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Sunday, October 22, 2023

Writing - part xxx479 Writing a Novel, Building a Protagonist, Fitting, Refining the Protagonist, Background, Life

22 October 2023, Writing - part xxx479 Writing a Novel, Building a Protagonist, Fitting, Refining the Protagonist, Background, Life

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.

 

I finished writing my 34th novel (actually my 32nd completed novel), Seoirse, potential title Seoirse: Enchantment and the Assignment.  The theme statement is: 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 cover proposal for Seoirse: Enchantment and the Assignment




Cover Proposal

The most important scene in any novel is the initial scene, but eventually, you have to move to the rising action. I am continuing to write on my 30th novel, working title Red Sonja.  I finished my 29th novel, working title Detective.  I finished writing number 31, working title Cassandra: Enchantment and the Warrior.  I just finished my 32nd novel and 33rd novel: Rose: Enchantment and the Flower, and Seoirse: Enchantment and the Assignment.

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 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.

 

For novel 35: Eoghan, a Scottish National Park Authority Ranger, while handing a supernatural problem in Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park discovers the crypt of Aine and accidentally releases her into the world; Eoghan wants more from the world and Aine desires a new life and perhaps love.

 

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.

 

My main focus, at the moment, is marketing my novels.  That specifically means submissions.  I’m aiming for agents because if I can get an agent, I think that might give me more contacts with publishers plus a let up in the business.  I would like to write another novel, but I’m holding off and editing one of my older novels Shadow of Darkness.  I thought that novel would have fit perfectly with one potential agent who said they were looking for Jewish based and non-Western mythology in fantasy.  That’s exactly what Shadow of Darkness is, but they passed on it.  In any case, I’m looking for an agent who will fall in love with my writing and then promote it to publishers.  That’s the goal.

 

The dependency I’d like to present in a new novel is similar to Valeska but one where the protagonist falls romantically in love with the focus.  The question is the focus. 

 

Now, I’m looking and researching for a being or character who would fit the needs of the book I’m proposing.

 

Don’t modify known settings, people, or history unless you are writing alternate history.  Modify, at will, those things that are not known or recorded in history.  That comes to a very important point about historical fiction, even reflected worldview historical fiction.  That is that history doesn’t record much of the mundane we wish to include in our novels. 

 

If I’m going to develop a protagonist, I need to bring out the protagonist outline.  I’ve got it somewhere in my writing—I just have to find it.

 

I guess I’ll start with the Romantic part of the protagonist.  Then I’ll move to the more specific pieces of the protagonist.  Most precisely, I’m looking at the list of potential characters from my list of characters in my other novels.

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.

I have Áine as the potential focus of the novel.  She’s a Celtic goddess.  This focus isn’t set yet, but I need a protagonist, and I need to develop and design one.  I’m contemplating a son of the Stuarts and the Calloways.  Here’s the information from my notes.

 

Elaina actually Evir Elisabeth Stuart,  Gaelic:  Eamhair Ealasaid Stiùbhartach – The girl: she was blond with grey-blue eyes and a very Nordic or Norman look.  Her long hair was tied in a tight French weave.  She was tall and looked mature—much more mature than Sorcha or Deirdre.

            Old Raleigh bike with a basket and a bell - an old Raleigh welded-steel frame girl’s bicycle

Elaina actually Evir Elisabeth Stuart,  Gaelic:  Eamhair Ealasaid Stiùbhartach  g. Oxford b. 1975 late to Wycombe Abbey a special student of Luna’s was being groomed for work in Stela and the Organization.  He specialty is with the Fae.  They are bound to her because of her nobility and background.  She is not Fae but commands the Fae to some degree. 

                                    m. James (Seumas) Donaidh Calloway b. 1971 

                                                            c. Eoghan (Owen) Ragnall Calloway/Stuart (Stiùbhartach)

                                                            c. Aife (Eva) Eamhair (Evir) Calloway/Stuart (Stiùbhartach)

So, my protagonist Eoghan will have the very special skills of charm and sensitivity to the creatures of the land.  He won’t have any other general powers of glamour. 

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

He knows the Fae, the creatures of the land, angels, the God, and the gods and goddesses of the land.  That gives him a moral basis centered on an orthodox belief.  His family goes to church and practices all the strong tenants of Christianity. 

3. Courageous

Still, Eoghan and his sister gained some degree of training their mother and father never expected.  Eoghan is a park ranger with the Scottish National Park authority.  He was taught at their special training in law enforcement and all its attendant training.  The British military taught many of his courses, especially in hand to hand, weapons, and the wilderness.  He knows more than his mother would like, and he is strongly attracted to this life and this training.  He would like to be part of the military and has had overtures.  He is naturally courageous and naturally good.  Then he finds Aine, and she will give him a purpose for his special skills.

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

Just be aware, it must have to do with the use of their powers of charm and sensitivity in relation to leadership.  That’s the ticket.   

5. Introspective

Eoghan must be an introspective character.  We have a protagonist’s helper to aid him in expressing his mind, but he won’t let out much or as much as Aine wants and that will help drive the novel.  Remember, in writing a novel, secrets are your best friend.   

6. Travel plot

I don’t expect a really powerful travel plot like I provided in Rose and Seoirse, but we need to get Eoghan and Aine into the regular world and into regular society—that’s where the differences and the interactions with people and each other can really play out.  Plus, there is no way after about 1500 or more years in a crypt that Aine wants to remain holed up in a rural or wilderness area.  She’s for society and culture, plus part of the real fun in the novel is for them both to have new and exciting experiences together.  The travel plot makes all this possible.

7. Melancholy

Eoghan is like his mother Elaina and his sister.  They are all touched by their mother’s and family’s depreciation of their aristocracy.  They lost all in the game of promotion and house.  They lost in the game of thrones, so to speak, but they all have charm and sensitivity to the Fae and beings of the land.  That makes them powerful in their own way, but powerless in society.  This is what we will change in Eoghan.  That’s one aspect of the novel’s telic flaw.      

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

This is the desire that will consume and empower Eoghan.  This is what will drive him and Aine forward in the novel.  He will have special skills, but the reader will realize that it isn’t the skill but the dedication and work behind the skill that leads to Eoghan’s success.    

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

I’m sure there are other ways to develop this pathos in the novel.  For Rose and in Seoirse, I used some other methods and means based on Rose’s qualities and skills to develop pathos.  In general, I used dependency and the military situation in Seoirse to build pathos.  This is easy with females, but a little less easy with males.  With females, the pathos becomes situational.  For men, the pathos is dependency based.  I’m planning and building a male protagonist, so these are important considerations.  With Seoirse, I could play off the female development of pathos and the male pathos.  I think this is a great means of designing pathos.  I might be able to do this for Eoghan with Aine too.              

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

In the end, Eoghan might regret some of his actions and the results of his actions.  This creates a situation that provides tension and release.  It also continues the tension and release in what is called a sequel by some writers. 

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

In any case, self-criticism will be a characteristic of Eoghan, and it will drive Aine crazy.  Aine will be from an era where people made decisions based on life and death.  She isn’t used to second guessing.  I can imagine one of their discussions. 

To solve a problem, she says just kill someone or something.  Eoghan says no, and that astounds her.  Perhaps she will need to learn to be self-critiquing.   

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.

I will point out that with many and normal Romantic protagonists, the exclusion and self-isolation is intentional and permanent.  They desire it.  The exclusion and self-isolation caused by being an orphan or a partial orphan are also permanent and tend to develop automatic pathos in the reader for the Romantic protagonist.  I won’t use this for Eoghan. 

13. From the common and potentially the rural.

In any case, we want our Romantic protagonist to be out of the common.  We can work this in many ways, but the ultimate point is to convince the reader that the Romantic protagonist is just like them and not really special at all.

14. Love interest

So, we’ll have a great setup for this novel, this Romantic protagonist, and this protagonist’s helper.  What will really be fun is seeing Aine totally outside her comfort zone for many reasons trying to win over Eoghan.  I need to think on the details, but that’s what I’m thinking.  She’ll try all the wiles she knows and all the wiles she can figure out.

Meanwhile, Eoghan will want her to be mellow and gentle, but that’s not her way.  Can these lovebirds recover from each other?  Can they find love?  Will Aine have her way with Eoghan, or will she chicken out.  We shall see.  That’s what a love interest is all about. 

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 – I’m developing the initial scene, and I’m building it in my mind.  Here’s what I’m thinking.  Eoghan is a hard-working, isolated, and very skilled man.  His job is taking care of the supernatural issues in the National Parks of Scotland and Britian.  He has been assigned a case from his mother through Stela.  Stela is the group under “the Organization” that handles protecting Britian from the supernatural.  I should note there is a significant system, not large in numbers, but high in power and connections to do just this.  They are under the Crown and by “the Organization.”  Eoghan’s mother, Eliana is a real recluse who works for the Crown and who has aristocratic roots, but from an old line of royalty of the British.  She is touched.  That means she has the power of charm and sensitivity to the supernatural.  That’s why she’s in charge of the part of Stela that handles small issues of supernatural problems.  She works at home and investigates so others can handle the problems in the field.  That’s what Eoghan does.  Eoghan’s sister wants to do work similar to Eoghan.  So far she’s not allowed. 

Now, for the initial scene, Eoghan has been sent to Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park near Glasgow and Stirling to handle a supernatural nuisance.  I think I’ll make this a very dangerous kind of Scottish Fae.  Eoghan has to apply some strength and power against this creature.  In the end, he will be injured, but he will discover a hidden old Anglo-Saxon graveyard with an inscription and a crypt.  The creature will lead him there and his injury with the power he has to exert will allow him to find the place.  Perhaps to protect himself he’ll need to escape to this hidden oasis of protection. 

There Eoghan will find the inscription and the crypt.  The injured and escaping Eoghan finds an ancient and secret Anglo-Saxon graveyard in the wilds of the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park.  There, Eoghan finds the inscription and a crypt.  Of course, since he has nothing better to do—he’s waiting for the dangerous Fae creature or creature of the land to go away.

When he inspects the inscription, he finds he can read it.  He and his family are experts at languages and especially ancient British languages, actually Gaelic and Celtic languages.  This is one of the skills of Stela and a trained skill of Eoghan and his family.  This comes from a deep and long running training and experience of these families. 

Because Eoghan can understand the inscription, and I think I’ll make it an ancient but kind of obvious Anglo-Saxon joke or riddle.  They really liked their jokes and tricks.  The joke will be at Aine’s expense and saying a curse or making fun of her will result in her being released from a spell holding her.  Then Eoghan will have to rescue her from the crypt. 

Aine is an interesting being and focus.  She is an unbound goddess.  This means she has some life and some death.  She is a being with fettered powers who is not fully human but not fully a goddess.  She is a being made to point to the eternal and to the real Dagda.  The Dagda is the Celtic and Gaelic name for God.  Part of Aine’s problem is that she was made and then captured and interned before the revelation of the Son of God.  This is something she will experience and learn in this novel.  This is a recurring theme in my novels of this type.  This fits directly into the mind and knowledge of Eoghan.  If you remember, as a Romantic protagonist, he has a moral compass and a ethos based on Christianity.  This will meet Aine’s needs like nothing else and will endear her to Eoghan.  Also, Eoghan will he a good teacher and helper.

The final part of this initial scene will be Aine and Eoghan’s trek back through the wilderness.  They will have to defeat the creature of the land and make their way back to Eoghan’s home.  There the creature of the land will become an issue, and we shall see other interactions that force Aine and Eoghan to move forward.

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

a.      Telic flaw – I already wrote the theme statement for this novel.  Here it is:

 

Eoghan, a Scottish National Park Authority Ranger, while handing a supernatural problem in Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park discovers the crypt of Aine and accidentally releases her into the world; Eoghan wants more from the world and Aine desires a new life and perhaps love.

 

To make a theme statement, we need a protagonist—that’s Eoghan.  We also need an antagonist or a protagonist’s helper—that’s Aine.  We have an initial setting—that’s the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park.  We also have a telic flaw—that’s Eoghan wants more from the world and Aine desires a new life and perhaps love.  There is the telic flaw. 

 

When I get ready to write this novel, I’ll start with the initial scene, but the entire focus of the novel will be the resolution of the telic flaw.  To achieve this, we need to define Eoghan and Aine in the context of the novel and their world—that’s the novel. 

 

That’s the way a Romantic protagonist works, and the main part of the resolution is the introspection and the mind of the protagonist.  We show this with action and through dialog, and that’s the purpose of the protagonist’s helper. 

 

Eoghan, a Scottish National Park Authority Ranger, while handing a supernatural problem in Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park discovers the crypt of Aine and accidentally releases her into the world; Eoghan wants more from the world and Aine desires a new life and perhaps love.

 

You might argue that this is more of a plot statement, but I do think that’s the best we can do for a novel.  I do use this “theme statement” to help me define and write my novels.

 

b.     Approximate age – I already wrote that Eoghan is between 19 and 21.  I think I settled on 20.  Here’s the details:                        

m. 2005 James (Seumas) Donaidh Calloway b. 1971 m. at 34 y.  2028 57 y. 

                                                            c. b. 2008 Jan Eoghan (Owen) Ragnall Calloway/Stuart (Stiùbhartach) – 2028, 20 y.

                                                            c. b. 2012 Aife (Eva) Eamhair (Evir) Calloway/Stuart (Stiùbhartach) – 2028, 16 y.

                                                            Aine appears about 16 y.

c.      Approximate social degree – you might wonder about social degree or social position.  Why would that be important?  When we are developing out protagonist and especially a Romantic protagonist, the social degree is very important and specifically from the standpoint of fitting into the telic flaw, plot, and initial scene.

     

      If you remember, one of the abiding characteristics of a Romantic protagonist is from the common.  They come from a lower social level background.  Now, in the modern world, we can play with this a little bit.  The point of this is two-fold.  The first point is that the Romantic protagonist should start as a common person.  What we historically call the common man.  This provides the shared values and position with most readers.  The author uses this basis to raise the Romantic protagonist to some degree of success.  This is usually part of the climax or results in the climax. 

 

      The second point is the development of pathos through position and setting.  The Romantic protagonist starts in a pathos condition.  They are poor, abused, unaccepted, unknown, unloved, and all.  In the end, they should be the opposite or at least parts of their life should be redeemed and improved.  Here’s what we can do in the modern era.

 

      As you note, my Romantic protagonist, Eoghan is from an aristocratic background, but still middle class or lower.  His family holds no official positions of power or aristocracy.  They are just from an aristocratic background, but one not accepted or acknowledged.  This does appeal to modern readers who see this as them.  They too could be related to aristocrats but with no inheritance or acknowledgement.  I think this works really well in modern writing.  At the same time, Eoghan comes from the middle class in wealth, position, work, and family.  I’m not repeating myself.

 

      I’m noting that Eoghan is just a regular guy.  His family has some doubtful aristocratic connections, but no wealth or position.  This leads to where he is right now.  He does have some skills and powers that came from his background, but this is a classic trope in a Romantic protagonist and Romantic novels.  This also appeals to readers.  You can see how many if not most readers really latched on to Harry Potty even though he was a born messiah with really acknowledged aristocratic parents, and had powers beyond any human imagination.  He started abused, poor, unaccepted, friendless, and unknown.  The reality was very different, and when he entered the world of magic, all that came out in a non-Romantic fashion.  Still readers liked this because it was the basics of the Romantic protagonist.

 

      For Eoghan, he will be from an interesting background that allows him some opportunities, but most of them will be due to himself and not his background.  This is why I’d like to get Rose involved.  Rose has wealth and position, and she will know who should be her friends. 

    

d.     Sex – the sex of a character has a significant affect on the novel and the development of the character.  I’m sure you can see the most obvious results or effects.  In the modern world, these seem to have more to do with sex and sexual attraction than with anything really important.  Yes, romance is important, but it’s really important in a romance novel or a novel with a romance theme and genre, but not necessarily in other novels.  However, the sex of the protagonist and especially the Romantic protagonist has a significant effect on the pathos development and the novel itself.

 

      In terms of pathos development, a female character and especially a female protagonist can produce pathos just by the circumstances of existence.  The classic pre-modern trope is the woman or girl who has been promised in marriage to another.  This immediately produces a pathos situation in the mind of the reader.  On the other hand, a male in the same situation does not create the same pathos response.  The reader expects the woman to be rescued or to gain relief, while the reader expects the man to either face his situation or do something about it.  The same is true of the modern protagonist.

 

      A female protagonist who is hungry, poor, abused, captive, and all is a total pathos developer.  A male is not.  Readers expect males to be able to fight or escape their circumstances while they expect females to not.  This is a cultural and social situation and not really a problem.  It provides a great basis for an author who takes advantage of these circumstances.  I do routinely.  I produce female protagonists whom I know will generate great pathos in the reader just be their circumstances.  I don’t expect male protagonists to do the same.  This comes down to Eoghan.

 

      Eoghan is from the common in terms of wealth, real position, and work.  This is a beginning state.  He doesn’t really lack much, but he desires more.  The pathos generation for a male protagonist is usually his actions in the world.  We expect males to take the world by the tail and try to succeed.  Their dedication to the goals of the circumstances are what generate the pathos in the reader for the male protagonist.  Thus, Eoghan will gain traction by how he treats and interacts with Aine.  It’s his actions especially when put upon by others that develop his pathos in a reader.  I think this is a very important point for the writer to understand about male and female characters.  Pathos is a very important part of writing and especially novels. 

 

      Let’s write a little about pathos.  Pathos is what a reader feels about a character.  It isn’t the emotions of the character but rather the emotions of the reader.  This is the effect we wish to have on out readers.  We want to specifically control the emotive response of those who read our writing.  You can’t do this directly.  In fact, direct manipulation of an audience usually results in bathos rather than pathos.  Bathos is where a reader experiences an incorrect emotion while reading.  You see bathos when the audience laughs during a tense and emotional scene in a movie or a play.  Pathos is the correct response of the reader or audience to a situation, while bathos is the incorrect response. 

 

      As I wrote, pathos can never be directly engaged.  For example, having your characters sit around and cry about something is the surest way to bathos, however, having your protagonist face a trying and important emotional issue without shedding a tear can have your readers reaching for the tissues.  If you remember, pathos is the entire point of tension and release and the novel itself, you are on the right track.  The selection of the sex of your protagonist and especially of a Romantic protagonist can have a great effect on your novel.

2.     Refine the protagonist – this is really the fun part of protagonist and Romantic protagonist development.  I should really interject, I’m writing to you from 11,000 feet talking to Albuquerque Center on the way back to Wichita.  I was stuck in Reno with an electrical problem for three days, but everything is better now.  Still, at this point in Romantic protagonist development, we should understand the protagonist, the antagonist, the protagonist’s helper and some other characters.  We know the initial scene, and we can build a Romantic protagonist based on their physical characteristics.

Those physical characteristics are listed below.  These are characteristics that are revealed through the novel.  We don’t vomit them forth when we introduce the protagonist.  In fact, we might hold some of these close and reveal them at just the right time. 

Every overall plot in some degree is a revelation plot.  That might sound weird, but in the three overall plot types, the revelation plot was the first developed and the most common in the classics.  It shouldn’t be surprising that the revelation plot comes up in every novel.  It’s just one of the common plots.  I intend this novel to be a modern redemption plot, but we’ll eventually get to that.  Let me mention that most modern and especially Romantic novels are redemption plots.  A redemption plot is simply a plot where the protagonist goes through some change to resolve the telic flaw.  This is especially suited to the Romantic protagonist and a Romantic novel because, as you know, the Romantic protagonist is all about discovering and developing their special skills and abilities to eventually resolve the telic flaw.  That’s what readers love about a Romantic protagonist and a Romantic novel.

Now back to refining the protagonist.  With any protagonist, there are characteristics which can be shared and those that can never be shared.  Those that can be shared are the physical and life characteristics.  Those are all the ones listed below.  We will get to those that may never be shared but only shown later.

You can see the initial characteristic of the protagonist is his or her physical description.  This is vomited forth when the character is introduced.  This defines the way the character looks plus some other characteristics that we shall see.  This is a very important characteristic and perhaps the most important about the protagonist.  I’m not in favor of the limited or zero description of the protagonist that has become popular today.  In fact, I think one of the most egregious problems with modern writing is the lack of sufficient description.  I go by the Arlo Guthrerie rule of thumb of 300 words of descriptoin for every major setting and character and 100 words of description for every minor setting and character.  We’ll see how all this works eventually, but for now, we are refining the protagonist with the stuff we can show immediately through description.     

a.      Physical description

 

Eoghan (Owen) Ragnall Calloway/Stuart (Stiùbhartach) was a young man of average stature, height, and build.  He was so average you might miss him in the crowd except he was a man no one could miss.  His bearing wasn’t really different from most other men, but you couldn’t miss him in any group.  His height wasn’t taller than others, he was average, but for some reason he always stood out.  His face was pleasant and somewhat nondescript, but it wasn’t nondescript at all.  It was striking in the most unstriking fashion.  He just looked regal while seeming completely normal.  Women couldn’t keep from looking at him, and men all wanted to be his friend.  They flocked around him, but never hid him or overwhelmed him.  All the time, he seemed like the calmest and most reasonable person.  He was the person you wanted to invite for any reason, tea, a meal, a game, a walk—just being near him was calming and wonderful.  Even when words didn’t pass from his lips, the time was delightful.  Men wanted to hear his voice and women to touch his hand.  His voice was unimpressive and quiet, but filled with promises and strength.  It was as if every word that came out of his mouth bolstered and strengthened even when he didn’t say something erudite or when he remarked about the weather.  It was uncanny and soothing, never unnerving or worrisome.  Even his name, Eoghan Ragnall Stuart felt noble while sounding so unnormally normal.  If you called him by his Anglicized name Owen Ragnall Calloway, it still sounded noble but normal.  And then his smile was always encompassing, but unassuming.  It had a slightly gloomy bent as if he took even happiness and jovialness in a sober and thoughtful way so even the most lame jokes became important and intelligent even when they weren’t.  Eoghan was always the life of the party, but unfortunately, he didn’t attend many parties at all.  He was too busy as a Scottish National Park Authority Ranger handling small difficulties for the Crown and Stela.

 

      This might need some work, but above is the physical description, with a little more, of Eoghan.  I’m relatively happy with it, but I’ll work on it a bit more.  The point here is that without telling, I’m showing you a lot about the life, looks, and personality of Eoghan.  He is unusually unusual in a very usual way.  That’s the point of his charm skill and power.  We’ll get more into this as we develop more of the character.

 

b.     Background – history of the protagonist – Someone wrote once that a protagonist (and in fact, any character in any well written novel) is like an iceberg.  The reader only sees and knows ten percent about the character.  Presumably, the author knows about the rest of the ninety percent.  This is absolute truth and is a challenge to the author.  The knowledge of the protagonist (and the other characters) by the author should be very large compared to what is revealed in the novel.  This goes back to the revelation plot. 

 

      Every novel is a revelation and a revelation plot to some degree.  The author is revealing the plot, the characters, and the other aspects of the novel.  That doesn’t necessarily make a revelation plot, but it shows just how connected revelation is to the novel, any novel.

 

      So, we need to develop the ninety percent of the protagonist the readers don’t see and might never know.  As an example, I rarely mention the birthdays of my characters.  Unless there is some reason to refer to their actual day of birth or perhaps to celebrate their birthday, there is no reason to mention it.  Therefore, although you don’t need to develop it, you might want to figure out their actual birthday.  What I do is to get their month and year of birth.  That’s usually enough, but this is like many other points about a character.  You should definitely know more about them than you present in the novel, and you definitely need to fully develop your characters. 

 

      You don’t need to write it all down, but you might as well.  One of the most important things I’ve learned about writing is to make notes when you write so you don’t mess up your novel with conflicting information.  For example, if you write that your character has red hair, and then describe their beautiful blond hari later, you will have a real problem.  Let’s hope you or your editor catches it.  This is one of the real killer problems that will knock your readers out of the suspension of disbelief.

 

      So, remember, we need to develop our characters to a much greater degree than we express in our novels.  I’ll show how this works as we move along.

                                                  i.     Birth

m. 2005 James (Seumas) Donaidh Calloway b. 1971 m. at 34 y.  2028 57 y. 

                                                            c. b. 2008 Jan Eoghan (Owen) Ragnall Calloway/Stuart (Stiùbhartach) – 2028, 20 y.

                                                            c. b. 2012 Aife (Eva) Eamhair (Evir) Calloway/Stuart (Stiùbhartach) – 2028, 16 y.

                                                            Aine appears about 16 y.

 

                                                                                                                                    I have more than just Eoghan listed here.  I’ve pegged his birth at January 2008.  At this point, I don’t think I need more fidelity.  If the actual date comes up, I’ll likely put it at 23 January.  That’s kind of a joke or an author’s input.  My birthday happens to be about that time.  When I need an actual date in any novel, I just use some month with the 23rd day.  That always makes things easy.  Why not, if the actual date is not based in history or the fidelity isn’t important.  Now, once you establish a date like that, you need to base the rest of the time, when necessary on it.  In this case, I don’t think I’ll have to.  If I need a second date, I usually use another date from my history and family.  It has no purpose except to give a specific date to an event—especially an event that really doesn’t need that kind of precision. 

                                                                                                                        Now, about the birth of Eoghan, there is more we can look at.  You should ask these questions: where, when, how, who, and what.  In terms of a birth, they are not all moot.  In this case, the where is Stirling, at least that’s where I’ll set it.  Perhaps in hospital.  The place could be very important.  In Aksinya, her birthplace was very important because it was the royal palace where all royal Russian children were born.  In this case, the where isn’t that important, but it could be.  For example, if Eoghan was born in his house, or at another place.  For beings of the land, the place of birth is very important.  In Eoghan’s case it isn’t really that important.

                                                                                                                        We have the when and have already discussed it.  The when was to match the times of the novel and the life of the character.  I should likely write about this a little.  If you remember, at the beginning, I was looking for a character or a family who could potentially provide me a protagonist for the time I determined for this novel.  The novel start I determined to be around August to September 2028.  Why this time?  I’ve been writing in this year for Rose and Seoirse, so I wanted to continue in about that time.  I invented Eoghan from one of my families and characters from other novels.  His birth and the marriage and life of his parents from my other novels fits into the time period and in the characteristics I wanted.  To get to his birth, I had to make the marriage, life, and etc. of my characters.  I chose them because of the potential fit and made their lives and life fit the development of Eoghan as a protagonist.  This is very important to me in the development of my world and setting as well as my character(s).

                                                                                                                        How isn’t very important, but the who is—that’s basically what I discussed in the last paragraph.  The who will be very important in context of the protagonist, Eoghan—that’s his mother Eliana and father, James (Seumas) Donaidh Calloway.  I should likely get into more details about Eliana and James in the family section.  So, let’s move on to what.

                                                                                                                        What is Eoghan.  That’s the entire point of the development.  With his birth, we know enough about him to start.  I’ll provide more, next.

                                                ii.     Setting – the setting for this novel is in Scotland and most specifically Stirling between Glascow and Edinburgh.  Eoghan and his family live on the outskirts of Stirling in a cottage with three bedrooms, a parlor, a kitchen and dining area, and a secret office.  There is a garage that started life as a barn with plenty of room for at least two cars and some extra space and a guest room above it.  I should get to the description—I’ll do that in detail when I write the novel.  The main point is that Eoghan’s parents are slightly isolated because they want to be.  Eoghan’s mother dislikes the effect she has on others and secludes herself away from society because of it.  His father is somewhat similar.  He doesn’t like attention either—he got too much of it as a child, and he works in a nondescript office in Glascow for the Organization.  His main job is organizing and managing the Organization operatives and agents working in Scotland.  It’s an important job, and usually a quite one.  It might get a bit frenzied when Aine shows up with Eoghan. 

 

                                    Eoghan’s mother works in the secret office.  She has enough internet speed and connections to do her job very well.  She is an expert in her field which is detecting and declaring the jobs Stela must handle in Scotland.  She works mostly by herself, but gets help from the main office.  Usually, there isn’t any help, the main office sends her information and she makes the decisions.  It has been very helpful for her to use Eoghan to handle many of the suburban problems.  She was frazzled when she had to interview and assign agents to the work.  Now, she does it through the computer, text (iphones), and email.  She can speak directly to her son when necessary. 

 

                                    Perhaps I’m getting too much into the family already.  I’ll get more about it when we get to family.  This is mainly the setting part.  I think we have enough details, but I’ll proceed to the initial scene setting.  This is Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park near Glasgow and Stirling.  This is one of two current Scottish national parks.  It’s a scenic area with some wilderness.  It has some real hidden gems and hidden places.  One will be the place Eoghan finds the Cemetery and crypt.  We’ll describe this area and the places when we begin with the novel.  There are some great pictures to use and I’ve been to the general area before.  It will be in the height of summer.  Next, we’ll write about Eoghan and his life.

                                              iii.     Life – the life of Eoghan, the protagonist of my new planned novel, Aine, is the novel, but what I’m writing about here is his life before the novel begins.  Now, you can David Copperfield it or Oliver Twist it, like I do with Centurion.  That is, the novel can start at or before the birth of your protagonist.  Then the entire novel is about the life of the protagonist.  I’m not into that.  I wouldn’t rewrite Centurion today, but the womb to tomb technique only works for a few novels and protagonists.  That means, in most cases, you will be developing, to some degree, the life of the protagonist before your novel begins.  Even though Eoghan is only twenty years old, twenty years is a really long time in terms of a novel that might last a year or less.  So, what about that life, the formative years?

 

                                    In fact, we shall get into the details with education, work, profession, and family.  All of these point to and define the life of Eoghan, or your protagonist before the initial scene.  So what about life?  In this case, we are looking at the other aspects of his life that make Eoghan Eoghan, the Eoghan whom we meet in the initial scene.  You might say his hobbies, interests, languages, attachments, proclivities, and associations.  They are basically all the physical things, not the mental or intellectual, qualities that happened and continue to happen in his life. 

 

                                    My character Dierdre was completely defined by her bedroom.  That private space gave away her entire sixteen years of life in a single glance, so much so that her best friend, and only friend, Sorcha, could grasp everything about her with a look.  Deirdre was a diva, an artist, a dancer, a singer, a glamour user.  She had paintings, music, things about dance, things about art, pieces of art filled with glamour, and much more.  I think this might be a good idea for Eoghan.  That is to describe his bedroom.  I’ll use this eventually when Aine comes to see his room.  Then the revelation to Aine herself.  So, let’s describe his room.  That’s next.  Plus, I need to think a little about this.

                                               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 want to write another book based on Rose and Seoirse, and the topic will be the raising of Ceridwen—at least that’s my plan.  Before I get to that, I want to write another novel about dependency as a theme.  We shall see.

 

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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