Writing - part xx111 Writing a Novel, Action Tags

22 January 2020, Writing - part xx111 Writing a Novel, Action Tags

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

Ideas.  We need ideas.  Ideas allow us to figure out the protagonist and the telic flaw.  Ideas don’t come fully armed from the mind of Zeus.  We need to cultivate ideas. 

1.     Read novels. 

2.     Fill your mind with good stuff—basically the stuff you want to write about. 

3.     Figure out what will build ideas in your mind and what will kill ideas in your mind.

4.     Study.

5.     Teach. 

6.     Make the catharsis. 

7.     Write.

The development of ideas is based on study and research, but it is also based on creativity.  Creativity is the extrapolation of older ideas to form new ones or to present old ideas in a new form.  It is a reflection of something new created with ties to the history, science, and logic (the intellect).  Creativity requires consuming, thinking, and producing.

If creativity, especially in writing, is caused by writing—then we better get writing.  Write-on.  Yes, so what does this writing for creativity look like? 

Developing creativity is all about writing.  Well, there are the other six actions you should accomplish.  Then write.  Many ask, what should I write about?  I understand this.  If you don’t know what to write about, then what do you write about?  Random stuff?  Nah.

Let’s write about stuff that will help us both write better and that will build up our writing portfolio. 

We started with descriptive paragraphs and then turned them into action scenes.  The next step is to take two of the characters you described and bring them together for a conversation.  This is called dialog. 

Writing dialog seems to be a problem for many beginning authors.  Let me give you an easy way to start and finish.  The rest is kind of up to you, but I’ll help you with that too.

1.     Greeting

2.     Introductions

3.     Social lubrication

4.     Topics of no depth (small talk)

5.     Topics of depth

6.     Closure

7.     Farewell

There are other rules concerning writing good conversation: no address, contractions, tags, and etc.       

Okay, there are no rules—if there were rules, writing dialog would be easy.  It’s not easy for many, and most beginning writers.

We set up the training scene or the exercise by taking our setting (descriptive) paragraphs and then using action based paragraphs to bring our characters together for a dialog (conversation).  As I noted, in all dialogs, the author should take the list above of the dialog outline and determine which parts are necessary.  I think in almost every dialog, every step is necessary, but I know there are occasional conversations that don’t always follow this outline—almost all of them do, but a few rare conversations do not.  Just keep this in mind as you develop the conversation. 

Once you get into writing the dialog, there are some very important concepts to follow and observe.  These are details in the dialog itself.  Most important are these:

1.     Address

2.     Contractions

3.     Tags

Do you remember, I wrote that fifty to seventy-five percent of all conversation is body language—non aural.  The rest is supposed to be aural language, but a huge portion of that is exclamations and inarticulate sounds.  I hope you see where this is going.  If you don’t, I’ll spell it out for you.

Notice, fifty to seventy-five percent of all communication is body language.  If you only use address tags like said, your readers are missing fifty to seventy-five percent of the dialog.  If you don’t use accentuated address tags like verbs that indicate the way the characters speak to one another, then how much of the rest of the communication are you missing?

Yesterday, I mentioned that you should expand your address tags from “said.”  In fact, I advise you to rarely use “said.”  Can we go further, don’t use said at all.  Said is almost a meaningless word—it says nothing at all to the reader.  It is simply a filler word.  I suggest replacing every use of said with any more descriptive verb.

Jack said, “I love you.”

Jane said, “I love you.”

Steve said, “I hate you.”

Wendy said, “I hate you.”

Here’s something meaningful:

Jack yelled, “I love you.”

Jane whispered, “I love you.”

Steve cried, “I hate you.”

Wendy laughed, “I hate you.”

This is the use of address tags to express much more than said ever can—then there are action tags.

An action tag is an address tag that indicates a consequent action by the speaker.  The action tag is the body language that provides part of that body language communication.  If you don’t include actions tags, you are missing a huge portion of the communication.  If you don’t use action tags, you aren’t writing human dialog—I’m not sure what you are writing, perhaps lines for a play, but even lines in a play indicate critical actions by the actors.  Further, the actors interpret and accentuate their lines with their own body language (action tags).  My conclusion is that if you aren’t using action tags, you aren’t providing adequate or even proper conversation.  Here are some examples of action tags:

Jack smiled, “I love you.”

Jane touched his hand, “I love you.”

Steve stuck out his tongue, “I hate you.”

Wendy kicked him, “I hate you.”

Now we are seeing what is going on better and better.  The action tags show us a lot about the situations and the characters.  There are more complex things we can do, just look at this:

Wendy grabbed his arm and lifted her face to kiss his lips, “I hate you.”

The action tag in the above example changes the entire meaning of the statement—this is true in real dialogs all the time—the actions of the person changes the meaning of the words.  This is all about body language, and there is more.

The next step to help you in writing dialog and in the exercises I’ve suggested in what I call visualizing your scenes. 

By the way, continue with the exercises I recommended.  We are looking at the details of dialog, but you can continue to write paragraphs about settings and characters and turn them into scenes.  If you haven’t moved into dialog yet, set up your characters to converse.  This is good practice.  In addition, if you haven’t already, get your writing into electronic files.  We should also write about formatting too.  In any case, tomorrow, I’ll give you more ideas about what to put in your portfolio.   

The most important step in creativity may be to just write.  This begins another chapter in this discussion of creativity—notes, records, and documenting.

I need to get to the point of extrapolating creativity, and also finish the thought about event horizon and worldview.  

The beginning of creativity is study and effort.  We can use this to extrapolate to creativity.  In addition, we need to look at recording ideas and working with ideas.    

    

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  

fiction, theme, plot, story, storyline, character development, scene, setting, conversation, novel, book, writing, information, study, marketing, tension, release, creative, idea, logic