Writing Ideas - Vampire Novel, part 94, advice on Entertaining, Developing Storyline Rising Action

13 July 2014, Writing Ideas - Vampire Novel, part 94, advice on Entertaining, Developing Storyline Rising Action

Announcement: There is action on my new novels.  The publisher renamed the series--they are still working on the name.  I provided suggestions as did one of my prepub readers. Now the individual books will be given single names: Leora, Leila, Russia, Lumiere', China, Sveta, and Klava--at least these are some of the suggestions.  They are also working on a single theme for the covers.  I'll keep you updated.

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 website http://www.ldalford.com/ and select "production schedule," you will be sent to http://www.sisteroflight.com/.

The four plus one basic rules I employ when writing:

1. Don't confuse your readers.
2. Entertain your readers.
3. Ground your readers in the writing.
4. Don't show (or tell) everything.
5. Immerse yourself in the world of your writing.

All novels have five discrete parts:
1.  The initial scene (the beginning)
2.  The rising action
3.  The climax
4.  The falling action
5.  The dénouement

The theme statement of my newest novel, Valeska, is this: An agent of the organization becomes involved with a vampire girl during a mission, she becomes dependent on the agent, and she is redeemed.

Here is my proposed cover for Valeska:

I decided on a white cover style.  You can see more at www.GoddessofDarkness.com.

Look at my rules three through five:
3. Ground your readers in the writing.
4. Don't show (or tell) everything.
5. Immerse yourself in the world of your writing.

Maybe it's time to write a little about novel length.  I consider a great goal for novel writing to be around 100,000 words.  More than that and I'm not sure what you have.  You will have problems getting a publisher to accept it, and very likely, the novel is not well written.  There is some leeway.  In fact the general leeway with novels is from about 75,000 to 125,000 words.  I've had novels my publisher put on contract that were in the 62,000 word realm.  The latest novel I wrote, Valeska, weighed in at 132,000 words.  My shortest novel is 60,400 words--it is not published, yet.

So, somewhere between 75,000 to 125,000 words is about right for a novel.  What this can tell us is that much shorter than this is not necessarily good and much longer than this is not necessarily good.  Can you produce a great novel with 50,000 or less words--Jonathan Livingston Seagull is a pretty short novel and won much acclaim a the time.  There isn't much to it, but it is a great short novel.  Novellas are a specific class of novel.  Generally, they aren't considered as well developed as a full blown novel.  My point is this, if your novel is short, that may be okay as long as you have a good cohesive plot and theme.  Publishers seem happy in the 50,000 to 75,000 word length.  If you are there, you may have a winner.

The 100,000 word length area seems to be a sweet spot for a well written mature novel.  Still, length itself isn't the primary factor.

What is a problem is works that are excessively longer than the mean.  I mentioned 150,000 words as too long.  I read a self published review where the writer claimed to write a 300,000 word novel.  A 300,000 word novel is 200,000 words too long.  It either needs to be edited severely or broken into smaller novels.

More tomorrow.

For more information, you can visit my author site http://www.ldalford.com/, and my individual novel websites:
http://www.aegyptnovel.com/
http://www.centurionnovel.com
http://www.thesecondmission.com/
http://www.theendofhonor.com/
http://www.thefoxshonor.com
http://www.aseasonofhonor.com

Writing Ideas - Vampire Novel, part 93, imagination is Entertaining, Developing Storyline Rising Action

12 July 2014, Writing Ideas - Vampire Novel, part 93, imagination is Entertaining, Developing Storyline Rising Action

Announcement: There is action on my new novels.  The publisher renamed the series--they are still working on the name.  I provided suggestions as did one of my prepub readers. Now the individual books will be given single names: Leora, Leila, Russia, Lumiere', China, Sveta, and Klava--at least these are some of the suggestions.  They are also working on a single theme for the covers.  I'll keep you updated.

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 website http://www.ldalford.com/ and select "production schedule," you will be sent to http://www.sisteroflight.com/.

The four plus one basic rules I employ when writing:

1. Don't confuse your readers.
2. Entertain your readers.
3. Ground your readers in the writing.
4. Don't show (or tell) everything.
5. Immerse yourself in the world of your writing.

All novels have five discrete parts:
1.  The initial scene (the beginning)
2.  The rising action
3.  The climax
4.  The falling action
5.  The dénouement

The theme statement of my newest novel, Valeska, is this: An agent of the organization becomes involved with a vampire girl during a mission, she becomes dependent on the agent, and she is redeemed.

Here is my proposed cover for Valeska:

I decided on a white cover style.  You can see more at www.GoddessofDarkness.com.

Look at my rules three through five:
3. Ground your readers in the writing.
4. Don't show (or tell) everything.
5. Immerse yourself in the world of your writing.

In showing and not telling--don't show anything that is not visible to the reader or obvious in the context.  If it is obvious, there is no reason to show (or tell) it.  Your job as an author isn't to become the imagination of your readers, but to stimulate the imagination of your readers.  Too little stimulation is a terrible book--too simplistic and bland.  Too much stimulation is tedious.  In simple terms too little scene setting and description ruins a novel because the author doesn't give enough to the reader.  Too much scene setting and description ruins a novel because the reader doesn't have the time, freedom, and proper stimulation to excite her imagination.  They will be bored by the tedium of slogging through all the description.  If you don't think this is a problem just go read some novelists of this stripe.  I don't think you will be pleased.

The point is to strike a balance between too little and too much.  The average beginning writer never, I repeat, never provides enough description or scene setting.  So, if you haven't already written about eight novels, you are likely not in the too much description and scene setting group.  If you don't know what I'm writing about when I write scene setting and description, you likely need some help there.

On the other hand, if you are a very experienced writer and your novels are topping 200,000 or more words--you might have a little problem with being too verbose.  I'll draw it down a little.  If you are writing novels of longer than 150,000 words, you might have a problem with too much description. Of course, it might be that you just have some pretty complex novel writing skills, but more than 150,000 words is too long. 

More tomorrow.

For more information, you can visit my author site http://www.ldalford.com/, and my individual novel websites:
http://www.aegyptnovel.com/
http://www.centurionnovel.com
http://www.thesecondmission.com/
http://www.theendofhonor.com/
http://www.thefoxshonor.com
http://www.aseasonofhonor.com

Writing Ideas - Vampire Novel, part 92, yet more reader imagination Entertaining, Developing Storyline Rising Action

11 July 2014, Writing Ideas - Vampire Novel, part 92, yet more reader imagination Entertaining, Developing Storyline Rising Action

Announcement: There is action on my new novels.  The publisher renamed the series--they are still working on the name.  I provided suggestions as did one of my prepub readers. Now the individual books will be given single names: Leora, Leila, Russia, Lumiere', China, Sveta, and Klava--at least these are some of the suggestions.  They are also working on a single theme for the covers.  I'll keep you updated.

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 website http://www.ldalford.com/ and select "production schedule," you will be sent to http://www.sisteroflight.com/.

The four plus one basic rules I employ when writing:

1. Don't confuse your readers.
2. Entertain your readers.
3. Ground your readers in the writing.
4. Don't show (or tell) everything.
5. Immerse yourself in the world of your writing.

All novels have five discrete parts:
1.  The initial scene (the beginning)
2.  The rising action
3.  The climax
4.  The falling action
5.  The dénouement

The theme statement of my newest novel, Valeska, is this: An agent of the organization becomes involved with a vampire girl during a mission, she becomes dependent on the agent, and she is redeemed.

Here is my proposed cover for Valeska:

I decided on a white cover style.  You can see more at www.GoddessofDarkness.com.

Look at my rules three through five:
3. Ground your readers in the writing.
4. Don't show (or tell) everything.
5. Immerse yourself in the world of your writing.

These three rules relate directly to the imagination of the reader.  The second rule refers to how much you show/tell your readers.  Look again at the example from the first scene of Valeska.

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 shown in each of the puddles, reflected as a milky glow that was grimed with the floating sheen.  The scent of saltwater and rotting fish rose with the night time 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 stepped gingerly to 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.  He had a dark felt fedora on his head.  That helped conceal the night vision goggle.  The night vision equipment was very modern and compact.  The organization had 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 knew he was too thin.  He also knew his face 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 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.

Usually, George worked in a team--he was alone this time.  His partner was busy, and this was supposed to be a simple intelligence gathering mission—hardly a mission.  George moved across the storefront.  It was an old toy store, but the building wasn’t on his target list either.  He stepped carefully and quietly toward the next alley.  If the mark wasn’t in the first alley, he should be in the second—that was what their intell said.  George glanced down this alley and caught a slight movement—he noted a flare in his night vision goggle, obviously a human being.  George eased into the alley.  He saw something else move as well.  The moment George stepped around the corner, something in his field of view moved very quickly.  It seemed like an animal, but it didn’t flare much in the infrared—not enough for a person or an animal.  Perhaps it was just a blowing piece of scrap.  He stood a little straighter, puzzled, there was almost no air movement on the street or in the alley.

  
I've written about this before and it is worth reviewing again.  Look at what I didn't show the reader, but I could have.  For example, it just rained in the city.  I don't need to show the reader that.  I don't need to go into much more detail than I have.  Some writers will tell you the color of the bricks--I don't because that is unnecessary and you can't see it--it's night.  You can't see colors at night.   I don't tell you much about George Mardling.  I reveal mostly description.  The reader doesn't need much more at this point because the focus of the initial scene is action and not introspection. 

You don't need to show or tell everything because your reader will add in much that is unsaid through their imagination.

More tomorrow.

For more information, you can visit my author site http://www.ldalford.com/, and my individual novel websites:
http://www.aegyptnovel.com/
http://www.centurionnovel.com
http://www.thesecondmission.com/
http://www.theendofhonor.com/
http://www.thefoxshonor.com
http://www.aseasonofhonor.com

Writing Ideas - Vampire Novel, part 91, more reader imagination Entertaining, Developing Storyline Rising Action

10 July 2014, Writing Ideas - Vampire Novel, part 91, more reader imagination Entertaining, Developing Storyline Rising Action

Announcement: There is action on my new novels.  The publisher renamed the series--they are still working on the name.  I provided suggestions as did one of my prepub readers. Now the individual books will be given single names: Leora, Leila, Russia, Lumiere', China, Sveta, and Klava--at least these are some of the suggestions.  They are also working on a single theme for the covers.  I'll keep you updated.

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 website http://www.ldalford.com/ and select "production schedule," you will be sent to http://www.sisteroflight.com/.

The four plus one basic rules I employ when writing:

1. Don't confuse your readers.
2. Entertain your readers.
3. Ground your readers in the writing.
4. Don't show (or tell) everything.
5. Immerse yourself in the world of your writing.

All novels have five discrete parts:
1.  The initial scene (the beginning)
2.  The rising action
3.  The climax
4.  The falling action
5.  The dénouement

The theme statement of my newest novel, Valeska, is this: An agent of the organization becomes involved with a vampire girl during a mission, she becomes dependent on the agent, and she is redeemed.

Here is my proposed cover for Valeska:

I decided on a white cover style.  You can see more at www.GoddessofDarkness.com.

Look at my rules three through five:
3. Ground your readers in the writing.
4. Don't show (or tell) everything.
5. Immerse yourself in the world of your writing.

These three rules relate directly to the imagination of the reader.  The first is all about setting and scene.  You set your reader in the writing (time, place, etc.) and then you work to hold them in the world of your novel.  This setting and holding is referred to as grounding.  It means that the world you have invented is at least as real as the real world to your readers--at least for a short while.  When a reader really says they could not put down a book, that's what they mean.  The novel was so engaging, they did not want to return to the real world.

This grounding is all about imagination.  Grounding is a very important and necessary part of writing.  It shouldn't be something haphazard and unthought out.  Their a many purposes in grounding, but a adept writing uses grounding to engage the imagination of his or her readers.  For example, from my new vampire novel:

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 shown in each of the puddles, reflected as a milky glow that was grimed with the floating sheen.  The scent of saltwater and rotting fish rose with the night time 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 stepped gingerly to 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.  He had a dark felt fedora on his head.  That helped conceal the night vision goggle.  The night vision equipment was very modern and compact.  The organization had 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 knew he was too thin.  He also knew his face 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 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.

Usually, George worked in a team--he was alone this time.  His partner was busy, and this was supposed to be a simple intelligence gathering mission—hardly a mission.  George moved across the storefront.  It was an old toy store, but the building wasn’t on his target list either.  He stepped carefully and quietly toward the next alley.  If the mark wasn’t in the first alley, he should be in the second—that was what their intell said.  George glanced down this alley and caught a slight movement—he noted a flare in his night vision goggle, obviously a human being.  George eased into the alley.  He saw something else move as well.  The moment George stepped around the corner, something in his field of view moved very quickly.  It seemed like an animal, but it didn’t flare much in the infrared—not enough for a person or an animal.  Perhaps it was just a blowing piece of scrap.  He stood a little straighter, puzzled, there was almost no air movement on the street or in the alley.

   
These beginning paragraphs from the initial scene are all grounding.  They have only been through my editing, so I won't vouch for their pure effectivity.  I'll know better when I get some feedback from my prepub readers.  The point of all this is to ground the reader and get them excited about the book.  The language isn't flowery, it is strongly description.  The purpose of such description is to get the reader to see world of George Mardling.  The purpose is to draw the reader in and hold them in the writing  This is accomplished by appealing to the imagination to grasp the reader's mind and heart.

More tomorrow.

For more information, you can visit my author site http://www.ldalford.com/, and my individual novel websites:
http://www.aegyptnovel.com/
http://www.centurionnovel.com
http://www.thesecondmission.com/
http://www.theendofhonor.com/
http://www.thefoxshonor.com
http://www.aseasonofhonor.com

A New Novel, Part 187 I am a Sorceress

A New Novel, Part 187 I am a Sorceress

For those who haven’t been following this blog, let me introduce it a little. I am currently blogging my 21st novel that has the working title Daemon. The novel is about Aksinya, a sorceress, who, to save her family from the Bolsheviks, called and contracted the demon, Asmodeus. Her family was murdered anyway, and she fled with the demon from Russia to Austria.


Aksinya begins her confession.  She is in the singular place where she faces great pain.  She is in the middle of an act Asmodeus ordered her to not commit...

Aksinya began to tremble and the crucifix over her heart felt as though it was on fire.


Father Dobrushin held her hands more tightly, “Go on...”

Aksinya continued, “Father, I am a sorceress.” Aksinya raised her face and cried out, “Let me confess. You can’t stop me. All the pain in the world will not stop me from confessing.”

Father Dobrushin stiffened, “Who is stopping you?”

“All the devils in hell are trying to stop me in this.”

Father Makar’s voice came from the side, “She can’t confess. She is not right in her mind.”

Father Dobrushin commanded, “Tell me, Aksinya, your sin. I will listen.”

“I brought a demon up from the pit. He was the Demon Asmodeus. You must know of him. He was the demon who tormented Raguel's daughter, Sarah. He killed her bridegrooms when they came to her. He was the one that Solomon wrote about in the Testament of Solomon. Tobias forced him into upper Egypt, but he came to me when I called him, and I bound him to myself in a contract. Asmodeus is the demon of luxuria and lust. I have worked much evil through him and he through me, but the worst is that I am truly a sorceress.”

“Can there be such a being? She is insane.” Father Makar’s exasperated voice came again.

Father Dobrushin turned his head a little, “She believes it with all her heart. Such a thing can be.” He faced Aksinya again, “Please, confess everything you wish, Aksinya.”

“I desired to seduce Herr von Taaffe, but my lady-in-waiting was encouraged by the demon to sleep with him for my sake. Because of that, I sent Herr von Taaffe away and I beat the Lady Natalya. I think I killed her.” Aksinya gave a cry. “I am guilty of so many sins, I can’t begin to tell them all to you. I used sorcery to kill. I used it to harm. I have done nothing but harm others for my entire life.”

Matushka Ekaterina stepped beside them, “Father Dobrushin, something is burning. I thought it was the tapers, but I can see smoke near you.”

Aksinya cried out again. She yanked her hand from the priest’s and placed it over her heart.

Ekaterina yelled, “She is burning.” The Matushka ripped the front of Aksinya’s dress open. The fabric was charred. The camisole beneath it was smoking. Ekaterina pulled the burning fabric away from Aksinya’s chest. Her bare skin was singed. The beautiful gold crucifix was almost glowing. A repeatedly blackened mark marred Aksinya’s small breasts. It was shaped like a cross. Ekaterina grasped the chain and pulled the crucifix away from Aksinya’s skin, “Let her continue. She must continue.”

Aksinya seemed oblivious to everything. She whispered, “If I were to confess everything I would be here on my knees for weeks, and I’m not certain I have the strength for another minute.”

Ekaterina called out, “Absolve her. Absolve the girl so I can do something to help her.”

Father Dobrushin placed his right hand on Aksinya’s head and loudly announced, “May God have mercy upon you, and may He guide you to everlasting life through the authority of priesthood which was entrusted by our Lord Jesus Christ to His disciples who, in turn, entrusted it to their successors until it was given me; I who am weak and sinful, absolve you, Countess Aksinya Andreiovna Golitsyna of all the sins that you have confessed and are repentant of them, as well as of all the transgressions which have escaped your memory in the Name of the Father, amen, and of the Son, amen and of the Holy Spirit for everlasting life. Amen.”

Aksinya screamed and arched her back. Ekaterina held her tightly. Father Dobrushin rose and lifted Aksinya up with him. He kissed her cheeks. The crucifix was suddenly cold. Aksinya, senseless, fell forward into his arms.

Now, on to the confession.  You knew some of what Aksinya had to confess, but unless you went and read Tobit, you didn't know the half of it.  Do you imagine, the great and wise Aksinya would have chosen a demon without knowing exactly his origins and being?  Do you imagine that she did not know exactly who she was calling on?

Aksinya plainly tells Father Dobrushin that she is a sorceress.  I told you yesterday how her confession might be received.  You can see now exactly how it was accepted.  Father Dobrushin, caught up in the moment, seems to believe her, but Father Makar thinks she is crazy.  Aksinya's actions during her confession seem reasonable to us, but listen closely to them--they sound insane to Father Makar, and the other two aren't certain what to make of what she says.  We'll find out more later.

So, now you know all about the demon Asmodeus.  There is some more, but most of that I've fed you through the novel, and you don't have to worry, I'll give you the rest before the end.  You will be well acquainted with this particular demon.  I chose him because we have so much common and ancient information on him.

Father Makar does not believe there can be demons.  He doesn't believe there can be sorcery.  Doesn't his testimony shock you out of the ideas I've shaped in your mind for the last 15 chapters?  For those chapters, there was no question.  Sorcery was real, and the demon was real.  Aksinya was sane, and slightly strange, a wild girl, but not insane.  Now, suddenly, Aksinya is not sane, sorcery is not real, and a demon can't exist.  I'm not going to play with your mind the way I did in Aegypt, but I want to draw your attention to a plot device I chose not to use.  I do hope you are now concerned about how the world in the novel will view Aksinya, but I have not fully caught you up in that dilemma.  In Aegypt, I made you wait until the bitter end to realize whether Paul Bolang was imagining the agent that affected his world.  In this novel, I'll let you alone and allow you to know in your heart Aksinya is sane, and the demon is real.  In another novel, I will perhaps not let that be.

From Aksinya's lips we get a synopsis of what has happened and we hear what we knew already, but had not been said directly.  Her confession ends in hyperbole, but why should it not.  It is not a lie--Aksinya can't imagine a time when she did not seek luxuria and sorcery.  This was a great harm to herself and others--it was also a great help to others, but that's another issue.

Now to the great kicker here after the climax.  I take you back to the reality of the book.  I promised I would.  I did not design this novel to leave Father Makar's ideas unchallenged.  The Matushka Ekaterina notices smoke near Aksinya.  The cross is burning Aksinya's skin and her clothing.  Ekaterina sees that Aksinya is burning and rips open her dress to reveal the cross and its effects.

Ekaterina is wise.  She directs Father Dobrushin to absolve Aksinya so she can be fully confessed.  The absolution is the traditional Orthodox translated into English.  The result of the absolution is a catharsis--it should be.  This is exactly the right point.  The uncontrolled actions of Aksinya are a foreshadowing.  Tomorrow, we see the direct aftermath of the confession.