Writing Historical Fiction, part 7 Into the Past

All right, we are moving into the realm of esoterics.  The question is what is the point of historical fiction?  To answer this question we need to look at the three aspects of a novel: storyline, plot, and theme.  Obviously, the storyline has to convey some degree of adventure or mystery--entertainment, remember entertain your readers.  In a historical fiction novel, the storyline must convey the entertaining aspects of the life or portion of the life of your characters in a way that is entertaining to your readers.  Therefore, the storyline must be steeped in the times.  This is where the true voice of the times and culture come out.  This is where you must be completely true to the historical times and place.  The storyline may be contrived, but not the setting and thinking of your characters.  The historical view is contained within the storyline.  So what about the plot?  The plot is the pattern of events that make up the larger narrative.  In the plot, you must also hold to the basic historical view of the times that is conveyed in the storyline, but there is a larger point in it.  The storyline must be made up of real elements, elements that are not out of place in the times of your novel.  The plot may not stray from historical accuracy, but the pattern of events may not be from history at all.  You might follow a character little known in the history of the world or who is a complete fabrication.  The events of the storyline are real in terms of the past, the plot may deviate, not in history, but in the overall pattern of events, because, ultimately, your theme will hopefully not be the same as any other novel.  In fact, your theme will hopefully be unique to your time and views.  That is the point of the theme and that is the point of a historical novel.  You convey to your readers a theme that is wholly yours and wholly your time, but that is wrapped perfectly in a historical plot and storyline. 

Let's be very clear, your theme cannot be a convenient fiction to get across your personal message.  For example, historical fiction is likely not the best means to get across an anti-religious theme.  To do so would compromise the storyline and plot.  Historical fiction is likely not the best way to get across many modern ideas--they are too foreign to the past.  Many themes have been plumbed a little too much in historical fiction, and some are just trite.  For example, an anti-slavery theme would be great for the 1800s but a little overwrought today.  An anti-patriarchal theme would fit in the early 1900s, but not so much in the 21st century.  A closer novel to today would better convey these themes.  The most powerful themes for historical fiction are comparative themes.  Those that draw comparisons from the past and lure the reader into the past to then spit them back up into the real world with a piece of the golden fleece or a golden apple in their hands.  The greater the differences and the greater the comparisons, the more powerfully the theme can draw and affect your readers.  So, examples...

Dana-ana http://www.goddessnovel.com/ is a historical fiction themed novel in a modern setting--it likely would not count as historical fiction.  It pulls a character from the past into the modern world and allows the readers to see, by comparison, the strengths and weaknesses of the Anglo-Saxon culture.  Especially, the religious fervor of Dana-ana becomes apparent.  The direct comparison is to the view of religion in the modern world.  The difference is the way Dana-ana goes about her experience of life, love, and religion.  The theme is about redemption.

Aegypt http://www.aegyptnovel.com/ is a historical fiction novel in a historical setting--1926.  Its theme asks ultimate questions about what might be true.  It puts up four competing arguments.  First, is truth only in what we believe?  Second, is truth only in what we perceive?  Third, is truth only in what we know?  Fourth, is truth only in what we can understand?  This is the theme, the storyline and the plot are very different because it is not a philosophical treatise, it is a fiction novel.  The point of the novel is to use historical comparisons to bring up and answer these questions in the mind of the reader.

Centurion http://www.centurionnovel.com/ is a historical fiction novel that follows the life of a known historical person, the Centurion who executed Christ.  It posits a very historically based theme about the difference between belief and truth.  The point it asks of the reader is why would the Centurion at the foot of the cross say, "Surely this was the son of God."  This is the theme of the novel.

So in historical fiction, the theme may be historically based, or not.  The storyline and plot must be.

Writing a Novel, How I Start part 10

This topic is by no means complete.  There is so much more to delve into just about starting a novel, but I think it is time to clean this topic up a little and move on to another.  So I'll finish with this.  First, the four 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.
The last rule has a double implication--it implies "show don't tell."  This is, of course, the basic rule of writing--show don't tell.  Arlo Guthrie's book, A Field Guide to Fiction Writing, is easily the writer's manual on this topic.  I won't go into anymore details today.

The second point that I haven't touched on yet is the idea itself.  If you want to write a novel, you need a novel length idea--an inspiration.  No cheating.  Although it can be a good exercise, it doesn't do to take your favorite author, movie, program, novel, or anything else and write a similar novel.  It is silly to think you can be successful by copying any work and producing something similar.  To be your novel, the ideas have to be novel.  The problems with many works today is they are too similar to other works, they have a voice that is too like other works, or they are so trivial, they are meaningless.  That's the other side of the coin.  A work that has a trivial theme, plot, or storyline is not going to be successful and will likely not get published in the first place.  The question of what is "trivial" is a difficult one.  I can tell you that if you have more than one unique miraculous incident in your novel, it is likely trivial.  We call these a deus ex machina, a god machine.  A novel can spin from a singular unique setting or event, but when they keep happening, the work's credibility becomes a question.  For example, although I don't buy it and few readers will (unless you absolutely build it properly) love at first sight is a cliched and deus ex moment.  A novel based on "love at first sight" might have a chance in the hands of an absolute expert writer, but the theme is so old and has been used so much that no one will believe it today.  Further, if the theme and plot of such a novel isn't "love at first sight," any other unique event that propels the novel will become trite and unbelievable.  Your novel can't become trite.  Unique events can flow from one another in the novel based on the singular circumstances developed in the novel, but those must come logically from the others.

Example from Dana-ana http://www.goddessnovel.com/.  Dana-ana is about a girl who acts like an Anglo-Saxon maiden although she lives in the modern world.  The plot is basically wrapped in a question:  who really is Dana-ana?  It is a revelation novel.  That is, it reveals more and more through the characters to the point where everyone, at the end, finally gets just who is Dana-ana.  The storyline develops around this revelation.  The unique point of the book is Dana-ana herself--everything in the novel flows from this simple evidence.  Everything becomes explicitly concrete because of who Dana-ana is.  The reader is grounded and funnelled into the story because of this singular point.  Further, the theme is about redemption.  It is the redemption of Dana-ana herself and the redemption of those around her.  Why does Dana-ana need redemption?  That is bound up in who Dana-ana really is.  So, you can see, a single unique existence propels the novel.  There are magic and somewhat miraculous happenings in Dana-ana, but it is a fantasy-like novel with a fantastic plot.  Those magic and miraculous happenings are not unique in the structure of the novel--just as future technology is not unique in a science fiction novel.  When the basis is future technology or magic, the events are no longer unique, they are common, but that is a topic worth more discussion.

I hope this short 10 part explanation of how I start to write a novel was helpful.  I think I'll talk more about inspiration tomorrow.  Until then...

Sequence of and in Scenes, How I Start part 7

Sequence within and of scenes is an interesting question.  What I mean by sequence is the time based formation of the action and of the scenes.  This applies to time within the context of the novel as well as your writing.  Let's take them separately.  First, time sequence in and of scenes.  You could experiment with non-sequential based time flow in a scene, but I don't do that.  I do like to use scenes in some novels to go back into the past (potentially into the future), but I like to keep these separated as scenes.  You don't have to, but one of my main concerns in writing is to not confuse my readers.  As an aside, here are two of my main rules of writing: entertain your readers and don't confuse them.  Scenes where the time or time sequence moves around will confuse your readers, so unless you really know what you are doing--don't  Likewise, you can take the reader to the past or future with a scene.  You can have overlapping time between scenes, but use caution.  This is where clear description is necessary.  You have to ground your readers in the scene.  Put that down as a basic rule too: ground your reader in each scene.  For example, I do like to intersperse scenes that take the reader out of the main storyline into another storyline that parallels the plot.  In Dana-ana, http://www.goddessnovel.com/, this means following the action of other characters for a scene and then jumping back to the original storyline.  Everything still supports the plot and the theme, it is just showing the reader new information from a different point of view (POV, point of view, is a whole other topic).  As long as you don't confuse your reader, these segues are great for them.  They build a level of excitement and at the same time make your readers long to get back to the main storyline.  Here's an example:

[end of scene with Macintyres (Dana's adopted family) after she left--Dana is the she]“She left of her own free will. I don’t think she’s coming back.”



[Beginning of the next scene--double break to set it off.  The first step is the setting]
Mata Hainsworth [already introduced in the novel earlier] leaned against the wall at the back of the Wellington Hotel. The fog was thick that evening. At his side stood two other men dressed in suits. One of them also carried a pouch at his side. He was short and had foxy features. The man with the pouch glanced around the corner of the building, “So Dana-ana made a blood vow to this boy.”

Mata laughed, “Yes she did. I heard every word. It seems her young man was already half convinced to dump her. My little confession just pushed him over the top.”

“She took it hard.”

“She’s in love, the little slut. It’s just as we hoped, she cast her blood when he released her and swore a blood oath.”

“So all we need to do now is tempt her little master to an accident, and she’ll do a death dance.”

The other man in the suit spoke up. He was very tall and broad shouldered. He seemed almost too large to be a normal person. His face and every other part of him that showed outside his clothing was very hairy, “You know it’s not as easy as that, Ailean. There are precautions we must take. Plus we need to lure them to a place she was restricted from—one of her ancient places of power. We must insure no interference from Ceridwen or the rest of the courts.”

“You are a spoilsport, Mahon.”

He held his nose and growled. The growl sounded distinctively animal-like, “And you two both stink so much of magic, you’re lucky I stick around to help you. I want to gag right now.”

“We all serve the same master, Mahon. You don’t have to get snotty.”

“Where is the girl anyway?”

Mata replied, “She’s searching for food in the bin on the other side of the building. That’s why I had us meet here.”

“Good, I don’t want her to ever detect us. She’ll smell you two a mile away. We have to prevent any interference from Ceridwen. She swore to protect Dana-ana’s life. Dana-ana must give up her life willingly, otherwise, Ceridwen becomes involved.”

Ailean nodded, “That’s been the plan all along. Tell us something we don’t know.”

Mahon stared at him and lifted a thick lip, “If our master allowed me, I’d crush you puny human.”

Ailean started to sweat, “Well he hasn’t, so tell us what the plans are.”

“We are arranging a conflagration. We only want to target Dana-ana through the boy. That’s the difficult part. The details are still being attended to.”

“Will there be a place for magic?”

“Yes, very much. It will be a necessary part of the planning.”

“Good. When we get our revenge, Dana-ana needs to know just who pulled the trigger. That’s what will make it sweet. She must die slowly, very slowly. It would be best if while she did, the stink of magic would gag her, and she would drown in her own vomit.”

“Our master would like that very much. Perhaps it can be arranged.”

“It might be pleasant for her to be ravished just prior to the event.”

“You ask for too much, Mata. If she were ravished, that would surely bring Ceridwen and Dana-ana’s sisters down on our heads. You do not want that, I assure you.”

“Perhaps we could get the boy to do it. Ailaen’s skill is seduction magic.”

“That might be useful, but don’t plan too much. We are just putting the details together now. The most important part was her blood oath.”

“You figure out how to get them alone together, and we’ll ensure the boy rapes her.”

“I’ll warn you only once. Whatever you do, do not let it cause a failure of our plans. Our master wants her dead. That will roil the courts and Ceridwen. You want revenge. All our goals align with her death. If she doesn’t die, no one will be happy, especially our master.”
[End of scene-double break]

[Return to the main plot line]
On Wednesday, as Gwen left the hotel, she caught a glimpse of Dana. She grabbed her mother’s arm, “Mom, Dana’s following us.”

The above is an example of somewhat parallel storyline scenes.  The the scene is separate and gives the reader a glimpse of what is happening outside of the knowledge of the major characters.  This is a very effective method to build tension and excitement.  Note the beginning of both scenes, the main one I show you and the beginning of the next, firmly ground the reader right away.  A single sentence or paragraph is all that is necessary, but it is necessary.
 
Now the second part, about writing your scenes non-sequentially.  Sometimes you might be tempted to write one of the most exciting scenes that you envisioned in your scene outline before you get to it in your writing.  In other words as you are writing your novel, you might want to write some of the more exciting parts of it first and get to the rest later.  That might work for some, but I advise you--don't do it.  Don't do it for two reasons.  First, if certain scenes aren't exciting to you, they won't be exciting to your readers.  Second, I've found that the few times I've done this, I had to completely dump or revise the whole chapter or scene.  The reason is that writing a novel is a process, the characters and your understanding of the plot grows with the writing.  Usually when I finally write up to the point I already wrote, the circumstances of the input and sometimes the scene output have changed and the characters and plot have subtly changed.  The previous writing of the scene is stale or out of place, and I have to completely write it again.  This is what I explained about on Centurion www.CenturionNovel.com.  The short story I originally wrote that to a degree spurred the novel could not fit at all into the novel.  The characters were different and the circumstances (inputs and outputs) were different.  So my advice is to not write out of sequence, but this is not a rule for everyone.  Plus, if you do write in time sequence, you can later move the scenes around, if necessary, to fit the way the plot demands--if you need to.  Tomorrow, I'll talk about more subtle means to work with your characters in scenes.

Outlining in Scenes, How I Start part 6

I use scenes to outline the development of each chapter.  I also focus a chapter on a scene or scenes.  I unimaginatively write in chapters and aim for 20 pages or about 5000 to 6000 words per chapter.  This may not be the best way to write a novel, but it works for me.  I don't necessarily recommend using my technique of using a chapter length as a goal, but I do recommend using scenes as the center point and outline of the chapter.

Now here is how you focus your writing in scenes.  First, you must develop a theme for your novel.  I've written about themes before, and I will eventually get to it here one day.  Suffice to say, the theme must be somewhat universal, and it must not be trivial.  It doesn't have to be to save the world, but it should speak broadly and powerfully.  Once you have a theme (it should be written or in some way cohesive in your mind), you can move to the next step. 

Second, imagine the actions of your characters.  Imagine generally the exciting and interesting scenes that will paint them and your novel within the theme.  This is where you begin to design the plot and the storyline.  I have been using the terms plot and storyline separately but together since the beginning because, to me, these are two very separate things.  The plot is the pattern of events that make up the larger narrative, specifically it is the scenes put together cohesively to make the story that supports the theme.  The storyline is the entertaining line of events that make up the narrative.  Whoa, what's the difference.  The difference, in my mind is the theme.  I never want the theme to get in the way of the story.  This preoccupation with the storyline prevents this problem for me.  I first of all want my writing to be entertaining.  I don't intend to beat the reader with the theme, I want the theme to come out naturally as part of the plot as directed by the storyline.  My example is Shakespeare.  You know each of the plays has an underlying theme, the purpose of the play, overall, is to bring out this theme, but the author doesn't beat the theme over your head.  The first purpose of the plays is to entertain.  A reader who reads your work and is entertained will get the theme.  The reader who is not entertained will put down your work and walk away.  No read, no get the theme.  Your readers have to first read and enjoy your work.

Third, start to figure out how to get the action of each scene down on paper.  To keep this from being overwhelming, outline by scene with a general goal toward some resolution.  If you have a general resolution in mind, the novel will grow toward that resolution.  Usually, your theme supports this resolution.  For example, without giving everything away, I knew Dana-ana would be a novel of discovery.  Dana-ana has a great and horrible secret that she is prevented from sharing.  She doesn't want to share it because it is so horrible.  Because of her secret, groups seek to punish her and demand her death.  The resolution is when she must face this horrible secret.  Now, she confronts her secret at multiple levels: personally (with Byron and his family), individually (with herself), legally (she was punished for her actions), physically (others want her life because of her secret), and mentally (I don't tell you, you see the effects on her).  The novel drives to the conclusion that brings all these together.  This may sound very difficult.  It is if you try to go at it as a whole.  Don't.  I wrote each scene as an entertaining piece that drove toward the conclusion.  The scenes each had their input, event, and output.  These all pointed toward the conclusion.  Let me give you an example of this scene outlining.  First scene, input Dana stole lunches, event the fight, output Dana knocked out.  Second scene, input Dana knocked out, event Byron gets help for Dana, output Byron escorts Dana to her home.  Third scene, input Byron escorts Dana to her home, event Dana washes Byron's feet and speaks for the first time, output Byron leaves Dana's house--end of chapter.  First chapter ends cleanly and I need a new input for the first scene of the next chapter.  Second chapter first scene input is Byron notices Dana in homeroom and speaks to her... The scenes continue from there.  In every case, I try to provide an entertaining episode that drives the overall plot and theme.  The scenes are the storyline.  Tomorrow, I'll see if I can give you more on developing scenes. 

Writing in Scenes, How I Start part 2

Cover proposal

I write in scenes.  This is why all my novels are centered on a scene and a theme question that then develops into the overall plot and storyline.  The scene in my latest novel Dana-ana http://www.goddessnovel.com/ (working title Diana--still searching for a title) that started everything is the first one.  In it, Dana is being "beat up" by a couple of boys for stealing their girlfriends' lunches.  The main male character Byron intervenes but not before Dana is knocked out and partially pantsed.  The descriptions of the scene and Dana propel the narrative into the next scene.  Dana will not speak.  Her name is odd.  Her actions are odd.  The teachers intentionally allow her to be beaten--to teach her a lesson.  The next scene flows logically from the first--Byron takes her to the infirmary.  The nurse doesn't want Dana there.  She refuses to treat her.  When Dana finally wakes, her actions are odd and she still doesn't speak.  That flows to the next scene--Byron escorts her home.  Her home is a tarpaper shack and that flows to the next scene, etc. etc. (you can read the first chapter at http://www.goddessnovel.com/)  The scenes drive the entire novel.  Most of the scenes are conversational interaction bracketed by description.  The scenes drive the storyline and the plot.  The storyline is encapsulated in the scenes that together become the plot.  Each of the scenes drive the plot, and the theme is held together by that overall question.  As I mentioned before, the question in Diana is about an Anglo-Saxon maiden in the modern world.  

So this is how I write a novel.  It is certainly not how everyone approaches novel writing, but let me synopsize my approach.  I start with a scene and build from it.  I use an outline based on scenes.  I write each scene in order to build the storyline and the plot.  The scenes together turn into chapters which becomes a novel.  From such a tiny seed grows a 100,000 word work.  Tomorrow, I'll talk about writing a scene.  

Themes and Subthemes plus a little on Sexual Tension

Anyone who has read Boccaccio, Chaucer, or Shakespeare knows that most themes have been used multiple times by multiple writers. That doesn't mean there are or can be new themes to be delved or powerful themes that have not been explored enough. The purpose of artistry in writing is to package these themes in new wrappers so the message and the ideas are fresh.

One of the most powerful themes and subthemes is sexual tension. This theme is easily observed in works like Romeo and Juliette. This theme is incredibly powerful and is exploited in most non-juvenile novels where men and women interact. The interaction of adult men and women almost always requires some degree of sexual tension. Sexual tension can be developed in three separate spheres of thought: natural, ethical, and moral. Moral use of sexual tension is a classical theme and revolves around licit and illicit sex defined by the boundary of legal, acceptable, customary, or promised marriage. Marriage is the general goal and the theme is propelled by the promise or hope of marriage. This is the classical theme in much of English literature especially in the Victorian Era, but is a theme and subtheme in much if not most of English literature. Examples are easy to come by--the Bronte sisters, Shakespeare, Jane Austin, and all. A variant of this theme is breach of marriage and or adultery. Examples here are well known, The Scarlet Letter is just one.

In the Twentieth Century and following, the sexual theme has morphed into one of ethical or natural sexual tension. These themes and subthemes are pervasive and generally intellectually crippled. Instead of marriage, the end of the theme is sex itself or a sex act. This theme is usually simply a subtheme, but focuses in sexual longing and desire driven by various romance based ideas culminating in the sex act with or without marriage or a promise of marriage. Ethical sexual tension, by definition, culminates with a stated or implied promise of some type. Natural sexual tension, by definition, simply ends in sexual congress. There is not a lot an artist can do with natural or ethical sexual tension--it certainly cannot really drive the theme of a novel although many have tried.

The moral sexual theme is one that is still well used in literature and should be--successful reproduction is the focus of human existence. Without it there will be no people to read all that great literature. The main point here is this theme is both critical and essential to literature and I recommend using the moral sexual theme or sub-theme to appropriately propel your writing.

Now, I will provide one of my real writing secrets. One theme that has not been used much is sexual tension in a successful or positive marriage. In fact, I know of only a few novels that successfully exploit this theme. You can see examples, amazingly, in some movies. Most of the time, in literature, movies, and theater the theme of marriage focuses around failed or broken marriage with an end of the change of spouse.

I am writing novels www.ldalford.com to exploit the sub-theme of sexual tension in successful marriages. Generally, the first portion of the tale is one of moral sexual tension with the result of marriage. Following marriage, usually authors ignore the concept of human sexual tension as though it didn't exist at all. As though sex or moral desire after marriage was nonexistent. In The Fox's Honor www.TheFoxsHonor.com, Sister of Light, Sister of Darkness, Twilight Lamb, and Regia Anglorum, I exploit the subtheme of moral sexual tension in successful marriages. I attempt to do this with class and without any salacious detail. This is a theme that is not new, but underused and I think the modern world needs to see this as a positive example in literature.