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Tuesday, June 20, 2023

Writing - part xxx355 Writing a Novel, Seoirse and The World

20 June 2023, Writing - part xxx355 Writing a Novel, Seoirse and The World

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 31st novel, working title, Cassandra, potential title Cassandra: Enchantment and the Warriors.  The theme statement is: Deirdre and Sorcha are redirected to French finishing school where they discover difficult mysteries, people, and events.     

Here is the cover proposal for Cassandra: Enchantment and the Warriors




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.

 

For novel 33, Book girl:  Siobhàn Shaw is Morven McLean’s savior—they are both attending Kilgraston School in Scotland when Morven loses everything, her wealth, position, and friends, and Siobhàn Shaw is the only one left to befriend and help her discover the one thing that might save Morven’s family and existence.

 

For novel 34:  Seoirse is assigned to be Rose’s protector and helper at Monmouth while Rose deals with five goddesses and schoolwork; unfortunately Seoirse has fallen in love with Rose.  

 

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.

 

I’m now writing Seoirse, and since I retired from my day job, I’m back to a chapter a day.  I could likely write two chapters a day, but my brain gets tired.  I think it’s important to report again on how to write a novel.  Let’s start at the beginning.

 

I already developed the protagonist for this novel: Seoirse Séamas Wishart.  That is his name in Gaelic.  His common or English name is George James Wishart.  Why the difference.  It all has to do with the worldview of my novels.  The worldview is reflected and therefore the supernatural exists.  We are mainly writing about the common and mythical supernatural in the world.  I’d like to say that whatever the basis for the usual supernatural in human thought exists in the reflected worldview of this and my novels.  Thus there are vampires, werewolves, fairies, the Fae courts, dragons, gods, goddesses, and other mythical creatures.  They aren’t the world.  They world of my novels is the world you see around you.  The supernatural aspects are generally unseen, unknown, and rare.  They exist like the supernatural exists in the world today: generally unseen, unknown, and rare.  That’s the basis of the world in my novels.

 

So, one might ask, in what world would kids and I mean kids in the sixth form in Britain be expected to handle intelligence work?  I was just asking that question myself.  I think there is a good answer.  Who else would you expect to do the work if such a mature and trained individual existed? 

 

This is part of the answer of my novels and I’ve been building into this world for a while.  I really started down this path with Children of Light and Darkness.  There was no intelligence training going on at the time, but the point of sending children to a certain and special school was to eventually get them to the Grey Coat Hospital, that is a private school in Britain responsible for language study and expertise.  Obviously, the Organization would need these kinds of students and people.  My students came from families in the Organization—many of them and their children wanted to follow-on in the footsteps of their parents.  That was my goal and in Warrior of Light that’s exactly what happened.  I projected students from the Grey Coat Hospital going to Oxford and Sandhurst.  They were special students, but I didn’t project special training or special oversight for them.

 

Then came along Deirdre: Enchantment and the School.  In this novel, Deirdre and Sorcha were being trained at Wycombe Abbey a private girl’s boarding school.  This is where I infused the idea of special training for problemed and special girls.  In other words, girls who showed great promise because of their skills with the supernatural, but who needed special supervision and training.

 

I continued this idea in Cassandra: Enchantment and the Warriors.  In this novel, the girls were on assignment to a French finishing school where a member of the British royalty and a supernaturally touched being had been held in captivity for numerous years.  The captive looked young, but was very old.  That brings us to Rose and Seoirse. 

 

Rose takes up the idea of a very mature person who is well above her years in maturity and knowledge and who can control certain inherited goddesses.  That person is Rose.  In Rose: Enchantment and the Flower, Rose takes care of the integration of Robyn, a very youthful genius who happens to also have god-like powers over light.  In this new novel Seoirse (working title), Rose has been assigned to take care of, control, and integrate four other girls two of whom are goddesses.  The point of all of this is the training and integration into society.  That gets back to Seoirse.  We know that Rose is highly unusual in her powers and abilities.  Likewise, Seoirse is equally able.  That’s the reason he is held back to handle an intelligence situation as Rose’s handler and protector.  How hard could that be for a very smart young man who has been trained in British intelligence as well as supernatural intelligence since he was a child. 

 

That should handle the suspension of disbelief and answer the question of why a 16 and a 17 year old could be trusted with this kind of assignment.  The 16 year old because she is literally the only available person who can and will do it.  The 17 year old because he can infiltrate a school in the sixth form.   

 

I should get more into the actual real-world setting. 

 

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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