26 November 2024, Writing - part xxx879 Scene Outline, Novel Outline, Antebellum
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)
I went through the scene outline to show you how
to approach writing a scene. I think it
is relatively simple—that doesn’t mean it is easy, but once you know the basics
of writing a scene, with the right elements, you can write a great scene. If you can write a great scene, you can
potentially write an initial scene, the rising action scenes, the climax scene,
a falling action scene, and a dénouement. That
means, if you can write a scene, you can write a novel.
Now, to get to a novel, and to a great scene,
you need a great protagonist. I
recommended a Romantic protagonist. The
reason is the Romantic protagonist is my favorite type and generally, the
favorite of most readers. In fact, I
don’t know of a single reader who doesn’t love a great Romantic protagonist, or
even a close to Romantic protagonist. I
point out Harry Potty who has become one of the most popular protagonists in history
and is very close to a Romantic protagonist.
I think he’d even be more popular if he was a full on Romantic
protagonist. Just a thought.
With a fully developed Romantic protagonist,
writing a scene is pretty easy and writing a novel is relatively easy. In my short form blog, I’m going over the telic
flaw from the protagonist and how it pertains to the novel and how it comes
from the development of the protagonist.
Perhaps this idea of the telic flaw belonging to the protagonist is the
most important factor in novel development.
This is why I write that the first step in writing a novel is the
Romantic protagonist development. I’ll
consider if I should give you the basics and telic flaw from the design of the
protagonist, like I’m doing in my short form blog. I’ll try to expand this idea to help bring
out the concept of the initial scene.
I’ve done this before, but I’ll try to give you something new out of
this, next.
As I wrote before, the telic flaw for the novel
comes from the protagonist. In addition,
the protagonist defines all kinds of things issues and in time, the setting,
the place, and all. As I wrote, the
protagonist defines all these things in the novel. The novel and the telic flaw of the novel
comes directly from the protagonist.
I could go through all my protagonists and
define the telic flaw from that protagonist for you. I think I did this before. Perhaps I should do it again. That might be a very worthwhile set of
examples. I’ll think about it. You see the list of novels above. I think I’ll use my list of novels from the
first to the last I’ve finished. That’s
next.
A Season of Honor: This was the first novel I wrote. The very Romantic protagonist is Baron Shaun
du Locke. Shaun has a lengthy history
that I developed for the novel and actually that I used to write the two other
novels in the series, The End of Honor and The Fox’s Honor. Shaun du Locke was a prince who was deposed
because he fell in love with the wrong woman—a power his brother could not
allow, and she was executed. It’s not
incorrect to say that Shaun was haunted by this action and the loss of the Lady
Lyral Neuterra. The problem is that
Shaun was contracted to take Lyral’s cousin and near twin, Elaina Acier to her
arranged marriage on the Imperial Capital planet Arienth.
There is the telic flaw of the novel. Shaun must deliver Elina to Arienth, but the
woman in question looks like his lost love, and of course, he is falling in
love again. It’s not just how Eliana
looks but it is her personality and skill as a noblewoman.
If you notice, the telic flaw for the novel
comes directly out of the protagonist.
It isn’t really a flaw in the protagonist, but rather a flaw in the
world of the protagonist, and a flaw he must rectify (resolve). This is exactly what I mean by the
protagonist beings the telic flaw of the novel with them. I’ll look at The Fox’s Honor, next.
The Fox’s Honor stars Devon Rathenberg
as its Romantic protagonist. Devon is in
the succession but from another branch of the imperial family so considered
outside it. He is the Emperor’s chief of
intelligence, the Fox. In this capacity,
Devon has devised a plan to save the Emperor, the Human Galactic Empire, and
the people of the empire. He must die to
reveal the Emperor’s enemies and the nobles who have been conspiring against
the power of the Emperor.
However, Devon has fallen in love with a lady,
the Lady Tamar Falkeep. Tamar happens to
be on the planet where Devon must cause his own death through losing a duel,
thus, Devon will state his love to the Lady and carry out his mission. You see the telic flaw that comes with this
character, right?
Devon’s telic flaw (the novel’s telic flaw) is
that Devon must die to revel the Empire’s enemies and yet he is compelled to
confess his love to Lady Tamar. Tamar is
enraged and follows the knight when he fights and loses the duel on purpose,
but she can’t let him die. She saves his
life and forces him to live. As you can
see, the telic flaw for the novel, the loss of Devon’s honor comes directly out
of the protagonist. Tamar is the
protagonist’s helper. The end result is
a massive clandestine operation and then a military operation for Devon and
Tamar to get back their honor and their lands.
I’ll move on to The End of Honor, next.
The End of Honor is an unusual
novel. It starts with the death of the
protagonist’s helper and the protagonist is nowhere to be seen. The protagonist is Prince John-Mark who is
Baron Shaun du Locke in A Season of Honor. Prince John-Mark is the second son of the
Emperor and falls in love with the Lady Lyral Neuterra. He works long and hard to be able to win the
hand of the lady, but the alliances and the match is seen as a threat to the
power of the Emperor’s first son. Do you
see the telic flaw here?
The telic flaw that John-Mark brings to the table
is that he is really in love with Lyral, but the entire Human Galactic Empire
thinks John-Mark is seeking Imperial power.
In any case, his actions and love sparks a civil war in the Human
Galactic Empire. It’s a war his brother
begins with the assassination of the Emperor and the execution of Lyral
Neuterra. There you go, the protagonist,
John-Mark comes with his own telic flaw and that’s the telic flaw of the
novel. The telic flaw is a civil war in
the Empire—the resolution is the end of this war. I’ll move on to Antebellum, next.
Antebellum is about the south in
1965 and the 1860s. The protagonist is
Heather Roberts. She is a hard-working
and industrious girl who wants to go to college, but whose family is dirt poor
and not interested in educating girls. Heather
is deeply involved and has many friends in her community. The greatest mystery of that community is
about the Robert’s plantation house, Belle Fleur. The house disappeared near the end of the
civil war and hasn’t been seen since. In
addition, Heather’s namesake Syble Heather Roberts disappeared with the house
at the same time. Then, in the initial
scene, Heather finds and enters the house, but the house suddenly disappears
and can’t be found.
You can see the telic flaw for Heather and the
novel is this house, Belle Fleur and the mystery of the house and Syble Heather
Roberts. This is indeed the problem
Heather must resolve in the novel.
Pretty simple. The protagonist
defines the telic flaw, and comes with a telic flaw—that’s what makes the
novel. I should mention that this novel shows
the plantation house bit by bit as Heather investigate the mystery. I’ll look at Aegypt, 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
No comments:
Post a Comment