoghan a modern name too.  The anglicized names. 

 

The reason for two sets of names is so that I can legitimately give my characters aliases based on their historically based names.  I can also use their father and mother’s names to refer to them professionally and in the peerage. 

 

Although Eoghan isn’t really a member of the aristocracy, he has aristocratic connections through his family.  This provides the common with a secret.  Here’s how it works.  In the real world, everyone wishes they had some connection to the aristocracy.  In the European nations, this is more prevalent than in the New World, but still, people in the New World long to have some connection to royalty.  This makes them special even if they aren’t.  In a novel like this, we can take a protagonist who is common and make him special by connecting him to the aristocracy.  I did this with Rose and Seoirse, and it was really fun.  Eoghan will have less connection to the aristocracy, but the small touch is enough to excite your readers.  Especially when the primary doesn’t acknowledge the fact much at all. 

 

There is much more about names, but that’s probably enough for now.  Suffice to say, the names of all your characters are important, but for the protagonist, I find it to be a critical aspect for them.  This is part of the reflected worldview.  What is really fun to me is the idea a reader might look up the names and find out all about them.  In addition, I’ll mention the meanings and tie them into the novel and plots.      

3.     Refine the details of the protagonist – these are secrets.  If you remember only to show and not to tell you will have no problems with this.  However, since so many inexperienced writers and some experienced writers do seem to have a telling problem I’ll write more about it.  I’ll give you some secret details about Eoghan in further notes.  For example, Eoghan is really a very great and honorable man.  He is always respectful to ladies and to other men.  These are secrets in that I shall never express them directly in any description.  We might make sideways expressions that say something similar, but I will never directly tell you about his internals, only his externals. 

 

Some writers might say that if you write he or she was like, that is a telling description.  It is not.  That is simply a figure of speech and a great way to express a description.  Showing us what a person feels is also not telling.  For example, writing that she wrinkled her nose at the smell is definitely a description that shows us the effects of the smell.  If you write, it tasted like chicken, that is a little more problematic, but if she or he says “it tasted like chicken,” that is definitely showing through dialog.  Here’s my basic rule for showing and not telling.

 

If it is a description of anything physical, that is showing.

If it is stated in a dialog, it is showing. 

 

I know you want some examples.  Of description:

Her eyes were wet.

He smiled.

She touched her lips.

He frowned.

She kissed him.

He gave her a kiss.

These all show something or other.  The reason may be in the context, but the point is that these are descriptions that show outwardly the inward feelings of the person.  What about dialog.

 

She exclaimed, “This snake tastes just like chicken.”

He snarled, “It’s because I like you.”

She waved her hand, “It’s just a scrape.”

He lifted his head, “I smell something terrible.”

She shuddered, “That really makes me feel bad.”

He moved his mouth, “You’re making me feel uncomfortable.”

 

These are all examples of showing and not telling.  Notice, we are giving some very strongly internal information through dialog.  I see no problem with this at all.  Her’s a very specific one I could write about Eoghan.

 

She smiled, “Eoghan is always very nice to everyone.  He’s just a sweet guy.”

 

This is telling through the lips of another character.  How does the reader know this is truth—the reader doesn’t unless we know more about the character who said it.  The big deal is that we can express this type of information through dialog, but never through description.  I don’t want to give you an example of telling, just examples of showing.  It should be enough to write show and don’t tell, and then to describe this as description or dialog.  We’ll get into the secrets that can never be told, next. 

a.      Emotional description (never to be shared directly) – here’s just one of those big secrets that can (you read that right, can) never be shared.  This is why I’m not in favor of first person novels.  The author can’t help but tell us all about what the protagonist thinks and is thinking—that’s the way first person works.  When you are writing in I, me, my, mine, and myself (if you aren’t familiar as you should be with first person), there is no way you can keep the mind (including the emotions) of the protagonist a secret, but for good writing, you must.  Therefore, my advice is to ditch the first person in novels.  Yeah, some people really enjoy it, especially the young adult crowd—that should tell you something.  For me, and for the classics and for the best writing environment, and the most enjoyable, the third person past tense implying the future of current is the best style of writing.  This is the modern style and allows the writer to keep great secrets about the protagonist.  That’s the point.  Now, to the emotional make up of Eoghan.

 

Eoghan, if you didn’t notice is a quiet, responsible, honorable, strong, decent, hard-working, gentle, quiet, thoughtful, and studious man.  I didn’t write about his special skills as emotional points because he has some negatives.  These come from his mother and partially from his father.  Let me list them:

 

Eoghan from a negative emotional standpoint is: standoffish, uncomfortable around strangers and the outgoing, quiet, formal, intentionally a wallflower, not forthright (that doesn’t mean he isn’t honest.)  The fact that he isn’t forthright means he puts others ahead of himself all the time, which can be a real problem.  For example, a forthright person would tell Aine right away that her ideas are bad.  Eoghan would accept Aine’s ideas and wait for them to fail, at the same time formulating some way to make them work out.  I’ll try to portray this very complex emotional piece for Eoghan, but I think you can see just how interesting and important this will be.  This will be especially interesting when Aine figures out just what he is doing.  That’s what makes this emotional expression such a great secret and such a great thing to hide from the reader until the principles figure it out.  Do you see just how great this is?

 

If we were using the first person or we vomited forth the emotional being of the protagonist, this wouldn’t be very powerful or interesting at all.  Since no one, not even Aine or maybe Eoghan fully understands his own mental and emotional makeup, this creates a perfect situation for revelation.  We will observe Eoghan’s response to Aine over and over, until she finally gets it.  That revelation about Eoghan will lead to a great revelation about herself.  She will know that her personality is overbearing and overcontrolling when it shouldn’t be—that won’t be a climax or resolution event for the telic flaw, but it will bring them closer and her closer to Eoghan.  This is a psychological aspect of this kind of novel.  By the way, all modern novels had some degree of psychological plot in them—they can’t help it.  The third person, however, allows the author to control the narrative and the power of the revelation abut any psychological aspects—that’s the way it should be.  Then there is the mental description (also a secret).    

b.      Mental description (never to be shared directly) – what’s the difference between a mental and an emotional description?  Well, I’d say not that much.  In some ways emotional is how a character reacts mentally to a mental or a physical stimulus.  In the past, this was much clearer to people than it is today.  In fact, I’d argue that the mental and the physical were much better disconnected in the past.  Today, people in general, and readers in particular don’t relate much different between the physical and the emotional.  This has made writing harder in some ways and easier in others. 

 

It's harder because readers don’t separate the physical from the mental and emotional.  It’s easier because there’s less logic involved in the suspension of disbelief.  People who accept the mental and emotional as physical can’t tell the difference between the two and will accept a lot that earlier readers would never even contemplate.  I don’t think that’s a reason to not always apply logic and reasoning to your plots and developments, but people who accept that the bad guys die with a single bullet shot and the good guys can take hundreds of shots and still keep moving, will accept almost anything.  I’m writing about the major movies that supposedly entertain—I find most of them mindless and mostly insane, but that’s my problem.  Now, back to mental and emotional—we already hit the physical, and I’m not confused.

 

The mental aspects of a character are those ideas and things that make up their mind.  For example, how intelligent, educated, mentally strong, forthright, leadership, hardworking, capable, fortitude, and I like to add spiritual strength as well.  How about spiritual, faith, belief, morals, ethics, and the like.  Let’s repeat about Eoghan.

 

Eoghan is very intelligent but quiet and not necessarily forthright in showing just how intelligent he is.  He is quiet and though mentally strong, he won’t necessarily say what he thinks or believes.  He keeps his mouth shut.  This is in direct contrast to Aine who can’t keep her mouth shut.  Eoghan sees quietness as thoughtful and questioning, while Aine sees quietness as acquiescence and lack of ideas or knowledge.  Aine speaks aloud to think—she’s an old world thinker.

 

Eoghan is a very faithful and faith based person.  He just doesn’t wear his ideas, thoughts, or emotions on his sleeve.  Aine always does.  She almost always says what she thinks except those things that no one in her culture could ever say.  This is part of the Celtic/Gaelic problem. 

 

I’ll mention this because it is so important in these cultures.  The Celtic/Gaelic problem is one of clothing, or lack thereof.  The Celts don’t like or abide nudity—this is a cultural issue from the far past.  This is a true historical issue.  I don’t know how it affects the society today, but it is a classic historical issue.  I play this with the Fae both the Unseelie and the Seelie Tuatha Dé Danann.  These are both Irish and Celtic groups or at least touched by the idea of the Irish problem about nudity and what things you can share with people.  One of the main ideas you can’t share freely is supposed to be likes and loves especially about others.  That’s part of the nudity of the mind and soul, and that relates directly to mental.

c.      Likes and dislikes (never to be shared directly) – likes and dislikes can really tell you a lot about a person.  I don’t mean the silly or the mental, although those are interesting as well—they don’t tend to play well with the normal crowd, but they are coming into vogue.  What do I mean by that?  It’s the hypochondriacs types—you know those with psychological fears they can’t deal with mentally or emotionally.  Today, these are considered some kind of normal reality, but, in the past, and by actual science, they are just mental illness.  If you want examples, it’s all the things children are supposed to get over with maturity: fear of the dark, fear of insects, fear of heights, fear of people, and all.  These can be used in a character, but these are usually considered character and mental weaknesses.  As society becomes more and more inward and mental, these types of characters have risen to some degree of prominence, but the reality is that no one really likes them.  How can you have a strong leader type who has a fear of the dark, or a tough woman leader who gets mental at the sight of a spider—it just doesn’t work.  In fact, that’s why these types of aliments are considered mental illness—we just don’t label anything negatively anymore.  So, likes and dislikes are not about unsubstantiated fears.  In fact, if you want to write about an unsubstantiated fear, write it such that the character overcomes such a fear—that would help readers and society.  In any case, what are likes and dislikes?

 

As I noted, these are never shared directly.  You can show them through actions or through dialog, but never through telling.  One of the biggest for most great characters is that they love to read.  Liking reading is like bread and butter to most readers.  You really can’t have a protagonist who hates to read—unless you reform them into a reader.  That can work.  In Aine, Eoghan loves to read, as do all the member of his family.  They are a family of readers.  Aine, on the other hand, comes from an early and ancient culture that doesn’t have books at all.  Do they have writing?  Perhaps, but Aine missed out on the real writing.  She knows only about protowriting.  Aine will be intrigued with and desire to learn to read.  The real problem will be that she can’t admit she wants to read—that’s one of those Celtic things, like nudity.  In that culture and society, you usually don’t express your true desires. 

 

What other likes?  Eoghan loves his work—he just doesn’t know what else he’s missing in the world.  Aine used to hate her existence.  She loves life, but was put upon by her society with little protection but herself—she was punished for protecting herself from rape.  This puts a mark indelibly on her soul.  This means she really doesn’t trust anyone, but she will trust her savior, Eoghan.  That’s a real like.  Aine loves Eoghan, although she can’t tell him that.  What other likes and dislikes?  There are obstacles for Aine to overcome.  She isn’t used to the twenty first Century modes and methods of movement.  These aren’t really things she dislikes as things she has initial fears about.  Likewise, she has fears of so many people and enclosed spaces.  She just isn’t used to them.  An unprotected home is a great source of fear for her.  These aren’t unfounded fears, they are real fears from her culture—she just has to get used to them. 

 

Another really fun like for Aine is food.  In the ancient world, there are fears related to food based on the potential for death, but the Celts had few of these.  Aine will eat anything she thinks is edible.  This is a like, so to speak, that we can use for laughs.  Eoghan is used to living on the land.  He’s used to no food and bad food.  This will play into the story as well.  I should note that Eoghan likes to live off the land.  He’s really good at it and can make all kinds of foods to happily eat on the trail.  I’ll also note, that from my own experience, food in the wilderness, no matter the quality usually tastes very good when you are hungry and have gone without.  Once you get back to civilization, the same food doesn’t taste nearly the same.

 

I could write many other likes and dislikes for Aine and Eoghan, but there isn’t much need unless those likes and dislikes fall into the plot or the storyline.

 

Let’s look at dislikes for a moment.  I find dislikes as less interesting and usable than likes, but that may be the optimism I have in life itself.  I don’t personally dislike much, but the few things I really dislike, I presume all civilized people dislike.  I’m finding that fewer and fewer modern people have a civilized attitude about the world.  I think this is a real problem in real life and one that can affect writing as well.

 

When we get to plots, I’ll write about the proselytizing plot that I don’t use it.  Unfortunately, many writers do.  Many writers presume that writing isn’t about entertainment but about putting across your ideas to others.  That may be true in technical writing, but not true at all in fiction.  Fiction is always and only about entertainment.  Ever read Ulysses?  How about Gertrude Stein’s writing?  These are worthless because there is zero entertainment in them.  There is almost no cohesiveness, structure, or writing in them.  They are not entertaining in the least and the only reason anyone would read them is because some professor or professorete required it for a class.  Now, what does this have to do with dislikes?

 

I dislike criminals, crime, and those who commit them are reprobates and immoral.  This is what civilization does for you.  You dislike something that is harmful to society and you don’t need to express any dislike because the society has a civil dislike for such people.  Likewise, the abuse of children or women is a societal and civilized reflection on the world.  In my worldview, no author needs breach these as dislikes in a character because the entire society should also dilike such things.  You might ask, what about phobias?

 

Phobias are individual mental illnesses based on fantasy.  Yes, they can greatly affect a character, and sometimes are worth working with in a character.  However, as I wrote before, mental illness, though a possible plot and attribute for a character pulls most protagonists out of the realm of the Romantic into the real and modern.  Which might not be too bad.  It is possible to have a bestseller along those lines, but most readers despise a mentally damaged protagonist and a Romantic protagonist will have a very hard road on the way to appeasing your readers.  This also has to do with dislikes.

 

The Romantic protagonist has issues that are deeply ingrained in them.  This type of protagonist is meditative, inner-reflective, melancholy, and all the other inner attributes of this type of character.  We don’t usually see these as debilitating or mental illness.  They are norms and the dislikes they engender are norms. 

 

Back to the dislikes of Eoghan and Aine.  Eoghan could dislike pushy women.  His mother is manipulative and not pushy in the sense that Aine is.  Aine is really emotional, sensitive (not in the modern sense), and very pushy.  She has no nuance about her at all.  However, in spite of Eoghan’s dislikes, he still love his mother and puts up with her manipulation.  At the same time, he hasn’t really met or dealt with a strong woman.  Aine is a strong woman, and extra strong woman.  As you can see, this isn’t as much about dislikes as it is about conflicts and emotional and mental conflicts.  That’s what can really cause great entertainment in a cogent novel.       

4.     Telic flaw resolution – here’s the theme statement again:

Eoghan, a Scottish National Park Authority Ranger, while handing a supernatural problem in Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park discovers the crypt of Aine and accidentally releases her into the world; Eoghan wants more from the world and Aine desires a new life and perhaps love.

The theme statement includes the telic flaw, and this theme statemen is very blatant.  The telic flaw is this:  Eoghan wants more from the world and Aine desires a new life and perhaps love.

Now, you might say this is pretty amorphous, but it does tell us a lot about Eoghan and Aine.  This drives the novel—the telic flaw is all about Eoghan determining what he wants as well as accommodating Aine in some fashion.  We can immediately see how these two ideas could fit together, and that’s what I want to do with the novel.  I want to use about 100,000 words to have Eoghan discover himself and discover his relationship with Aine.  Sounds simple, doesn’t it.  The main point in any novel is to put together a set of plots that give us a resolution of the telic flaw.  Note, there is a single telic flaw, and it belongs to the protagonist.  The rest is simply a connection to the protagonist. 

I already wrote that I am making Aine the protagonist’s helper.  This is how I love to write novels.  The protagonist’s helper is one of the most important characters in a modern Romantic novel.  That’s because the protagonist must share their inner thoughts, most specifically to be introspective.  You can’t have introspection without either telling or a sounding board.  The protagonist’s helper is a sounding board.  This character allows the Romantic protagonist to have dialog about themselves, and Aine will be the perfect protagonist’s helper.

That’s not to say, Aine won’t cut off information from Eoghan she doesn’t want to hear.  This is a real problem for and with Aine, she is a very direct, honest, and selfish person, but she really wants to please Eoghan.  She will realize her own deficiencies from the beginning, and although she will have constant lapses, she will know when she has stepped on Eoghan’s toes too much.  These events and incidents will drive the plots and the resolution of the telic flaw, Eoghan’s telic flaw.

a.      Changes required for the protagonist to resolve the telic flaw – this is what the protagonist and especially the Romantic protagonist is all about—the change.  This isn’t what you might think it is.  In some overall plots or themes this is obvious.  For example, the kid who wants to be a football player but is a 90 pound weakling.  You know what must happen.  I’ll state it, the kid must change physically and potentially mentally to achieve the goal of becoming a football player.  How about the kid who wants to become a rockstar?  They must learn to be a musician (maybe) first—that’s a change.

 

Most protagonist changes are much more subtle, and they all are redemption plots.  This is basically the definition of the redemption plot.  Even when you throw in the self-discovery or the skills plot, change insinuates some type of redemption in the change.  In fact, change itself defines redemption, and in the most beloved novels, the protagonist is all about self-discovery and change.  That’s the entire point of zero to hero and all. 

 

Just look at Harry Potty.  Harry must discover his magic and then refine it to be able to be the messiah for his friends and world.  This is a total redemption plot with a messiah none the less.  Other adult novels are much more subtle.  In Jack Vance novels, the protagonist must understand the rules of the culture and apply them.  That’s his entire Romantic protagonist development.  In other novels, the sparkly vampires, for example, the protagonist must become a vampire, but again that’s a young adult novel and not very subtle.  

 

In real past Romantic favorites, like Ivanhoe.  Ivanhoe must change his society to achieve his desired goals.  He still gets a Saxon princess.  In Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic Romantic style novels, the protagonist must make incredible discoveries, mostly about mysteries and secrets to eventually achieve the redemption telic flaw resolution.  Think Treasure Island where the protagonist must deal with pirates and others but the ultimate point is about friendships and betrayal.  The Black Arrow gives us a protagonist who must discover just who he is escorting to safety and why he (who is really a she) is so weak and unmanly.  He still falls in love. 

 

Even our favorite, non-Romantic, protagonists make changes, but usually not in the same way.  For example, Sara Crew in A Little Princess, doesn’t change so much as she comes to a realization of the life of the lowly and poor, and she wants to do anything to get out of it.  Again a type of physical redemption, but Victorian protagonists don’t change emotionally or mentally as much as physically.  Sometimes, they have to just apologize.  In any case, the protagonist and the Romantic protagonist must change in some way to achieve the telic flaw resolution.  In adult type and sophisticated novels this change is subtle.  In youth based novels, this isn’t usually very subtle at all.  We’ll look at some potential redemptive changes for Eoghan.    

i.                Physical changes – I could easily state there are no physical changes necessary for Eoghan to resolve the telic flaw, but that would be wrong.  It isn’t just internal changes or physical personal changes, but rather movement, wealth, position, and etc. when we write about physical changes.  Let me repeat the theme statement again:

 

Eoghan, a Scottish National Park Authority Ranger, while handing a supernatural problem in Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park discovers the crypt of Aine and accidentally releases her into the world; Eoghan wants more from the world and Aine desires a new life and perhaps love.

 

                                                                                                                                                To achieve this resolution, Eoghan must get more from the world.  We’ve defined this as achieving his goals in life, to some degree.  We know that Eoghan has latent charm powers which he has been trained to use, mostly through not interacting with people.  He lives his ranger existence mainly away from others.  He is self-isolated mainly because his mother see this as the best way to keep his skills in check.  However, Eoghan will soon be convinced to use his skills.  We’ll get to that, that is mental and emotional changes, but the physical changes are still very important. 

 

Physical changes are what you do with your body and placement once the emotional and mental decisions are made.  The questions we might have are:  where will Eoghan and Aine go?  What will they do?  How will Aine integrate into the world?  What will the result of their romance be?  Is there any hope for their romance?  What will Eoghan achieve?  Where will they live, train, and exist?  What will his work be?  Who will he work for?  All these questions are physically based.  They have to do with what happens in the novel and the realizations the characters make. 

 

At this point, I can’t answer all these questions.  I have my own ideas, and I’m formulating them, but from my experience, it does no good to fully outline and answer every single question, because part of the power in creative writing is to figure out ideas on the wing.  Especially the detailed ones.  It’s enough to know they exist and they are not direct physical changes.  For example, if Eoghan wanted to become a football (soccer) star in Britain, he might need to make some real physical changes.  That’s something entirely different.

                                                ii.     Emotional changes – the emotional changes or mental changes are the ones we mainly expect from modern protagonists and especially Romantic protagonists.  What’s the difference?  Emotional are usually based on feelings while mental are based on reason.  Changes in the emotional outlook, thoughts, beliefs, and perhaps feelings, as well as, the interpretation of those things are mainly what we are writing about.  There are very complex issues and points.

 

                                    I’m mainly writing about human interpretation of ideas and not the ideas themselves.  Those ideas are the mental part while emotions are about how the characters see those ideas.  For example, an idea or a fact is a fact no matter what anyone thinks about it.  Let’s use for example, Eoghan and his mother.  How does he view his mother’s interference in his life?  Before Aine, I’d say he accepts it without much thought.  That’s just what his life and life is all about for him.  After Aine, Eoghan begins to see his mother’s interference and actions as not positive at all.  His reaction will be driven by his mother’s response and actions.  With reflection, we should see Eoghan begin to change and moderate his emotions and thoughts about his mother, or specifically, how he reacts to his mother’s actions. 

 

                                    So, what I expect is that Eoghan begins to resent his mother’s actions and interference that will lead to tension and release in the novel followed by a resolute focus where Eoghan will begin to ignore and accept his mother’s negative views.  We’ll see where this all goes.  This is just one example of the many complex situations about emotions I plan for the novel.

 

                                    Another is about Aine and her feelings about Eoghan.  There is much much more.

 

Aine is the protagonist’s helper and not the protagonist, but I intend to develop her in a very romance based manner.  The problem with Aine is her culture and her past.  She is used to aggressive men who deand what they want even to the point of rape against women they desire.  In fact, this rape concept is also called ancient marriage and was and is practiced by less civilized cultures.  The idea in ancient cultures is marriage is sex and sex is marriage.  When a man had sex with a woman, he took the responsibility for the progeny from that relationship.  He also was responsible for the woman.  This is very patriarchal, but in might makes right, you do have some choices.  Death and slavery is a couple of them.  Most of the time, slavery or concubinage marriage is better than death.  The rape concept of what is considered captive marriage is and was common.  That’s just how the American Indian culture worked.  In any case, that is the type of culture Aine is used to.  She’s in for a great surprise.

 

Eoghan is nothing like the men she is used to.  Eoghan is a man of honor and integrity.  That means in the sense of the modern culture and society.  He rescues Aine because he would rescue anyone, and Aine is unbelievably grateful.  The reason is that she thought all hope was lost.  I want to paint this very strong scene in a very poignant way.  Aine is completely willing to give up everything to Eoghan because he saved her from the crypt.  She would give up her virginity, her freedom, her everything, and from her cultural world, she expects Eoghan to take all.  Only Eoghan would never think of acting in that way to any woman.  Aine is horrified that Eoghan doesn’t want her right then and right in the open.  She’s a little insulted by it.  Already affected deeply and emotionally by his rescue, Aine has a lot to process and think about.  I’m deciding just how deeply I want the conversation to delve about this great problem for Aine.  In fact, this problem that starts as Aine’s will very quickly become Eoghan’s.  That’s one of the very entertaining and fun parts of this novel I’m developing. 

 

Aine is going to have to figure out how to capture not just the mind, but the heart and soul of Eoghan.  Once she learns what in the world this silly love thing is all about.  She will pursue Eoghan with a great fervor, but she has to figure out just what love is all about, in this modern age, and how to make Eoghan love her.  This causes mental changes for Eoghan.

                                              iii.     Mental changes – now we are moving into the norm for the modern novel.  I also want to remind you that the information here are sketches while the novel is the painting.  The point of this information is to define the protagonist and potentially other important characters while defining the scope and movement of the novel.  Mental changes are just he types of changes we in the Twenty-First Century are used to in our thinking about the protagonist.  In fact, physical changes, although the norm for most earlier literature, isn’t really what we think of in most modern literature.

 

For example, in Robinson Caruso, the major point of the novel is a survival and escape plot.  There are mental changes involved, but the main point of the novel is physical and not mental.  If we look at much of Charle Dickens’ novels, we see something similar.  The overall plots are not mental, but physical.  The escape from poverty or from the current circumstances.  Even George Eliot has a similar touch in her novels.  What we can gain from this is a couple of important points.  The first is that physical change in the protagonist can move mountains.  It can really produce a powerful novel and plot.  On the other hand, the Romantic protagonist gives us a type of filter into the mind of the protagonist.  With that filter, we can see the motivations and the reasons for the need of the protagonist to change.  We can’t tell this, we must show it.  The showing it part is always physical.  This leads to the mental.

 

In the case of the novel Aine, I want to show how Eoghan changes mentally by the influence of Aine and the circumstances around their lives.  The great hook in this novel is the emotional and physical disturbance that Aine causes in the world and specifically, in Eoghan’s world.  What changes does Eoghan need to make to achieve?

 

In the first place, Eoghan needs to learn to love Aine.  That means he must learn about loving a woman.  This isn’t as easy or flippant as it might sound.  Yes, we hope love comes naturally to people, but what does that love look like and how does it manifest itself.  We know, based on his character that Eoghan is a solid and decent young man, but he is young and inexperienced.  He just has no idea how to handle Aine and her personality.  I guess I’ll get more into this, next.

 

Aine is the problem.  She isn’t the telic flaw, but she is the focus of this novel.  In other words, she is the focal point that makes everything happen.  This is typical in almost every novel, but I’m not certain there is a name for this focus.  It could be considered the subject of the novel, and I’ve heard this referred to as the cause—that’s where we get the telic flaw concept from. 

 

A telic flaw is by definition (in the Greek sense), the cause and the resolution of the novel.  Telic, in Greek means the intersection of the horizon with a vanishing point.  This is both the beginning (cause) and the end (conclusion), although the Greeks wouldn’t put it exactly that way.  So, Aine is the cause of all that will happen to Eoghan, therefore, she could be called the telic flaw.  However, she isn’t the real problem.  Eoghan’s problems are extra Aine.  In other words, Eoghan has problems outside of Aine, but Aine is the thing, the cause, that will get Eoghan thinking and changing. 

 

For this reason, I’m calling Aine, and this concept in writing, the focus.  She is the reason everything happens, but not the telic flaw that needs resolution.

 

Now, what does this have to do with mental changes?  Aine is and will be a very peculiar person.  She is a being out of time, which is exactly what I aim for in my novels.  Almost all my novels are about ancient people and beings caught up in modern times.  This allows me to compare and expand for my readers the events of the past as well as the people from the past.  I want to do this intentionally as opposed to placing modern people in the past or writing a historical fiction novel.  The point is to enable a comparison between the times, the thoughts, and the people.  That’s what is so delectable about Aine.

 

Aine is no girl from the present.  I’m sure there are girls (women) like Aine in the modern world, but what is so powerful is that Aine represents a culture, the ancient Celtic and Gaelic culture.  This provides me a circumstance of writing about that culture and the ancient times.  Every reference Aine has is a reference from the past.  She has no idea or concept of the present or modern times.  Eoghan will be an enigma for her.  I’ve mentioned this before, and I’ll get into it next.  That is Eoghan as seen by Aine and the changes he must make mentally to resolve the telic flaw.

 

Perhaps the first major or main change in Eoghan is to accept Aine.  Eoghan has never met a girl let alone a person like her.  In his worldview, she is crass, crude, dangerous, violent, emotional, somewhat underhanded, driven to excess, uneducated, unrefined, uninformed, among other negatives.  Some of these just aren’t her fault.  She can’t really help being uneducated by the times—they passed her by.  The problem is to get Eoghan to see the world from her standpoint, and also to see success using her methods and her approaches.  

 

I’m not saying that Aine has better ideas or ways of living, but she does have many positives.  Let’s look at them.  Aine is a survivor.  She is educated in living in the wild and with nothing.  She’s used to having nothing and most of her life has been a real fight for survival and just to eat.  She is a deity, but what does that mean?  She doesn’t need food or sustenance to exist, but she desires it to live and for life.  As a Celtic deity, her desire is to provide and to receive adulation.  She is the sun goddess and represents the growth of the crops.  Most specifically she is “the Celtic sun goddess and goddess of wealth, sovereignty, and summer. In Irish mythology, she is also a fairy queen and goddess of the moon, earth, and nature, and could shapeshift into a red horse.”  These abilities don’t necessarily make her invincible.  They imply and give her powers and responsibilities that she then gives to the Celtic people.  These are also the things she knows and has power over.

 

In the reflected worldviews I use, the gods and goddesses have great powers, but their powers are significantly limited by the constraints of their environment as well as the limits of myth.  Aine can bring wealth, sovereignty, and provide summer, but she can’t make the world perpetual summer, that would destroy nature.  The longer and more power she applies to hold the world in summer, the weaker she gets.  Likewise, she can bestow wealth, but that requires actions to produce wealth.  The more she has to do to bring it about, the more power of the land it takes from her.  She is very like the Fae—they also use the power of nature to use glamour.  Aine controls glamour but also direct miracles. 

The main point of this is that Aine must convince Eoghan of her value and Eoghan must come to terms with Aine’s personality and abilities or lack thereof.  Aine must change and Eoghan must change.  That may be enough said.

b.      Alliances required for the protagonist to resolve the telic flaw – remember, none of this information is ever shared with the reader.  This information might and may be revealed, but only through actions and dialog.  We show alliances, we don’t declare alliances. 

 

Now, you might reach some point in a novel where the characters come to some agreement to work together.  Yes, that is an alliance, they can even call it an alliance, but that should never be declared in the narration or by some omniscient voice of the narrator, or any other such means.  If the author feels like a declaration of alliance needs to be made, then that is expressed in dialog—that’s showing.

 

I’ve done this in many of my novels.  I really haven’t called it an alliance perse, but my characters have made agreements and contracts with each other to support their goals, some mutual and some not so mutual.  Now, back to Aine.

 

The most obvious alliance is between Aine and Eoghan.  This will be carefully and deeply manufactured based on their personalities and likes and dislikes.  The point is to get the very strong willed Aine to agree that she must depend on Eoghan.  I think this will be easy to show and to work since Aine starts entirely and completely dependent on Eoghan. She has nothing in this world, no friends, no acquaintances, no support, no money, nothing.  She starts emotionally and physically dependent on Eoghan.  He’s just a nice guy.  He would never hold anything back from her.  Part of the fun of this novel will be the clash between these two with Aine constantly reminding herself of her own dependency and lack of everything.  Then there are the other characters who will bring great fun into the novel because of their closeness and alliances with Eoghan and then Aine.

 

This is the point, Eoghan naturally brings people into his camp—Aine does not.  I’ll get to those alliances, next.

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  

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