31 January 2026, Writing - part xxxx310 The Novel, Idea, Climax Statement
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.
I want to start with these definitions as
a premise for writing.
1. Write to entertain
2. Write using the
common outline for a novel
3. Develop a telic flaw,
a protagonist, an antagonist, and plan to resolve the telic flaw.
4. Start with an initial
scene.
5. Develop and define a
modern protagonist: you get a telic flaw, a potential protagonist’s helper, and
a potential initial scene from the development.
6. Write to reveal the
protagonist.
And here is the scene:
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
When I first started writing, I had no
idea about scenes. As I began writing
more and more novels as well as analyzing how I wrote and generally how we
write a novel, it became obvious to me, that all fiction and all novels are
written in scenes. I had no idea about
this before, and very few writers or those who think they can teach people to
write understand the important of scenes in the scheme of writing. Writing fiction is entirely about
scenes—there is no other basis for the writing.
The elements can be further broken down, but the ultimate form of all
fiction writing is the scene. You can
easily see this when you review the outline of the classical novel.
The outline begins with an initial scene,
moves to the rising action which is composed of scenes that lead to the climax
scene. This moves to the falling action
scene(s) and finally the dénouement. You
can identify these elements and scenes in every classical novel. In fact about 99.99% of all novels. The few that don’t follow the classical
format are odd and usually not read much.
That’s because these few are not entertaining or interesting to
read.
If you look at the development of the
initial scene, which is the most important scene in the novel, I provide the
elements you need for the scene (initial setting, protagonist, protagonist’s
helper or antagonist, action statement).
With these elements, we can begin to imagine the initial scene.
I always recommend, in the development of
every scene, that you begin with the input and imagine and work to the
output. Not only does this work for the
internal scenes in the novel, but it works for the initial scene. The inputs of the initial scene are the
specific elements I listed: initial setting, protagonist, protagonist’s helper
or antagonist, and action statement.
There is also a presumed input into the initial scene. In scenes beyond the initial, the output of
the previous scene is the input for the next scene. This is what makes writing both simple and
logical in a well written novel.
All the time, we hear about writers who
get writer’s block or who can’t continue their story or their novel. If you are writing scene to scene with
outputs to inputs, there is no way you can get writer’s block. You simply have to start with the input and
write to the output for the scene. Now,
we can get hung up working on an output, but that’s simply creativity and just
writing. Many times if I get “hung up”
in the writing, I just start with the input of a scene and start writing. If you don’t like where the scene is going
just stop and start again. I find many
times the scene doesn’t go exactly like I originally imagined it. It has a life of its own based on the
elements in the scene and the characters.
That is the point of writing and especially fiction. Plus, we don’t write with the singular idea
that what we write is the end all of the writing. You should be revising your writing over and
over again. That’s what I do. I revise and revise and revise. I will revise an entire chapter each day. I should likely get into my methods for
general writing. I think they are very
healthy for the writer and help develop a novel logically and easily. That’s where I’ll go, next.
I need to clean up the breadcrumbs a
little. I’ll do that soon, but the most
important idea on my mind is this. With
a great idea or at least an initial scene, which means we have a protagonist, a
protagonist’s helper or an antagonist, an initial setting, and an action (telic
flaw). With these, we can begin
writing. The question is now the
writing. I don’t know about you, but
when I first started writing, writing was about the most difficult part of the
process. I love the writing now. In the past, the revising was my least
favorite activity. Now, it is my
favorite activity. So, what is different
now than then, and what really changed?
I’ve really thought about this and worked
on this. The first point is what I call
the discipline of writing, and the second is writing in scenes. They fit together hand in glove. This may sound simple, and it’s really easy
with discipline. In the discipline of
writing, you are aiming for a 100,000 word novel—that’s what I’m aiming for in
my novels. Some of you might be writing
to a lower wordcount. That’s okay and
common for other genres. The discipline
of writing will work for you to.
I’m writing toward a 100,000 word
novel. That means 20, 5,000 word
chapters. All I need for 100,000 words
is to write 20, 5,000 word chapters. A
5,000 word chapter is easy. You can
write one of those a day. Theoretically,
you could write a 100,000 word novel in 20 days. I have and you can.
This means we need to write a 5,000 word
chapter. If you are writing in scenes,
this is pretty easy. Remember, the basis
for novels and all fiction is the scene.
We need from one to five or so scenes to fill out a chapter. I write for about 20 pages in Roman size 12
font at double space. Twenty pages will
give you about 5,000 words. Did you see
what I wrote. My chapter might be about
15 pages or 25 pages. I usually don’t
have less than 15 or more than 25, but whatever I need to finish up the scenes. I have no idea how many scenes I write in a
chapter. I just write my scenes until I
get to about 20 pages, and that’s the chapter.
I plan to write about 20 of these to resolve the telic flaw of the
novel. When I get to chapter 20, I know
I have about 100,000 words, and that’s a perfect novel in my mind.
You see the question we need to answer
about writing. With a plan like this, we
need to know how to write a scene. I can
show you how to do that—what’s the point of discipline? If I have the discipline to write a scene, I
can write a 5,000 word chapter. If I can
write about 20 chapters, I can write a 100,000 word novel. The whole point is the discipline to write a
scene. Start with an initial scene and
in twenty or so days, I should be at the dénouement scene. Okay, it might take longer than that—I usually
don’t write a novel in 20 days. I could,
but I usually have more research and revision to write that quickly. I’ll get to that, but first about writing a
great scene, that’s next.
We have reached the point of writing the
scene. This applies to any scene
including the initial scene, but I’ll get to that. Once you know how to write a scene, you can
write a novel (or any other fictional work).
So let’s get to it.
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
When we have an initial scene, we are on
our way. With the initial scene, we
have:
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
With an output, the setting, the
characters, and the action movement, we have an initial scene. These feed into the next scene, the first
rising action scene. We use the output
which becomes an input to this new scene.
Once we move from the initial scene, we are in the rising action to the
climax. The climax is the resolution of
the telic flaw. As I wrote, the telic
flaw comes with the protagonist and in the initial scene, this is the action
movement of the scene, plus more. To be
most specific, we might have a great initial scene, but we need to condense the
action movement into some type of action that can resolve the telic flaw. This is very important and I need to get into
this.
For example, in Aine, the telic flaw is
Eoghan’s desires and his lack of motivation toward fulfilling those
desires. Eoghan is a man who has a
profession and a job, but his mother has intentionally prevented him from using
his powers and skills to further his life and desires. Eoghan’s skills is leadership. He comes from a family that was directly in
the line of succession for the king of England until they weren’t. They are the Stuarts and Stewarts of the
Scots who should have ascended to the throne, and they hold to the ancient glamour
skills that made others follow them with their lives. Eoghan’s mother has been fearful of her own
skills and is a bit of a wimp. She has
some issues of her own that she hasn’t ever resolved. Her children Eoghan and Aife followed after
their father in their thoughts about their lives and work, but their mother won
in terms of their family and education.
In other words, Eoghan and Aife don’t want to hide and not use their
personal skills, and they want to interact in society and their nation. Their mother wants them to lay low and have
normal lives, while their father accommodates their mother. What does this have to do with the telic
flaw?
I wrote that the telic flaw is about
Eoghan’s involvement and life. That’s
great, but this telic flaw is kind of amorphous. What is the action that shows Eoghan has now
resolved his telic flaw. Ah, that’s the
rub. The telic flaw is great, but how do
we show, with action or through a climax that Eoghan has achieved? We need something action based and exciting. Like every scene must be filled with
excitement and entertainment, likewise, the climax needs to be filled with
action excitement and entertainment. The
point and the problem is to turn the telic flaw of Eoghan’s involvement and
life into an interesting and exciting climax.
What will that be? I haven’t
started writing the novel yet, so I have only a few ideas. I don’t need that yet—actually, for you, I’ll
do some thinking and give you some ideas.
That’s, next.
I’m leaving in the breadcrumbs because
they produce a pretty cohesive whole to this discussion of writing the scenes
and connecting them into the novel. At
this point, I’m getting to the telic flaw resolution and how to develop that to
a climax. The question at hand is this:
we know the telic flaw for Eoghan, but how do we turn this telic flaw into a
physical and practical resolution that can conclude a novel?
Since I haven’t written the initial scene
for this novel yet, I really haven’t explored this question much. When I write a novel, I usually allow the novel
and the ideas in them to build on their own to a climax. I have some idea of where the novel is going,
but I write to the climax rather than forcing the novel to a climax. For now, I think if I do a little
brainstorming about Eoghan, I can at least produce a clearer picture of what his
climax should look like. Here we go.
Eoghan has a problem. He wants to be a leader, but he has been
designed and developed by his mother and his upbringing to not become a leader
and to be isolated from leadership and leadership positions. He meets Aine and everything changes. Eoghan is a quiet and yet powerful man with
very definite leadership and other skills.
Aine has made Eoghan her hero and wants his love. She will do anything and everything for him,
but she is also driven and drawn by her deeply ancient Irish culture and
ideas. She wants Eoghan to become
forthright, mentally brash, and physically overwhelming. Eoghan sees these are very negative
characteristics. To remake Eoghan into
her image, Aine must change and Eoghan must change. The question is how should Eoghan change, and
in what ways will he change.
The simplest way might be for Eoghan to
join the military. If he could be
accepted and learn those skills, he might make this great change in himself and
that would please Aine. This may be the
simplest way, but I’ not certain that’s how I want to move the novel. I don’t want to separate Eoghan from Aine,
and Aine is too much of a diva and princess to want to be in the military
herself. As I wrote, there are competing
issues in her brain—the problem of her culture and life experience. The military and connections to the military
might work and make sense, but I’m not certain the direct to the military plan
is a good one. The question is then,
what other kinds of leadership and training might make sense for Eoghan?
I have, in my past novels had a training
for highschoolers up to the sixth form in British speak run by the intelligence
operations I’ve written about these opportunities. They are usually for the very special—those
with special skills or dangerous to Britain without oversight and
training. I could play that music, but
I’ve put Eoghan in a situation past his basic schooling. I could move into the university—I’ve done
that with my American based novels, but I haven’t moved to the British advanced
schools much, not as a setting. These
might work and I have used British military training at this level before. I would like to pitch Seoirse and Rose into
the mix with Eoghan and Aine. I think
this would make a great rising action development, but I’m still not sure what
could be considered a great and entertaining action climax for the
resolution. Perhaps the best type of end
would be for Eoghan to succeed in a mission of some importance. I’ve played this refrain before with Rose and
Seoirse. It could resonate with Eoghan
and Aine too, but I don’t want the novels to be too similar. I really want to play this novel in a
different way than any of the others.
The point of writing a novel is to explore new ideas and new means of
entertaining your readers, not rehashing or regurgitating past ideas. What might be unique for Aine and Eoghan?
I’m thinking politics. I haven’t played this tune before, but I’m
not very familiar with it or the British version. Perhaps I could move into the government
service or operations track. This is
somewhat political, but not purely political.
If Eoghan could make himself to fit into some of the niches and
structures of the British intelligence and government system, perhaps that
might be reasonable. At the same time to
resolve a British supernatural or critical problem and therefore gain accolades
and his position. I could actually
leverage off of his current position.
Perhaps I should do a little more brainstorming tomorrow. I’ll continue.
Eoghan is involved with Stela, but Stela
doesn’t provide many leadership positions.
At most those leadership positions are for one individual as a supervisor
or in the vernacular a handler. In the
intelligence business, you usually have an agent, and that agent or a group of
agents is cared for by a handler. The
handler provides help, support, administration, connections, and communications
with the agency involved. This is the
relationship I provided for Rose through Seoirse in Seoirse: Enchantment and
the Assignment. I need something
larger for Eoghan. He has completely
natural and powerful leadership skills that project over entire groups rather
than for just a single person.
In Warrior of Light, my protagonist
Danny Long went to school at Sandhurst for an officer’s commission and I used
that to bring him into the intelligence community. Like I wrote, I’m not sure about using the
military route for Eoghan. Usually, in
the intelligence community, the individual starts as an agent or an operative
and then goes to handler or manager. The
further leadership options move up on the management trail. It is not uncommon for the leader of an MI or
an intelligence agency to have experience in the military or in public service
and then move into an agency position.
Many of my characters have made this path. In fact, with Shiggy in Sorcha:
Enchantment and the Curse, all of Sorcha’s team were commissioned in the
military. Most of them, including
Shiggy, started in the military although Sorcha did not. I’m planning in Bookgirl to show how Sorcha
got her act together and finally began to follow the right path that led to her
position in Sorcha: Enchantment and the Curse.
Now, back to Eoghan. He likely needs some military
training—perhaps this could be pushed along by Aine. I just need to get him to this position and place. It might be worthwhile to have him train
under Aife on the Ilse of Skye. The
Black Branch is the Scottish woman warriors trained by Aife while, in the past,
Scatach, Aife’s sister trained the Red Branch, male warriors. In Seoirse: Enchantment and the Assignment,
Rose brought back training to the Isle of Shadows and rebuilt the Black
Branch. Perhaps Eoghan could bring back
the Red Branch. I’m not sure how to make
that work, but it would make a great story.
In Bookgirl, some of the ancient gods and others plotted against Bookgirl
on the Isle of Skye. It has some
supernatural attachments. This is
something I need to work out and develop for Eoghan.
Here's what I’ve put together. In Aine, I need to have Eoghan reinvigorate
the Red Branch and it’s training on the Isle of Skye. This will require some great changes in
Eoghan and in his own development and operations. This will also allow Eoghan to get involved
with Seoirse and Rose which should be very fun especially with Aine. I also want to get Anu or Bookgirl involved
in some way although Bookgirl is completely the opposite of Aine and Rose. Both Aine and Rose are very martial minded
and action oriented. Anu or Bookgirl is
quiet, gentle, reticent, and the divine feminine—she isn’t adverse to fighting
or defending, but she is not interested in fighting as a way or life or
activity. She is a being who needs
defending for her own sake and the sake of Britain. This could play well in Aine too. The confrontations between the characters
will be very fun. Rose and Aine are close
enough in personality to be sisters and sisters usually fight all the
time. Anu is a great peacemaker and
forgiver like Essie the Aos Si. Rose and
Aine will not be able to fight against Anu, but Morven is pretty explosive and
will defend Anu as her priestess. All
this should be very fun to write in Aine.
So, I have a telic flaw and a potential
resolution that will bring Eoghan to the telic flaw resolution for the novel
Aine. Now to how we move forward toward
the climax and from the initial scene.
That’s next.
I do need to clean out the breadcrumbs,
but I think I’ll wait just a little longer.
Once we have some concrete idea of where the telic flaw resolution can
go or will go, we can begin to write toward it.
Now, this is a very important point.
This is the novel and the entirety of the rising action we are writing
about. This is about 350 pages of a
100,000 word novel. It’s almost 18
chapters of the novel. The initial scene
sets us off, but the telic flaw resolution drives to the climax and the rising
action is all about getting us to the climax.
I can’t express this with more importance. This is the novel.
Indeed, the initial scene sets up, sells,
and continues to sell your novel, but the rising action is what really
entertains your readers. I’ve written
this before. A well written, cohesive,
exciting, and entertaining rising action is much better than any kind of
amazing climax. Most of the time, your
readers will forgive you for a weak climax, but will destroy you for a poor
rising action. It makes sense. The climax is a single scene—the rising
action is about 18 chapters of scenes.
Those 18 chapters are what you have to win the hearts and minds of your
readers. The climax is just an end
point. You really want your readers to
be excited, flushed, and entertained as they come to the climax, but they
should also be sad because the wonderful characters and novel will soon be
coming to an end. I’ll write about this
some more in a moment.
At the end of the initial scene and when
you have some idea of the telic flaw resolution set in concrete, is the point
where many writers bring out the outline.
That is, they begin an outline for their novel. I do recommend this if you are an
outliner. The most I want from an
outline is the general outline for the classical novel and the outline for
scene development. These are simple
enough and generic enough to always be of use.
I don’t use an outline to write the rising action. You might ask, how do I write it and keep the
novel going in the correct direction?
Let me start and then give you an even
more detailed answer after that. If I
know where I’m going, the telic flaw resolution, I know where I started, the
initial scene, I know my characters, and I have my initial setting, I can begin
to write a great and cohesive rising action.
The purpose of the rising action is, indeed, to get us to the climax in
an entertaining and exciting way where the characters and their lives are
revealed to us. Remember, the rising
action (and the entire novel) is a revelation of the protagonist. The point is to reveal the protagonist. How can you do this without going off track
or writing extraneous stuff?
The answer is, of course, the telic flaw
resolution. Everything from the initial
scene, and even the initial scene must track with the relic flaw
resolution. That’s how everything stays
on track. I really want to get into an
example for you. I guess I’ll take a
little more time for that today.
In Aine, the end of the initial scenes
result in Aine being enamored of Eoghan and with the desire to make him shine
and achieve his goals in life. This is
her goal and desire. Notice, it is also
the telic flaw resolution of the novel in less concrete terms. The characters don’t have any idea what the
telic flaw resolution could be and I haven’t even applied the “impossible until
inevitable” resolution line. They don’t
know and the readers have no idea. The
point is revelation.
Once Aine and Eoghan get things settled in
the park (and I expect a couple of battles to get stuff locked down), we have
to take the lady home, and that’s the problem.
Aine is a belligerent Irish goddess who will always have her way. Eoghan’s mother is an intentionally isolated
and private person who has incredible power and skills outside of normal human
understanding. You don’t and can’t
really oppose her. When these two get
together, there will be hell to pay. Add
to that Eoghan’s sister who is a real kin to Aine, but with less experience and
less force. In any case, I shall
continue from here about moving from the initial scene into the rising
action. That’s next.
The most important idea from the initial
scene is the output. That output creates
the input for the next scene. In this
way, the author will never lack for the start of the next scene. Likewise, the scene setting is just an
extension of the input. For example, I
mentioned that Eoghan must take Aine home.
The output from the initial scene and scenes is that Eoghan and Aine
make their own peace and agreement. This
will definitely not be any kind of full on peace accord. I picture Eoghan being acquiescent and Aine
being pushy. Aine is completely
insistent that she is now part of Eoghan’s house and household. She would claim the position of wife or
matriarch. What else would you do for
the man who released you from a thousand year prison. Eoghan might be the only person in the UK or
Scotland who could ever do such a thing.
Aine is completely aware of this.
Her goal is simply to retain what she has. Life has moved on since she was
imprisoned. Those who imprisoned her are
dead and without any care about her life or existence. Aine is wary, but not too worried. She should be. The world is much different than she is used
to. I plan for Eoghan and his sister
Aife (Eva) to help. This should be a
very fun approach and writing.
As I wrote, Aine was rescued from horrible
imprisonment by Eoghan, and they together resolve Eoghan’s problem. The output of the initial scene(s) is for
Aine and Eoghan to plan to go home. This
is naturally what would happen. Eoghan
lives at home with his overly protective mother and his not so overly
protective father, plus his sister. Why
wouldn’t he go back home? Where else
would he go. This is an obvious point to
me, but seems to elude some authors. The
natural output from a scene is the natural output from a scene. The scenes move with the natural flow of the
world and life. There is no reason,
except in a TV drama, for the author to do anything else. I’m being a little silly, but have you
noticed that some shows and movies especially take the characters to places and
settings that are absurd and illogical.
It’s as if the product placement or the setting placement fees just made
them go there and not logic at all.
In a novel output proceeds to input in
some logical fashion. You can have
obvious scene breaks, and in this I mean, scenes that don’t follow the natural
course of output to input. For example,
I might segue from a direct scene with the protagonist to another scene about
the protagonist but with other characters discussing him or her or plotting
against him or her. And this comes to
the entire idea I want to promote as we move from the initial scene into the
rising action.
The idea of what the telic flaw resolution
looks like allows the author to move in the proper direction and with the
proper movement. For example, we move
the scenes in the normal manner from output to input, but the point of the
scene output is to move from the scene toward the telic flaw resolution. We really only get to this in the scene
design.
I wrote last time that I don’t outline my
novels or really the scenes. I write
notes at the end of my scenes defining future scenes and especially the next
scene. I might write myself notes for
scenes further ahead, but for me, an output goes to an input and requires that
development to the next output. The
point is the output of the scenes with some planning to get to the output. That output always supports the input from my
scenes and in my novels. I only know
that the telic flaw resolution is the endpoint and each scene must support that
development in the novel. This is how
you keep your scenes on track, and your novel on track. This is also how you keep your writing moving
along. As I wrote, the rising action
(and the novel) is the revelation of the protagonist. That is what you are doing and writing. The novel is kept on track as long as the
revelation always moves toward the telic flaw resolution. That is the idea of developing it as a
concrete idea. In the sense of Eoghan, we
must move Eoghan from the point of where he is physically, mentally, and
emotionally to the point we have defined as the telic flaw resolution. A lot of entertainment and excitement should
move him and the novel forward. That’s
the whole idea.
I’ll try to be more specific and give you
more ideas, next.
The concrete plan for Eoghan and Aine is
to move the novel toward Eoghan’s training and control of the men and man part
of the Isle of Skye and the Red Branch.
I don’t know if I want to have him actually start it or to have him just
invigorate and move into it, however, the point of all of this is to have a
hard telic flaw resolution. I’ll add
that these goals although concrete are not action oriented or climax oriented. We also need a singular type event that
drives the telic flaw resolution and caps the climax. This would usually be some military or
training based event that ensures the reader and the characters get the
point—Eoghan has reached the climax and the telic flaw resolution. This is indeed what we write to in the rising
action. I must add that everything in
the rising action must drive toward these concrete and specific ends. That is, every detail of the rising action
must support this movement. That doesn’t
mean the rising action is one tracked, but it does mean each part and point of
the rising action must push toward the telic flaw resolution. You can’t go on a side track unless that side
track directly supports the end climax.
Your characters can’t go on a vaca unless
the vaca is all about how to get to the climax.
That wouldn’t be so odd if for example Aine and Eoghan went off to train
together to achieve the proper end. It’s
a stretch, but a potential. There is
much more imbedded in this tale that drives directly toward the action of the
climax. I’m planning to have all kinds
of fun stuff happening connected to Eva, Rose, Seoirse, Anu, Morven, and all
their friends and relations. Eoghan’s mother
will not take to Aine or Eoghan’s desires well.
When Eva follows them and works with them, there will be hell to
pay. I’ll not make their mother the
antagonist, or I might. I’d rather pull
from the supernatural and the natural bucket for the antagonist. What does that mean?
Well, I’ve turned prior characters and
protagonists into antagonists before, so it could work, but I do like to take
classical enemies of the modern world: Soviets, Russians, Chinese, and the
like, and turn them into antagonists. I
also like to take the supernatural and make them positive characters as well as
negative and antagonist type characters.
For example, the evil god or goddess, or the evil supernatural being
like a dragon or other national creature.
I’ve used two of the four Chinese beasts as antagonists. I have used many Gaelic and Celtic gods and
goddesses as antagonists. I haven’t used
many British supernatural creatures as antagonists because most are historically
neutral. It’s possible, and I did use
the Unseelie in Children of Light and Darkness as the end boss and telic
flaw resolution. The Unseelie and the
Seelie are usually too neutral from mythos to make evil. I just try to keep them in that neutral state
while also using them for a little horror and fear in the novels. Just because a bear is neutral doesn’t mean
it is not dangerous. The natural power
and danger of the Fae are a very potent power in my novels, but they aren’t
usually evil as much as just Fae.
The idea is to create a circumstance and a
situation that confounds the protagonist and the protagonist’s helper and
requires them to act on their desires and use their skills. That should be some threat to them and to the
lands, the United Kingdoms nation state.
This gives play to Eoghan’s natural abilities and to Aine’s
capabilities. Here is what I’ve written
about Aine before:
Áine 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.
The only real power she has is the ability
to shapeshift into a red horse. She
can’t control the sun perhaps she can control sunlight to some degree. She can’t make wealth, she can bless with the
ability to make wealth. In other words,
she’s a good entrepreneur. She can’t
make summer, but she thrives in the summer.
She can’t affect the moon or the earth or overall nature, but perhaps
she can affect nature. In my other
novels, Ceridwen could make things grow outside their time and make them bloom
and create grain and other parts of nature.
In most of my novels, the powers of the
gods and goddesses are limited and very specific. That’s what I intend for Aine in this
novel. The end of the initial scene will
be the integration of her into the life of Eoghan. This should be very fun. Aine is almost a completely opposite person
to him. She will want to mold him and he
will want to mold her. The tension in
that will be stupendous.
This is the Aine who will help guide
Eoghan on his way. I’ll get more into
the ideas of writing the rising action from input to output, next.
I think it is obvious to see how writing
from the output of the scene to the input of the next scene easily moves the
plot along, or at least the writing along.
If you have a concrete or nearly concrete telic flaw resolution in mind,
this drives the output of each scene. I
haven’t begun to write Aine, so I really can’t say where the novel is going
from a full on understanding. I am
currently writing Bookgirl, and I’m still working on the action for the telic
flaw resolution.
I have pretty much reached a good
resolution for the overall telic flaw.
Morven and Bookgirl have achieved a stable life and Bookgirl is making
inroads in the world, and it’s not just in the fashion world. The problem is an action resolution of the
telic flaw. I’m thinking a conflict that
brings a whole bunch of beings into play.
Already, I’ve set the stage for a deific conflict. Bookgirl has taken her place as Anu—her
mother a goddess and her unknown Scottish god father set up everything for
her. Anu has achieved some great
notoriety in the world of the Gaelic and Celtic gods and goddesses, but her
mother has produced enemies for her. I’d
like to have a conflict where all of Bookgirl’s supporters come to her
rescue. We can see who her father is and
that would wrap up the novel. The
problem is the conflict. I’ve really set
up Anu or Bookgirl as an Essie type character.
Essie makes enemies because she is who she is. Her enemies are the Fae. Essie is too earthly and homely for
them. On the other hand, Anu or Bookgirl
is beautiful and cultured. She is
exactly what the Fae want in a Queen except that she is not a warrior or a
conqueror. This is what eventually Aine
will bring to the table. Aine isn’t a
warrior either, but she is a goddess of warriors and of a culture. Anu is a goddess of the feminine and
nature. Anu is the goddess of the calm
and Aine is the goddess of excitement and the extreme. They share traits on either side of the
spectrum. Where Anu would be protected,
Aine would be doing the protecting. I
intend to use this tension well in Aine.
For now, I’m looking at Bookgirl and the climax. As I wrote, I like to write from scene to
scene, the purpose is to build the scene with an output that continually points
to the telic flaw resolution, and that’s just how we do it.
As you design the plot for the scene, your
purpose is to develop the output so it always leads to the telic flaw
resolution. When you have a concrete
idea for a resolution, you can push the output toward that resolution. It might take many scenes to eventually get
to the climax, but the knowledge of where you are going with the writing should
get you there.
With Bookgirl, I’m counting on a conflict
between those who oppose her and her new kingdom over the Fae and with the
other gods and goddesses. Anu makes
friends and has strong helpers and representatives. This is what is important in the overall
resolution and scheme of the novel. This
is also what Anu (Bookgirl’s) mother and father planned. One of the old fashioned plots I used in the
novel is the fated plot. It isn’t what
you think. The point of this type of
fated plot is that Anu’s parents because of their guilt put in motion a series
of future events that would lead directly to Anu being able to take her place
in the world. I thought this would be a
fun and entertaining idea for the modern reader who is used to the messiah
plots, but mine isn’t any kind of messiah plot, more like whimsy from a goddess
and a god to be helicopter parents for their child who really isn’t interested
in being like they are. This is a big
theme in the novel. I find it very
positive. In other words, kind of like
the plot where the parents have everything worked out for their child, but the
child makes something very different and much better out of it. I think that’s an unusual plot today, but one
that has legs and resonates with readers.
I like it, and that’s what matters.
It also helps develop a fun novel.
Where from here? I’m really not finished with the rising
action to the climax. I’ll give more
examples and help focus my own writing, next.
With a concrete action developed for the
climax, now we can write toward it. The
point is to create the outputs for every scene to support the telic flaw
resolution. The scene outputs must keep
moving the ball toward the climax, but each scene output is tailored to the
scene from the input through the scene.
This is relatively simple, but I am an advocate of letting the scenes
write themselves. What I mean by that is
that as an author, I know where I’m going—the output of the scene based on the
planned climax, and I write the scene letting the characters, their actions,
and their conversation build the scene in an exciting and entertaining
way. This works well for me, but isn’t
for everyone.
I definitely don’t outline, but I write
ideas at the end of the scene and notes on fun things that should happen in the
novel. Here is a for instance. In Bookgirl, I wrote a note to myself that I
needed a whiskey scene where Bookgirl first gets a taste of alcohol. I’m not sure I like the scene, but I wrote it
based on my notes and the Christmas party Bookgirl asked one of her retainers
to give. As I wrote to you, I’m not
happy with the scene. It might grow on
me.
What I envisioned was a scene at Briarashe
or at Lyons’ house where Bookgirl would get a little tipsy. The way it worked out was Sithech, the wolf
guy, provided a little whiskey and wine tasting for Bookgirl in honor of the
visit and the party. The scene is pretty
quiet compared to what I imagined and the tension just isn’t there. Bookgirl’s other helpers Morven and Sorcha
are busy with other retainers. The scene
was a meh for me. I’m not sure if I will
rewrite it or give it another go with a determined Bookgirl at Lyons’ house
insisting on a little Scotch Whiskey. We
shall see. That might give me the
excitement and entertainment I need for the next scene. I intend to have Bookgirl come back to see
Mrs. Long for Christmas, and that will be the perfect setup. At the same time, Bookgirl is gathering her
forces and retainers, her representatives to protect from the others who are
not happy with the changes in their world.
It really isn’t Bookgirl’s fault.
I already wrote that I’m including an
intentional fate plot in Bookgirl. It’s
the setup from her mother and father and not her fault at all. The fun part of the fate plot is that
although it isn’t the fault of the protagonist, they get blamed, and then you
can off them like a good Greek tragedy or let them live, like a good Greek
comedy. Bookgirl is a comedy. I’ll make it look like an impossible
resolution until it is inevitable.
That’s the way with modern fiction.
I’ll see if I can dredge up anything more
that will help with the rising action to the climax—if not, I’ll just move to
the climax. That’s next.
The initial scene is the most important
scene in the novel, however, we need to move to the body of the novel. The body of the novel is the rising
action. This is the revelation of the
protagonist. The revelation of the
protagonist is the part of the novel that really makes and develops your
novel. This is the part of the novel
that really makes the novel and builds what your readers love about your
novel.
The revelation of the protagonist is the
novel. The initial scene turns on the
novel and sells it, but the rising action is what sells your next novel. This is the part your readers either love or
hate. If they love it, you will sell
more novels and build your fanbase.
Eventually, you have to get to the climax.
I’m of the opinion that the climax really
isn’t that important to your fanbase or your sales either future or
current. Don’t get me wrong, the climax
is important, but I don’t think it’s as important as the initial scene and the
rising action. Why? I’ve read some great novels that have
terrible climaxes. I shouldn’t call them
terrible, let’s call them just not that great of climaxes.
I use the example of Dragonsong and
Dragonsinger as great examples of a very beautiful and gentle,
non-action based, climax. I advise an
action based climax, but the gentle climax is still a great possibility. The modern climax should be an impossible
resolution until it becomes inevitable, and there are many many ways to design
and develop this kind of climax. I love
the idea of the gentle climax, but I rarely do it. I want a climax with some meat on it. What am I writing to you? I want you to understand the depth and the
variability of the climax. I also want
you to know that many novels with a weak climax can have a wonderful revelation
of the protagonist (rising action) and still be an amazing and beloved novel. Just look around at modern novels and older
ones and you will see exactly what I mean.
Look a the Victorian Era novels. Very few have action based climaxes. A few do, but most are pretty obvious and
move in a very predictable fashion. We
see some standouts like the Moonstone, but even Dracula or all
the Bronte Sisters, Dickens, and to some degree Goerge Elliot give us
predictable climaxes. In fact, the
predictability of the climax for the Victorians and later at the beginning of
the Modern Era, is a feature of most novels.
Just look at the early novels.
The means of resolution is many times in question, but the resolution is
expected. The reader is usually not
surprised by the resolution.
In a modern and great novel, we expect the
resolution, but it looks impossible. The
reader should always be surprised by the resolution of the telic flaw, but then
state, it was inevitable. That means
they say, I knew it even if they didn’t have a clue.
There is more to this, and I’ll try to
help explain how this works, next.
We are aiming for the climax. As you write a novel, we need a great initial
scene, then as we begin to build the revelation of the protagonist in the
rising action, we design a concrete and action based climax (telic flaw
resolution). We want a telic flaw
resolution that appears to be impossible, but in the climax becomes inevitable.
Now, about the climax. There is more than one way to write a
climax. I’m intrigued by the non-action
based climax like the ones in Dragonsong and Dragonsinger, but
I’m not certain I’ve ever written a non-action based climax. I’m intrigued by such a climax because they
can be very poignant and filled with pathos.
A pathos building and bearing climax is always a great kind of climax,
but such a climax usually doesn’t fit with an action based scene. The action based climax is what I recommend
because it is the easiest to build to look impossible until it is
inevitable.
I’m not really a fan of slow-rolling your
readers, but some authors do use this to create the idea of the impossible
resolution. The way you work toward a
resolution that looks impossible is to set up a situation that appears to never
be resolvable. This is entirely based on
your telic flaw, so it is difficult to make simple rules on how to make such a
climax. I can write this, the action
based climax is relatively easy to write to, and it usually provides
significant capability to look impossible.
The means of resolution must be reason and logic based. I’ll try not to confuse you with this
information.
If you haven’t noticed, many
unsophisticated movies, shows, novels, kids books, have an overwrought premise
with a resolution and climax that depends on guts or physical strength to
resolve the telic flaw. Fore example,
the many cartoon or just movies where the protagonist just has to use courage,
guts, and strength to win. I think this
kind of climax is just stupid. This is
also difficult to make impossible and then inevitable. What you want is for your protagonist to
cultivate some special skill that will make the resolution possible, but that
the protagonist uses in an unexpected but reasoned way to resolve the
problem. For example, if the protagonist
is facing an adversary in a sword fight.
The skill of the protagonist with the sword must be either developed or
presented as a high skill from the beginning of the novel. The author provides foreshadowing for the use
of the skill. When the fight in the
climax begins, the protagonist should be in control, but the skill of his or
her adversary should be very powerful.
The protagonist should use some trick or rational capability as a sword
fighter that the reader can recognize from the earlier parts of the novel, and
then are used in some special way to beat the antagonist or the adversary.
This is how I closed out the action climax
in A Season of Honor, the protagonist, Shaun du Locke fought a master
swordsman before the Emperor for the honor and right to marry Elina Acier. During the sword fight, Shaun was injured and
his success looked impossible. In fact,
the entire situation look impossible to resolve for their love and
marriage. During the climax, the details
of Shaun’s knowledge and planning made each problem fall, almost like a cascade
of dominoes. In the end, the final domino
to fall is the fight. Shaun must win,
but his injury makes success look impossible.
Do you see how we can turn an action based climax into looking
impossible. This is a classic method for
climax development. Shaun makes a
stunning move in swordplay and allows himself to be further injured by taking
the blade of his opponent through his arm thus locking the blade and allowing
him to disarm his opponent. This is a
trick of reason, unexpected, but possible that allows him to win all. It also allows the development of pathos in
the reader for the protagonist. The win
looks impossible until it is inevitable.
That’s just one example.
I’ll provide some more, next.
I haven’t gotten to the falling action
yet, but this can be a very important part of getting from the climax to the
end of the novel. I should approach this
in this fashion. You can have many types
of climaxes. For example, we usually
imagine a climax as action oriented and a single scene that resolves the telic
flaw, however, that might be the most common type of climax and the most
evident, but there are other ways of moving from the rising action to the
falling action.
For example, my novel Aksinya:
Enchantment and the Daemon, has an extended climax. The rising action ends with a kind of
intermittent climax, but it is only an action sequence that divides the novel
from the rising acting to an extended climax.
In this extended climax, Aksinya is tried by ecclesiastical and secular
authorities. This could be considered
part of the rising action because there is another action based climax at the
end that does resolve the telic flaw. I
just put this forward as a type of extended climax that doesn’t fit the
norm.
I already mentioned the climaxes in Dragonsong
and Dragonsinger. These are
non-action based climaxes and also very standard old-school types of a
climax. When I write old-school, I mean
the type of climax where the buildup is predictable and yet very relieving. In other words, you can see the climax and
resolution coming and when it does you feel such a marvelous release of
tension. This is a classic type of climax. It does work very well.
Part of the point of an extended climax is
to give a greater and greater impression of the impossibility of the resolution
just before the happens and is suddenly inevitable.
The length of the falling action can be
strongly related to the type and action of the climax. I’m not ready to get into the falling action
yet, but consider many of the Victorian and definitely old-school novels and
climaxes. These almost always have some
degree of long falling action. If you
remember some of these novels, usually you wish the writer had cleaned up many
of the points made in the falling action before. I keep wishing he or she would just finish
the novel. Where the rising action is
supposed to excite and intrigue us, the only purpose for the falling action is
to get us to the last page and the dénouement.
You can’t have your readers longing for
the dénouement. I’m sure there is more
to write about the climax before we move into the falling action. That’s next.
I’ve been trying to help explain about the
climax. I’ve identified different kinds
of climaxes. Mainly, I’ve written about
the quiet or non-action based climax.
These come early in time as a development in Victorian and earlier novels. That’s not to say the action based climax isn’t
found in early literature, but the gentle non-action based climax from the drawing
room is more common. It fits in the
context of the novels. However, I also
have written about the modern climax.
In the modern climax, the telic flaw
resolution looks impossible until it is inevitable. The design of the climax is easier and
stronger for this type of modern climax when it is action based. At the same time, I noted the non-action
based climaxes in Dragonsong and Dragonsinger as modern writing
with a great quiet climax. These are unusual
novels for the modern era, but still great examples of how to write a climax.
I also have written that most of the
climaxes in my novels are action based and modern. The telic flaw resolution looks impossible
until it is inevitable. The climax resolution
happens because of action by the protagonist against the antagonist. This is usually the classic design of the
climax. How to design the climax comes
out of classic literature too.
Before anyone every thought of a quiet climax,
the Greek plan was to kill off either the protagonist (tragedy) or the
antagonist (comedy). That’s all you have
to do. The Greeks weren’t simplistic,
but what better way to end the story than to either kill off the bad guy or the
good guy. That’s the way their world
worked. That’s also the way about 90% of
all stories in the modern world work. We
have become a little more gentle and wimpy, but that’s just because modern people
are wimps. The modern person will act
all moralistic until someone threatens them and then they cry and whine in
hopes they don’t die. They usually die
first. That’s the lesson of the Greeks—your
enemies will kill you if they can—you need to kill them first. It makes great literature and movies. Remember the 300 Spartans (there were 1000
Athenians, but they didn’t write the story, the Spartans did)?
So back to the model of the ancient world
climax—kill off the protagonist for a tragedy and the antagonist for a
comedy. We can modify this for a more
modern approach or the world—either let the protagonist fail (tragedy) or let
the antagonist fail (comedy). Simple as
that. For example, your telic flaw might
be the protagonist starts a successful business. You can have them succeed, that’s a comedy or
fail, that’s a tragedy. Cleaner and less
death and destruction—the Greeks would be sad.
You can expand this idea into a host of
other telic flaw resolutions. Think
romance—the Greeks wouldn’t, but have the protagonist win the girl, comedy—his opponent
(antagonist) gets the girl, tragedy.
Easy peasy.
How about this, protagonist kills the antagonist,
but the antagonist comes back to life—Harry Potty in the flesh. You could actually make a climax statement
like a theme statement based on your protagonist, antagonist, telic flaw
resolution, and setting. You really
could dump the setting. Let’s actually
do this. I’ll develop a climax statement
for Bookgirl and Aine and see how that works.
I’ll also pepper that with examples from other writing and novels. That’s next.
So, here is a new idea—how about a climax
statement to help develop a great climax.
I’m not sure where this will go, but it’s worth thinking about and
writing about.
To tell you the truth, the concept of
developing the climax is difficult, and I don’t think it’s just me. I really haven’t put a huge part of my
thinking toward it because it’s relatively rare and not nearly as fresh as the
initial scene. Plus, I’ve never heard of
this before. I’m sure someone has
thought about it, but then again, I put engineering ideas to non-engineering
areas all the time.
Why not a short climax statement to help
guide the climax development. To do
this, as I wrote yesterday, we need a protagonist, an antagonist, a telic flaw
to resolve, and potentially a setting. I
also concluded you could scratch the setting, but I might still include
it. I’ll start with Bookgirl, and see
where we can go.
The protagonist for Bookgirl is Bookgirl. It’s Siobhàn, but that’s too hard to write
because of the Gaelic accent on the last a, so Bookgirl. The antagonist looks like it’s coming down to
Cernunnos, the Celtic god of the forests and his homies. He doesn’t have much support because Bookgirl
as Anu is a very popular person and goddess.
I’m already setting Cernunnos up for failure. I expect some degree of action, but Bookgirl
is more of an Essie than a war goddess.
Morven and Bookgirl’s allies will have to fight with and for her. There is the rub. Bookgirl is potentially dangerous and very
powerful, but she is reticent and gentle.
Her allies will have to fight for her, and that’s where the telic flaw resolution
will have to resolve. I see this climax
as more of an affirmation of the power and control of Anu (Bookgirl) rather
than a fight or real competition. This
isn’t necessarily a quiet climax, but it isn’t an all out fight. I’ll make the climax look impossible by the
actions of Cernunnos, but end with the inevitable when Anu overbears Cernunnos
and his allies from the inside out. I do
need to think about this a little. What
does a climax statement look like.
This is more than a statement, it’s a
paragraph, but I state the obvious. This
might be what is necessary for such a scene.
I’ve got everything together—the only tie I wanted to make that I didn’t
is with Robar, the Gaelic god of the Oak.
I could add him into the paragraph, but his output is that Sorcha gains
her secret house and holdings in Nottingham.
She also gains her position as the Lady Sorcha of Sherwood House. This is important for the novel Sorcha:
Enchantment and the Curse and then Rose: Enchantment and the Flower.
All these novels tie into one
another. I should tie them closer based
on this new novel.
For a first attempt, this is good. I have an idea for the climax and some solid
pieces. I need to do the same for
Aine. I will note that Bookgirl is up to
chapter 16 and I haen’t started on Aine.
Perhaps I should look backwards rather than forwards. I’ll see where I go next with this idea of
the climax statement.
There’s more.
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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