Announcement: Delay, my new novels can be seen on the internet, but the publisher has delayed all their fiction output due to the economy. I'll keep you informed. More information can be found at www.ancientlight.com. Check out my novels--I think you'll really enjoy them.
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 25th novel, working title, Escape, is this: a girl in a fascist island nation will do anything to escape--a young cargo shuttle pilot not following the rules crashes on the island.
Here is the cover proposal for Lilly: Enchantment and the Computer. Lilly is my 24th novel.
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| Cover Proposal |
Let's review my guidelines for conversation.
1. Cultural norms (greeting, introduction, small talk, big talk)
2. Logical response (characters must respond to each other in the conversation)
3. ID the speaker
4. Show us the picture of the conversation
5. Use contractions (most of the time)
6. What are you trying to say?
7. What is unsaid in the conversation?
8. Build the tone of the conversation.
9. Show don't tell.
10. Keep proper names to a minimum.
I'm an advocate of using the/a scene input/output method to drive the rising action--in fact, to write any novel. I'll describe this technique (and style) again if you are new to my blog or you missed it before.
I gave you part of the second scene in the novel Escape. I usually don't give much more than the first chapter, but I'd like you to see how I move the rising action to conversation. What you missed was: Reb took Scott back to the community by the back way. She had him bathe in the shared facility, and gave him a clothing issue. They went to her private room and stowed way his clothing and equipment. They went to dinner. At each step, I showed the reader more and more of the world of Freedom (the country). Finally, Scott and Reb return to her room where Scott wants to know about everything...
Reb
soundly shut the door behind them. She
took a deep breath. The soft lights came
on in the room.
Scott
crossed his arms, “Now I want you to tell me everything about this place.”
She
shushed him, “Not so loud. The walls are
synthetic concrete, but the vents can convey conversation well. Is that knowledge really necessary for you to
escape?”
He
nodded.
She
pulled her footlocker to the side of the bed and pointed toward it. Scott sat on the footlocker, and she sat on
the bed. First Scott bent his head
toward hers and grabbed her left arm.
She gave a low squawk and pulled away for a moment, but he didn’t let go. Scott pulled up her sleeve to reveal a
tattoo. He examined it. The tattoo was her name with a barcode underneath
it. It literally said V10+S10 537
Rebecka. There was a strange space
before the five. He guessed the barcode
repeated the character. He asked, “What
is this exactly?”
She
looked up at his eyes then down at the tattoo, “This is my life mark. I was very surprised to see that you didn’t
have one anywhere on your body.”
“What
does it mean?”
Reb
gave a haughty smile, “It says that I am a visual acuity level ten plus and a
scent acuity level ten. My personal
number is 537 of all those who are coded V or S. My series name is Rebecka…”
“Series
name?”
“It
is the name people usually call me. It
indicates my birth year and special sequence and allows others to address me.”
“My
name is Scott Phillips. I guess in your
understanding, Phillips Scott. You can
call me Scott.”
“We
had a Scott series once,” she added ominously, “but I think he went to the
hospital—and didn’t return.”
“Is
there more than one series name?”
Not
usually more than one under a single code, but it’s not unheard of. There are only so many names to go around—the
computer has trouble sometimes inventing new series. Usually the judgment and categorization willows
out many of the repeated names.”
“Judgment
and categorization…what’s that?”
“Each
of us has our special place here. It is
a place we were bred to fill. I am a
special of category VS that is also my code.
VS means that I have a highly acute and accurate sense of sight and
smell…”
“How
acute and accurate?”
“We
measure things using a very scientific standard here, but both my acuity and
accuracy in vision is more than ten times greater than a normal citizen. My sense of smell is likewise ten time
greater than the average citizen.”
“That’s
why the smell of the sewage pond bothered you so much. You were bred that way?”
She
nodded.
“For
what purpose?”
She
grinned proudly, “I develop scents and colors for our nation, Freedom.”
“Scents
and colors? How are they used?”
She
cocked her head, “I developed the colors for the foods you ate today. I also helped make the scents of some of
them. Ruth is our scent team leader, but
I helped with many of them and especially the candy.”
“Drug—you
mean.”
“Drug?”
“Yes,
the candy at dinner—it’s a drug.”
“A
drug?”
He
shook his head, “Why don’t you know about drugs? A drug is something you ingest that causes a
reaction in the body or mind.”
She
shrugged, “In that case everything we ingest is a drug of some kind. We design it all. Everything comes from basic molecular
compounds. We mix the compounds for
taste, texture, sight, and smell to make them most pleasant for each citizen…”
“What
about the effect of the drug in that candy?”
“I
don’t understand what you mean by effect.”
“When
you begin to eat it, you get an initial acrid taste—that’s the drug. It very quickly changes to a completely
different taste and gives you a feeling of euphoria. It is a very powerful hallucinogenic drug
that seems to have almost no lasting effect—or at least any noticeable lasting
effect.”
Reb
pulled on her bottom lip, “It does have lasting effects…”
“They
are?”
“I
have no idea—that is classified.” Her
smile returned, “I worked on the scent and colors. We have always had a problem with the initial
taste—the moment the chemicals begin to act, you no longer taste them. Isn’t it wonderful?”
“It’s
a drug—all right, a chemical. What about
the extra food you had?”
“That
was extra protein and a chemical enhancement.”
“Enhancement?”
She
tapped her lips, “It improves our acuity.”
“It
also appeared to have the same euphoric effects.”
“It
does make you feel good,” she sighed at the thought.
“So
what does the euphoria hide?”
“Hide?”
Scott
had a frown on his face, “I’m not an expert on drugs, but in my land, you put
in flavors and anesthetics, euphorics, to mask the effects of more powerful
drugs.”
She
stared at him, “Is that true…?”
“It
is true.”
“I
need to think on this very carefully…”
Scott
rubbed his chin, “I need to know more about your island…”
“It
is called Freedom…”
“Freedom. You work with many scents and colors—what
does your nation, Freedom do with them all?”
“Do
with them?”
Scott
leaned back, “How many colors and scents do you develop over a year?”
She
smiled, “Perhaps one color and one scent a week.
Usually, I design a series of colors and work on a series of
scents. Many times they are matched to
one another…”
“Then
how are they used?”
“Used?”
“Look
for all the colors and scents you developed, we saw two examples, both
drugs. Where is the rest of your work?”
“There
is another edible chemical I worked on, but I hadn’t thought about that
before—I have no idea what they do with the rest of my…our work.”
Likewise, Scott has much to hide--the biggest secret is that he is using Reb to help him and has no intention of letting her come with him. On the other hand, Reb will do anything to escape--anything. These are powerful secrets that are revealed through showing and some individual contemplation.
The transition to the rising action from the initial scene involves action and finally conversation. Indeed, my goal in this novel and any novel I write is to let the reader see (action and description) followed by conversation that touches on or details the action and description. This is especially true in a discovery novel like this. This is a discovery novel. The revelation is, of course, the main characters, but also the plot revelation includes the culture of Freedom. I know my readers what to know as much as Freedom as Scott does. For Scott, it is life or death. For the reader, it is entertainment. To facilitate knowledge about Freedom, Scott needs to explore and more information.
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
http://www.aegyptnovel.com/
http://www.centurionnovel.com
http://www.thesecondmission.com/
http://www.theendofhonor.com/
http://www.thefoxshonor.com
http://www.aseasonofhonor.com
fiction, theme, plot, story, storyline, character development, scene, setting, conversation, novel, book, writing, information, study, marketing,
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