04 October 2024, Writing - part xxx827 Scene Outline, English Novels in History
Announcement: I
still need a new publisher. However, I’ve taken the step to republish my
previously published novels. I’m starting with Centurion, and
we’ll see from there. Since previously published novels have little
chance of publication in the market (unless they are huge best sellers), I
might as well get those older novels back out. I’m going through Amazon
Publishing, and I’ll pass the information on to you.
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 two 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.
6. The initial scene is the most important scene.
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 the third edition of Centurion:
|
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)
Why not look at the most important building block
for a novel—the scene. When I first
started writing I had no idea about scenes.
The concept only struck me after writing about fifteen or so
novels. This is one of the very
important concepts that most writing and English teachers and professors don’t
know and can’t teach. As I’ve written
before, if you want an educated and trained teacher about novels, ask how many
they have had traditionally published—that’s the measure of success and, to a
degree, of knowledge. The knowledge
comes with the experience of writing and proven success.
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
I’m not sure if you can get simpler than this
outline to write a good scene. This
outline directs the writer in the proper way to design and write a scene. Let’s look at it again and in detail.
I already covered the ideas of scene input and
output as well as tied this to the tension and release in the scene. To repeat, every scene must be highly
entertaining. If you write a boring
scene, you will have a boring novel.
That’s a guarantee. Let’s not
have any boring scenes. In addition, if
you write from scene input to scene output, you can’t lose your way, and you
can’t get writer’s block. There is more
to this, but let’s go back to the beginning.
Let’s presume we have a scene input. This can be the initial scene or the output
from the previous scene. Step two is to set
the scene.
I write specifically that you should write the
scene setting. Even if you are lost, you
still must have a scene input from the output of the previous scene. It would be impossible for you not to have an
input. All you need to do now is set the
scene. That’s enough for me.
How do we set the scene? If this is scene two or greater, then you
might be starting with a scene or a place.
What you need to do is set it. If
necessary, set it again and then clean it up (edit out what you don’t
need). I always set the scene. This means, I ensure the reader knows the
when, where, what, and who are on the stage of the novel at the beginning of
the scene. This is critical to writing
the scene and not confusing your readers plus, setting the scene provides
everything, or nearly everything you need for scene design and
development. I will write this, you don’t
have to tell us everything, you need to show us what is on the stage of the scene
(novel). What can the reader see, smell,
feel, taste, and hear when the scene opens.
You may increase the details of the descriptions as you go along, but
start with description. Yeah, use some
of that writer’s brain to mix it up a little, but for major (new) characters
give us at least 300 words and for minor (new) characters, give us 100
words. Do the same for the places, stuff,
and time. Show us when and where. I usually don’t start with the characters but
with the when and where. The when is the
most obvious as well as the conditions of the when: dark, stormy, bright, sunlight,
night, day, cloudy, raining, and all.
You must show us what the conditions, time, and season are. Perhaps the most awful writing, in my
opinion, is when I have no idea when and where we are in the description of the
scene. There are times when this is
appropriate. I’ll mention an example,
but show you how to handle this.
In my novel, Sorcha: Enchantment and the Curse,
Shiggy wakes in a room on a table.
She describes where she is and what she can see, but there is no
weather, no notion of time, or place—other than the room. That’s okay.
We are showing from the point of view (PoV) of the protagonist and
character. This is perfect, and this is
how we handle these circumstances. The
same is true for any other novel and scene.
Show us what the characters can see, hear, taste, feel, and smell. This is the fundamental of description. I’ll continue with more, next.
When we write any novel, here is my advice. In the first place, every scene will have a
Point of View (PoV). You can’t go
flipping this PoV all over the place in a scene. A good editor will never let you get away
with that, and a good publisher will reject it.
Now, here is a little controversial advice. I suggest not using first person. The first person PoV and style of writing has
produced some significant bestsellers, but I have some real problems with
it. In the first place, you can’t move
the PoV.
Part of the power of a great novel is the ability
of the writer to move the PoV around and still hold to a strong
protagonist. Yes, I also advise a single
protagonist. More than one just dilutes the
writing and the story. Yes, I realize
Martin has a bazillion protagonists in Thrones, but it’s simply silly
and overkill. He and you should just
write multiple novels. In any case, I
suggest third person, singular protagonist, past tense, implying the future or
at least implying the times of the novel.
We could also add to that list, showing style and Romantic
protagonist.
The entire reason I’m writing this is for the
scene. The real problem with the first
person is that it is all telling. You
don’t want to move to the omniscient voice in any writing, but in third person,
you can provide a description from the PoV of any character and still ring true
with a single romantic protagonist. In
fact, you can write the entire novel from the PoV of another character and still
have a Romantic protagonist—Wuthering Heights is just that kid of
novel. I’m not really a fan of Wuthering
Heights as an example of good writing technique, but it shows that this
concept of PoV from another character with a separate protagonist is possible—and
a Romantic protagonist at that.
When you begin your novel, you need to determine
the person, tense, and a few other details.
For most, the concept of the person of the text is self-determining. The author just starts writing in a specific
person and that’s that. The tense should
always be past tense, while dialog is present tense and moving as necessary for
the specifics of the dialog.
Let me explain even better why I advise against
using the first person—except in some very key types of novels. In every novel, the protagonist becomes the center-point
is not the focus of the novel. In my
opinion, the only time you should use the first person tense is when the
protagonist is the focus and the most important person in the context of the
place. For example, the king, queen,
prince regent, or crown princess. In a
republic, the president, in a parliamentary system, the prime minister, in a
tyranny, the dictator, and so on. If the
character of the person is the prime mover and focus of the worldview and the
novel, then by all means write in the first person. This is exactly what I did for part of The
End of Honor. Lyral Neuterra was the
crown princess whose death led to the Human Galactic War, thus her portion of
the novel is in the first person. This
is a slightly experimental novel because she isn’t the protagonist, but she is
the focus of the novel.
So, in writing and developing a novel, we first
need to determine the tense, the person, and then the other details—or perhaps
start with those details and then apply the person and tense. I’ll get to that, we are all about writing scenes.
Whatever person you decide for the Point of View
(PoV) of the novel, I recommend third person and you should always go with past
tense in narration and action and present tense (moving to the proper tense for
the conversation) in dialog. If you have
questions about this you need to realize that this is the foundation of modern writing. I guess I should go through the history of
fiction (novels) again. Let’s go.
The first novel in the English language is
usually considered Robinson Caruso by Daniel Defoe. There are older novels in other languages notably
the first ever novel, Genji in Japanese and Don Quixote in Spanish. All these novels’ titles should tell you
something about early novels—they are names of their protagonist. What is interesting about Robinson Caruso is
that it is written in first person. The
reason for this is that it is put together as a journal and the first person
fits this journal style. In addition,
because it is a journal style, the implication is that the events happened in
the past and are being recorded and recollected. This is shown with the past tense. Because of this, for most all novels, the
past tense has become the standard for writing fiction. You will occasionally find a novel in present
tense, and I’ve never heard of one in the future tense. In most cases, any of these novels are not
best sellers, or classics, and not successful.
The implication of time (past, present, or future) of most writing comes
not from the tense but from the setting.
For most writers and writing, the past tense
makes sense. However, the implication of
time in the setting (past, present, or future) are all choices of the topic and
the style of the writing. For example, Robinson
Caruso implies the past because it appears to be a recording in a journal
of events that happened in the past. I’ll
make the assertion that you will find in most early novels, they are all mostly
journal style, implying the past, in the first person, and past tense. This is what you will find with all three of
Danial Defoe’s novels and many of his somewhat contemporaries. You will also find this to be true of the
non-novels from slightly earlier in English literature. I’ll move on the what happened in these
aspects of English literature, next.
So, the earliest novels in English were first
person, journal style, implying the past.
What happened next? Novels moved
from the journal style to the narrative style, and with that change came a
great change in person. The narrative
style fits perfectly and is the natural style of the third person, and the third
person took the stage in almost all novel writing from then on. We rarely see the first person in novels
again until the end of the twentieth century.
We’ll eventually get to this, but the first person doesn’t work at all
with the narrative style. We’ll have to
wait for a new style of literature.
In any case, from the advent of the novel in
English, we get a pretty gradual and yet quick change from journal style to
narrative style and with this a move from the first person to the third person. This lasted into the Victorian Era, but not
much past it.
We do move through various movements in writing
and most specifically the Romanic style or really the Romantic
protagonist. This movement and change in
literature was critically important and then died out in the Victorian Era. This is very important to us now, so I’ll
explain it, next.
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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