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Friday, January 27, 2023

Writing - part xxx211 Writing a Novel, A New Romantic Protagonist, Marketing Materials, Synopses, 500

27 January 2023, Writing - part xxx211 Writing a Novel, A New Romantic Protagonist, Marketing Materials, Synopses, 500

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 30th novel, working title, Rose, potential title Rose: Enchantment and the Flower.  The theme statement is: 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 cover proposal for Rose: Enchantment and the Flower




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.  Writing number 31, working title Shifter.  I just finished 32nd novel, Rose.

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:  Let me tell you a little about writing.  Writing isn’t so much a hobby, a career, or a pastime.  Writing is a habit and an obsession.  We who love to write love to write. 

 

If you love to write, the problem is gaining the skills to write well.  We want to write well enough to have others enjoy our writing.  This is important.  No one writes just for themselves the idea is absolutely irrational and silly.  I can prove why.

 

In the first place, the purpose of writing is communication—that’s the only purpose.  Writing is the abstract communication of the mind through symbols.  As time goes by, we as writers gain more and better tools and our readers gain more and better appreciation for those tools and skills—even if they have no idea what they are. 

 

We are in the modern era.  In this time, the action and dialog style along with the push of technology forced novels into the form of third person, past tense, action and dialog style, implying the future.  This is the modern style of the novel.  I also showed how the end of literature created the reflected worldview.  We have three possible worldviews for a novel: the real, the reflected, and the created.  I choose to work in the reflected worldview.

 

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. 

 

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. 

 

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.

 

With that said, where should we go?  Should I delve into ideas and creativity again, or should we just move into the novel again?  Should I develop a new protagonist, which, we know, will result in a new novel.  I’ve got an idea, but it went stale.  Let’s look at the outline for a novel again:

 

1.      The initial scene

2.     The rising action scenes

3.     The climax scene

4.     The falling action scene(s)

5.     The dénouement scene(s)

   

The initial scene is the most important scene and part of any novel.  To get to the initial scene, you don’t need a plot, you need a protagonist.

 

Let’s be very clear.  You can start with a plot, a protagonist, an idea, or an idea for an initial scene.  The easiest and most controlled method is to start with a protagonist.  As I’ve written over and over, a protagonist must come with a telic flaw.  I think it is impossible to have a protagonist without a telic flaw, but I suppose you could develop a completely lackluster protagonist without any telic flaw connected to them. 

 

Here is my list for the characteristics of a Romantic protagonist.  I am not very happy with most of the lists I have found.  So, I will start with a classic list from the literature and then translate them to what they really mean.  This is the refined list.  Take a look.

 

1. Some power or ability outside the norm of society that the character develops to resolve the telic flaw.

2. Set of beliefs (morals and ideals) that are different than normal culture or society’s.

3. Courageous

4. Power (skills and abilities) and leadership that are outside of the normal society.

5. Introspective

6. Travel plot

7. Melancholy

8. Overwhelming desire to change and grow—to develop four and one.

9. Pathos developed because the character does not fit the cultural mold.  From the common.

10. Regret when they can’t follow their own moral compass.

11. Self-criticism when they can’t follow their own moral compass.

12. Pathos bearing because he or she is estranged from family or normal society by death, exclusion for some reason, or self-isolation due to three above.

13. From the common and potentially the rural.

14. Love interest

 

Here is the protagonist development list.  We are going to use this list to develop a Romantic protagonist.  With the following outline in mind, we will build a Romantic protagonist.  However, I’m going to ignore the first step.  Instead of starting with an initial scene, I’m just going to design a Romantic protagonist.  Then we may apply the outline to them.

 

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

 

Here’s what I want to do or how I want to place these on a protagonist.  Let’s clean them up a little and begin to evaluate a protagonist.

I’m not ready to write a new novel yet, and I’m too busy to put the extra time to write an initial scene.

 

I’ll repeat.  I just finished up Rose, and I want to finish up Cassandra.  I’m moving in that direction.  For now, I’ll focus on the finishing steps of Rose, and then the marketing development steps.  This might get tedious, but I’ll try to keep it meaningful and helpful.

 

Here is a list of the basic marketing information I am putting together:

 

Proposed Cover



Title of Work:

 

Rose: Enchantment and the Flower

 

Author(s) Name:

 

L. D. Alford

 

Type: Either Screenplay or Book

 

Book

 

Length: Either # of words for books, or # of pages for screenplays

 

113,845 words

 

Keywords and Market Focus:

 

Fiction, intelligence operations, adventure, supernatural, Fae, fairy, Scotland, Rousay, Britain, United Kingdom, Monmouth, MI6, goddess, Dagda, organization, the King; will fascinate anyone interested in mystery, intelligence operations, and the Fae—will appeal particularly to those who enjoy mystery and suspense novels.

 

Genre:

 

Magic Realism Mystery

Author Bio: Approximately 120 words

The finest entertainment in literature is an escape into a real and inviting world—so asserts L. D. Alford, a novelist who explores with originality those cultures and societies we think we already know.  He builds tales that make ancient and modern people real to us.  His stories uniquely explore the connections between present events, history, and the future—he combines them with threads of reality that bring his fiction alive.  L. D. Alford is familiar with technology and cultures—he earned a B.S. in Chemistry, an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering, and is a graduate of Air War College, USAF Test Pilot School, and Air Command and Staff College.  He is widely traveled and has spent long periods in Europe, Asia, and Central America.  L. D. Alford is an author who combines intimate scientific and cultural knowledge into fiction worlds that breathe reality.   

 

Synopsis:  Approximately 1000 Words

Rose is a lost child and a lost soul.  She has been secretly living in Viera Lodge on Rousay Island since her father died.  She is the fortunate or the unfortunate, however you like to think it, child of her da and the deadly flower Fae, Desert Rose. 

Rose has powers that even she doesn’t fully understand.  She hides well, but because of her, Viera Lodge is considered haunted.  In any case, she is a half-starved girl who has never had a friend or communicated with any person other than her gram, gramps, father, and mother—she has no one now, but that’s about to change.

Shiggy Tash has been assigned Viera Lodge as her safe-house for an assignment to the Orkney Islands.  Shiggy is an intelligence agent and a very good one from The Organization, a covert part of the British Intelligence structure.  She is also an agent of Stela in The Organization who works with the supernatural in the United Kingdom.  Shiggy’s assignment is to stop illegal Chinese and Russian radioactive ore smuggling.  Any supernatural involvement is the due to radioactive contamination in the sea and on the land that is affecting the Fae in Rousay.

Everything changes for Shiggy and Rose when Shiggy captures Rose in Viera Lodge.  Rose is a nobody, but a very powerful nobody.  Shiggy can’t allow any interference or the revelation of her assignment and work.  She can’t just let Rose go, and she can’t ignore the potential exposure of British intelligence work.  Plus, Rose has power and potential that Stela and The Organization could use.  Shiggy forces a contract on Rose—it’s most likely an illegal contract, but Shiggy will provide training, discipline, food, and housing to the wild girl while Rose provides cleaning, security, and cooking.

Unfortunately, Rose can’t cook and is completely ignorant of modern human conveniences and life.  She had nothing her entire life and was hidden by her family from her birth.  Shiggy has her work cut out for her.

However, Rose can control humans, animals, and the Fae using her very powerful Fae glamour.  This makes Rose very valuable to Shiggy as well as her organization.  Then Rose meets Robyn. 

Why Robyn is suddenly on Rousay is another real mystery.  Her parents are from the British Foreign Office, and Shiggy knows them.  They are likely on a similar overt assignment, and they are next door.  Robyn claims to have a power greater than glamour.  That’s a new one to Rose.  Rose may not be well educated or experienced, but she’s an expert in the use of glamour. 

Robyn becomes Rose’s first friend, and she learns that Robyn is currently expelled from school for fighting.  Robyn is only eight, but a prodigy with an odd dark complexion for a fully British girl, and her power greater than glamour.  Plus, Robyn floats the idea that they might go to school together.

Robyn unconsciously helps Rose solve Shiggy’s mystery, and Rose is caught up in stopping a communist Chinese hydrofoil freighter and the Russian traders.  During the action, Shiggy is injured and Rose finds herself with Shiggy on a military helicopter flying to the London Cage and headquarters of The Organization.  That’s when the education of Rose really begins.

At the London Cage, Shiggy’s boss greets Rose, and takes her under her wing for training and a new assignment.  The assignment is that Rose will accompany the brilliant but dangerous Robyn to Monmouth School for Girls in Wales.  Robyn does indeed have a power greater than glamour, but Rose can control Robyn, and Robyn needs control.  Robyn was sent with her family to Rousay just to meet Rose. 

Shiggy’s boss trains Rose to be an aristocratic lady, in fact, she has a title, Lady Rose Tash of Edwinstow.  Rose attends boarding school with Robyn with the assignment to protect Robyn and others from Robyn while helping the very dangerous and obstinate Robyn integrate into the school body.  This is indeed a difficult assignment, but if she succeeds, Rose will get back her home, Viera Lodge.

Rose defines her assignment as the integration of Robyn and all the other girls in their House, Bagnall Oakley, as the goal of her work.  She draws attention to herself and brings Robyn into the fold of their House and school by making Robyn’s skills necessary for the other girls to succeed.  To do this, she wins over all the other girls and their teachers.  At the same time, Rose befriends the gentry of Monmouth, the police, the press, the community, the Fae, and the school.  Rose becomes a leader for them all, and Robyn is included because Rose makes her indispensable to everyone.

Then the recall happens.  Somehow the Chinese Communists have tied Rose to Shiggy, and they are out for Shiggy’s blood for interfering with their smuggling in Rousay.  Rose’s title and person are smeared in the press, and she is ordered to leave Monmouth until she can be safely recalled.  Luckily, Rose has made friends with the local and Welsh Fae.  She finds a place to hide, but no one realizes that Rose was compromised by Shiggy’s name and past.  The communist Chinese send a team of agents to capture Rose, but Rose and her Fae friends aren’t the lambs the Chinese imagine them to be.  It’s Rose here, the most dangerous girl in Britain. 

Rose and her Fae retainers defeat the agents.  Meanwhile, The Organization has sent a team from MI5 with Shiggy to find and rescue Rose.  The Chinese host a signal to Robyn and the Huddlu police to get civilians involved, and the mission to kidnap Rose becomes the mission for her House in Monmouth, the Police, and the School to rescue Rose.

Rose is rescued, she is restored to her title and position at Monmouth.  The plans of the Chinese are thwarted, and Rose still needs to complete her assignment at Monmouth to protect and lead Robyn.

Synopsis:  Approximately 500 Words

Rose is a lost child and a lost soul.  She is the child of the deadly Fae, Desert Rose, and since her father died, she is secretly living in Viera Lodge on Rousay Island.  Rose has Fae powers even she doesn’t fully understand.  She is a half-starved girl who has never had a friend or communicated with any person other than her family.

Shiggy Tash is assigned Viera Lodge as her safe-house.  Shiggy is a covert agent of the British government who works with the supernatural.  Shiggy’s assignment is to stop illegal Chinese and Russian radioactive ore smuggling.  Any supernatural involvement is due to radioactive contamination that affects the Fae.

Everything changes when Shiggy captures Rose in Viera Lodge.  She can’t let Rose go, and she can’t ignore the potential exposure of British intelligence.  Plus, Rose has powers her organization could use.  Shiggy forces a contract on Rose for cleaning, security, and cooking. 

Then Rose meets Robyn.  Robyn’s parents are from the Foreign Office, and Shiggy knows them.  They are on a similar but overt assignment.  Robyn claims to have a great power.   

Robyn becomes Rose’s first friend, and she learns Robyn is currently expelled from school for fighting.  Robyn is only eight, but a prodigy with an odd dark complexion for a fully British girl.  Plus, Robyn floats the idea they might go to school together.

Rose gets caught up in Shiggy’s assignment.  During the action, Shiggy is injured, and Rose finds herself on a helicopter flying to the London headquarters of the Organization. 

Shiggy’s boss takes Rose under her wing for a new assignment.  Rose will accompany the brilliant but dangerous Robyn to Monmouth School for Girls in Wales.  Robyn does indeed have a great power, but Rose can control Robyn. 

Rose is trained to be an aristocratic lady.  She attends boarding school with Robyn with the assignment to protect others from Robyn while helping Robyn integrate into the school body.  If Rose succeeds, she will get back her home, Viera Lodge.

Rose draws attention to herself and brings Robyn into the fold of their House by making Robyn’s skills necessary for the other girls to succeed.  Rose becomes a leader for them all, and Robyn is included because Rose makes her indispensable to everyone.

Then the recall happens.  Somehow the Chinese Communists tied Rose to Shiggy, and they are out for Shiggy’s blood about Rousay.  Rose’s title and person are smeared in the press, and she is ordered to leave Monmouth.  Luckily, Rose made friends with the Welsh Fae.  She finds a place to hide.  The communist Chinese send a team of agents to capture Rose, but Rose and her Fae friends aren’t the lambs the Chinese imagine them to be. 

Rose and her Fae retainers defeat the agents.  Rose is rescued—she is restored to her title and position at Monmouth.  The plans of the Chinese are thwarted.

 

I’ve been writing novels for about forty years.  I’d say for about twenty years cogently.  I’ve been writing submissions for about the same amount of time.  I did have a publisher who was published five of my novels and had two on contract, but they went out of business, so, I’m seeking a new publisher.  I’m not ready to go the self-publishing route. 

I’m all in for submissions, and what I’ve discovered over the years is that you need a long, a medium, and a submission sized synopsis.  That works out to about a 1000 word, a 500 word, and a 200 word synopsis of your work. 

I find it relatively easy to start long and go for short.  If I start long, I can put a lot of really good information in the synopsis, along with a little entertainment and excitement.  As your synopsis gets shorter, the word necessarily decrease, and you must get rid of all the fluff.  I think that’s why most publishers want to see a short synopsis in your submission—they want to get an idea about your work, but they also want to see if you can really cut your writing from a 100,000 word novel to a 200 word synopsis. 

In my experience, some publishers want a long synopsis (about 1000 words will work), some will ask for one about 500 words long (very few), and most want some kind of synopsis in the submission—usually around 200 words (one page total for your submission letter. 

I’m sure they use the synopsis to reject some manuscripts, but usually, they also want the entirety or a portion of your manuscript.  I don’t think the synopsis can really give a great impression of your work, but remember, the synopsis must sell your work to a reader.  It should sell it to the publisher as well.

I’ve never been a publisher, and I’m not certain any publisher will really tell you exactly how their acceptance policy works.  We’d all like to think, they read your novel, see if it fits into their stable, and if they like your writing—basically, is it entertaining—and then will contract your novel based on the quality and entertainment value of your work.  Seeing the very terrible novels that keep getting published, I do wonder about how they accept and choose works.  Sometimes, the novels are great.  Sometimes they are terrible. 

We know there are great ideas and novels out there, but even the film industry seems paralyzed by the inability to make good decisions about what they will produce.  They produce many movies no one likes and a few that everyone loves.  I’d like to see more great and entertaining novels being produced.

Whatever the ultimate process, you need a long, medium, and short synopsis.  We’ll look at the short synopsis next.      

Synopsis:  Approximately 200 Words

Concept of the Work:  Approximately 250 Words

Registration: WGA, ISBN, or Library of Congress, Write the number.

Other Information:  If you have more work, a website, anything interesting and professional, especially any awards or recognition.

Reviewer’s quotes.

1.  No more than 3 sentences about the content of your manuscript.

2.  One sentence about successful works similar to yours.

3.  No more than 2 sentences about yourself. (use 3rd person)

4.  No more than 2 sentences that include “other,” i.e. any reasons, relationships, or other factors that might make your work more attractive.

Internet site development

You might ask where did all this come from and what do I do with it?  It comes from my forty year experience with writing and publishing and working with different publishers and their representatives.  I’ll have to confess, this isn’t all my own ideas.  I received the main list years ago.  The second section came from a similar source.  My publisher wanted something very similar to that. 

 

Through extensive submission making and writing, I’ve found the information above fills all the squares.  I’ve also discovered that if and when you get a publisher, the first thing they want is some of this information.  They want blurbs.  They want a synopsis (if they didn’t already have one).  They want exciting marketing stuff.  In addition, they will want a cover idea, and they will usually want you to go through their photo provider to find photos that fit your cover ideas.  Modern covers are put together from photo and other artwork that your publisher can or has purchased from their graphics providers.  Then they stitch them together into a cohesive cover.  I take a little different approach.  I’ll discuss that tomorrow and show you what I put in the proposal.

 

All of this information is important for a publisher and for you to market your work.  Further, I use this to populate my websites.  I haven’t bought a URL for a while, but I use the many I have for my novels.  If I finally get another publisher and a work on contract, I’ll get a real URL for the novel title.  This is another important part especially for sales and marketing to readers.  I’ll go over that too.  I added that to the list at the bottom.

 

This is the list of marketing materials.  I’ll go over the cover proposal next.

 

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

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