Writing - part x178, Novel Form, Initial Scene and Theme Statement

3 July 2017, Writing - part x178, Novel Form, Initial Scene and Theme Statement

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.

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 28^th novel, working title, School, potential title Deirdre: Enchantment and the School.  The theme statement is: Sorcha, the abandoned child of an Unseelie and a human, secretly attends Wycombe Abbey girls’ school where she meets the problem child Deirdre and is redeemed.  

Here is the cover proposal for Deirdre: Enchantment and the School. 

Cover Proposal

The most important scene in any novel is the initial scene, but eventually, you have to move to the rising action. I continued writing my 29^th novel, working title Red Sonja.  I finished my 28^th novel, working title School.  If you noticed, I started on number 28, but finished number 29 (in the starting sequence—it’s actually higher than that).  I adjusted the numbering.  I do keep everything clear in my records.  I’ll be providing information on the marketing materials and editing.

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 29:  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.

 

This is the classical form for writing a successful 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 (protagonist, antagonist, and optionally the protagonist’s helper)

d.      Identify the telic flaw of the protagonist (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

              

The protagonist and the telic flaw are tied permanently together.  The novel plot is completely dependent on the protagonist and the protagonist’s telic flaw.  They are inseparable.  This is likely the most critical concept about any normal (classical) form novel. 

 

Here are the parts of a normal (classical) novel:

 

1.      The Initial scene (identify the output: implied setting, implied characters, implied action movement)

2.      The Rising action scenes

3.      The Climax scene

4.      The Falling action scene(s)

5.      The Dénouement scene

              

So, how do you write a rich and powerful initial scene?  Let’s start from a theme statement.  Here is an example from my latest novel:

 

The theme statement for Deirdre: Enchantment and the School is: Sorcha, the abandoned child of an Unseelie and a human, secretly attends Wycombe Abbey girls’ school where she meets the problem child Deirdre and is redeemed.

 

I’ll start with how I wrote this novel, and then transition to another way to write the initial scene from the theme statement.  First, I develop my protagonist, telic flaw, protagonist’s helper, initial setting, antagonist, and theme action from the initial scene.  These are all represented in the theme statement. 

 

The way I develop an initial scene is I imagine my characters on a stage based on the initial idea I have for the initial scene.  I’m not talking about an idea for a plot or a novel or anything as detailed as that—I’m writing about the initial scene and nothing else.

 

In this novel, School, the initial scene begins in the initial setting of Wycombe Abbey, a private and exclusive girl’s school.  In the school is a girl, Sorcha Weir, who has been illicitly attending.  She escaped from a prison just up the road and has nothing, but she wants to learn.  Sorcha is using fae glamour to change her looks and to trick her teachers into letting her into class.  You can guess from the idea of fae glamour that Sorcha isn’t your average British child.  She is the unfortunate offspring of an Unseelie fae and a human man.  Sorcha is a brawler, but she keeps herself under wraps and in hiding. This is the basic setup for the novel.  Sorcha is not the protagonist.  The protagonist is Deirdre. 

 

Deirdre is a problem child who has been sent to Wycombe Abbey for finishing.  She isn’t even started.  The reason she was sent to Wycombe Abbey is that Deirdre is dangerous.  Deirdre is a fighter.  She has been conditioned to respond in almost every circumstance with her fists and feet, and she comes about this honestly.  Wycombe is her last chance.  Deirdre comes from a family of the odd and interesting.  The odd is that she knows all about the fae and fae glamour.  The interesting is that her family is involved with British intelligence through the old MI-19, now called “the Organization.”

 

With this, I have an initial setting, a protagonist, a protagonist’s helper, a potential telic flaw, and a theme action.  The initial scene is that Deirdre sees through Sorcha’s fae glamour and will not back down.  Sorcha feels threatened by this attention and attacks.  Sorcha is used to toffs and binks who back down the moment she threatens them.  Deirdre finds delight in fisticuffs. 

 

Deirdre wins and the entire novel has been set up for writing.  The protagonist is Deirdre.  The telic flaw is Deirdre’s issues (internal).  The protagonist’s helper is Sorcha.  The action statement is Sorcha is redeemed.  This is the telic flaw (external).  The initial setting is Wycombe Abbey.  Who or what is the antagonist?  The simplest expression is—the school.  But that isn’t it at all.  The antagonist is the forces that prevent the resolution of the external telic flaw (to redeem Sorcha) and the internal telic flaw (to reform Deirdre).  These are both telic flaws of the protagonist.

 

I wrote the initial scene and went on to write the novel.  This is one approach and my favorite approach to beginning a novel.

          

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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