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Sunday, March 26, 2023

Writing - part xxx269 Writing a Novel, A New Male Romantic Protagonist, Details, Telic Flaw Resolution, Plots, Satire

26 March 2023, Writing - part xxx269 Writing a Novel, A New Male Romantic Protagonist, Details, Telic Flaw Resolution, Plots, Satire  

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. 

 

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

 

I’ll repeat.  I just finished up Rose, and I want to finish up Cassandra.  I’m moving in that direction. 

 

This is where I’m going.  I need to finish up Cassandra, and that’s what I’m going to do.  That might take a month or so.  At the same time, I want to write a follow-on to Rose.  Basically, I want to finish up Rose, and resolve the overall telic flaw introduced in the first novel.  To do this, I need a new protagonist.  I could use Rose, and I was thinking about this, but my readers suggested I should keep the number of male and female protagonists about equal.  Not sure why, but I did get a great idea for an initial scene and for a protagonist.  I’ve been developing this protagonist for my short form blog, but I can move some of that development here and make some comments on it.

 

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.  I removed the breadcrumbs from the blog just to make it easier to read.  Here’s what we have left. 

 

a.      Plots required for the protagonist to resolve the telic flaw - What I should really do is go through the list of classic plots and pick those I would like to include in the novel.  Maybe I’ll do just that.

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

 

Here is the list of classic plots from the list of over 100 greatest novels and books in English.  What we discovered is that novels are never a single plot—they are multiple plots that fit together to eventually resolve the telic flaw.  If you can grasp this, you can pick plots to enhance and develop the entertainment in your novels.  That’s what I want to do here.  I’ll look at the plots and see what I can put into this novel as well as try to develop more ideas for the development of the novel and the protagonist. 

 

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% - I’m not a fan of the messiah plot at all.  This plot is way overused in modern literature—it should be rejected unless you hit on a real Dune-like novel idea.  Let’s write a little about the messiah plot so you can spot it easily.  Yes, Dune has a very strong classical messiah plot.  This isn’t saying much because the messiah plot is a relatively modern plot type.  It just didn’t appeal at all to the early writers.  This is one of the reasons I’m not a fan, the other reason is what it has turned into in the modern era.

     

The most well-known messiah plot is Harry Potty.  Harry is a full-on messiah.  And here is the problem of the messiah plot.  In Dune, Paul Atradies had to become like a god to be the messiah.  A messiah always has god-like powers.  The ascent of Paul from an aristocrat to a god is the entire point of the novel.  This is very entertaining and new (at the time) in Dune.  In Harry Potty it’s just overdone.

 

Harry Potty is a god, if you didn’t notice.  He has god-like powers, in fact all the wizards and witches have god-like powers.  They are all like gods.  This is a very sad situation, especially for the readers.  The expectation of a messiah is that they have god-like powers and they change the world for the better.  That’s exactly what Harry does, but in addition, the Romantic protagonist is supposed to come from the common and have skills that they discover and develop to make them uncommon.  The idea of the Romantic protagonist is that anyone can be like them if they have similar skills they develop.  For the reader, the question is, how can I ever be like Harry—he is a messiah. 

 

Now, readers will live with the idea of a special skill like magic or sorcery as long as it is presented correctly.  This is the magic plot.  Unfortunately, Harry isn’t just about magic—Harry is all about saving the world through the defeat of the being who cannot be defeated except by Harry.  This is a full-on messiah plot mixed with the fate or the blood will out plot.  Harry is an aristocrat born into his messiah persona—he did not become, he was born.

 

The other obvious messiah plot in the modern era is the Marvel or DC universe.  These movies disgust me.  They are all about gods not humans.  The moment we bring in a god, the entire plot is usually about saving the world.  That’s cute, but it is a messiah plot not a human plot.  I don’t like messiah plots.  Now, I do have a confession.

 

My Aegypt novels (Ancient Light) have goddesses as characters and protagonists.  Isn’t that a messiah plot?  I’d say no.  My characters are thrust into roles and skills they must develop and learn.  They self-discover their skills, and they then develop them.  This allows the reader to feel like the magic character—the powers of the goddesses is a discovered skill that isn’t like a messiah or like a normal god.  In addition, their powers are limited in scope, so they can’t wield them to save the world or sometimes themselves.  In other words, their god-like powers are very limited and are similar to human level skills.  They just have some senses and abilities that are extra-human.  In addition, in my novels, the characters are not messiahs.  They are not saving the world as much as they are living in the world and trying to make it better with what they have available. 

 

I don’t like messiah plots and I don’t like messiah characters.  I don’t intend to have this plot in Seoirse.

 

2.     Adultery (qa) – 18 – 16%- I’ll skip this plot here as a quality plot because I already covered it under the achievement plots.   You might ask, what is the difference?  I’ll answer that because it is important.

 

The achievement plots are all about striving for a goal.  The quality plots are about the interjection of a quality into the novel or the plot.  The protagonist with an adultery achievement plot is striving for adultery.  On the other hand, the protagonist of the adultery quality plot isn’t striving for adultery, but still achieves it—it is a quality of the protagonist and not a goal.  Yes, these aren’t that different, but I think you can see there is a difference.  Achievement is a goal, while quality is an accident (or a quality in itself). 

 

I’m not a fan of either, but you can see how the adultery quality plot might be used in a novel like Seoirse.  If Seoirse were coerced or tricked into a relationship that hurt or offended his love for Rose or Rose’s budding love for him, that could be an effective adultery plot.  As I’ve mentioned before, with adultery, we are writing about the full gamut from all-out sexual betrayal to mistaken betrayal through miscommunication or misunderstanding.  These two are great plots we will get to, but they are seldom used in modern writing.  Or at least they aren’t used as much in modern Western writing as they are in modern Eastern writing. 

 

The Eastern authors interject the miscommunication and misunderstanding plots strongly into their writing.  This is very similar to the Victorians.  The adultery plot at the miscommunication or misunderstanding and below the sexual level is prevalent in these types of plots.  For example, the protagonist sees his love interest on a date, communicating privately, or in a compromising situation with another.  The entire incident is an intentional or an unintentional setup, and the protagonist doesn’t see the result.  There is a misunderstanding or an intentional misunderstanding.  How might this work in Seoirse.

 

I’ll not say if I’ll use this, but let’s propose that Rose wants to get Seoirse off her back and out of her life.  She’s upset with him for more than one reason and knows of his infatuation.  Therefore, Rose invites another person to take her to a dance.  She dances and speaks with this person while ignoring Seoirse.  The result will be a non-sexual adultery plot.  In a more risqué novel, this could turn into a full-on adultery plot.  Now, I’ve used my entire time discussing this type of plot.  I guess it’s worth it. 

 

3.     Rejected love (rejection) (q) – 1ei, 21 – 20% - I didn’t mean to spend so much time on the adultery quality plot, but I had some good information to write about.  Likewise, you can see how the adultery quality plot feeds into the rejected love plot. 

 

The rejected love plot is a great plot, but I find it’s not used nearly as much in the West as in the East.  The rejected love plot is a staple in about 50% of Eastern works while it just isn’t found that much in the West.  I’d also say, although I haven’t made a proper survey that romance as a plot is alive in the West but not in any way that really pushes the romance buttons. 

 

Romance used to be about two people finding out about love and then learning to love one another.  I’d say romance today is all about sex and relationships and little about love.  That’s to be expected because love is not about the physical—love is completely about the spiritual and mental.  Love is what you do based on how you think.  It is about the doing, but not about bodies in some kind of sexual ecstasy.  Hollywood led the West away from real love a long time ago. 

 

What does this have to do with rejected love?  Well, rejected love is one of those deep concepts in romance.  Rejected love comes in many flavors and is a powerful motivator and plot.  Perhaps the most common in the East is unrequited love.  This is also a potential plot in the West, but much less used.  The very idea that someone might be in love but unwilling or unable to express it, is foreign to the Western ideas of love.  In the East, as I wrote, it’s very common.

 

I can and I can’t see this with Rose.  I would like to use this as a plot in Seoirse with Rose or with Seoirse.  I think it might work with both or either.  For example, Seoirse could feel that he is in no position to propose love to Rose.  That could all be based in his assignment, his initial interaction with Rose, and Rose’s cover as an aristocrat.   In addition, Rose herself could feel she can’t express her love (if there is any) for Seoirse because of her work, her position, and her experiences with him.  This is just one possibility for the rejected love plot.  There are others.

 

The other plots tend to use other characters in the love experience.  For example, we might have a character who is in love with Rose or Seoirse and obviously rejected.  It could also be possible to have a character from Seoirse’s past (Rose really has no connection to such a thing in her past) who is in love with him and rejected by him.  I used this for Sorcha in another novel—Sorcha and George Mardling.  This was a very important plot in my novel Valeska: Enchantment and the Vampire and Sorcha: Enchantment and the Curse.  As I wrote, in both of these novels, the same rejected love plot played an important part in the development of the telic flaw problems.  Also, in Valeska: Enchantment and the Vampire, the misunderstanding of rejected love led to the telic flaw and the telic flaw resolution. 

 

There is a very powerful approach to rejected love—miscommunication and misunderstanding.  When people are in love, the potential for both of these increase significantly.  The possibility of jealousy and the “misses” combine to a very powerful plot and motivations in a plot.  This might be the best and many times the most entertaining spectacles in any romance or romantic type plot or situation.  The potential for unrequited love with jealousy and miscommunication or misunderstanding is a staple in Eastern literature.  Not as much in Western literature.  It should be.   

 

4.     Miscommunication (q) – 8 – 7% - In the previous topic of rejected love, I mentioned the miscommunication plot, and here it is.  This is perhaps one of the least used but most effective and entertaining plot available to the writer.

 

I didn’t think much of the miscommunication plot until I started reading Eastern literature.  Like the Victorian Era, the miscommunication plot is rife in Asia.  The reason is their culture.  The Victorian culture and society was notorious for unwillingness to communicate directly.  They wouldn’t talk much about illness, sex, or bathroom activities much less about love or romance.  Something similar affects Asian cultures.  There is a strong reluctance to speak out or talk about things that are uncomfortable. 

 

Now, in the West, we think we are great communicators, but we really aren’t.  There are many things Westerners are unwilling to confront in any media.  We just aren’t that upfront about the unmentionables.  Now, on to miscommunication.

 

You don’t need to have unmentionables or very unmentionables to interject a miscommunication plot in any novel—all you need is miscommunication.  The characters don’t need any real reason to not communicate properly or forthrightly.  It does help to have impediments to the further communications to allow the miscommunication plot to grow and fester—that just makes the reveal even better.  What might such a plot look like?

 

Well, perhaps the best way in is gossip.  A little gossip goes a long way.  If the gossip is juicy and less descript the better.  Here’s an example.  Let’s say we want to project Seoirse as falling in love with Rose, but the gossip is that Seoirse has a girlfriend back at home.  Someone even puts a name to her.  Rose before really knowing Seoirse would have very little reason to address this subject.  Seoirse could hang around Rose for a long time before the subject would even come up.  This little false love triangle (Seoirse doesn’t already have any girlfriend) could build over time to the point where Rose decides to go on her own date or associate with some other man.  Where the situation could come to a head is when and if Seoirse asked Rose on a date.  At that point, she could ask him point blank and that would end the miscommunication (or not).  Or she could turn him down without clearing the problem.  This is one of those unmentionables or doesn’t have to be mentionables.  Even in Western culture it’s considered impolite to address gossip if you think it’s true. 

 

So, this little plot is a great plot.  The example I gave is just an example of one type of setup—there are many.  There are many ways to use this little plot.  You can even put up one character who is really good with gossip to stir the pot over and over with juicy bits that drive the protagonist and the other characters bonkers.  That makes for a miscommunication novel—this is a favorite in the East.  It could have great traction in any modern novel.

 

5.     Love triangle (q) – 14 – 12% - Then we actually get to the love triangle plot.  This is a great plot, and like the adultery plot, it doesn’t require a full-on betrayal or full on double love interest to be used properly.  What does that mean?

 

The usual love triangle that most people think of is the woman or man who is pursued by two lovers and can’t or won’t choose between them.  In this classic love triangle, we have an ambivalent, usually protagonist, who is indecisive, and the indecision drives the reader crazy (or at least it does me).  This type of love triangle was popular during the Victorian Era.  The classic trope is the protagonist or the love interest is choosing between love and security.  Many Victorian novels start with the premise that the parents chose love over security and the novel begins with penury for the offspring.  Ever read Oliver Twist or Jane Eyre?  This is the basis for both of these Victorian novels.  There are other ways to set up the love triangle.

 

The classic Eastern set up is the protagonist (usually female) is forced into a relationship with the man she doesn’t desire while infatuated with the boy back home.  These are interesting setups.  The end can be very different than the reader might imagine.  In some cases, the girl falls for the man who is forcing or strongly pursuing her, while she realizes her love back home isn’t really her love.  On the other hand, the usual old-school resolution is the boy back home comes and steals the girl away, and they defeat the bad rich or powerful guy.  In the tragedy version, both end up dead and the girl gets no one.  This is just another type of love triangle plot.

 

The one I’d like to use is based in miscommunication and misunderstanding.  In this type of love triangle, the female (Rose) is pursued by more than one suitor.  In fact, you can have many more than one or two.  Seoirse is the primary, but he has competition, and he isn’t making himself as clear to Rose as he should.  Rose is undecided, but you have Seoirse and perhaps one or two other men pursuing her.  She is willing to accept the attentions and go on dates with men other than Seoirse.  This drives Seoirse into action.  He must gain Rose’s attention from the others.  In a romance novel, that would be the entire novel, but I’m not intending to write just a romance novel.  This is just one plot in the entire novel.  It’s a great plot, but just one of the plots.

 

6.     Betrayal (q) – 1i, 1ie, 46 – 43% - The betrayal plot is an important and common one in the classics.  Human betrayal is perhaps one of the most common plots in all of literature.  Well, it’s right up there with redemption.  The problem with the betrayal plot is that it is a betrayal plot.  Now, let’s parse this plot a little—you can have big betrayal or little betrayals and that’s still a powerful betrayal plot.  You can also have intentional, unintentional, accidental, and for your own good betrayal plots.  Let’s look at all of these.

 

The first point is the degree of the betrayal.  You can have a high degree of betrayal like a husband or a wife (adultery) or the right hand man (person).  I hate these types of novels.  They are popular and include many of the classics, but I’m just not a fan.  The very idea of having your entrusted person commit an intentional betrayal bothers me.  It bothers many classical authors, so although the high level betrayal is a modern plot—it’s kind of sporadic in the classics.  I like a lessor degree betrayal.

 

This is a great tension developer.  Not the high-end betrayal, but the little betrayals—these might be as little as a small indiscretion, like in a conversation, little pokes.  It can increase to the level of letting out information and betraying the group crowd or the protagonist.  Such a betrayal is on a much lower level than the right-hand person letting the cat out of the bag.  You can have all kinds of small betrayals that drive the tension and release of scenes.  Now, let’s look at the intentional, unintentional, accidental, and for your own good.

 

An intentional betrayal is the classic big type of betrayal.  The right-hand man sells out the protagonist for money, fame, or position.  So it goes.  Boring and unexciting, to me.  The unintentional is more interesting. 

 

The right-hand man leaves a clue for the evil forces and that leads to the end of the rebellion and the capture of the protagonist.  Really fun.  It could also be the protagonist who makes the mistake.  This is similar to accidental.  The degree is the only difference.  What I mean is that the unintentional was an intentional action that unintentionally led to the betrayal.  The accidental is simply an action unrelated to the betrayal that led to it.  For example, in the unintentional betrayal, a character makes some mistake that leads to the betrayal.  In the accidental, no one makes any mistake, but the betrayal happens.  Something is overheard or the enemy makes a good guess, and so on.

 

The for your own good betrayal is pretty popular today.  I’ve used it with the bad characters.  I’d advise using it when it’s worthwhile.  In the for your own good betrayal—some character thinks they know best and better than the protagonist and betrays them for the own good of the protagonist.  This can take away the sting of the betrayal from the character who makes the betrayal.  The character can be further redeemed.  Even the protagonist can make such a betrayal.  This can be a very powerful betrayal.

 

Now, how can I use this plot in Seoirse?  I’m thinking low level betrayals from Rose’s enemies and Seoirse’s opponents.  That’s about it.  This is a great type of plot and should be used in a low degree in any novel. 

 

7.     Blood will out or fate (q) –1i, 1e, 26 – 25% - This is one of the classic plots we really don’t use any more.  I don’t suggest using it in the modern era or in modern literature.  I’m not sure this type of plot can get any novel published today, although the fate plot has made a come-back in some of the junk literature of our time.  Let me explain.

 

The Greeks and the ancient world introduced the fate plot.  Suffice to say, before Christianity and really Judaism became the philosophy of the West and really the rest of the world, every person believed humans were fated by the gods.  This idea came out of the evolution of religion.  I’ll explain. 

 

All religions began with animism.  Animism is the idea that spirits exist in anything that moves, lives, or grows.  When your society doesn’t understand anything about science or the basis of the world, animism is your next best assumption.  Why do things have life or move—obviously spirits live in them.  The spirits must be placated to prevent disaster and to allow a good life.  For example, you must placate the spirit of the apple tree if you eat or harvest the apples and so on.

 

In the evolution of religion, with literacy, animism turns into Pantheonic paganism.  In Pantheonic paganism, the spirits are still around to make the world move and live, but now there are gods who govern all and to some degree control the spirits.  The gods and the spirits must be appeased.  The reason the gods are tied to literacy is that gods represent those ideas which can only come with the written word—like love, music, thought, and so on.  Many older spirt concepts that are extra area or being also become god-ideas, fire and Zeus for example.  In any case, both animism and Pantheonic paganism point to the idea that fate rules human life.  Humans are fated by the gods.  The Greeks called this pathos.  In addition, the gods are fated—the Greeks called this kronos. 

 

It wasn’t just the Greeks—all early cultures fully believed that all human existence and life was fated.  The Greeks were just one of the first cultures that applied literacy to fiction, and we have many of their plays and stories (myths).  Almost every Greek and ancient world plot is about how man is fated and how the gods control the fate of man.  In addition, I should mention, that in all ancient societies and especially notable in Greek culture, fiction and writing was directly tied to religion and the gods.  All those Greek plays were written for religious festivals and celebrations.

 

The idea of the fate of mankind changes once a culture develops philosophy—then religion evolves into mysteriums.  By the way both Christianity and Judaism went directly from animism to something different that is not mysterium or gnostic.  All other religions followed and still follow the evolution of religion.  By the way Christianity itself caused the last evolution in religion which is Gnosticism.  Christianity is not gnostic, but Gnosticism is caused by the discovery of science with the idea that humanity is not fated.

 

So what does all of this have to do with writing?  All early writing is based on the plot that humans are fated.  That’s all there is.  Actually, you can see other plots within this basic plot, but when push comes to shove, the telic flaw resolution of almost every Greek play and story is fate.  This plot became a holdover when the novel was invented.  Fate plays a huge roll in early novels.  Then came the Victorian Era.

 

In the Victorian Era and before, the watchword for plots was the blood will out plot.  This is based on fate and the idea of the right of kings.  Right of kings, by this time, had boiled down to the idea of the aristocracy.  In other words, humans were fated because of their birth.  If you had a high-level birth, you were destined for high level stuff.  If you were of a low-level birth, you were fated to penury and the slums.  Because, in the Victorian Era, we see a suddenly expanding middle class who were becoming aristocratic (not by birth) by wealth, the wealthy class became part of the blood will out class.  In addition, the aristocrats were never very plentiful (they couldn’t support a huge book selling market), but the wealthy could and did. 

 

These ideas of blood will out, which came out of the idea of fate, were the watchword for almost all Victorian plots.  Just look at any of the Victorian classics and you will see, for example, Oliver Twist.  Oliver was born of one wealthy parent who married for love to a lower-level person.  His blood will out, and so in the novel, we see how because of his blood (his birth) he is much greater and more special than all the people of the slums he meets.  In fact, those in the slums either die in the slums or they can be redeemed, but they are still from the slums while Oliver, with almost zero skills at all becomes the head over all.  Pretty stupid theme and plot, but this is the classic Victorian plot.  Nearly all Victorian novels follow this plot.  The big change happened with the end of the Victorian Era and the beginning of what I call the Romantic revolution. 

 

In began before the end of the Victorian Era and was pushed forward by the American Dream.  The American Dream was the idea that any person could rise to wealth—birth and previous wealth and success didn’t matter.  We see this change in youth (children’s) novels from the times.  In the classic Victorian Era youth novel, the antagonist and the bad characters are the charity students.  They are rightfully overcome by the aristocratic and the wealthy.  In the Romantic revolution, we suddenly see that the aristocratic and wealthy become the antagonists and the bad characters, and the charity students are the heroes and heroines.  What a change—the change was from blood will out and fate to the Romantic protagonist who is the common person who can and will succeed. 

 

In any case, although I depict Rose as aristocratic, and Seoirse has some aristocratic roots, blood will out or fate will not be plots in the novel I’m proposing.

     

8.     Psychological (q) –1i, 45 – 41% - Where blood will out or fate is a real old world plot, psychological is a real modern and new world plot.  I’m being a little factious because the earliest psychological plot and novel is likely The Tale of Genji which is also the oldest known novel in history.  Other historians and writers have pointed out the psychological features of other old pieces of writing.  Perhaps the first and most important question is this:  just what is a psychological plot?  I can answer that.

 

The non-psychological plot is interested in the outward activities (action) and dialog of the characters and specifically the protagonist.  The psychological plot is interesting (and focuses) on the internal and mental workings of the mind of the protagonist or other characters.  Do you see a problem with this?

 

This is the irony of the Romantic protagonist.  If you remember, the focus of the non-Romantic protagonist is on their actions and words almost entirely.  There is almost zero interest or inspection of their thoughts, and their mental frame of reference is entirely developed through their emotions or words and that’s about it.  In the Romantic protagonist, the reader and the writer are both interested in knowing the mind of the protagonist.  The why and frame of mind for their actions and words are the main focus of the Romantic protagonist.  I have written over and over, this is a real problem for the modern author.  Modern readers want Romantic plots and Romantic protagonists, but modern writing should always be showing and not telling.  The conundrum is how to split these hairs, and the psychological plot doesn’t help you. 

 

For these reasons, I’m not a fan at all of the psychological plot.  I think such a plot tells way too much.  I’d much rather have my protagonist bound to a protagonist’s helper who can bring out their mind in dialog.  I’d rather use emotions to show the mind ad thoughts of the protagonist.  That written, I do intend a psychological plot for Seoirse in the fullest sense of the term, because Seoirse will be a Romantic protagonist.

 

What I’d like is to bring out Seoirse’s mind through Rose.  The tools I’ll use are emotions, dialog, and circumstances (events) where Seoirse can display his thinking without going with narration into his mind.  I want to let the characters show the story and not the narration tell it. 

 

The fabric of the psychological plot for Seoirse will be his mind in falling in love with Rose.  That’s what readers want to know about and they what to know what the protagonist is thinking about in terms of romance and love.  That’s what I’ll do, but remember, this is a very difficult plot to use in the modern world and with Romantic type characters—at least and make it work out really well.

 

9.     Magic (q) – 8 – 7% - Magic is my kind of go-to plot.  It isn’t a common classical plot, but in the modern era, it has become a force unto itself.  We have seen the advent of the magic realism genre.  This is a great genre and can represent the reflected worldview.  This is the worldview I use in all my writing.  I intend to use it in Seoirse and to use a magic plot.  Just what is a magic plot.

 

In the magic plot, magic is developed and used to help resolve the telic flaw of the novel or to just create the tension and release in the scenes.  I also like and encourage the use of magic as a discovered skill and one that is developed.  I already intend to bring the supernatural into Seoirse, because that is a basis for Rose and the reflected worldview I developed for Rose.  However, I also intend to have a magic-based plot.

 

Now, let me write a little about the reflected worldview and magic.  In the first place, we have three basic worldviews we can write under: real, reflected, and created.  Real is the basic worldview of the common era and what science as well as society and culture hold as truth.  That’s basic. 

 

The created worldview is a worldview developed by the writer for their novel or novels.  This is usually a worldview for science fiction and the future, but Harry Potty is a created worldview, and many fantasy novels are created worldview.

 

Then what is the reflected worldview?  The reflected worldview is not based in the real or even the truth—it is rather the worldview that culture and societies accept or hold to.  It is also a worldview that a reader can address with research.  For example, a vampire can exist in a reflected worldview.  Do vampires really exist?  The real worldview would state—no.  However, any reader can research the idea of the vampire.  Indeed, the vampire exists as an idea in almost every culture and society in the world.  A vampire can exist in a reflected worldview.  There are a host of other creatures who can exist in a reflected worldview, but not in a real worldview.  Here’s where the created and the reflected worldviews diverge.  If the ideas in a novel can’t be supported by real-world research, it can’t be reflected.  Harry Potty’s problem is the magic system—it isn’t based on any cultural or societal ideas on magic.  It was just made up—created.  Let me explain by writing about my “magic” system.

 

In my reflected worldview novels, magic is not good.  In fact, magic is the use of faith in the world to manipulate the world.  I use C.S. Lewis’ view of the world and ideas along with P.E.I Bonewitz’ theory of magic based in the Golden Bough for my magic.  In my reflected worldview, miracles come from God and magic from the forces of the earth (Satan, if you like).  In my worldview, just like English myth, the Fae (fairies and other creatures) were the neutral angels cast out of heaven to earth.  The Fae use miracles, which I call glamour to make things happen in the world.  My human characters use glamour of miracles and strongly oppose any magic use.  That’s just the reflected worldview of my novels.  That’s the worldview I intend for Seoirse. 

 

Now, to specifics.  I’m not certain which specific magic type plots I will use.  I know the basis for the initial scene and following will be strongly based on this plot.  Seoirse will have to use his skills as well as Rose hers.  The resolutions and the development of the overall plot in the novel will depend on these magic plots. 

 

I would also like to include a magic discovery plot for Seoirse.  That is, I’d like to see him discover some skill with glamour that he can use or develop through the novel.  This is a powerful Romantic skill development type plot and theme that readers love.  We shall see.

 

10.  Mistaken identity (q) – 18 – 16% - This is a great classic plot that you don’t see much in the modern world.  However, this is a wonderful and very entertaining plot.  Remember, The Man in the Iron Mask, The Scarlet Pimpernel or a host of other mistaken identity novels in the Victorian or near the Victorian Era?  There were many.  These are the primary plots of some of these novels, and as The Scarlet Pimpernel shows, mistaken identity can also be secret identity.

 

The entire idea is to set up a plot based on mistaken identity.  I’ve written how this and miscommunication can be the basis for an adultery or a betrayal plot, especially an adultery and a betrayal plot that gives the writer wiggle room.  What is wiggle room?

 

Don’t write yourself into a corner.  Yeah, if you already have figured a way out, that’s great—you might continue into your corner.  That’s usually not the way I write a novel.  I definitely think ahead, but if you haven’t figured it out yet, I don’t like plots that make my protagonist less likable to my potential readers.  I also don’t like deus ex machina resolutions (the calvary comes out of the woodwork).  This is because I write about protagonists whom I want to redeem.  Yes, a protagonist needs something to be redeemed from, but usually self-destructive behaviors like full-on betrayal and adultery can’t get your readers very happy even with redemption.  It’s possible, and if I ever get an idea that works out well, I’ll use it.  I’m just cautious about certain subjects, and you should be too.  It really depends on your audience and who you are writing for.  I’m writing for as large an audience as possible.  So, what about mistaken identity?

 

This plot allows you to attribute all kinds of badness (a secret identity allows the attribution of all kinds of goodness) to your protagonist with the out that it wasn’t them at all.  This becomes a wonderful secret that can be revealed in the novel or the climax of the novel.  In addition, the mistaken identity plot can fit into many other plots.  How might I use this in Seoirse.

 

That’s a great question, and this is a great plot.  I’d rather not apply this to Seoirse or to Rose.  However, this might work very well with one of the bad girls or a set of them.  I’d planned something like this—the blowup that leads to the initial scene with Seoirse.  Followed by a reconciliation and training on the Ilse of Shadows.  Rose would lead this training.  Seoirse would be in the background.  The main point would be to beat into the bad girls a little training so they will follow and comply with Rose as a teacher and leader.  I could interject an antagonist who is trying to jinx Rose’s training and the success of the others.  This might allow a mistaken identity plot.  I’ll have to contemplate.  I like this idea very much.  Another add might be to have someone connect the missing girls to Rose as the perpetrator and give her a bad name.  Also possible.  

 

11.  Illness (q) – 1e, 19 – 18% - Illness is a great plot.  It has had its ups and downs especially since Victorians didn’t like to speak about any illness at all.  The Romantic protagonist and characters don’t lend themselves to illness as a plot either.  Some of the most powerful illness plots are those where the protagonist overcomes the illness and learns or learns to overcome other problems in their lives.  One of the greatest examples of this is What Katey Did. 

 

What Katey Did was one of the most transforming novels in English.  It was about a young woman on the cusp of adulthood (going to high school in the 1850s) who injured herself while disobeying her father.  The end result was that she was bedridden for six months recovering from a back injury.  Katey learned to become a gracious person based on her injury and recovery.  She was redeemed as a person.  This is the power of the illness plot.

 

There are many others.  I think in Love Story, the protagonist or the protagonist’s helper gets cancer and dies.  The end result is human growth and understanding.  That’s a modern view of the illness plot.  Your characters don’t have to die to be redeemed, but that still makes for a great tragedy. 

 

Ultimately, an illness plot is supposed to result in a redemption development of some kind.  However, the illness plot can be less dramatic than that.  Eastern literature and movies use the illness plot as a trope for people to show kindness, attention, and improve romance encounters.  These are usually low level illnesses, like colds.  For some reason people don’t get sick in Western literature or shows unless they are going to die.  In fact, the point of someone getting sick in a Western work seems that they are intended to die. 

 

I’d say the Eastern plot idea if a great one.  Why not have Seoirse or Rose get sick and then be helped by the other or other characters.  This can lend some depth and interest to the novel.  In fact, the entire idea of helping a sick character—especially one with a cold or the flu just seems inviting.  I did use the injury plot (illness plot) in Rose when she was hurt fighting off the beer and cigarette sellers.  That was a fun use of this plot. 

 

As you can see, you can use injury as well as illness for this plot.  The point is to build pathos and to continue to develop the overall plots in the novel.  It isn’t a willy-nilly plot, but it is definitely an add-on type of plot.  It can be very useful.  I think I’ll use it.   

 

12.  Anti-hero (q) – 6 – 5% - I’m not a fan at all of the anti-hero plot, but I should explain about this plot and why, and also explain how it could be used and used well—just not applied to the protagonist (or maybe applied to the protagonist). 

 

Just what is an anti-hero?  The anti-hero is generally a protagonist in a novel.  Here is just one definition from a questionable source, but this gets across the point in a reasonable fashion.

 

“An antihero (sometimes spelled as anti-hero)[1] or antiheroine is a main character in a story who may lack conventional heroic qualities and attributes, such as idealismcourage, and morality.[1][2][3][4][5] Although antiheroes may sometimes perform actions that most of the audience considers morally correct, their reasons for doing so may not align with the audience's morality.[6] An antihero typically exhibits one of the "Dark Triad" personality traits, which include narcissismpsychopathy, and Machiavellianism.[7]

There is a controversy over what exactly defines an antihero. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines an antihero as "someone who lacks heroic qualities", yet scholars typically have differing ideas on what constitutes as an antihero. Some scholars refer to the "Racinian" antihero, who is defined by several factors. The first being that they are doomed to fail before their adventure begins. The second constitutes the blame of that failure on everyone but themselves. Thirdly, they offer a critique of social morals and reality.[8] To other scholars, an antihero is inherently a hero from a specific point of view, and a villain from another.[9] This idea is further backed by the addition of character alignments, which are commonly displayed by role-playing games.[10]

Seoirse is a Romantic protagonist and some might conclude that a Romantic protagonist has some of the characteristics of an anti-hero.  I don’t agree, and I think I can give a much better definition of the anti-hero. 

 

An anti-hero is a protagonist who has similar characteristics of an antagonist.  What does that mean?  The purpose of the protagonist is to resolve the telic flaw.  The purpose of the antagonist is to prevent the resolution of the telic flaw.  Everything else is drivel.  This means that the purpose of the anti-hero is to prevent the resolution of the telic flaw.  A protagonist like this is simply working cross purpose to any comedy resolution of a novel.  I know some people won’t like this definition—they like the idea of the bad boy or bad girl protagonist.  However, no matter the basis of the protagonist (bad girl or boy), the purpose of the protagonist, in a comedy, is to resolve the telic flaw.  Having a bad girl or a bad boy character is immaterial to the point.

 

Now, the most important characteristic for the reader is not bad or good, but rather reasonable and logical.  Is and are the actions of the protagonist (and other characters) reasonable and logical.  I’d say the writer always wants the protagonist to be acceptable (I like lovable) to the reader.  The reader needs to like the protagonist, not necessarily as a friend or an intimate, but rather as a person.  I’m certain you know many people whom you admire, but would rather not be your friend.  So, how do we apply this to a novel?

 

The idea of the protagonist or other character who is cross purpose with society or a culture is a classic Romantic theme and characteristic.  This is a great approach to a character.  We can see that Rose is already there.  She is acting as an aristocrat in a non-aristocratic world, and she is succeeding.  She is also acting in other ways as well.  Many of these are anti-cultural and some anti-social.  She is manipulating people and a school, and she is good at it.  Now, what about Seoirse? 

 

We need to have Seoirse as a counter to Rose.  I didn’t intend to make Rose an antagonist, but you can have a nice antagonist.  I intend the pair to be a protagonist and protagonist’s helper group with another antagonist.  The point isn’t an anti-hero, but rather a classic Romantic character.

 

Now, having bad girls or bad boys as characters is just entertaining.  There is also the power of redemption and there is the perception of badness when badness doesn’t exist at all.  Remember, one person’s bad habits can be another’s normal, and I’m not writing about immorality or perversion, but rather just activities that are outside the mainstream.  This is becoming a trope in modern literature, and I should point out that the unusual has always been a focus of all literature.  The unique and special is what makes a protagonist interesting.  Your protagonist doesn’t have to be bad or anti anything, but they certainly should be Romantic.  That’s basically what we are writing about in the aggregate.

 

13.  Immorality (q) – 3i, 8 – 10% - You might guess that immorality is not my favorite plot.  You are right, but just like the other difficult plots, this one can be structured and used without pushing your protagonist into immorality.

 

How can you do this?  You use the immorality plot but have your protagonist either be innocent or seeking redemption. 

 

Sin ain’t just sin.  In our normal thinking as humans, we see sin or immorality in grays and not black and white.  For example, in our current society, we see murder as horrific, manslaughter as not a big deal (even if someone dies) and sexual sin as nothing much at all (even when families and children are devastated).  So much for immorality. 

 

In Lilly: Enchantment and the Computer, I had an immorality plot with Lilly, the protagonist’s helper.  She was hacking and stealing from people.  This is considered a low level sin in the modern world.  Part of this plot was that Lilly was redeemed and repented of her crime and immorality.  You can see, there is a lot you can do with this plot.

 

In Seoirse, I intend perhaps to either have Rose’s or Seoirse’s actions to appear immoral—perhaps they commit some crime, together or separately.  We might even have Rose commit some infraction or immorality that she doesn’t fully understand.  That might be difficult because Rose has a cover and is well trained.  The point is that there are all kinds of ways to interject this type of plot for a basically moral protagonist and with moral characters.

 

14.  Satire (q) – 10 – 9% - Satire is the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.  Most specifically, satire is a very complex concept in writing.  Although only about 9% of the classics include a satire plot, satire is a commendable and worthwhile function of the figures of speech applied in any writing.  I use satire all the time in dialog, and I suggest that you do too.

 

Satire can have a broad appeal or a not so broad appeal, but it is always a worthwhile feature of any writing.  The question you might have is how do we interject satire into a normal novel?  As I noted, dialog is one of the easiest and safest ways to input some satire.  Figures of speech go a long way to build dialog and to improve all writing.  A little political dig, especially historically based, or a cultural dig in conversation makes a great little exposure for satire.  Let me warn you, be cautious of modern issue and problems in satire.  Let me give you some examples.

 

In my novels about the Soviet Union, I make all kinds of historical satire in the dialog about issues and people that are long past.  Most are dead, and the issues are cold.  The Soviet Union sits on the ash-heap of history, so it is fair game.  In my more modern novels about Britain, I occasionally will throw in a satirical comment related to the times in the novel.  Since the issues are past and no one really cares about them much anymore, they make great satire.  So, history is great for satire.  What you should be cautious of is modern and contemporary problems.

 

If you write satire about contemporary issues, you run the risk of irritating your readers.  Now, I know, some of you will say you are out to change the world, but as you should know, the purpose for fiction is entertainment.  If you want to change the world write sermons and not novels.  The big deal is that satire about contemporary issues, always has the potential to run off your readers.  For example, satire about global warming will irritate those who believe in it like a religion.  Now, you can take potshots about anything as long as you don’t dwell on it too long.  What I mean is that a small satirical remark by any of your characters adds to the writing, but a long harangue on any subject will likely drive them away.  In fact, long harangues on any subject in a fiction novel has the potential to drive away your readers.

 

In my novel Centurion many of my male readers and some historically based female readers told me they loved the details about the Roman Legions.  However, many of my female readers said they skipped the historical fighting stuff and loved chapter 17 and beyond because that’s where the love story part of the novel started.  Oh well.  That’s less about satire and more about content appealing to your readers, but satire is a specific type of content.

 

Here is what I plan to do with Seoirse.  I’ll include satire in the dialog and the narrative to fit history and the times.  Since its broadly about the near future, that shouldn’t be a problem.  I’ll not have any historical or contemporary harangues of any kind.  I’ll keep down the satire as it relates to contemporary issues, but I might throw in a little allegory.  In fact, I always include some degree of allegory in these novels.  That’s the major point of their theme—redemption of the characters—especially the very special characters involved in the novel.  Allegory is usually a very safe method of satire.  We’ll get to that subject eventually.

 

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)

Article (i) – 1e, 46 – 42%

 

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

 

Let’s use this list, again, to design a new protagonist.  That’s exactly what I’m going to do.

 

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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