06 July 2024, Writing - part xxx737 Developing the Reflective Worldview
Announcement: I still need a new publisher. However, I’ve taken the step to
republish my previously published novels.
I’m starting with Centurion, and we’ll see from there. Since previously published novels have little
chance of publication in the market (unless they are huge best sellers), I
might as well get those older novels back out.
I’m going through Amazon Publishing, and I’ll pass the information on to
you.
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 two
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.
6. The initial scene is the most
important scene.
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 the third edition of Centurion:
|
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,
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.
Most of my writing has a very strongly
historical basis in a reflected worldview.
This short statement needs some definition and description. In writing, there are three overall
worldviews. The first is a real
worldview. I consider Centurion to
have been written in a real worldview. A
pure historical worldview is a real worldview.
The real worldview is the worldview accepted by most as the world as it
is. Knowing the world as it is, perhaps
real is the wrong word, but this will stand.
Real is the basic and non-fantastic world we experience every day. I’m not certain there is a better or more expressive
way to define the real worldview. As a
contrast let’s look at the created worldview.
The created worldview is mostly defined as
fantasy and science fiction; however, it’s a bit more complex than that. A created worldview is a worldview that was
created by the author for a novel or a series of novels. The created worldview is related to a real
worldview, but not in its details only in its reflection of usually humanity or
even nonhumanity. In general, a created
worldview is based in a world completely unrelated to the real. What does that mean? As I mentioned, the most common understanding
of a created worldview is science fiction or fantasy world, but this doesn’t
completely define the created worldview.
In a created worldview, the writer usually creates the history, the
basis, the features, and the settings of the worldview to fit the fantasy or
the science fiction plot and point. For
example, in a created science fiction worldview, the author might describe a
colony on Mars or on some other planet.
Since there has never been a human colony on any planet, this must be a
created worldview. Likewise, in a
fantasy setting, a fantasy world unrelated to anything defined by history or in
myth would also be a created worldview.
I consider Harry Potty a created worldview. The reason is because many of the creatures
and the magic in the Harry Potty novels as well as the settings and the history
are unrelated to myth or history. Jack
Vance’s Green Pearl novels are also a created worldview. The magic, settings, and history are
completely unrelated to anything in the real world. They are a created worldview and a fantasy
genre and world. Likewise, the Sparkly
Vampire novels are a created worldview.
The reason is that the vampires don’t resemble classic historical
vampires much at all. It’s okay for
mythic characters to vary in some degree from their classic characteristics,
they are mythic after all, but not so much that they can’t be recognized or
they don’t follow the basis for their historical understanding or basis. Bram Stoker defined the classic vampire. You can vary your vampires to some degree
from this classic basis, but if you go too far, you have created a
worldview. That brings us to the
reflected worldview. That worldview
based on the real but not created.
I’ll get to the reflected worldview, next.
This gets a little complex, but in our world
there are many things that we consider not real although there is plenty of
history as well as stories to support them.
For example, vampires. I’m not
sure anyone really believes in vampires, but vampires are a part of human
history and myth. If you look up
vampire, you will find a host of information.
Much of is, or maybe most of it is all fiction, or is it? The vampire is a part of human lore and human
culture than is well accepted and to some degree believed, but is it real? The same is true of all kinds of mythic
creatures as well as the supernatural and the gods and goddesses. There is much much more to these creatures,
beings, and places (like Atlantis) but we don’t consider them to be part of the
real world. I call this the reflected
world. The reason is that the reflected
world reflects what people believe and not what they think is real.
You might say, this is a kind of schizophrenic
view of the world, part real and part reflected. I say it is just normal human
understanding. When my grandchildren or
children ask if dragons are real? My
answer is I hope so. A real worldview
novel can’t include dragons, but a reflected worldview novel can. This is the worldview I write in. I write in the reflected worldview.
I’ll give you more information about this
kind of writing and worldview.
Personally, I consider the reflected
worldview a more real worldview and way or writing than the real
worldview. The reason is that what
people imagine and what they think about the world is sometimes more important than
what we see in the real world. We see
this all the time. For example, in
religion, the expression of belief is part of the reflected worldview. Religion is by nature supernatural. It depends on the idea of a God or of gods as
well as a supernatural understanding of the world. Is this real?
In the sense of a worldview it is a reflected worldview, but it is still
accepted as part of the real. Unfortunately,
the idea of the real and the reflected overlap one another, and we see some of
this in real worldview writing. For
example, an author writing about a military action or campaign might wax
eloquent about the spiritual ideas of the people or about the spiritual past
that formatted the nation as a whole.
Now, about the reflected worldview. I want to write in an obvious reflected worldview
because I want to show not just the real world but rather the spiritual and
supernatural depths of the world. To me,
putting words into the mouth of dragons, or into the mouths of the Fae, or into
the demigods and gods and goddesses of myth is really fun and exciting. More than that, the interaction of humans in
the world with these supernatural beings is even more exciting. This builds in the entertainment of the novel
and the world of the novel.
I’ll expand more on the writing and writing
in the reflected worldview.
The reflected worldview is different than the
created worldview and perhaps most similar to the real worldview. In fact, the reflected worldview is the
actual worldview most people live in. When
I study to write in a reflected worldview, I research the subject matter extensively. For example, when I wrote Valeska:
Enchantment and the Vampire, I studied and researched vampires for
months. I gathered all the data I could
on them, their history, and their settings.
I didn’t use all the information I discovered, and I used some
information selectively, but if you look up my vampires, they will fit with
history and myth. That is all you have
to do to figure out my vampires is to look them up in books or on the
internet. My view of vampires is the
classic worldview myth of vampires. The
point is what you know about vampires is what you will find in my novels, and
specifically in that novel. This is true
of all reflected worldview subjects, but not true of created worldview subjects.
One of the main ways you can check if a novel
or an idea is created versus reflected worldview is just make an internet
search. For example, if you did a search
about Harry Potty, today, you will find an enormous amount of information about
Harry Potty—those novels and creations are a bestseller phenomena. You won’t find anything about the world of
Hogwarts or Harry Potty prior to the publication of the first novel. This is a created worldview. You won’t find anything about the magic
system and magic theory of Harry Potty until the novel. The magic and magic theory isn’t based on any
system from myth or the past, and many of the creatures in the novel came from
the mind of the author. They are created
worldview. This isn’t bad, it’s just not
the reflected worldview.
What makes the reflected worldview so great? That’s next.
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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