01 November 2026, Writing - part xxxx584 The Novel, Design and Pieces, Style Elements and Concrete Elements
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
I finished my latest novel number
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.
I basically spurned the idea of the five
elements of writing and provided you my only element of writing. My outline of the elements of writing looks
like this:
1. Protagonist
a. Telic flaw
b. Antagonist
The rest is the scene. I guess I could write the real elements of writing
like this:
1. Protagonist
a. Telic flaw
b. Antagonist
c. Scene
Or perhaps:
1. Protagonist
a. Telic flaw
b. Antagonist
2. Scene
The problem with this is that the scene is
like the so-called elements of fiction.
They really aren’t elements, they are derivatives. The only real element is the protagonist and
everything comes out of the protagonist.
Scenes are indeed elements of fiction, but they are also derivatives of
the fact that fiction is being written.
The only real and specific element is the protagonist. I’ll try to explain this little mental point
with the outline of 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
Perhaps this outline doesn’t look like it
resolves the problem of how the protagonist integrates and develops everything in
the novel. Let me show you.
The protagonist defines the telic
flaw. Or a better way of writing this is
to explain that the telic flaw comes with the protagonist. I don’t care what protagonist you a writing
about or thinking about—the telic flaw proceeds from the protagonist. Just look at Pride and Prejudice. The protagonist’s pride causes the entire
incident which is the telic flaw. I’ll
repeat, the telic flaw is not necessarily a flaw in the protagonist. It is a flaw in the world of the protagonist,
but in the case of Pride and Prejudice, the telic flaw is also advanced
as a flaw in the protagonist. That’s
okay and that’s also a type of technique and plot presentation in a novel.
To be clear, I’m not in favor of the
modern idea of presenting the telic flaw as a flaw or an internal problem of
the protagonist. This is the idea that,
for me and many, ruined Harry Potty.
Suddenly, in the midst of the novels, Harry Potty’s problems began to
overbear the evil of Voldermort, and the reader began to wonder who was the antagonist. I consider this to be a horrible way of
advancing a novel and resolving the telic flaw.
It’s completely okay to have the protagonist question and even cause
some of his or her own difficulties—it is a terrible fault in the writing for
the protagonist to begin to become ugly and disliked in the process.
I’ll look back at the idea of the Romantic
protagonist. I’m not of the complete
opinion that the protagonist necessarily needs to be loved by the reader. You can certainly have an unlovable
protagonist, but in my contemplation of my favorite novels, I’ve discovered
that especially with the Romantic protagonist (modern protagonists), they are
loved and lovable, not necessarily because of who they are, but rather because
of what they do. That is also the definition
of love—what you do, not who you are.
Let me point out that the main characteristic
of the Romantic or modern protagonist is introspection. One of the other required characteristics is
a skill that the protagonist develops outside of normal human
expectations. This skill allows them to
resolve the telic flaw. All of these
come out of the protagonist. Why do
readers love the Romantic protagonist so much—it’s because they see in themselves
the potential skill that they might develop under the same circumstances. They might never really achieve like the
protagonist does, but the reader believes in it and they believe in the
protagonist. That’s what they love and
why they love the protagonist. No matter
what the skill is, the effort and dedication to that development results in the
reader’s great admiration (another word for love, ha ha) for the protagonist.
From the scene outline, I can show you how
the protagonist provides all the so-called elements. In other words, again for the scene, the
protagonist provides all the elements and the rest is style. I don’t like really writing much about style,
but I’ll get to the easy stuff and eventually the hard stuff. I’ll try to give examples or mention sources
too.
The scene from the protagonist is next.
Yes, I’m back to scenes. I could start with the initial scene—that is
the most important and the scene that sets the novel (if it doesn’t you have
more problems than just scenes). What I
will do is start with the protagonist and define the scene, and show exactly
what we get from the protagonist. I’ll
also explain how the style of the scene is important, but not completely
related to the scene or novel as much as it is to the protagonist.
Starting with the protagonist. With a protagonist we have this—I repeat:
1.
Protagonist
a. Telic flaw
b. Antagonist
Yes, the protagonist comes with a telic
flaw and the antagonist comes out of the telic flaw. So then 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
Scenes are the basis for any novel or other
fiction. Scenes define the novel and
they compose the novel. They are the largest
full unit of writing in the composition of the novel. The novel looks like this:
1. The
initial scene
2. The
rising action scenes
3. The
climax scene
4. The
falling action scene(s)
5. The
dénouement scene(s)
There is a single initial scene. This scene starts, defines, and sets up the
entire novel. This is the critical scene. Following the initial scene are the rising
action scenes. These compromise about forty
to sixty or so scenes that drive the novel toward the climax. The climax is a single scene that resolves
the telic flaw of the novel. This is an
important scene but not as important as the initial scene. I’ll eventually get to that. The falling action scenes complete the novel. I write scenes, but this is usually a single
scene. The final, dénouement scene wraps
up the novel and provides a completion to the whole. Notice the outline for the novel is very
similar in some ways to the scene outline.
Write these scenes, and you have a novel. What makes a novel a novel? Is it the scenes, the characters, the
setting, the plots, the telic flaw, the climax…? What is a novel? My simplistic and basic response, is this,
the novel is the revelation of the protagonist.
Having written that—there are novels with
multiple protagonists. I’m not in favor
of this, but it happens and has been accomplished. This is not a common novel style or
type. I’ve heard, but not read about
novels that are based in the setting.
Actually, I do think I may have read one or two, but usually even a
setting based novel devolves into some character, which then is the
protagonist. There are different styles
of novels, but unless you are a real sadist, a student of literature, or a well
read reader and writer, you may never have encountered them. I’ve gone over the different styles before,
but I won’t do it again. They are
worthless to our discussion because they are not entertaining, to me, nor
exciting, to me. If you are really
interested in these odd novel styles, I encourage you to study and write one—if
not for history, then for your own entertainment. As I wrote, they don’t entertain me and they
don’t excite me. I am a one hundred
percent advocate for all fiction writing to be entertaining and exciting. If it isn’t, it’s not worth my time or
money. This is usually the opinion of
most publishers. Certainly, I want all
publishers to publish fiction that is entertaining and exciting, unfortunately
in this modern world, they publish a lot of drivel not based on entertainment
or excitement, but on their personal and collective opinions of the world. They might even hate the work, but they
insist on foisting it on us. Among the
many landmines of worthless novels, there are a few worth reading. My author friend does just that. I’m not as willing to invest my time in any
potential drivel, so I miss some of the good.
I’m lucky he and my wife do read with frequency many of the works I’d
never pick up. I also end up reading
works they might never read either. Then
what I write are works that I love to read and love to write. To me they are entertaining and
exciting. I write them because many aren’t
doing the same.
I had a publisher who loved my works and I
thought they would publish them all and at least give me a path into more
potential publishing and publishers.
Unfortunately, my publisher went down and with that my future
potential. I’m still looking for a
publisher, but as I noted, publishers, in general aren’t looking for the entertaining
and the exciting—they do want the next bestseller, but I think they are many
times willing to compromise business to achieve monotonous commonality. You see a spark every now and then, but with
the million books published every year, many are not worth reading or publishing,
but they still are.
This is all to explain that your best
chance of publication is to follow the normal style for novels. I call it the classic style and I gave you
the outline and explanation above. You
can go for a different style, but I don’t find those types of novels worth
reading. Few do, that’s why they are so
uncommon. Most are relegated to the back
shelves and only come out for a very good literature class.
Here is today’s conclusion. First, the novel is the revelation of the
protagonist. I will explain this in
greater detail. Second, the classic
novel is composed of the scenes in the order I outlined: initial, rising
action, climax, falling action, and dénouement.
This is the basis for most all bestsellers and common (normal)
novels. Third, the scene is the base
element of the novel. With that
understood, we can move forward with developing the scene. As I noted, everything comes out of the protagonist. That’s next.
Look again at the scene 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
Let’s presume we already have a
protagonist. That means we also have a
telic flaw and an antagonist. If you don’t,
you have another problem entirely. If
your protagonist doesn’t come with a telic flaw and an antagonist, your problem
is the protagonist. No matter what you
do, you will not be able to write a novel or anything else with that kind of protagonist. They are worthless as a character and the lead
for a novel—dump them and write up a protagonist who can actually be a
protagonist. If you think I’m wrong on
this, just try it—I double darn dare you.
Now to the easy stuff.
The protagonist has a lot of baggage. All of this is just natural to existence in
the world. For example, the setting of
the novel. What is the setting of the
protagonist? The setting of the protagonist
either historically or immediately is the current setting of the novel. For example, if your protagonist is Scottish,
the setting is likely Scotland. As the
author, you simply need to define and refine the setting according to the
history of the protagonist. This is basic
and important—it’s just research.
This applies to all the details of the
protagonist. I could give you the list again,
I won’t. In my list, I have all the
details about the protagonist that I want to define before I write. There are even more that I put in my notes,
but the point is to define the protagonist to the point where you, the author
can define the main points of the novel.
As I wrote, the telic flaw and the antagonist come along with the
protagonist. The rest of the stuff does
too.
I mentioned the setting. The setting is always a part of the protagonist’s
life and history. For example, they
might be Scottish from Scotland, but if they traveled to the USA or to some other
nation, the setting will follow and change with them. Personally, I’m not in favor of messing
around with the protagonist too much unless it’s important to the protagonist
and the novel. For example, the skills
and skill sets of the protagonist might be of significance in the novel. If this is true, then movement and a history
of travel and movement might be really important. So, the protagonist might need certain language
skills. If this is true, you need to
give them the life and opportunity to develop those skills. Sometimes these skills can be developed in
their own setting or place. For example,
I have some characters who learned Scottish Gaelic because they were in
Scotland. They also knew English, and
there are other similar languages from ancient Scottland.
There is more to this. I’ll get there.
I wrote already, there are style elements
for writing and there are concrete elements of writing. The style elements are those the author
choses based on how he or she wishes to write.
The concrete elements are those that can never be separated from the
fiction. I’ve given you the concrete
elements over and over. Here there are
again:
1. Protagonist
a. Telic flaw
b. Antagonist
You cannot write a successful piece of
fiction of any kind without the protagonist and the resulting telic flaw and
antagonist. It is impossible. As I also wrote, all the other concrete
elements for the writing comes out of the protagonist. What are these other concrete elements? Most simply they are:
1. Place
2. Time
3. Stuff
4. Characters
This is the setting for the novel and the
scenes specifically. We set scenes. We do not set novels. We write scenes that are brought together cohesively
to form novels. I like and recommend
writing scenes sequentially, but that is another discussion completely and one
we will get to.
I’m really not ready to write about style
elements yet, but I suspect I should mention them and move back to the other
elements that all come from the protagonist.
Never forget, the novel is the revelation of the protagonist.
Style elements are those that are not
necessarily dependent on the protagonist.
They are not concrete elements. I’ll
list them and then explain them:
1. Tense
2. Implied event horizon
3. Person
4. Presentation
5. Point of View (PoV)
6. Literary style
These can make or break a novel, but
generally they will not adversely affect the writing. They can, but the author has great latitude
in choosing and deciding which he or she wants to use in a novel.
The tense is the verb tense. I suggest using the past tense, but people
have written novels in about every tense you can imagine. Normally, the past tense is used with present
tense for dialogue, but you can get away with very different tense usage. Be aware.
The use of anything other than the past tense with present tense for dialogue
is very much an experimental novel—they just aren’t common, so I would
recommend being very careful about expanding too far in tense.
You must be consistent what ever you
do. Lack of consistency in any style
element (or concrete element) has the strong potential to knock your readers
out of the suspension of disbelief which will ruin your writing. In all style elements consistency is king. By the way, we usually want a simple tense
and that’s why the past tense is so useful.
Past tense is one of the least wordy tenses in English. In fact, the use of the perfect tense and the
present participle are both considered wordy and sometimes difficult for
readers to manage. Most authors
recommend only using these when necessary and to move back to past tense as
soon as possible. The reason is
wordiness which tends to confuse and irritate your readers. An irritated reader will fall out of the suspension
of disbelief faster than a humming bird at a feeder. Ha ha, a little metaphor there. That’s a literary style and a recommended
style usage. We’ll get to that, but I’ll
mention the second style element, next.
Implied event horizon means the times your
novel implies based on the setting and the writing. The setting sets the actual event horizon and
is a concrete element in the writing.
For example, if you are writing about the way past, the setting is some
part of the ancient world. If you move
into some portion of the past, you are in a historical setting. When you go to the modern world or the current
world, you have theoretically written a novel in the present. Let me point out a novel written in 1930
about the present is a historical novel today.
Dickens wrote for his present times, mostly, but all of his novels are
historically based novels. This makes
for some interesting literary analysis.
Then we move to the future novels.
We call these science fiction, usually, but they aren’t all science
fiction.
Think about this, 1984 was written
as a science fiction novel or at least a novel about the future. It was written in the past tense, third
person, and narrative action style. The
novel implied and specified the future as it’s setting, but today, we are almost
50 years past that future. What does
this mean? That’s really simple, we have
a future novel that now represents the historical as well as a potential
future. Overcome science fiction is the
stuff of literature and legends. It’s an
interesting conundrum. Then there are
true novels with a future implied event horizon.
Let me explain something every author
needs to understand. The event horizon
is the time of the setting of your novel.
I write some novels with an event horizon in the future. I do so with the express understanding that
the world may be a little different than I express in the novels, but I can
assure you they are close. I also write
many novels in the past that is as either contemporary history or modern
history with the specific understanding of their event horizon. I also write true science fiction. What’s that?
True science fiction is fiction written
using interpolations and extrapolations of technology and potential history
with the expectation that the concepts and the ideas will be part of some
future. Usually, I set my science fiction
far into the future and I do truly make extrapolations of potential
technology. As time passes, we know even
our best attempts at science fiction will be overcome by future events and
history. Science fiction from the
beginning of the 20th Century sure looks quaint to us today. Science fiction from the beginning of the 21st
Century will look just as quaint in time.
However, there are some very interesting novels which have an implied
future event horizon but writing with a present world setting.
Classics in this style are Ayn Rand’s
novels as well as a few contemporary writers.
To be specific, these are novels written mainly in the past tense, present
setting, third person, but implying some future without any real expression of
science fiction expression. 1984
could be classified in this way, but the reason it isn’t is that it gives the
impression of some future time beyond the now.
The now was the end of World War Two with the potential future that
upheaval might have eventually caused. The
Cold War is represented as well although it was still on the future event
horizon.
What is the point of the implied event
horizon? This is an elective feature of
your novel. The setting is the concrete
element, the implied event horizon is the elective or stylistic element. Usually, we match the setting to the implied
event horizon, but you can write a novel in the present that implies the future
of the past. This also drives another
potential element of style—that is the presentation.
I guess I’m hitting a little of this
early. I’ll just mention it for now and
then get to it later. Presentation is
the way I present the story or telic flaw resolution in the novel. Generally, there is the oldest presentation style
which is journalistic—that is the writer presents the material as if he or she
was keeping a journal or diary of the events.
You can see immediately, the journalistic presentation style is the present
implying the past and expressing the past as presented in the journal. This is just one of the main styles of
presentation. You can see that the
choice of the journalistic presentation style affects the real and implied
event horizon. There is more, but I’ll
stop here and move to the person, next.
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
