08 January 2026, Writing - part xxxx287 The Novel, Idea, How to Write a Scene, Inspiration
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.
I want to start with these definitions as
a premise for writing.
1. Write to entertain
2. Write using the
common outline for a novel
3. Develop a telic flaw,
a protagonist, an antagonist, and plan to resolve the telic flaw.
4. Start with an initial
scene.
5. Develop and define a
modern protagonist: you get a telic flaw, a potential protagonist’s helper, and
a potential initial scene from the development.
6. Write to reveal the
protagonist.
And here is the scene:
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
When I first started writing, I had no
idea about scenes. As I began writing
more and more novels as well as analyzing how I wrote and generally how we
write a novel, it became obvious to me, that all fiction and all novels are
written in scenes. I had no idea about
this before, and very few writers or those who think they can teach people to
write understand the important of scenes in the scheme of writing. Writing fiction is entirely about
scenes—there is no other basis for the writing.
The elements can be further broken down, but the ultimate form of all
fiction writing is the scene. You can
easily see this when you review the outline of the classical novel.
The outline begins with an initial scene,
moves to the rising action which is composed of scenes that lead to the climax
scene. This moves to the falling action
scene(s) and finally the dénouement. You
can identify these elements and scenes in every classical novel. In fact about 99.99% of all novels. The few that don’t follow the classical
format are odd and usually not read much.
That’s because these few are not entertaining or interesting to
read.
If you look at the development of the
initial scene, which is the most important scene in the novel, I provide the
elements you need for the scene (initial setting, protagonist, protagonist’s
helper or antagonist, action statement).
With these elements, we can begin to imagine the initial scene.
I always recommend, in the development of
every scene, that you begin with the input and imagine and work to the
output. Not only does this work for the
internal scenes in the novel, but it works for the initial scene. The inputs of the initial scene are the
specific elements I listed: initial setting, protagonist, protagonist’s helper
or antagonist, and action statement.
There is also a presumed input into the initial scene. In scenes beyond the initial, the output of
the previous scene is the input for the next scene. This is what makes writing both simple and
logical in a well written novel.
All the time, we hear about writers who
get writer’s block or who can’t continue their story or their novel. If you are writing scene to scene with
outputs to inputs, there is no way you can get writer’s block. You simply have to start with the input and
write to the output for the scene. Now,
we can get hung up working on an output, but that’s simply creativity and just
writing. Many times if I get “hung up”
in the writing, I just start with the input of a scene and start writing. If you don’t like where the scene is going
just stop and start again. I find many
times the scene doesn’t go exactly like I originally imagined it. It has a life of its own based on the
elements in the scene and the characters.
That is the point of writing and especially fiction. Plus, we don’t write with the singular idea
that what we write is the end all of the writing. You should be revising your writing over and
over again. That’s what I do. I revise and revise and revise. I will revise an entire chapter each
day. I should likely get into my methods
for general writing. I think they are
very healthy for the writer and help develop a novel logically and easily. That’s where I’ll go, next.
I need to clean up the breadcrumbs a
little. I’ll do that soon, but the most
important idea on my mind is this. With
a great idea or at least an initial scene, which means we have a protagonist, a
protagonist’s helper or an antagonist, an initial setting, and an action (telic
flaw). With these, we can begin
writing. The question is now the
writing. I don’t know about you, but
when I first started writing, writing was about the most difficult part of the
process. I love the writing now. In the past, the revising was my least
favorite activity. Now, it is my
favorite activity. So, what is different
now than then, and what really changed?
I’ve really thought about this and worked
on this. The first point is what I call
the discipline of writing, and the second is writing in scenes. They fit together hand in glove. This may sound simple, and it’s really easy
with discipline. In the discipline of
writing, you are aiming for a 100,000 word novel—that’s what I’m aiming for in
my novels. Some of you might be writing
to a lower wordcount. That’s okay and
common for other genres. The discipline
of writing will work for you to.
I’m writing toward a 100,000 word
novel. That means 20, 5,000 word
chapters. All I need for 100,000 words
is to write 20, 5,000 word chapters. A
5,000 word chapter is easy. You can
write one of those a day. Theoretically,
you could write a 100,000 word novel in 20 days. I have and you can.
This means we need to write a 5,000 word
chapter. If you are writing in scenes,
this is pretty easy. Remember, the basis
for novels and all fiction is the scene.
We need from one to five or so scenes to fill out a chapter. I write for about 20 pages in Roman size 12
font at double space. Twenty pages will
give you about 5,000 words. Did you see
what I wrote. My chapter might be about
15 pages or 25 pages. I usually don’t
have less than 15 or more than 25, but whatever I need to finish up the scenes. I have no idea how many scenes I write in a
chapter. I just write my scenes until I
get to about 20 pages, and that’s the chapter.
I plan to write about 20 of these to resolve the telic flaw of the
novel. When I get to chapter 20, I know
I have about 100,000 words, and that’s a perfect novel in my mind.
You see the question we need to answer
about writing. With a plan like this, we
need to know how to write a scene. I can
show you how to do that—what’s the point of discipline? If I have the discipline to write a scene, I
can write a 5,000 word chapter. If I can
write about 20 chapters, I can write a 100,000 word novel. The whole point is the discipline to write a
scene. Start with an initial scene and
in twenty or so days, I should be at the dénouement scene. Okay, it might take longer than that—I usually
don’t write a novel in 20 days. I could,
but I usually have more research and revision to write that quickly. I’ll get to that, but first about writing a
great scene, that’s next.
We have reached the point of writing the
scene. This applies to any scene
including the initial scene, but I’ll get to that. Once you know how to write a scene, you can
write a novel (or any other fictional work).
So let’s get to it.
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
We start with the scene input. Once you have written the initial scene, your
input becomes the output for the previous scene. It’s as simple as that. Now, you don’t have to make it so simples,
but let’s look at an example. I wrote
that the input for the initial scene of Eoghan is Eoghan is sent to a national
part to quell a supernatural issue. I’m
thinking a dragon or some other Fae creature.
While he is there is discovers, by accident Aine’s crypt. Further, he releases her. I’m not certain if this is one scene or
multiple scenes, but the one scene idea will hold up for this example. Once Eoghan releases Aine, they are stuck
together in the place that holds her crypt.
In this case the output of the scene is Aine and Eoghan stuck in the
valley of the crypt, so to speak. The
obvious input for the next scene is that Aine and Eoghan must escape from this
place and either return to his home or somewhere else. That is moving to the output of the second
scene. We can block this as an
idea. Here it is:
1. Initial scene, input
Eoghan goes to handle a problem in a Scottish National Park, and the output, he
discovers Aine’s crypt and releases her.
The problem still exists and the output is that they two of them must
escape somewhere.
2. Second scene, the
input comes for the output of the initial scene. We can go all kinds of places with this. It all depends on the novel and what the
author wants to do. The output could be
that Eoghan just says sayonara to Aine and leaves her where she is. End of story and end of a great initial scene
and idea. I’m thinking that they both
band together to handle Eoghan’s little supernatural problem and she follows
him home. Even if Eoghan wants to get
rid of her—he released her. How do you
feel about someone who released you from a more than thousand year prison. Plus there are other issues.
I could go on and on in terms of ideas and
scenes, but I won’t. I want to write
them and see where they go. I have a
general idea, but books, for me, tend to write themselves. One scene follows the other from input to
output reinforcing and building the novel.
I think I’ve answered the main question
about input and output. To me, looking
at scenes this way means you never can have an excuse for not writing. As long as you have some output that becomes
the input for the next scene, you are set for writing the next scene. Let’s look at the other details.
Once you have an input into the scene, all
you need to do is listed in item two:
2.
Write the scene setting (place, time, stuff, and
characters)
I don’t care what you think you should do
or what you might want to do—give us and scene setting. Really, you can’t move forward without a
scene setting. The scene with an input
is like an empty stage. You must fill
the stage with description before you even can think about setting the action
and dialog in play. This may be the
greatest problem in modern writing. Even
in many published novels, I find myself asking big questions like where, when,
who, what, what do they look like. These
are questions for baby novels and not real novels. I’ve very infrequently read classics where I
have these questions.
The author must set the stage of the scene
to continue the writing. This isn’t as
obvious as it sounds. I’ll explain why,
next.
Setting the scene is perhaps the most
important part of writing a scene that most modern and inexperienced writers
don’t understand well—if at all. I’ve
even read novels and parts of novels by very good and published authors that
did not set the scene well. Let me go
into lecture mode.
One of my greatest peeves about any and
all novels is when I’m reading the novel and I have no idea what day, time,
month, place, people, stuff, environment, and all the author means. Usually, the biggest issue is the time and
place. It is difficult to get into the
suspension of disbelief when the most visible and obvious elements of the world
are not immediately or even eventually available. What I mean are those things the reader
should be able to note obviously in the environment. What I don’t mean is telling or those things
that are not obvious in the environment or on the stage of the novel. I like to use the term, stage of the novel
for very important and professional reasons.
I’ll get to that soon. Those
things that are not obvious or on the stage are fair game for not showing and
should never be told. For example, in my
novel Sorcha: Enchantment and the Curse, the protagonist wakes in an
enclosed room like a cell. I describe
for the reader the entirety of the room that Shiggy, the protagonist can see,
but nothing about the time, other parts of the place, or the day because Shiggy
has no idea about any of them. She is as
in the dark as the reader. Do not
tell—only show. Now to the stage of the
novel.
When the curtain rises on the stage for a
play, the viewers see the stage filled with the items, location, and time and
season elements of the play. I’m not
writing about an empty stage play, of course.
The stage is set for the scene and the act. The great playwright might have a clock set
with the time. The windows on the room
might show the season. The playbill
might tell you the place and the day or time.
The room is filled with things indicating the wealth of the house or the
place like an office or an open meadow or a farm or a castle. The stage is set and the viewer sees
all. The wise producer gives you the
minimum and the maximum to ensure the audience sees and understands the
important aspects of the play and the scene.
Let’s apply this to writing.
2. Write the scene setting (place, time,
stuff, and characters)
When the curtain of the novel raises, the
author should set the stage of the scene (and the novel) for the readers. The way we set the scene is to show the
reader the place, time, weather, stuff, and the characters. You don’t need any specific order, but the
order should match some kind of proper sequence in time and space. I usually start from big to small. Whatever you do, you must set the scene. As I wrote, this is the most neglected
element of many modern writers. I’ve
very rarely felt lost from the world in classics, but in many modern novels,
I’ve been completely disconnected from the suspension of disbelief waiting
sometimes vainly for the author to show me some basic information. I should go even deeper into this.
Let’s just build on this entire concept of
setting the stage of the scene. From big
to small, the readers need to know where, when, what, and who. I usually start with when then where, then
what and then who. Here is an example
from Valeska: Enchantment and the Vampire:
Late autumn 2014 Gdańsk,
Poland
A
full moon hung above midnight Gdańsk.
The dark medieval streets were wet and filthy. Puddles ringed with oily rainbows covered the
cracked cobblestones. The moon shone in
each puddle, reflected as a grimy milky glow.
The scent of saltwater and rotting fish rose with the night tide, an
unavoidable stench this close to the waterfront. At street level, the night was utterly
dark. The very few modern lights along
the crumbling cobblestone avenue shared little illumination with the ancient
alleyways that pierced the darkened buildings on either side of the
street.
George
Mardling eased into the alley beside an old shop and glanced down it. His eyes were already well adjusted to the
dark. Still, he flipped the night vision
goggle over his left eye and scanned the alley.
It was clear.
The
late fall night was cold--George wore a suit and over it a black overcoat. A dark felt fedora sat on his head. That helped conceal the night vision goggle. The night vision equipment was very modern
and compact. The organization issued it
to the field last month. The point was
to get a lot of night visibility out of a very small package—it worked well,
but the battery life was limited.
George
was a tall and thin man. He liked to
think his physique was like a body builders’, but he was too thin. He also looked too young and too serious. More like a student or a professor than an
agent. That was probably good for the
organization.
George
carried a Beretta nine millimeter in his jacket holster and a Beretta nine
millimeter kurz in his waistband, he hadn’t unholstered either weapon—yet. According to headquarters, his target wasn’t
supposed to be armed. According to his
orders, this wasn’t an attack or an arrest—he was making a reconnaissance, a
surveillance with a contact. If he could
identify the mark, all the better.
I have a habit I started with Sister of
Darkness where I list the time and place at the beginning of every
chapter. My publisher really liked this
technique, and I’ve made it a permanent fixture in my novels. It’s an indicator of all my writing. So, before we even get started reading, we know
we are Late autumn 2014 Gdańsk, Poland.
This is a time and a place. Then
we get to the writing: A full moon hung
above midnight Gdańsk. The dark medieval
streets were wet and filthy. Puddles
ringed with oily rainbows covered the cracked cobblestones. The moon shone in each puddle, reflected as a
grimy milky glow.
Immediately, I show you, with description,
the time, midnight, the conditions, wet but not currently raining, I repeat the
place, and I begin to describe the place.
This is a real place in Gdańsk in Poland. I show you the moon state, then we move to
more details on the place: The scent of saltwater and rotting fish rose with
the night tide, an unavoidable stench this close to the waterfront. At street level, the night was utterly
dark. The very few modern lights along
the crumbling cobblestone avenue shared little illumination with the ancient
alleyways that pierced the darkened buildings on either side of the street.
The important thing to show details from
big to small. Then I move from the big
and stuff to the people: George Mardling
eased into the alley beside an old shop and glanced down it. His eyes were already well adjusted to the
dark. Still, he flipped the night vision
goggle over his left eye and scanned the alley.
It was clear.
The late fall night was cold--George wore a suit and over it a black
overcoat. A dark felt fedora sat on his
head. That helped conceal the night
vision goggle. The night vision
equipment was very modern and compact.
The organization issued it to the field last month. The point was to get a lot of night
visibility out of a very small package—it worked well, but the battery life was
limited.
George was a tall and thin man.
He liked to think his physique was like a body builders’, but he was too
thin. He also looked too young and too
serious. More like a student or a
professor than an agent. That was
probably good for the organization.
George carried a Beretta nine millimeter in his jacket holster and a
Beretta nine millimeter kurz in his waistband, he hadn’t unholstered either
weapon—yet. According to headquarters,
his target wasn’t supposed to be armed.
According to his orders, this wasn’t an attack or an arrest—he was
making a reconnaissance, a surveillance with a contact. If he could identify the mark, all the better.
My point here is to give you an example of
how to set the stage of the scene. This
is the stage setting for an initial scene, but that’s not really
important—every scene needs to be set just like this. We set the scene with the information the
reader and the characters can see on the stage of the novel. This is what is most important—we set the
stage for the scene. Don’t scrimp. Don’t leave out important pieces of
information. Don’t play I’ve got a
secret with your readers. Remember my basic
rules of writing:
2. Don’t confuse 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.
These specifically apply to the scene
setting. They apply to the entirety of
the novel as well, but take them to heart.
If you think about yourself as a reader, you won’t be playing I’ve got a
secret with them. I must repeat
this—secrets are the bread and butter of all good writing and novels, but those
things that are obvious should never be secrets. Secrets are those things that are not known
or obvious knowledge. I’m not finished
with scene setting, but eventually, I’ll get to secrets. Let’s talk about setting elements, next.
Here's the functional part of scene
writing and development. I don’t think
of these much independently, however, I think a lot about these in concert with
the scene development and design. This
is elements of the writing. In the first
place you have setting elements. The
setting elements are critical to the scene in three ways. In the first place, setting elements set the
empty stage of the novel. Without
setting elements, there is no there there.
You must start with setting elements, and you must carefully plan the
setting elements in the context of the scene.
The reason is the second point of the setting elements.
Setting elements are promoted to plot
elements when they are used or touched or interacted with by the protagonist
and characters in the scene. I already
told you how important the setting elements are because they get promoted to
plot elements. Let’s go over this.
Characters are setting elements. They are presumed to also be plot elements,
because usually they interact in some way with the scene. Their interactions might be very simple, but
as setting elements, they are Chekov’s Guns.
What is a Chekov’s Gun? A
Chekov’s Gun is a setting element in a play (any piece of fiction) that is
promoted from setting element to plot element to telic flaw element in the
fiction. Chekov most appropriately said,
I paraphrase, “When a playwright introduces a gun into the setting of the first
act, they must use it in the second.”
What Chekov meant is that it is
meaningless for a playwright to put a gun in the setting of a play without the
intent to use it as a plot and telic flaw element. Now, books are slightly different than
plays. Plays use the bare minimum to get
ideas across. The reason for a gun on
the stage is to be used in some fashion.
In a novel, the gun might just be a prop or a setting element to give a
certain feel to the work. I many times
describe a room with a gun over the mantel without the purpose of using the gun
as a plot or telic flaw element—that doesn’t mean you can’t. It means the author can pick and choose how
and when to promote any setting element.
Let’s get into this a little.
Setting elements need adequate
description. I follow Arlo Guthrie,
Jr.’s ideas on setting element description.
He wrote in his Field Guide to Writing Fiction, that for minor
characters and settings, you need 100 words of description, and for major
characters and settings, you need 300 words of description. You don’t need to be a slavish word counter,
but the simple point of this is to promote adequate and not too much
description. However, remember this—the
modern author almost always has too little description. Going overboard is usually not an issue. In the Victorian Era writers, their
descriptions were many times too much, but in modern writing, most authors give
much too little description. This is a
real problem because of the concept of the promotion of elements.
When I adequately describe a person,
place, or thing, I give it life and I also make it potentially a Chekov’s
Gun. Theoretically, a protagonist or any
other major character is a Chekov’s Gun.
A minor character might be promoted to a plot element through description
and action. For example, a newspaper boy
might sell a paper to the protagonist or another major character. That automatically promotes them to a plot
element in the scene. Good writing
technique tells us the author should not do this willy-nilly. Buying a paper in the real world is just
buying a paper. Using the brain energy
and text in a novel to buy a paper indicates a Chekov’s Gun—why else mention
the trivial. This is also another pet
peeve of mine. Don’t tell us or even
show us the trivial. Unless it is truly
a telic flaw element, don’t tell us about the protagonist’s breakfast, lunch,
or dinner. Especially alone. That should be an indicator of poor writing. If you are writing about a protagonist’s interaction
with others or the meal has some special connection to the plot and telic flaw,
it might be appropriate. For example, I
recommend using meals as means for character dialog all the time. Bringing characters together in either a
tension filled or a comfortable meal or party is a wonderful way of promoting
plot and telic flaw elements. That’s
really the main reason for mentioning or setting a meal or a party in a novel. This is a very important point of dialog and
scene development.
Meals are a means of promoting dialog and
connections (good and bad) between characters.
I use and recommend this all the time.
If you realize the reason for dialog in a novel and the importance of
dialog in a novel, you can see this connection.
If there is no interaction or dialog, there is almost nothing to promote
or to write about. If you realize that
dialog should be more than 80% of your novel, then you might get the importance
of dialog. A meal alone by the
protagonist can’t promote any dialog. That’s not to say you might not describe or
use a solitary meal by the protagonist as a plot or telic flaw element, I’m
just warning you about it as a potential problem in writing. If, for example, your protagonist is in some
solitary confinement and that’s where they take their meals, then the meal
setting might have purpose. If the
protagonist is an isolated nutcase, the mention of the solitary meal might
indicate their isolation and separation from society. That won’t be a modern or a Romantic
protagonist. On the other hand, getting
characters together for a meal and the interaction or lack of interaction at a
meal is a real plot and telic flaw element.
I prefer dialog in these cases.
Even enemies talk to each other during meals. The communication between the protagonist and
others provides the ability of the author to speak the mind of the protagonist
without telling. Remember, show don’t
tell.
There is much much more to this. I’ll continue with promotion of setting
elements to plot and telic flaw elements.
This is a very important topic.
That’s next.
Here is the big deal. If you don’t have any setting elements, you
can’t have plot or telic flaw elements.
If you don’t have setting elements, you can’t produce any interaction with
your characters or the plot and the telic flaw resolution. Can you see why this is a big deal. Now, you might say, I have all kinds of
setting elements in the setting—is that okay.
Yes, it is a good start. The
question is how many of them are Chekov’s Guns and how many do you need. A playwright or a precise author might be of
the mind that if you place it in the setting, it must be a plot element (it
must be a Chekov’s Gun). I’m not
convinced of that for most novels. The
setting makes or breaks the scene, but the author gets to pick and choose which
setting elements become plot or telic flaw elements. The wise author develops setting elements to
become plot and telic flaw elements.
As I wrote, a setting elements is
automatically promoted to a plot element when a character touches or uses
it. The use of the setting element
immediately elevates it to a Chekov’s Gun.
For example, why note that your protagonist buys a newspaper from a
paperboy on the corner unless you intend the protagonist to get some kind of
information or ideas from the paper. You
intend them to use the paper: either read it or use it to kill a fly or fight
off a pickpocket. Perhaps the paper is
stolen. The deal is that whatever you
happen to do with the paper, it must affect the plot in the scene. It becomes a Chekov’s Gun. A purest would say if your protagonist
touches and interacts with it, it is a Chekov’s Gun and a plot element. They would continue that if it is a Chekov’s
Gun, it must also be a telic flaw element.
I’m not a purest enough to agree with that, but I will tell you that the
more setting elements you can tie to the telic flaw resolution, the better for
your novel.
Theoretically, you can put all the setting
elements you want in a scene. The
interaction with the protagonist (or many times any other character) promotes
the setting element to a plot element (a Chekov’s Gun). That means the setting element must be used
in the plot to further and resolve the plot.
In a scene, we write, the promoted setting element must be used to build
tension or provide release. The
newspaper can produce tension in many ways.
It could be stolen. It could be
lost. It could fly away in a
breeze. It could be read and information
extracted of great importance. It could
be written on—perhaps an important idea or a phone number or an address. It could be made into a hat or a boat. And so on.
The point is that the Chekov’s Gun of a newspaper has many potential
uses in a plot and a scene. It can cause
release by being used to protect something or to wipe something. Perhaps to protect from rain or another
wetness. It could occupy time or provide
solace. There are many tension releasing
ideas for a newspaper. The fact of
interaction with the protagonist means we need to use the newspaper in the
context of the plot to resolve some aspect of the plot. As I noted, in a scene, we call this tension
and release. In a novel, we call this
plot resolution and rising action. I
should put this in the opposite order, the rising action is tension, and the
plot resolution is release. Scenes have
tension and release. Tension and release
is also rising action and plot resolution, but we usually leave the plots to
the novel and the tension and release to the scenes. Then what about the telic flaw resolution and
the telic flaw elements. I’ll get to
that, next.
As I wrote and wrote and wrote—you must
first set the scene. Scene setting
provides setting elements that can be promoted to plot elements in the scene
for tension and release. That’s
basically what makes a scene. You can
further promote plot elements to telic flaw resolution elements. These are the elements of the novel that help
resolve the telic flaw. Remember the
telic flaw. I’ll help you.
The telic flaw is the basic problem that
is the telic (beginning) cause of the novel.
For example, in a detective plot (novel) the telic flaw is usually the
mystery or the crime. The detective
protagonist must resolve the mystery or the crime. That’s easy, isn’t it.
With different plots and types of
protagonists, the telic flaw varies in complexity and type. For example, in a Romance novel, the telic
flaw is usually the love interest of the protagonist. In the past, the telic flaw was marriage and
love—who knows what it might be today.
You can imagine a host of telic flaws.
I used a question method when I first started writing, but the idea for
the novel is really the telic flaw. The
telic flaw is the flaw in the world of the novel. It is not the flaw of the protagonist,
although it can be a flaw in or of the protagonist.
In the modern era, the idea of the antihero
or the not so heroic protagonist has become a favorite. I can assure you readers are not very
interested in antiheroes although the literati love them. For some reason, the worldly wounded and
failing make the worldly wounded and failing feel much better about their
failures and problems. Most readers are
more interested in comedy—they protagonist overcomes the telic flaw not
tragedies where the protagonist is overcome by their telic flaw. A novel that, in the end gives you a meh
feeling isn’t worth much to me or other readers. I want a novel where the end gives me an
opportunity to cheer and celebrate the protagonist. In any case, you must have a telic flaw for
any novel, and you must resolve the telic flaw.
I write, you must resolve the telic flaw
because some telic flaws can’t be solved, they are only resolved. For example, if the protagonist’s family or
parents are murdered, like Batman’s, Batman can work and fight all he wants but
he can never bring back the dead. His telic
flaw of the death of his parents can’t ever be solved, but it can be resolved.
The author develops a telic flaw from the
beginning of the novel and then plans to resolve it in the 100,000 or so words
of the novel. I don’t like continuing
series novels at all. In other words,
novels that don’t resolve the telic flaw or a telic flaw and require a second
or third novel to move the telic flaw ball.
That’s why I’m not a great fan of Tolkien’s trilogy. I’d rather have an overall telic flaw with
three or at least two other intermediate telic flaws to resolve the three
novels. That’s how I write. I have a few series novels, but each novel is
it’s own cohesive self. They each have
and resolve their own telic flaw even with an overall telic flaw moving forward
from novel to novel.
The point here is we need a telic flaw and
to write to a telic flaw resolution.
I’ll get to the promotion of plot elements to telic flaw resolution
elements, next.
The classic novel style, which is about
99.99% of all novels and pretty much every bestseller presents a problem called
the telic flaw. The telic flaw is the
flaw in the world of the novel that must be resolved. For example, in Harry Potty and the Sorcerer’s
Stone, the telic flaw is who is Harry Pottey and who is opposing him in his
world. We learn who Harry is—that’s the
revelation of the protagonist, and we discover that Harry’s godlike nemesis is
still kicking and using the body of a poor professor to attack Harry. The telic flaw of this novel is pretty
specific, but it also presents the telic flaw for the series, that is
Voldermort and his minions.
Each novel in the series presents a telic
flaw related to Voldermort that must be resolved in each novel. The resolution of the individual telic flaws
leads to the plot and storylines in the novel, and each scene supports in some
way the resolution of the telic flaw.
This is how plot elements in a scene are promoted to telic flaw elements
in the same scene.
A scene has one or more plots. The plots in a scene are developed to build
tension and release. There are plot
elements and there are plot elements that are also telic flaw elements. The reader might not recognize these as telic
flaw elements until later in the novel.
In fact, in a Romantic based novel, the telic flaw resolution is
supposed to be impossible until it is inevitable. We don’t see this used much in Harry Potty,
but it is a great and common technique in modern novels. This is what many reviewers call the
unexpected resolution or the unexpected completion of the novel. The reader doesn’t have any idea how the
author will resolve the novel until it happens and then the reader thinks, oh,
I knew it all along, but they really didn’t.
This is a capital technique if you can do it. The unexpected resolution or the plot twist
or surprise ending is a Romantic style concept.
As I wrote, it is specifically that the resolution appears to be
impossible until it is inevitable.
The means to develop such a resolution is
by promoting plot elements into telic flaw resolution elements. The reader may or may not appreciate or even
notice these elements until the resolution, or they may begin to pick up on
them, but really not fully understand them until the resolution.
Suffice to write, we need setting elements
in a scene for the purpose of setting the scene. Those setting elements become plot elements
in the scene when they are interacted with by the protagonist or other characters. They become novel resolution elements when
the author connects them to the telic flaw resolution. Let’s see if we can pull out a good example.
Using a detective plot, let’s have a
mystery telic flaw. In a scene, we
present a house that might contain the telic flaw resolution of the
mystery. The house is part of the
setting. The characters are part of the
setting. We set the library filled with
old books. The protagonist investigates
the books and discovers one that appears well handled, but not well read. When the book is pulled off the shelf, the
characters hear a click.
You can see, the book, house, library,
characters are all setting elements.
When we move them around, dialog them, and then have the interact with
the other setting elements, we have promoted them to plot elements. There is a
mystery to be solved. The book is a plot
element and the clicking may or may not be a telic flaw resolution
element. We are moving the novel forward
with a scene and to complete the novel telic flaw. Simple example, but it shows how everything
fits together.
Now, we need to continue about developing
the scene:
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
We are at number three.
In developing number three, we can begin
with our setting elements, and if necessary, we can add to those setting
elements. Write is somewhat iterative in
that a wise author writes, improves, and revises the writing to make it meet
some degree of great quality. To imagine
the output, we take the setting elements, the creative elements, the plot
elements, the telic flaw elements, and we develop the tension and release in
the scene.
This development is iterative. You can imagine the entire scene in one
go. I imagine it over and over in my
mind, but I find when I write it that the scenes usually don’t come out exactly
like I imagine them. Perhaps my writing acumen
is more detailed and focused than my imagination could ever be. Perhaps writing just solidifies the text and
scene in my mind and on the page, but my ideas from imagination change and are
driven by the writing itself. Usually, I
find in the dialog the greatest changes, but the best changes.
Dialog should be the major part of your
writing in a novel. I can’t imagine all
the details of the dialog before I write it and here’s where I find the
greatest improvements and the greatest changes from my imagination. The end result is usually what I imagined
overall, but the scene has grown and improved and become better.
I noted that in three, we aren’t really
focusing on anything but the output. The
output drives the others and we use the others to achieve and fill out the
output. This should be relatively
simple. Let’s go back to the detective
novel example. We placed our detective
in the library of a house. If this is an
internation scene as part of the rising action, we don’t expect to end the
novel with a telic flaw resolution here—this is part of the planning. We have expectations of information in a
library, but we can also develop more.
It all depends on the novel and the designs of the author. We can provide a simple output to write the
scene to.
Let’s say the expectation in the
imagination of the author is for our detective to discover some piece of
important information in the library.
The output is this piece of information or perhaps a clue to this
information. That is the output of the
scene. We then write the scene to
provide this output. Writing the scene
is the next step. Before we get there, I
will add—don’t waste any of the potential elements in the development of the
output for the scene. The output might
not be dependent on these elements, but these elements create the scene.
Take for example, the plots. It is completely possible to just pick from a
list of plots to drive the tension and release of a scene. This may or may not affect the output. Pick the illness plot for an add to a
scene. The detective has an illness like
a cold, flu, or something worse. That
might not be a continual plot through the novel, but only affect one or two
scenes. The detective is ill during this
library scene. His thinking is a little
off. His mind is bothered by a headache. The output may or may not be affected by this
plot, but it could be. The point is we
can see is we can just pick plots to incorporate in the scene. Other elements can be developed the same
way. I will point out that usually the
previous output is always the current scene input which sets many of these
elements—that’s a great point of the scene development outline.
Here's an example. The output of the previous scene was that the
detective is going to visit the house in question. The discovery of the library in the house
provides a medium for discovery of information related to the telic flaw
resolution (the mystery). The output is the
discovery of this piece of information.
The information causes the detective to resolve to go back to his office
to review it or investigate it. The
output is this information and the move back to the office. Already, we have a potential setting for the
next scene and an input for the next scene.
That is the output we determined.
I’ll move on to writing the scene, next.
We have arrive at the stage of writing the
scene. We already started on writing the
scene with the setting, but I see the initial setting of the scene as a
distinct step in the scene development and action by the author. We write the setting to help design the
scene. This is a very important part
that I need to explain with an example.
First, I’ll give you the step we have arrived at:
4. Write the scene using the output and
creative elements to build the tension.
I’m currently writing a scene for
Bookgirl. I’m digging Bookgirl, but sometimes
setting the scene can be a drag—how’s that?
The scene input for this particular scene in Bookgirl came from previous
scenes and foreshadowing. Bookgirl was
asked to come visit. She decided to
visit with her friends and subjects near Christmas. She set everything up with her host and the others
who are also subjects. The point was a
Christmas party and an intermediate scene in the rising action as we move to
the climax of the novel. What’s the
problem?
In the case of this scene, I have to write
some pretty extensive scene setting to get into the scene. I’m loving it, but when we have the Bookgirl
with three others come to an estate with seven special companions, you must do
some extensive scene setting. As I wrote
before, we need the time, place, conditions, weather, the buildings, the
meetings, the greetings, the introductions.
Yes, meetings, greetings, and introductions are all getting into the
scene, but they are moving parts of the setting we must pull together before we
can really get into the meat. These
aren’t on automatic, and the wise author can use them to build the scene and
the setting, but they really are setting pieces. Plus, this is a new setting. With every new setting comes a complexity of
development and design. In the case of
this estate, I foreshadowed some of it, but I have to make up most of it. Plus, this estate is the dwelling of Sithech,
Sir Sithech. Sithech is Gaelic and
Celtic for wolf. Sir Wolf is one of
Bookgirl’s minions. He is indeed a
shape-shifter who governs wolves for her.
The other subjects of Bookgirl are likewise representatives for her to
certain other groups of mammals in the British Isles. I mention this only because I’d like you to
see just how complex a scene setting can become, and this is before we move on
to the forth step. I’m currently writing
the scene setting and just about to get into the meat of the scene. What is the output?
Since I’m still writing the setting, I’m
not entirely sure of the full output. I
haven’t completely defined all the setting or creative elements. I should mention that creative elements is
another term I’ve used for the plot and scene elements. I have defined many of the plot and scene elements,
but not all of them. These creative
elements will power the scene tension and release. I can tell you some of the output and
generally where the scene is going.
In the first place, I want to introduce
Bookgirl’s friends, Morven, Sorcha, and Violet, to her subjects. I have the list, but I’ll not repeat it here—no
need. Likewise, I want her subjects to
meet her friends. This is both
foreshadowing and connections for the remaining scenes and the climax. I want the friends to know Bookgirl’s
supporters and support. I also want to
make clear the power of Bookgirl’s supporters.
The output will include these alliances and connections. This will provide future scene and plot
development. I haven’t gotten very far
into the tension and release in the scene, but that’s part of the setting
development. Once I have all the pieces
in place, I will review them and see what else I need for the scene and
creative elements. The point will be to
put them all together and then begin to write the core of the scene. Getting off the stage is many times easier
than getting on the stage. The setting
can be very complex and detailed. It
should be detailed—the complexity varies by where in the novel we are, the
number of characters, and the setting.
By the way, this is one of the reasons I
like to reuse settings. For example, I
reused Rosewood house in London near Kensington Palace Gardens for many of my
novels. In addition, I’ve used the
Long’s house over and over for meetings and parties. The Long’s house was Lyons’ house before, and
is called Lyons’ house. What’s the
point? If I use a similar or the same
setting, I save a lot of time effort and research in the setting development,
plus this fuels the scenes and the input and output of the scenes. These settings also provide cohesion between
novels. Well that’s enough on the
setting and the setting elements, I’ll move to writing the scene, next.
The scene setting provides the setting,
creative, plot, and telic flaw resolution elements. These are the setting, time, place,
characters, and stuff. These are setting
elements and become creative elements when used by the characters. They can also be promoted to plot and telic
flaw resolution elements. With all these
pieces and the output of the scene, we are ready to write.
You don’t need to have everything set in
concrete. I know you few outliners and tree
people will want to make some detailed outline to start your writing. The tree folks might even write snippets to
put together. All that is okay. The way you want to write is the way you tend
to write. I have no problems with established
techniques or means. However, if you
don’t have any already established bad or good habits, let me give you some
ideas.
I recommend coming into the writing with
an idea of where you are going—that’s the output. You also need an idea about where you are
coming from—that’s the setting and input.
You have a pile of elements in your hands and head. With these you can start.
As I wrote, over and over, the starting is
the setting. Start by writing the
setting, then we put the characters into movement and dialog. Many times the setting will automatically
move into the motion and the dialog. For
example, in the scene I was mentioning yesterday, the scene begins with the
characters moving to the Sithech estate.
They arrive in the middle of the drive and Bookgirl makes an observation
of the place and buildings—that’s the setting.
They move to the door—we are now in movement. Bookgirl pulls the bell—movement. The butler Cuthwolf answers and greets them
followed closely by the master of the estate Sir Sithech. We are into introductions and the beginning
of dialog. If you remember the rules of
dialog:
1. Greetings
2. Introduction
3. Small talk
4. Big talk
5. Departures
With every dialog you must hold to this
outline. You can do some changes and
abbreviate certain parts for friends as opposed to new meetings, but this is
the main flow of all human conversation.
In the case of my scene example, the
butler requires introductions to announce you.
Greetings are, of course, just polite, even to butlers. The butler’s job is both greetings and
introductions. Small talk is not a part
of his work, but he can do it. In any
case, when Sir Sithech arrives, the greetings and introductions continue, and
the movement into the dining room and ball room commence—there is
movement. The other friends and subjects
of Bookgirl are now in need of greetings and introductions, and once met, the parties
in total, we can begin the depth of the scene.
We move to more determined dialog and potentially movement. The end of the scene is yet to be fully
determined, I’m still writing it, but I know the output will be that Bookgirl
and her homies return to the bookstore and the others all reach some
accommodation about potential problems in the wild in Britain. That’s the part to be determined. I’m setting up a climax for Bookgirl, and I
want her to have her allies close and in support. I also want to produce a fun and detailed
climax the reader will not fully expect, but that will make sense in the
overall plot and telic flaw resolution of the novel. I also want to provide some connections to my
other novels. That’s just fun.
I should get more into the writing of the
scene for you, especially tension and release.
I’ll do that, next.
In a novel, we write about the rising
action to the climax (telic flaw resolution).
In a scene we write about the tension and release. They are similar, but not the same. Each scene does not have a telic flaw, but
every scene must have a tension development to a release. The tension development is driven by the
plot(s). Let’s write a little about
scenes in general.
The most important point of the scene is
entertainment and excitement. The
entertainment and excitement in the scene is driven by the tension and
release. Usually entertainment is a
function of tension and excitement is through the release, but they work
together, and the most important point of the scene, every scene, is
entertainment. If your writing is not
entertaining, it will not ever be read and most likely will not sell. It might sell if you are a university
professor and you require your students buy your book—that’s the side gig for
most professors. It’s a great one. You can write crap and still sell it to the
stupid and unwary. For the rest of us,
we need to write in some entertaining fashion.
The scene is the means, tension and release is the method. So, how do we get there?
If you can’t entertain, you probably
aren’t cut out to be a writer. Yes, if
you like to tell stories and others are willing to listen to them, you might
have a chance. You really need to be a
painter (of words) and not a pointer. A
pointer is a teller. A painter is a shower. We show and don’t tell.
In whatever fashion you develop your
scenes, you must determine some entertaining and exciting way to present
them. The presentation is the writing
and the writing must be filled with entertainment and excitement. How do we get there?
Here is where imagination and ingenuity
meet and produce something delicious.
Notice, you must have imagination and ingenuity. I’ve tried to lead you by a string through
the scene development process, but we are reaching the point of real writing
skill. If you don’t have it and you want
it, you need to read like crazy and write like crazy. Eventually, you will potentially arrive. I write potentially because you must be ready
to spend at least 10,000 to 15,000 hours at writing to achieve some level of
real skill. In terms of writing, that is
about a million words. You need to read
at least 10 million or more words of great writing. That’s about 100 to 1000 books. You need to get reading and get writing.
A million words is about 10, 100,000 word
novels. I didn’t get my first novel
published until I had written about 8 100,000 word novels. I’ve written 32 total. Of that number 6 were published and 2 were on
contract when my publisher went out of business. I have 2 novels currently in
publication.
I write all this to show you what you must
do to write and write well. Until you
have produced 10 novels, don’t even think about giving up. Once you’ve written 10, I can assure you the
habit and the practice of writing will be ingrained, and you won’t be able to
stop.
What does this have to do with writing a
scene? It all begins with the
scene. If you know how to put together a
great scene, you are set—then you only have to worry about the writing
part. How we get to the scene and
tension and release is imagination and ingenuity. I’ll try to explain this in some helpful way,
next.
You need good ideas for a novel, but you
also need good ideas for each scene.
Each scene must be entertaining and exciting—how do we do that? Most of the scene is designed for us with the
input, setting elements, and the output.
With these elements, we know generally where the scene is going to
go. What gives the scene expression,
what I call entertainment and excitement is the tension and release. I know you will ask what is tension and
release? Most specifically, the tension
and release is the plots and how you develop them in the context of the scene. I’d rather not put up the list of overall
plots again, but maybe I should.
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%
2.
Adultery (qa) – 18 – 16%
3.
Rejected love (rejection) (q) – 1ei, 21 – 20%
4.
Miscommunication (q) – 8 – 7%
5.
Love triangle (q) – 14 – 12%
6.
Betrayal (q) – 1i, 1ie, 46 – 43%
7.
Blood will out or fate (q) –1i, 1e, 26 – 25%
8.
Psychological (q) –1i, 45 – 41%
9.
Magic (q) – 8 – 7%
10. Mistaken identity (q) –
18 – 16%
11. Illness (q) – 1e, 19 –
18%
12. Anti-hero (q) – 6 – 5%
13. Immorality (q) – 3i, 8 –
10%
14. Satire (q) – 10 – 9%
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.
Article (i) – 1e, 46 – 42%
9.
Historical (s) – 19 – 17%
10. School (s) – 11 – 10%
11. Parallel (s) – 4 – 4%
12. Allegory (s) – 10 – 9%
13. Fantasy world (s) – 5 –
4%
14. Prison (s) – 2 – 2%
Item (i)
Article (i) – 1e, 46 – 42%
There is the list of plots. I’ll tell you what to do with them, next.
This is the list of major plots from the
top 110 novels that are considered true classics. When I write true classics, that means they
were and are bestsellers from authors who are dead and whose writing made and
make them timeless. In other words, they
made it through more than two generations of readers. The numbers show the numbers of novels from
the list with that particular major plot plus the percentage of novels from the
list.
What can we do with this list? Well, originally, I had an idea that the
novelist could just look at the list and discover the plots that were the most
popular and best for novels, however, in researching about plots, I discovered
that novels don’t just have a singular plot—they have multiple plots based on
the scenes. What the wise author can do
is look through the list of plots and bring in ones that make sense for a
certain scene.
What we want in a scene is good tension
and release, but what is tension and release?
With tension and release, we are talking about some type of plot. For example, how about a secrets plot. If bringing out a secret (revealing) is part
of the scene, that is a secrets plot.
Actually, just the secret as part of the plot is a secrets plot, but the
reveal is easier to describe. The secret
is tension and the reveal is the release.
Simple, yes?
In every scene, we need some tension and
release. If this is as simple as an
argument or a fight or an apology or a conversation where the characters share
information, that is some tension development and then release.
In many of my novels, I develop certain
scenes just for dialog. The entire cycle
and point of the tension and release is the dialog and the information being
passed. How do you make this exciting
and entertaining. Let me tell you a
secret. Some scenes are written to
describe a setting with very little in between.
How do you make this type of scene entertaining and exciting? You could write like the Victorians, but I
don’t recommend it—they are universally boring when you let them write
descriptions that go one and on for pages.
Admittedly, most modern authors don’t even give you borderline levels of
good description, so too much would be a relief, but you can write description
and setting scenes (I don’t recommend this much) or dialog scenes with limited
plots but a lot of tension and release—how’s that?
Well, tension and release can come
directly out of the dialog and the actions of the characters. I can give you some examples, but as an
author, you need to learn and discover how to set up situations for dialog. I recommend some level of action oriented
scene to lead into the dialog. I also
recommend the use of meals or some other food related setting for the dialog.
Here's an example. In the previous action oriented scene, the
protagonist captured the protagonist’s helper on a train. The capture was low key and somewhat
embarrassing to the captee. The following
scene is sometimes called a sequel scene by some writers. I don’t parse scenes so fine. In the next scene, the dialog is all about
the protagonist, the protagonist’s helper’s issues and why she ran, plus about
what they will do about the future and their current circumstances. The dialog is filled with innuendo and
information about both characters. It is
filled with tension and a little release.
We see the protagonist’s helper resign herself to how she will deal with
the protagonist who is not obviously, but slightly infatuated by her. What are the plots involved in the scene? It’s mystery and secrets—they are passed in
the dialog and more are set up plus one of the main adversarial scenes is built
up through the dialog.
My point is that we can use dialog and
other similar type scenes to build up the tension and release but that does
require some careful development and dialog creation to make the tension and
release. Perhaps I should show you the
dialog scene I mentioned. Maybe that
will be next.
Seoirse took Rose by the hand, and
she followed him to the First-Class Lounge car at the front of the
coaches. They entered, for a train, a
very well filled and elegant dining room.
White tablecloths covered the tables which were spaced satisfactorily
enough apart that privacy was reasonable.
The noise of the train helped.
The attendant, a young man, took them to a double near the back. They were more isolated there from the other
diners. The train had no need for a show
table.
The young man and a woman acted as
the attendants and the waiters. The
young man placed menus in front of Seoirse and Rose, and asked, “Do you wish
anything besides water, and may I interest you in bottled water?”
Seoirse glanced at the menu. He didn’t look up, “Bring us a bottle of the Beaujolis
Villages Combe Aux Jacques Louis Jadot.
Mineral water for two as well.”
“Sir, I’ll need to check your ID,
please.”
“Two glasses. You’ll need to check the lady’s too.”
Rose started, “I left…”
Seoirse put up his hand and
produced two National IDs from his pocket, “As you can see, the lady is
twenty-one and I’m twenty-two.”
The young man bowed with a smile,
“I’ll bring the bottle right away.”
Airgead suddenly appeared at
Rose’s side, “Oh, Lady Rose, I’m so happy a gentleman has finally seen fit to
serve you a decent beverage.”
Rose didn’t look completely happy,
“The problem, Airgead, is why exactly the gentleman might buy me an alcoholic
drink, and why he possesses an ID I’ve never owned.” She stuck out her hand, “Let me see it.”
Seoirse handed the ID to her, “I
had it made for you. I also took an
extra clutch from your dorm room at Monmouth, but I haven’t given it to you,
yet.”
Rose eyed him suspiciously, then
glanced at the ID, “It says I’m Raven Tash.”
“Since you promised by the One and
All not to escape, I’m happy to give your clutch and ID to you.”
“The real question is why you made
this fake ID for me, and who I’m supposed to be.”
“The why should be obvious to a
brilliant woman like you.”
Rose pulled the menu up toward her
chest as though thinking about it, “It’s not obvious. I have no idea why you might make such an ID
for me.”
“Lady Rose, what do you think it
would look like if two sixth form students, that is of approximately sixteen
and seventeen years of age were found together riding on a sleeper train?”
“I suspect the police would get
involved and they might call in their parents or in my case, guardian. They might think they were involved in some
kind of illicit romantic tryst. They
might even call the school.” Rose blushed to the roots of her hair.
That made Seoirse smile, “Yes,
things could get ugly very quickly, but as a twenty-one year old and a
twenty-two year old, the world thinks we’re just a couple on a lark.”
Rose pursed her lips, “Who exactly
is Raven Tash?”
Seoirse laughed, “Your older
sister, perhaps—she’s a very good friend of James Wishart who works for
MI-5. That’s why they’re traveling
together.”
“How well will these IDs pass
muster?”
Seoirse moved his lips slightly,
“They come from the Organization and will check nationally and
internationally. Don’t pursue them in
too great a depth, the people they represent don’t have completely bonified
credentials. James Tash is indeed listed
in the roles for MI-5, but Raven Tash doesn’t go much further than her ID.”
“You’ve thought this through
pretty well, haven’t you?”
“I always think things through
very well. That’s my nature. That’s why I have my job and assignment. Now pick whatever you want to eat. I know you haven’t had anything for two
days.”
“You may add that you are
perceptive too,” she gave a slight smile, but to no one in particular.
When the attendant came around,
they both were ready to order. He
brought the bottle of wine, uncorked it, and poured it very nicely into typical
stemless conveyance glasses.
Rose ordered first, “I’d like the
tattie drottle and the sausage wellington both as starters. Then the Balmoral Chicken.”
The man’s eyes widened a little,
but he smiled and took her order, “And for you sir?”
“We might as well try all the
starters. I’ll have the pumpkin crumble
to start, and the McSween’s Haggis, Neeps & Tatties as an entree.”
The young man refilled their water
glasses and headed toward the kitchen.
Seoirse picked up his wine glass
and swirled it around a little. He took
a sip, “Very nice. If you don’t wish to
imbibe, you shouldn’t. I only bought it
so we could produce our IDs. The entire
crew will then know that the young gentleman, with the stupendously beautiful
looking princess, is not really robing the cradle and that she is not a
cougar.”
Rose wrinkled her nose, “I’m not
sure what any of that means. Princess
and robbing the cradle as well as a cougar.”
She took a sip of her wine, “This is very nice. You may serve this to me whenever we dine
together.” She suddenly covered her
mouth, “I only said that because it…”
“Because it’s the exact and proper
thing to say under the circumstances when you like the wine and wouldn’t mind
the gentleman serving it to you again.
However,…”
“However, we must come to an
immediate agreement about something very important to me,” Rose was suddenly
breathing hard.
“Please don’t upset yourself. I promise to listen to any of your complaints
or desires.”
“That sounds salacious, and right
now, I need the opposite of salacious.
You saw me completely naked. I
shall not say starkers, although my school chums would certainly express it
that way. In fact, you not only saw me
starkers…”
“Naked…”
“Yes, naked, sorry. You saw every
bit of me.”
“Not quite every bit, but that
means I have something more to look forward to.”
Rose blushed again, “Really, I
think you did see everything right out in the open and then through the looking
glass, so to speak, that mirrored window.”
“I am too much of a gentleman to
say everything I saw, but what exactly did you want from me?”
Rose gave him a tentative smile,
“I would very much like you to never share with anyone that you have had the
opportunity to ogle my naked form.
Please do not tell anyone or share the information with anyone. That way I can continue with the idea that I
retain some degree of virtue and dignity.”
“I do swear. However,…”
“However?”
“You need to see Sveta’s video.”
“Why should I see it?”
“You did realize that Sveta was
making a video of the entire tea party?”
“I became aware when she announced
it. During the altercation.”
“The video continues to the point
where you eventually departed the room through the windows.”
“You don’t mean…”
“I do mean.”
“How much does it show and how
many have seen it?”
“It shows almost everything. As to how many. I think the number is about eight or perhaps
nine.”
“Who are they. This is very important to me.”
“I saw it. Aillan was with me when I retrieved it from
the room. We looked at it because part
of my job is evidence. We were looking
for evidence. Aillan is an Irish Fae and
kept his eyes covered through most of latter part of it.”
“Yes, I see.” She glanced down then up, “Who else?”
“Ms. O’Dwyer obviously. Leila and George Mardling.”
“Yet another man?” her eyes
filled.
“He has daughters. He’s a married man. You needn’t get upset.”
“I’m already upset. Who else?”
“Alice Nelson.”
“At least a woman.”
“Major Shiggy Cross.”
Rose sighed, “My mentor. She’ll protect my interests.”
“Finally, Lady Wishart.”
Rose clasped her hands together,
“Your mother. Then all is not lost. Do you think they would mind if I wiped all
your gentlemen’s memories. I think I can
do it safely.”
“Safely is not the concern. If you try to wipe anyone’s memories, I shall
definitely spank you on your bare bottom.”
“I thought that was just one of
your perversions.”
“It is not my perversion. It is a direct threat to you and your
person. You shall not use glamour that
way or I shall get my mother and the King involved. How long do you think you would last then?”
“Forget I said anything. You do realize my irritation, don’t you?”
“I understand why you’re upset.”
At that moment, the young man with
the woman waitress arrived with their starters.
The waitress looked a little askance at Rose when he placed the soup and
the sausages in front of her. The
attendant refreshed their wine and water glasses.
Rose checked the napkin already on
her lap, said a quiet prayer, and crossed herself. She sipped her wine and then took a spoonful
of the soup. Her manners were impeccable
and consummate.
Seoirse began to eat his pumpkin
crumble. He took a liberal bite and then
a sip of wine, “Now, are we done about the problems with your lack of
appropriate dress for a portion of your recent public appearances, because I’m
ready to discuss some other very important matters with you.”
This is the dialog. This is sometimes called a sequel, but I
don’t parse scenes quite that finely. I
do think you can make a scene of dialog very entertaining and filled with excitement. That’s the entire point of tension and
release. You can see the plots and the
fun flowing through this scene. I’m not
sure either of the characters are enjoying it, but that’s to be seen.
I’ll see what else I can help with the
scene and tension and release, next.
We’ll eventually need to finish up writing
about the scene and move on to the scene in the context of the novel. However, the most important part of the scene
as the basis of the novel is the excitement and entertainment in the
scene. If you don’t want to write a
boring novel, each scene must be filled with excitement and entertainment. You can’t ever write any filler scenes. There can be transitional scenes, but every
one of them too must be exciting and entertaining. I can’t imagine a worse thing in the world or
especially a novel as a boring and uninteresting scene. There is no worse idea than boring in a
novel. The answer of how to get
entertainment and excitement in a scene is tension and release.
The problem with the idea of tension and
release is that this is not something you can just make an easy outline and a set
of singular or even complex circumstances to include in a scene. The tension and release is the excitement and
entertainment in the scene—it is the heart of the imagination and mind of the
author in the scene. By that I don’t
mean the author puts his own ideas in the scene. I mean the authors imagination and inspiration
fills the writing with power and brings out the excitement and entertainment.
We aren’t even writing about climax scenes
exclusively here. We aren’t writing
about the initial scene here—we are focusing on the fact that each and every
scene in your novel must include some novel, exciting, and entertaining feature
that permeates the scene. I gave you
part of the dialog scene from my newest completed novel, Seoirse:
Enchantment and the Assignment, to give you an idea how dialog in a
technical sequel scene could be used to develop entertainment and
excitement.
The reason I chose a sequel scene, which
is usually considered the least interesting type of scene was to show you
exactly how entertainment and excitement could be integrated into the scene and
the dialog. There is very little action
in the scene. The two characters,
Seoirse and Rose are just having dinner and speaking to one another, a the same
time, the scene is filled with tension and release. The tension has to do with the previous
action as well as Rose’s perceptions of it, as well as Seoirse’s report of the
previous action. However, there is a lot
of pent up tension without any real release in the upcoming events in Inverness. They are two youthful students on a train
together and sharing the quarters. The tension
is social, cultural, individual, and very powerful. That has to do with youth, trust, and
inexperience, but that’s also part of the scene.
My point to you, and my recommendation to
you is this: you must design each scene
with the full on intent to develop tension and release in the scene. If you accomplish this properly, the result
will be an entertaining and exciting scene.
I showed you, get the input to the scene—the input for the scene I
showed you was Seoirse capturing Rose on the Caledonian Overnight Express. The scene setting elements was also simple:
the characters, the dining car, and dinner.
Descriptions were easy and direct.
The major tension had to do with the events previous and the events to
come—these wound up in the dialog. Now,
here is the creative action of the author.
The dialog and the movement of the scene in terms of the dialog is the
major factor in the development of the entertainment and excitement in the
scene. The tension and the release
brought about by the dialog drives the scene and it’s value in the novel. I tried to show you how to get to that point
with the major rules for human conversation, but that can only get you so
far—the rest of the tension and release is built through study, reading, and
the skill of the author. That’s me. If you want to build this level of creativity,
you must study and develop it. How do
you get there? I advise study, reading,
and practice.
I should get to that, next.
Yes, writing does require imagination,
inspiration, and skill. You get the
skill by writing. You get the
inspiration and imagination by filling your mind with good stuff and then
providing a mental catharsis on paper.
That’s the classical Greek and Aristotelian means of inspiration.
Inspiration means you are reading and
studying at least ten times as much as you are writing, and you should be
writing a lot. Did I mention one of the
reasons I write about writing for you is to try to keep my technical writing
skills up. I used to write a boatload of
papers on mostly aerodynamics, military, flight test, and aircraft
modifications. Today, I write mostly
about writing because I have something to share most writers have never heard
(or at least I didn’t), and I can keep up some of my reasoning and technical
skills.
In this case, the inspiration just keeps
coming because I invite it. If you force
yourself to communicate on a subject, you will be inspired to continue to
expand and try to explain that subject.
I seek continually for means to express these details about writing in a
way that others might be able to understand them. I also continually try to discover the
fundamentals of the craft of novel writing so I can improve my writing as well
as others. If I can help just one person
become a better writer, it’s worth it.
My reasoning is I want the next generation to have even better novels to
read. I’m doing my best to put them on
paper, and I love my own writing—doesn’t everyone? And how can you tell. Here’s the way and a great secret.
I hope you love to reread the great novels
you’ve discovered in your life—I do. I
think most of my author and reading friends do.
I reread certain novels about once a year to once every two years—at the
same time, I’m reading about two or three novels that are new to me. I’m a Gutenberg geek. I read novels that in the past were favorites
or bestsellers that no one reads anymore.
When I read about another author, especially in an old novel, I find all
the Gutenberg novels I can from that author.
I feel, if the author was important or popular enough to excite a great
writer from the past, they are good enough for the present—I’m right most of
the time. Even if the writer isn’t as
great as I might have thought at the time, the worth of historical and cultural
knowledge is fantastic. Not everyone is
as dedicated to the classics and the past as I am, but I’m not a real fan of
the modern novel and especially not of the literati choices. This is one of the main reasons I write. I’m trying to fill a void of novels that
should be written, but haven’t been written yet.
I also posit that novels are getting
better although I’m not sure they have been in the latest generation. In the past, I could find novels that
delighted me. That’s why I go back and
reread the really great ones. Today, I
find it very difficult to discover novels that delight. Most are too preachy, too predictable, and
too silly to even engage my time or efforts.
I give as my first exhibit modern movies. The modern movie has become a norm of
production and distribution. You can see
all kinds of movies and extended shows on the boob tube and through streaming
services. That doesn’t mean they are any
good. The typical modern movie is a
screed with a super being messiah who has mental issues of some kind and ends
up in a sexual relationship with someone as a result of their messiah
experience. I’m just not into the
modern—it’s so trivial and unimportant because it’s not about real people,
their lives, or their desires. I point
out many wonderful novels from the Twentieth Century as really great ones. The ”so-called” juvenal novels of Robert
Heinlein are wonderful examples especially for young people of great writing
with great modern (Romantic) protagonists who solve great problems with logic
and reasoning. There are many others,
but that’s just an example. Why they
haven’t made any of these into movies, I have no idea. What about Jack Vance or Andrea Norton? Both these authors produced fantastic novels
that are great stories and much more creative than the modern claptrap we get
from the movies. I’m just giving you
some potential inspiration.
I listed mostly science fiction authors,
but I could go into other genres and types of novel writers. The problem is that most of the greatest
writing has come out of science fiction and fantasy, in my humble opinion. That’s because the writing almost always is
Romantic with a Romantic protagonist and plot.
You can find some great writing and writers in the Twentieth Century who
didn’t write science fiction or fantasy, but Rowling with Harry Potty shows
exactly what people want—they just don’t know that Rowling was following in the
footsteps of the already great and forgotten.
Perhaps she read and drew inspiration from those authors just as I did.
That’s what I’m trying to convey to
you. You can find inspiration and
examples in the writing of great authors.
How do you find these great authors and their writing? Well, I mention them all the time. In addition, I’ve provided more than once
example of their books and writing as well as lists of the greats from my standpoint. I will point out that there are greats and
there are published. Don’t mistake the
one for the other. I get recommendations
from my kids, wife, and family, and I usually read their recommendations. I also get recommendations from the WSJ (Wall
Street Journal) and others. Most of the
literati recommendations are worthless.
I did get Alan Bradley from the WSJ, and that was a great choice and
writer. Will he become a classic? Nah, probably not, but the novels in a world
of the worthless are worth reading. They
don’t have the sticking quality that Heinlein, Norton, or Vance do. They aren’t as interesting or fun as the
novels I write. I do take inspiration
from his writing. So, you need to seek
and find this kind of inspiration. Much
of my inspiration comes from Asian and especially Japanese sources. They have a real cutout for remarkably creative
writing and work. Even their movies and
shows are much more creative than you find in the general USA markets. I’ll point out one example that my grandkids
recommended to me. They told me to watch
Wednesday—so I’ve been watching. It’s
predictable, silly, predictably silly, unreasonable, simple, one-sided,
emotionless, kind of overwrought, filled with deus ex machina, lifeless (in a
bad way), and not that entertaining. There
might be better, but this is supposed to be a great modern show. I don’t see much that gives inspiration in
it. I really can’t recommend much from
that show. Now compare that to the very
interesting Apothecary Diaries from Japan.
That is a very well developed and complex Asian tale that really punches
the inspiration meter. Violet Evergarden
is a similar, but very different story from Japan that really pushes the pathos
and inspirational buttons. Try either
and you will see just what Japan can produce that for some reason the modern movie
industry in the USA can’t. There is a
lot more, but this is just for inspirational reference. Novels always work best if you can find
them. The problem is one of delight
(excitement and entertainment). I need
to get to that in writing and then work it into the idea of scenes and writing
the novel in scenes.
That’s next.
Looking for inspiration. I’m looking for novels and other forms of art
that give delight. Delight can include
tragedy as well as pure joy, but how do you find it, and more importantly to
the author, how do we reproduce it on the page?
To me, delight is that wonderful feeling
you have when at some point in a novel, story, or show, you have the experience
of unbounded emotion. The emotions of the
characters are meaningless, the emotions (pathos) of the reader is
critical. As writers, we want to bring
our readers to their knees with pathos.
If I can do that in every scene I’ve created something very
special. I’m not sure you can produce that
level of pathos in every scene, but you can aim for it. The trick is inspiration. You need inspiration and skill in writing to
produce this degree of pathos or emotion in your readers.
Remember, and this is the most important point. We are not necessarily producing emotion in
the characters. We are producing emotions
in the readers. This is the power of the
scene and great writing. We are no
longer in the era of the Victorian sop, where a few tears from the heroine makes
our female or manly breasts tighten with hers.
As I wrote, it isn’t the emotions of the characters which produce pathos—it
is the emotions of the readers. This
took some of the Victorian writers their entire careers to understand and some
of them never figured it out. Today,
many writers never figure it out. I’ll
repeat my favorite example scene for you.
In A Little Princess Sara Crew, the
protagonist, creates the most perfect pathos bearing scene in perhaps all
literature. At the time, Sara is cold,
starving, out on a errand, and just had her ears boxed by cook. She is unloved, uncared for, under-clothed, embarrassed
for her clothing, and filled with honor like a little princess. She is beaten down, but never breaks. In this scene, she finds a silver penny near
a bread shop. On the stoop of the bread
shop is a little child like her who has nothing at all. The child is starving, and Sara is
hungry. Sara uses the silver penny to
buy six hot cross buns, and gives five to the starving child. The child shows no emotion. She is too hungry to care about anything except
food and warmth. Sara gives largess to
the people in providing food that she desperately wants to another child who
has nothing. The other participant in
this scene is the woman who owns the bakery.
She sees the little event and invites the starving girl in for
warmth.
Now, look at this scene. There is very little emotion and no tears at
all in this scene. Sara shows no emotion. She just provides bread. The little girl shows no emotion. She eats the bread. The shop keep shows the most emotion because
she feels for the little girl and for the little girl who gave up her
bread. What makes this scene so
powerful? It isn’t the emotion of the characters
at all—it is the emotions that the actions of the characters invokes in the
readers. The reader can’t help but feel
moved very powerfully by this little scene, but as I wrote—there is no emotion portrayed
by the characters. All the emotions come
directly from the readers. The writer
has produced a perfect scene—that is inspiration. What is funny is that this is almost a side-lighted
scene in the novel. What I mean by that
is this. This scene does not really move
the climax or the telic flaw of the novel.
The writer might have connected this a little tighter to the telic flaw,
but they didn’t. That still doesn’t take
anything from the scene—my point is that the scene itself is just a nice add
that fits the characters and the novel perfectly, but not cohesively. That is inspiration.
How can I help you build this type of
inspiration? I’m not sure I can. You surely can’t go around putting this
delightful scene in your novels. It is
highly unlikely it will fit and to use it again without modifications is a type
of plagiarizing. That doesn’t mean you
can’t use something like it or fit it into a novel, it just means you better
make it fit and be different enough. I
can give you an example of how you can do this from my writing. I’ll discuss Regia Anglorum and Nikita,
next.
I cleaned out some of the previous
information, the breadcrumbs, and I’ll clean out some more with the next
installment. In any case, I want you to
have a cohesive whole for the scene and writing a novel. We’ll finish up about the scene and then move
back to the novel.
I’m writing about inspiration for a scene
and for a novel, and I will give you an example of how to get and use
inspiration in a great way. I have a
writing friend Alison Winfree Pickrell who was one of the Capstone and Oaktara
writers from my publisher. I reviewed a
few of her novels, The Least of These was one of them. The Least of These is about an abandoned
child, Trinka. Who is set up in a house
to live on her own. Her mother can’t be
bothered. I found the novel engaging and
the character especially so. She was a
determined child who was forced to exist and live on her own at a young
age. She eventually went to school, by
herself. She did it to learn to
read. I loved the character Trinka, and
I wanted to make my own Trinka. At the
same time, Jack Vance’s novel series on the Gaean Reach has a world with a
place called Carnival. Carnival exists
on a planet with a communist government.
The people live in hungry and unproductive utopia, but go to Carnival
for pleasure and the pursuit of evil. I
wanted to use Carnival as a setting and Trinka as a character. I was inspired, so I wrote Nikita into Regia
Anglorum from Trinka and from Carnival.
My character Nikita is not Trinka and the
Carnival of my making is not the same Carnival of Jack Vance. I was inspired by these two fiction writers
to build my own character, protagonist, and my own Carnival type setting. I changed many of the elements of each, but
left the basis in tact.
My Nikita was a child abandoned by a Family
Trader while visiting the planet El Rashad.
El Rashad is a planet based on communism much like Jack Vance’s
world. I don’t get into the details, but
I give you enough to show you this terrible place. Nikita lives in abject poverty on the streets
of Carnival keeping away from the Creepers and Catchers. One would abuse her and the other would
capture her to sell into slavery. Again,
this is all side knowledge we learn about Nikita’s world. I was inspired by Trinka and by Carnival to
produce my own character to fit into my Family Trader science fiction
world. The point for you and for this
information about scenes and novels is to gather inspiration from great
sources, and then use it.
When you use it, you must make it
yours. You can’t steal ideas from others,
and I’m not into fan based writing where you take whole characters and build
new stories around them. Make your own
characters like I made a Nikita based on a Trinka. And like I made a Carnival on El Rashad based
on a Carnival on one of Jack Vance’s novels.
Make the setting and the characters your own, but based on the
inspiration of the past. In fact, inspiration
and creativity is not usually something completely new in the world. Inspiration and creativity are the
extrapolation and interpolation of ideas from the past to form something new in
the world. It isn’t about discovering
something completely new—it is about building something new on the past. The past is the key, and that’s why reading
and study is so important.
I’ll see if I have more to write about
this subject, next.
There’s more.
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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