Writing - part xx279 Writing a Novel, Plots, Telic Flaw Wrapping Internal and External

8 July 2020, Writing - part xx279 Writing a Novel, Plots, Telic Flaw Wrapping Internal and External

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 21^st 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 we have filled our mind with all kinds of information and ideas, we are ready to become creative.  Creativity means the extrapolation of older ideas to form new ones or to present old ideas in a new form.  Literally, we are seeing the world in a new way, or actually, we are seeing some part of the world in a new way. 

I’ve worked through creativity and the protagonist.  The ultimate point is that if you properly develop your protagonist, you have created your novel.  This moves us on to plots and initial scenes.  As I noted, if you have a protagonist, you have a novel.  The reason is that a protagonist comes with a telic flaw, and a telic flaw provides a plot and theme.  If you have a protagonist, that gives you a telic flaw, a plot, and a theme.  I will also argue this gives you an initial scene as well. 

So, we worked extensively on the protagonist.  I gave you many examples great, bad, and average.  Most of these were from classics, but I also used my own novels and protagonists as examples.  Here’s my plan.

1.     The protagonist comes with a telic flaw – the telic flaw isn’t necessarily a flaw in the protagonist, but rather a flaw in the world of the protagonist that only the Romantic protagonist can resolve.

2.     The telic flaw determines the plot.

3.     The telic flaw determines the theme.

4.     The telic flaw and the protagonist determines the initial scene.

5.     The protagonist and the telic flaw determines the initial setting.

6.     Plot examples from great classic plots.

7.     Plot examples from mediocre classic plots.

8.     Plot examples from my novels.

9.     Creativity and the telic flaw and plots.

10.  Writer’s block as a problem of continuing the plot.

Every great or good protagonist comes with their own telic flaw.  I showed how this worked with my own writing and novels.  Let’s go over it in terms of the plot.

This is all about the telic flaw.  Let’s look at internal, external, and both.  Every protagonist and every novel must come with a telic flaw.  They are the same telic flaw.  That telic flaw can be external, internal or both.

If you have a telic flaw, and I’d like to have both the same internal and external telic flaw, then you have a plot.  However, we saw in the examples yesterday that it is possible to have a telic flaw that is somewhat disconnected from the plot.  This is an odd case, but generally, the more personal the telic flaw, the more potentially disconnected from the plot.  For example, in the example of Johnny Rico from Starship Troopers, Johnny’s internal and external telic flaw is that he wants to find himself, his future and his life.  This is a classic Romantic theme.  The plot happens to be the great Bug War, but it could be any war, or any situation where Johnny Rico can expand his life and find himself.  On the other hand, in Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth Bennet’s internal and external telic flaw is her pride and prejudice.  They are so tightly bound to her culture, times, and setting, that it would be impossible to separate her or her telic flaw from the plot.

Perhaps a character in the center is Sara Crew from A Little Princess.  Sara’s problem is that she has lost her connections to her class.  She has become a penniless orphan.  Her telic flaw is that she is a “princess” in the wrapper of a street urchin.  The plot wonderfully connects the resolution of her telic flaw both internal and external, but this resolution is based, not on her external telic flaw, but her internal resolution.  Still, she could never resolve this external telic flaw herself.  This is a Victorian Era plot and protagonist.  Remember, birth will out.  With Sara, we see a character who could be disconnected, like Johnny Rico, from her plot and in another plot potentially resolve her telic flaw, but Sara, like Elizabeth Bennet is connected to her time, culture, and setting in ways that make such a resolution almost impossible.  Let me be clear, Elizabeth Bennet’s telic flaw is connected to her time, place, and culture.  Without that the telic flaw and the plot wouldn’t make any sense.  For Sara Crew, her plot is connected to her culture, time, and place, but if she were set in a later, Romantic Era, another plot could resolve her telic flaw.  For example, like many of the poor orphan girls and boys beyond the Victorian Era, they use their own skills and capabilities to resolve the same telic flaw as Sara.  What is impossible for Sara in her time, is possible for Anne of Green Gables in another. 

In any case, we want to take the telic flaw and put it in a wrapper.  Usually, when authors create a protagonist, they have an idea about the telic flaw and the plot.  Normally, an author has some idea of the plot.  They might not consider the telic flaw although the telic flaw always comes with the protagonist.  Now, I like plots and telic flaws that are not end of the world or universal crisis.  For example, I would likely never write a novel about the world, society, culture, nation, or universe coming to an end.  Likewise, I would likely never write a novel about a messiah wizard, zombie, person, fighter, superhero, and etc.  I do write about gods and demi-gods, supernatural creatures, but they aren’t messiahs, and the world won’t end if they fail.  With this information, perhaps we can bound the plot and telic flaw in a way that will help us design a telic flaw and a plot.     

In any case, lest start with the idea of an internal and external telic flaw.  Then let’s provide it a wrapper.  The wrapper is the plot.       

      

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  

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