Writing Ideas - New Novel, part 817, Climax Examples, Shadowed Vale

6 July 2016, Writing Ideas - New Novel, part 817, Climax Examples, Shadowed Vale

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.

Today's Blog: To see the steps in the publication process, visit my writing website http://www.ldalford.com/ and select "production schedule," you will be sent to http://www.sisteroflight.com/.

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.

     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.

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 26th novel, working title, Shape, proposed title, Essie: Enchantment and the Aos Si, is this: Mrs. Lyons captures a shape-shifting girl in her pantry and rehabilitates her.

I finished writing my 27^th novel, working title, Claire, potential title Sorcha: Enchantment and the Curse.  This might need some tweaking.  The theme statement is: Claire (Sorcha) Davis accepts Shiggy, a dangerous screw-up, into her Stela branch of the organization and rehabilitates her.  

Here is the cover proposal for Essie: Enchantment and the Aos Si.  Essie is my 26th novel.

Cover Proposal

The most important scene in any novel is the initial scene, but eventually, you have to move to the rising action. I started writing my 28^th novel, working title Red Sonja. 

I'm an advocate of using the/a scene input/output method to drive the rising action--in fact, to write any novel. 

Scene development:

1.  Scene input (easy)

2.  Scene output (a little harder)

3.  Scene setting (basic stuff)

4.  Creativity (creative elements of the scene)

5.  Tension (development of creative elements to build excitement)

6.  Release (climax of creative elements)

 

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.

 

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.

 

I’m writing about how to develop the climax of a novel.  I’m giving examples from my published and yet to be published novels.  I’ll try not to introduce spoilers.  You can’t read some of these novels yet, but it’s worth writing about the process of developing the climax for them.  I have two contracted novels Sister of Light and Sister of Darkness.  These are supposed to be published in a three-in-one with Aegypt and individually.  The economy has delayed their publication.  These first three novels are called Ancient Light.  They include Aegypt, Sister of Light, and Sister of Darkness.  In addition to the Ancient Light novels, I’ve written some other novels. 

 

The Ghost Ship Chronicles are a set of five science fiction novels centered around a single theme idea.  The novel started as one, but the theme idea was so large, it kind of took on a life of its own.  I don’t like trilogies or other super long novels in multiple volumes.  I wrote these novels to be stand alone, but provided an introduction to each to bring the reader up to date.  You could read these novels separately, but they all drive to a common problem and theme.

 

The common theme of The Ghost Ship Chronicles is that Den Protania picked up a new soul from a derelict ship.  For some reason, the soul from the Athelstan Cying was necessary in the current age.  Den’s mind is now the mind of an ancient psionic warrior.  His friend, now wife Natana Kern is also caught up in his misadventures and something is affecting her soul too. 

 

The forth novel is Shadowed Vale.  Nikita helped rescue her parents, but that caused large problems for the family traders and created some new alliances.  In the end, we see Den’s telic flaw and especially Nikita’s telic flaw has not been completely resolved—they can’t be.  This is what gives life to a series of novels like this.

 

In Shadowed Vale, by the way, the names of the novels are based on the names of the primary ship in the novel.  In this novel, the Shadowed Vale has gone missing, and every year after that another family trader goes missing.  Den and Nata know the Athenian Charter is behind the loss of the ships, but they can’t tell anyone.  Nikita is busy solving problems for her friends, and Alex has fallen in love with her.  Only Nikita doesn’t have a clue—she has trust issues especially with men.

 

Nikita and Alex are a great team.  She thinks up ideas and he makes them.  They create such fantastic inventions, they become requested speakers at engineering symposia at universities.  While giving a seminar, they are captured by the Athenian Charter.  This points to the captured family trader ships.

 

In this novel, Nikita is the protagonist.  Her external telic flaw is not that she has been abandoned anymore, but rather that she has been kidnapped.  Her internal telic flaw is still her trust issues.  The expected climax is that she escapes her kidnappers.  The unexpected resolution involves Nikita, Alex, and Shadowed Vale.  There is action in the climax.

 

I’ll move to my science fiction unpublished novels.  I’ll look at the Ghost Ship Chronicles.  We’ll inspect Ddraig Goch next.           

     

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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