Writing - part xx016 Writing a Novel, Crafting a Scene

19 October 2019, Writing - part xx016 Writing a Novel, Crafting a Scene

Announcement: Delay, my new novels can be seen on the internet, but my primary publisher has gone out of business—they couldn’t succeed in the past business and publishing environment.  I'll keep you informed, but I need a new publisher.  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 websites 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 29^th novel, working title, Detective, potential title Blue Rose: Enchantment and the Detective.  The theme statement is: Lady Azure Rose Wishart, the Chancellor of the Fae, supernatural detective, and all around dangerous girl, finds love, solves cases, breaks heads, and plays golf.  

Here is the cover proposal for Blue Rose: Enchantment and the Detective. 

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 30^th novel, working title Red Sonja.  I finished my 29^th novel, working title Detective.  I’m planning to start on number 31, working title Shifter. 

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 31:  Deirdre and Sorcha are redirected to French finishing school where they discover difficult mysteries, people, and events. 

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:  Why don’t we go back to the basics and just writing a novel?  I can tell you what I do, and show you how I go about putting a novel together.  We can start with developing an idea then move into the details of the writing. 

To start a novel, I picture an initial scene.  I may start from a protagonist or just launch into mental development of an initial scene.  I get the idea for an initial scene from all kinds of sources.  To help get the creative juices flowing, let’s look at the initial scene. 

1.     Meeting between the protagonist and the antagonist or the protagonist’s helper

2.     Action point in the plot

3.     Buildup to an exciting scene

4.     Indirect introduction of the protagonist

Perhaps I should go back and look again at the initial scene—maybe, I’ll cover that again as part of looking at the rising action.  The reason is that I’m writing a rising action in a novel right now.

That gets us back to the protagonist—complexity makes the protagonist and the telic flaw one and the same. 

I wrote that I don’t use outlines, and I told you I would tell you what I use instead of an outline, but I forgot to tell you.  So let’s look at that today.  This is all related to the protagonist and the telic flaw.

If you remember, a novel is always the revelation of the protagonist, and the telic flaw is the problem that must be resolved by the protagonist in the novel.  We can therefore plan our novel in two ways.  There appears to be two means, but there is really only one.  We’ll see.

When I write you develop your protagonist, you write notes about:

1.     Name

2.     Background

3.     Education

4.     Appearance

5.     Work

6.     Wealth

7.     Skills

8.     Mind

9.     Likes

10.  Dislikes

11.  Opinions

12.  Honor

13.  Life

14.  Thoughts

15.  Telic flaw

Now that we have tied the telic flaw to the protagonist—to whatever degree you have designed it, the point is to write, plan, or outline a plan for the revelation of the telic flaw resolution.  

The means is to craft each scene.  The goal is the telic flaw resolution.  The way to craft a scene is to take the output from the previous scene, use that as the input, predict or plan the output of the scene, and then plan the tension and release development (the contents of the scene) that goes from the input to the output.  This is as complex as it sounds.  This is what I will attempt to explain.

How do you craft a scene?  First, you must start with 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

 

Okay, you don’t have to start with the scene development outline, but I can assure you, you will not be producing good scenes.  Or, you may already be unconsciously using the scene development outline, but unless you are selling books like crazy, I doubt it.  In fact, I’ve known professional successful authors who have no clue—you can tell. 

The scene input may or may not be obvious as the output from the previous scene.  It should be.  This is the number one problem with many authors—you go to the next scene and the reader says, where the heck did the author go?  I’ve seen this in older novels and newer novels or rather modern novels and early novels.  This goes to my first rule of writing—don’t confuse your readers.  The easiest way to confuse your readers is to suddenly jump from one scene to someplace not even on the horizon of the novel.  I advise you to keep your novels sequential by scenes—if you don’t, you must and I repeat must immediately set the reader in the context of the novel and the scene.  I can assure you, this will improve your writing.  The most important point is as an author your job is not to play I’ve got a secret with your readers.  There are secrets and revealed mysteries in novels—the setting and sequence are usually not.  That’s just poor writing.

Number one, scene output becomes the next scene input.  If you don’t do this, you must clearly set the scene within the context of the novel—that’s the setting.

Setting is necessary for every scene.  That doesn’t mean you slavishly repeat the same setting over and over again if the setting doesn’t change—it means you set the new setting or you specify for the reader and assure them the setting has not changed.  I’m certain you can figure out how to do this without moving into the omniscient voice or being pedantic.  In most cases, the reason the scene changed was that the scene changed.  Rarely do we end the scene and stay in the same place and time.  Whatever the scene, set it.  One of the worst habits or faults of modern writers is they don’t set there scenes well.  The reader is stuck asking for pages sometimes, where the heck is this?  When the heck is this?  Don’t leave the reader hanging and don’t let them be confused.  The suspension of disbelief is the most important quality of any writing—confusion is the easiest and most perfect way to blow a reader out of the suspension of disbelief.

Next is the actual development of the scene…wait for it.  

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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