Announcement: We are in the countdown phase for the publication of my new novels. The date on the internet is 1 September. We will see how close we come, or if the publishers meet the deadline. My Aegypt novels will be titled Ancient Light, and the next two books will be called Sister of Light and Sister of Darkness. These were the original titles. They will be released individually and as a 3 in 1 volume. The proposed cover and info can be found at www.ancientlight.com. I'll keep you updated.
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.
The four plus one 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.
5. Immerse yourself in the world of your writing.
All novels have five discrete parts:
1. The initial scene (the beginning)
2. The rising action
3. The climax
4. The falling action
5. The dénouement
The theme statement of my newest novel, Valeska, is this: An agent of the organization becomes involved with a vampire girl during a mission, she becomes dependent on the agent, and she is redeemed.
Here is my proposed cover for Valeska:
Once you have a basis for your writing, you need to begin to write. I'll assume you already know how to write, and you just need the skills of a novelist to proceed. If you don't really know how to write, you need to take a class. I'm not kidding. The average person comes out of school with very poor writing skills--I'm not writing about poor novel writing skills. I'm writing about poor any kind of writing skills. The ability to put together a cogent sentence is remarkably missing in a majority of graduates. It is unfortunately probable that if you are in this boat, you don't realize how poor your writing skills are. The self-esteem movement has deluded people about their skills and abilities for more than twenty years. It is highly likely, as a graduate from college, you think you really know something--like writing, but that you can't write your way out of a wet paper bag. Don't worry, if you think you can write and you follow my directions, you can really get to be a good writer. I do hope you understand about verbs, nouns, and such.
I'm not trying to put anyone down, but one of the most important mindsets for a writer is to realize they need help and correction. Correction is the word and the most important word. Many people imagine they have some skill--at something. It doesn't matter what. If you imagine you have some skill, but you are unwilling to take corrections to improve, you will never get better. A successful writer realizes she/he always can and needs to improve her/his writing. Perhaps the first step in becoming a skilled writer is to realize you aren't. The next step is easy--start to write. If you haven't been writing since you were a child, you might recheck your desires, but you might also be a late bloomer. I've found that most real writers always wanted to write and wrote fiction from their childhood.
Start to write. If you aren't writing right now--start to write. If you need a push--here's one. Describe the room you are sitting in. Describe it in detail. Try to make the words sing. This is the beginning of scene setting--a primary writing skill.
More tomorrow.
For more information, you can visit my author site http://www.ldalford.com/, and my individual novel websites:
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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