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Friday, July 1, 2022

Writing - part xxx002 Writing a Novel, We are Refining the Protagonist, Writing Development, Crafting the Climax, Examples, Sister of Darkness

01 July 2022, Writing - part xxx002 Writing a Novel, We are Refining the Protagonist, Writing Development, Crafting the Climax, Examples, Sister of Darkness  

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 29th 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 30th novel, working title Red Sonja.  I finished my 29th 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. 

 

For Novel 32:  Shiggy Tash finds a lost girl in the isolated Scottish safe house her organization gives her for her latest assignment: Rose Craigie has nothing, is alone, and needs someone or something to rescue and acknowledge her as a human being.

 

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.  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.

 

We found that a self-discovery telic flaw or a personal success telic flaw can potentially take a generic plot.  We should be able to get an idea for the plot purely from the protagonist, telic flaw and setting.  All of these are interlaced and bring us our plot.

 

For a great plot, the resolution of the telic flaw has to be a surprise to the protagonist and to the reader.  This is both the measure and the goal.  As I noted before, for a great plot, the author needs to make the telic flaw resolution appear to be impossible, but then it becomes inevitable in the climax.  There is much more to this. 

 

I evaluated the plots from the list of 112 classics and categorized them according to the following scale:

 

Overall (o) – These are the three overall plots we defined above: redemption, achievement, and revelation.

 

Achievement (a) – There are plots that fall under the idea of the achievement plot. 

 

Quality (q) – These are plots based on a personal or character quality.

 

Setting (s) – These are plots based on a setting.

 

Item (i) – These are plots based on an item.

I looked at each novel and pulled out the plot types, the telic flaw, plotline, and the theme of the novel.  I didn’t make a list of the themes, but we identified the telic flaw as internal and external and by plot type.  This generally gives the plotline. 

Overall (o)

1.     Redemption (o) – 17i, 7e, 23ei, 8 – 49%

2.     Revelation (o) –2e, 64, 1i – 60%

3.     Achievement (o) – 16e, 19ei, 4i, 43 – 73%

Achievement (a)

1.     Detective or mystery (a) – 56, 1e – 51%

2.     Revenge or vengeance (a) –3ie, 3e, 45 – 46%

3.     Zero to hero (a) – 29 – 26%

4.     Romance (a) –1ie, 41 – 37%

5.     Coming of age (a) –1ei, 25 – 23%

6.     Progress of technology (a) – 6 – 5%

7.     Discovery (a) – 3ie, 57 – 54%

8.     Money (a) – 2e, 26 – 25%

9.     Spoiled child (a) – 7 – 6%

10.  Legal (a) – 5 – 4%

11.  Adultery (qa) – 18 – 16%

12.  Self-discovery (a) – 3i, 12 – 13%

13.  Guilt or Crime (a) – 32 – 29%

14.  Proselytizing (a) – 4 – 4%

15.  Reason (a) – 10, 1ie – 10%

16.  Escape (a)  – 1ie, 23 – 21%

17.  Knowledge or Skill (a) – 26 – 23%

18.  Secrets (a) – 21 – 19%

Quality (q)

1.     Messiah (q) – 10 – 9%

2.     Adultery (qa) – 18 – 16%

3.     Rejected love (rejection) (q) – 1ei, 21 – 20%

4.     Miscommunication (q) – 8 – 7%

5.     Love triangle (q) – 14 – 12%

6.     Betrayal (q) – 1i, 1ie, 46 – 43%

7.     Blood will out or fate (q) –1i, 1e, 26 – 25%

8.     Psychological (q) –1i, 45 – 41%

9.     Magic (q) – 8 – 7%

10.  Mistaken identity (q) – 18 – 16%

11.  Illness (q) – 1e, 19 – 18%

12.  Anti-hero (q) – 6 – 5%

13.  Immorality (q) – 3i, 8 – 10%

14.  Satire (q) – 10 – 9%

15.  Camaraderie (q) – 19 – 17%

16.  Curse (q) – 4 – 4%

17.  Insanity (q) – 8 – 7%

18.  Mentor (q) – 12 – 11%

Setting (s)

1.     End of the World (s) – 3 – 3%

2.     War (s) – 20 – 18%

3.     Anti-war (s) –2 – 2%

4.     Travel (s) –1e, 62 – 56%

5.     Totalitarian (s) – 1e, 8 – 8%

6.     Horror (s) – 15 – 13%

7.     Children (s) – 24 – 21%

8.     Historical (s) – 19 – 17%

9.     School (s) – 11 – 10%

10.  Parallel (s) – 4 – 4%

11.  Allegory (s) – 10 – 9%

12.  Fantasy world (s) – 5 – 4%

13.  Prison (s) – 2 – 2%

Item (i)

1.     Article (i) – 1e, 46 – 42%

So, what is it about writer’s block?  Many if not most authors and writers will complain about writer’s block.  When I was a younger author, I would get writer’s block very often, but I’ve discovered something very important about writer’s block.  Writer’s block is a function of the plot and not the protagonist.  The correction or resolution of writer’s block comes from centering our writing on the protagonist instead of the plot.  This is what I’d really like to get into as a topic.  Here is an outline of how we will approach this.

 

1.      Problems with a plot focus

2.      Correcting with a protagonist focus

3.      How to figure out a plot with a protagonist focus

4.      Writing development

5.      Fixing or blowing through problems with writing

6.      How to write to prevent writer’s block

7.      The Scene Outline

8.      Exercises

9.      Examples

10.  Conclusions

 

I could easily write: if you develop a great protagonist, the writing will come.  That’s basically what I do, but I know that doesn’t work for the inexperienced and the young writer. 

 

Writing is really exhausting when you are first starting.  The problem, as I see it is getting into the rhythm of the writing.  When a writer is in the rhythm, the writing seems to come easily, when they aren’t, who knows what you might get. 

 

When I was a younger writer, I found many times I had no idea where I was going or what was going on in my writing.  Today, I realize the problem was with my protagonist, and also with my plot development.  Let’s lump those together and call them writing development. 

 

Below, I’ve left up the outline for the protagonist.  This is what you need to develop to build a proper protagonist.

 

1.      Define the initial scene

2.      At the same time as the above—fit a protagonist into the initial scene.  That means the minimum of:

a.      Telic flaw

b.      Approximate age

c.      Approximate social degree

d.      Sex

3.      Refine the protagonist

a.      Physical description

b.      Background – history of the protagonist

                                                      i.      Birth

                                                    ii.      Setting

                                                   iii.      Life

                                                   iv.      Education

                                                     v.      Work

                                                   vi.      Profession

                                                 vii.      Family

c.      Setting – current

                                                      i.      Life

                                                    ii.      Setting

                                                   iii.      Work

d.      Name

4.      Refine the details of the protagonist

a.      Emotional description (never to be shared directly)

b.      Mental description (never to be shared directly)

c.      Likes and dislikes (never to be shared directly)

5.      Telic flaw resolution

a.      Changes required for the protagonist to resolve the telic flaw

                                                      i.      Physical changes

                                                    ii.      Emotional changes

                                                   iii.      Mental changes

b.      Alliances required for the protagonist to resolve the telic flaw

c.      Enemies required for the protagonist to resolve the telic flaw

d.      Plots required for the protagonist to resolve the telic flaw

e.      Obstacles that must be overcome for the protagonist to resolve the telic flaw

Now, if you slavishly follow this outline for the protagonist, it will not guarantee you a great or even a good protagonist.  What it will give you is a protagonist detailed enough to write about.  I’ve covered the idea of the great protagonist before.  I’ll state again, and you should review what I’ve written, you need a good Romantic protagonist. 

The protagonist is developed simultaneously, in my mind with the initial scene.  There are other means to begin your writing development, but I don’t, and I’ve shown you the pitfalls I’ve discovered when using other methods or starting places.  That doesn’t mean you can’t come at this writing development from another standpoint.    

Here are the four, in order of precedence, means of approaching the initial scene.  I have used all four in published works.  I recommend only the first two.  The others can work, but they are not as good at producing a great initial scene.  This is the first step, in my book, to writing development.  As I wrote, it doesn’t matter how you got to this point, this is where writing development begins.  The list:  

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

We are writing about writing development.  You must start somewhere, and it might as well be the initial scene.

The purpose of the initial scene is to sell your novel.  The purpose of the initial scene in novel development is to sell your novels, but also to set the protagonist, the telic flaw, the setting, and potentially the antagonist and the protagonist’s helper.

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 – conflict and action resolve the telic flaw

6.      Write the falling action scene(s)

7.      Write the dénouement scene

 

If you notice, the steps I use in the development of a novel include quite a bit about the initial scene.  Once you get past the initial scene, I think the rest of the novel is relatively easy to write.  You might not have this opinion, but I do think a strong initial scene, a great protagonist, and a great telic flaw makes all the difference.  That’s not to say you won’t know where to go next—that’s writer’s block in a nutshell. 

 

So where do we go from the initial scene.  Let me repeat the scene development outline below:

 

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

 

With an initial scene, or any scene for that matter, we have an output.  We take that output to be the input of the next scene.  With an initial scene, you have a beginning, but we have to move on to the rising action.

 

I know, the problem is the creative and not really anything else.  If you can’t get the creative together, you really do have a problem.  Let’s look at these elements:

 

1.      Input

2.      Initial setting

3.      Creative elements

4.      Plots

5.      Telic flaw

6.      Telic flaw resolution

7.      Tension

8.      Release

 

For writing a scene, we have this 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

 

The scene is everything in a novel.  I wish I had understood this when I began to write.  It would have really helped me.  I think this is the overall key to solving the problem of writer’s block.  I don’t get writer’s block because I know where everything is theoretically going.  If you are writing scenes using the ideas I’ve expressed, you should too.

 

This is, after all, the main problem of writer’s block, not knowing where you are going—or intend to go.  I have other solutions for you in these cases, but I think it is worthwhile to look at the rising action in a novel.

 

I’m not certain I wanted to get to the climax yet, but the climax is a very important part of the novel.  Let’s define the climax—I already wrote:  the climax is the resolution of the telic flaw of the novel.  Since the telic flaw belongs to the protagonist, it is also the resolution of the telic flaw for the protagonist.

 

I’ve come to the point where I think I should provide some examples of climax and the telic flaw from my novels.  I’ll start with the earliest and move to the latest.  The first novel is A Season of Honor. 

 

This novel happens to be the third novel of the Honor (Chronicles of the Dragon and the Fox) series.  Without going into great detail, I’ll try to use the following to describe the novel and how the climax works.

 

1.      Telic flaw of the novel

2.      Climax development

a.      Action

b.      Conflict

c.      Other

3.      Climax development in the rising action  

 

Sister of Darkness is the next novel in the Aegypt series (Ancient Light series) after Sister of Light.  In this novel Paul is called to service in Norway during World War Two and Leora and her children must evacuate to England from southern France. 

 

This is a novel filled with intrigue and adventure in the middle of the war.  I’ll give you the short version.  Paul and Leora’s eldest daughter is attracted to the dark tablet from the previous book.  Leora hid it on the roof of their house in France, but their daughter Lumiere took it.  She is the prescient Goddess of Darkness since the Goddess of Darkness, Leila, has lost her physical body.  The novel is a conflict between the Goddess of Light and Darkness with the influx of Lumiere as a pawn and reluctant trainee of the Goddess of Darkness.  Lumiere is attracted to her role, but she is not evil like the current Goddess of Darkness.

 

Here's the point.  Lumiere and the black tablet are kidnapped by the Goddess of Darkness from England to Germany—the German Neues Museum to be specific.  Lumiere is placed in the same prison that Paul was once in.  Further, Paul and Leora agree to become spies, first in Vichy France, then in Berlin, for the Allies, but to find their daughter.  Meanwhile, the Goddess of Darkness is using Hitler to enact her desired polices and events—like the murder of the Jewish people.  This story goes back to the original Aegypt.

 

The conflict and the action in this novel should be evident and obvious.  War provides that, but Ill be more specific. 

 

Paul and Leora must confront the Goddess of Darkness—they know she is working through Hitler and Eva Braun.  They don’t realize that Lumiere is being forced to act through Leila.  Thus, we have a circumstance where Paul and Leora must confront Leila through Hitler, and they also must confront Lumiere.  Lumiere helps them, but the Goddess of Darkness is not destroyed—she escapes to the east and Russia. 

 

In the end, Paul and Leora believing Lumiere to be dead escape Berlin after Hitler’s death.  Lumiere is not dead, but has inherited the tablet and the servants of the Goddess of Darkness.  In the end, she sets off to defeat Leila. 

 

The telic flaw of this novel is the mystery of the loss of Lumiere and her recovery, or not becomes the resolution of the telic flaw.  In the climax, Lumiere finds her purpose and herself, but she is not saved back to her family or past life.  It’s a setup for the next novel.  

 

I’ll look at Shadow of Darkness next.

 

Maybe I should move on to the climax in the development of the novel and relate that to the rising action and telic flaw.

I’ll look more closely at this idea as we continue to move along in the list of how of get rid of writer’s block.  

In the end, we can figure out what makes a work have a great plot and theme, and apply this to our writing.     

      

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.

F or 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

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