Writing Ideas - New Novel, part 226, more Other Plots, Methods of Revelation How to Develop Storyline, Rising Action

22 November 2014, Writing Ideas - New Novel, part 226, more Other Plots, Methods of Revelation How to Develop Storyline, Rising Action

Announcement: My new novels should be available from any webseller or can be ordered from any brick and mortar bookstore.  Information can be found at www.ancientlight.com.  Check out my novels--I think you'll really enjoy them.

Introduction: I wrote the novel Aksinya: Enchantment and the Daemon. This was my 21st novel and through this blog, I gave you the entire novel in installments that included commentary on the writing. In the commentary, in addition to other general information on writing, I explained, how the novel was constructed, the metaphors and symbols in it, the writing techniques and tricks I used, and the way I built the scenes. You can look back through this blog and read the entire novel beginning with http://www.pilotlion.blogspot.com/2010/10/new-novel-part-3-girl-and-demon.html.

I'm using this novel as an example of how I produce, market, and eventually (we hope) get a novel published. I'll keep you informed along the way.

Today's Blog: To see the steps in the publication process, visit my writing 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.

The basic novel is about character revelation.  I noted yesterday, the focus of the plot, theme, and resolution of a balanced novel are all about character revelation.  This is a very powerful method of writing a novel, but it isn't the only method of putting one together.  You can have a mystery novel with a resolution (climax) of a mystery that has a slightly different theme.  Usually the plot must match the resolution--it is possible to have a climax not be the climax of the plot, but that is never a good idea. 

An example of a novel where the plot, theme, and resolution might not match up is in a modern romance novel.  The plot of the novel might revolve around the protagonist and the protagonist's helper (or the antagonist), but "love" could be the theme and the plot be about something else entirely.  This isn't that uncommon in many romance movies (chick flicks).  The movie or novel is about a man (or woman) in conflict somehow (business dealings, school, the government)--that is the plot.  The theme is about the man and woman getting together and falling in love.  The plot resolution is about solving the business, school, government problem while the theme resolution is about the couple falling in love.  This split between the theme and plot resolution isn't as uncommon as you might imagine--just look for it. 

I'd recommend that in your novel writing you keep the plot, theme, and resolution similar.  Because I gave you the novel Valska, I'll mention it.  The plot and theme of Valeska are both very similar.  The plot is about overcoming a demon, while the theme is about overcoming internal demons.  Similar, but not the same.  There is a separate theme and plot resolution (climax), but both are similar in effect (not the events).  This is one method of brining the plot and theme together.  I'll look at more methods. 
             
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 323 The First of Many

23 August 2011, A New Novel, Part 323 The First of Many
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.

Dobrushin and Aksinya married.  Aksinya and Dobrushin are in Boston, and Aksinya has come to an Orthodox girl's school looking for a job.  The headmistress recognises Aksinya and embraces her... 

The woman before her gave a cry, “Princess Aksinya.”  She rushed around the desk and embraced her. 

Aksinya couldn’t get her breath she couldn’t speak.  Finally, she threw her arms around the headmistress and exclaimed, “Lady Natalya.”

Natalya buried her face in Aksinya’s thick braided hair and blubbered.  They stood together for a long time without saying anything.  Finally, Natalya spoke, “I thought I would never see you again, Princess.”

Aksinya kissed her cheeks, “Dear Lady Natalya, I would never have guessed I would find you here.  Is Herr von Taaffe with you?”

Natalya gave a laugh, “I am Mrs. Natalya Alexandrovna von Taaffe, though not called a Lady anymore.  And you?”

“Father Dobrushin married me although he is not a priest anymore, and I am no longer a Princess.”

Natalya’s moist eyes held Aksinya’s, “You will always be a Princess.  My lady’s maid told me you were looking for a job.”

“Please, Lady Natalya, I’m certain you would not wish to have me around you all the time.  I know I will bring back terrible memories to you.”

“You don’t understand at all Princess.  You are the reason I am here today.  Wait with me for a while.  Let me hear all that has happened to you since we parted, then we will have luncheon with Sister Margarethe, and we will discuss your teaching work in my school.”

“Sister Margarethe is also here?”

“Herr von Taaffe retained her as our housekeeper.  She converted to Russian Orthodox and entered an order in the United States.  Our school is loosely affiliated with Saint John’s.”  Natalya held Aksinya at arms length and looked her over, “Dear friend, we have so much to talk about and so much to share.  I do love you, Princess.  I want you to remain with us forever.”

“In spite of everything that happened?”

“Because of everything that happened before.  That time marked the end of a horrible and wonderful period, yet redemption came to you, to me.”  She held Aksinya close, “I could not bear to lose you again, Aksinya.  You redeemed me, the first of many.  You shall redeem many more.  God exceeded our expectations in spite of what we had done.”     

- The End -

This novel was all about loss and what people are willing to give up for their own desires.  Aksinya did indeed lose her old life.  She lost her position, her money, her goods, her family, her friends, her sorcery.  She lost literally everything.  She gained salvation, and lost the demon.  We recognise the things she gained and the life she gained in spite of the losses.  I wanted to convey this in this scene.  I gave Aksinya back her two closest friends because I wanted to remind you that this novel was also about salvation.  Aksinya found salvation in spite of the demon and in spite of who she was and what she had done.  She paid a high price for the salvation, but in retrospect it was a lot less than her savior.  I mean that about both her saviors.  Dobrushin became her savior from a physical standpoint.  He saved her from all the harm she had brought upon herself.  Her other savior was Christ.  Even though everything seemed to be contrived against Aksinya, ultimately, Christ provided spiritual salvation and eventually freedom from her demon.

Do you remember that I told you this novel was about the demons we all carry.  Aksinya's demon was just more real than most of ours.  This novel was a novel about redemption on many levels.  The redeemed was the one who seemed the least likely to have any hope, yet she, Aksinya was redeemed--and along the way, she did redeem others.  This is the point I wanted to make in this final chapter.  It does no good if your efforts only benefit yourself--even salvation.  In this way, salvation is both individual and communal.  The salvation of the individual leads to the salvation of the many.

In this piece, we see Natalya.  She is unbroken, but she carries the scars of Aksinya's beating.  Aksinya carries scars as well.  Natalya embraces Aksinya.  They are both overcome by the meeting.  Natalya buries her face in Aksinya's "thick braided hair."  Do you ever think I could let you forget the hair.  This is the symbol for Aksinya's contract with the demon.  Natalya gets to see a whole Aksinya for the first time.  Aksinya's first thought is for her friend: "Is Herr von Taaffe here."  Natalya is not a kept woman, she is a wife with rights.  I let you know that she and Ernst had to give up something--she is not called a Lady anymore.

Then I remind you of a little that Aksinya and Dobrushin have lost.  That's when I get to deliver the clincher.  Aksinya states:  "I’m certain you would not wish to have me around you all the time.  I know I will bring back terrible memories to you.”  Natalya's response: “You don’t understand at all Princess.  You are the reason I am here today."  We discover that Sister Margarethe is also a teacher at the school--do you remember Stacy's tormentor. 

Already Aksinya has a job.  Now we find that some of the damage that was done to Natalya, Ernst, and Sister Margarethe has been blunted.  Nothing can ever return to the way it was, but it can be better.  Not everything is resolved.  Not everything is made right, but in spite of the pain and suffering, as Natalya says: “Because of everything that happened before.  That time marked the end of a horrible and wonderful period, yet redemption came to you, to me.”  She held Aksinya close, “I could not bear to lose you again, Aksinya.  You redeemed me, the first of many.  You shall redeem many more.  God exceeded our expectations in spite of what we had done.”  

This is the message that I wanted to leave you with.  No telling allowed, but if you didn't get it in the rest of the novel, I wanted to make certain you didn't miss it here.  This is the kicker at the end--it should conclude and leave the reader with the theme:  "You shall redeem many more.  God exceeded our expectations in spite of what we had done.”  It is faith based, but hey--how can a novel so deeply involved with the spiritual not be faith based.  I hope you have enjoyed it.  I'll get into the next step details tomorrow.

A New Novel, Part 315 Love Me

15 August 2011, A New Novel, Part 315 Love Me

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.

Dobrushin and Aksinya married.  They came to the room Dobrushin took in the hotel near the center of Wien.  The demon, Asmodeus, appeared and attacked Dobrushin but mortally injured Aksinya. The angel Raphael bound the demon and turned back the harm done to Aksinya... 

Raphael smiled, “Until you are one, there is no marriage in the eyes of God.”  With a flash and a low gonglike sound, the angel was gone.

Dobrushin lifted Aksinya in his arms.  She was chilled.  He laid her in the bed and undressed.  Then he gently tugged the ruined dress off her body.  His heart caught in his throat.  She was slim and wonderfully made, not the full curves of a woman, but the slight form of a dancer.  The crucifix lay between her small breasts and the burn scars caused by it permanently marked her chest.  Dobrushin slipped into the bed and pulled the covers over them.  Dobrushin held her left hand.  Scars covered it.  He kissed each one.  He held her cool body close to his and kissed her forehead then eyelids.  He felt her body begin to warm next to him.  She gave a start, and her eyes flashed open, “Where is the angel?”

“He has gone.”

She felt her body, “And I am whole… and naked.”  She turned toward Dobrushin and touched him, “And you are also naked.  Her breath caught, “Still, that is bad because I had more questions for him, but it is good, because I want you to love me.  Now is the time for you to truly marry me.  Kiss me, Dobrushka.”

He kissed her.

“Touch me here and here.  And kiss me there,” she moaned.  After a while she reached for him, “Can you tell.  I am ready for you.”  She lay back and her arms slipped around him.   He reached around her shoulders.

Dobrushin whispered, “I am as new to this as you.  I can’t find the right place, help me.”

Aksinya laughed, and moved her hands downward.  He pressed forward, and with a mutual gasp, they came together.  Aksinya wrapped her body around his and cried out with amazement.  She trembled over and over and then relaxed.  His body shuddered once then again and again.  Finally he lay still.  Aksinya held on to him and wouldn’t let him move.  She kissed him and kissed him again.  Finally, she let him roll to the side, but she still clasped him possessively.

From the beginning, you might never have guessed this could be a resolution.  In this scene, I produced a second climax to resolve the problem of the demon, and I gave the appropriate solution to Aksinya's desire.  Aksinya lost everything, but she gained Dobrushin.  She gained love and salvation. 

I also wanted to give you a scene that is unusual in literature--simply a scene of lovemaking between a husband and wife.  The novel appropriately resolves on many levels here.  Aksinya and Dobrushin's interaction is both moral and logical.  I also wanted you to see the innocence of their love.  My publisher might not let it stand, but here it is in this cut of the novel. 

In the first part of the scene, the description allows you to see Aksinya through Dobrushin's eyes.  Did you wonder?  He loves her.  She is not build like a model, but rather like a dancer.  I also wanted you to see the permanent marks on her body.  She paid the price for each one.  Dobrushin realizes this.  He honors her for her suffering, but also for her persistence and power.  Dobrushin was allowed to see the spiritual through Aksinya.

Aksinya's first thought is for the angel.  She wanted to speak to it.  I build the tension through Aksinya's conversation.  I show you their lovemaking through Aksinya's words.  She calls Dobrushin by a diminutive.  Almost the entire scene here is conversation, yet it conveys the most intimate of human action.  This is the use of advanced writing techniques to show and not tell.  Tomorrow, plans.

A New Novel, Part 112 The Book Again and Seduction

Now it comes.  You knew there had to be some resolution with the demon especially in the aftermath of the great enchantment.  Indeed there is a confrontation, but never a resolution.  I like Jack Vance's writing very much.  His confrontations rarely have a resolution, but they do resolve.  If the confrontations in my writing seem to have complete resolutions, either I'm not writing them properly or you are being much to optimistic...

Aksinya and Natalya spent a quiet weekend with the Freiherr and Freifrau Bockmann. The Freifrau Bockmann discussed the details of her Advent party with Aksinya and Natalya. Aksinya only listened with half an ear. She wasn’t really interested in a party. She wasn’t interested in much of anything. The last encounter with the demon frightened and yet encouraged her, but she didn’t dare imagine she had been in any way successful. She had given in to the demon. She had used sorcery to save Natalya and Sister Margarethe. Aksinya wasn’t certain what she should or could do next, and she couldn’t imagine what the demon might demand from her the next time. She didn’t have to wait long to hear from him.


Late Saturday evening a heavy knock came to her door. Aksinya caught the scent of sulfur. She rolled over, “I really do not wish to speak to you demon.”

The door didn’t open, “You said that last time, Countess. I request an audience.”

She sighed a great sigh, “And, I do wish to ask you some questions—you may enter.”

The door opened and Asmodeus stepped through it. The smell of sulfur increased slightly. He shut it carefully after him.

Aksinya sat up in bed.

The demon bowed, “Good evening, Countess.”

Aksinya took a deep breath, “Asmodeus, where is my book?”

“You have many books…”

“You know just the book I mean. It was the one I was carrying when you precipitated the attack on my lady-in-waiting and the nun.”

“Ah, you are mistaken, Countess. I did not make any attack on your friends…it was entirely the work of those hooligans from the Golden Adler Gasthaus.”

“Čort poberí , you demon. You confessed to me yourself that you tempted them to it.”

The demon seemed petulant, “I told you before, countess. You can’t curse a being who is already cursed.”

“I don’t care. I want to know, where is my book?”

“I don’t know.”

“You are lying.”

The demon lifted one side of his lips. His fangs glistened in the moonlight, “Ha, why do you think that?”

Aksinya stuck her face forward. Her eyes bore in on the demon’s, “You have lied over and over to me.”

Asmodeus wouldn’t meet her gaze, “How could that be?”

“You lied about Sister Margarethe…”

The demon examined his claws, “I did not lie—she is infatuated with you.”

“You tried to get me to…to get me to…”

“…to seduce her?”

Aksinya lowered her gaze, “Yes, just that. Such a disgusting thing.”

The demon’s fangs were very visible in his face, “Perhaps a misunderstanding?”

“That you fostered. Everything you have told me is a lie.”

“That isn’t so.”

“Then what is the truth?”

We last left Aksinya and Natalya on their way to Grossbock for the weekend.  The Freifrau has nothing but the Advent party on her mind.  I take a slight omniscient point of view to give you a little from the thoughts of Aksinya.  This is part of this easy transition we have been in, you know that can't last.  You should expect the next pacing of the scenes to bring you back into tension.  Tension indeed.  I give you a slight look into Aksinya's thoughts, you might have guessed them already, but I wanted it to be clear.  She has both given into the demon and opposed the demon.  This causes her great distress.  It should.  At Asmodeus next visit we should get some idea what Aksinya's opposition means.
 
In the evening, Aksinya finally receives the visit she had been expecting.  I like the little touch of sulfur in the air with the demon.  When he knocks on the door, Aksinya lies at first.  Notice the consideration the demon shows--he's back to his good demon stage.  Remember for him everything is a show.  The demon is even deferential to her.  He requests an audience.  Aksinya does indeed wish to asks him some questions--they are likely the same ones you have.
 
Aksinya's first question: where is my book...  This is the important question to her.  The book is new and wonderful.  It was a gift from the demon.  Yet, the demon's answer is both equivocal and a lie.  You should wonder, what is it about this book--or better, where is the book, that its presence must be hidden.  Then we get the accusation from Aksinya against the demon--he caused the attempted rape.  You knew it had to be asked.  The demon lies again.  He did confess to the temptation before.  He bragged he set up the entire event.  Aksinya curses at Asmodeus.  Curses always have the same affect on him.  You might wonder if he is proud of the curse and proud that Aksinya curses.
 
Then, again, where is the book.  The demon is indeed lying, but you realized that.  Aksinya knows it too.  The demon is lying--the important thing to learn is why.  It does no good to prove or point out to the demon his lies--it just encourages him.  Aksinya still can't help but argue.
 
The next point she wished to attack the demon about is the Sister Margarethe.  The demon did lie about the Sister Margarethe's lust.  Then again, perhaps Asmodeus simply misunderstood the Sister's desire.  Or, the sister does desire Aksinya just as the demon said and lied to Aksinya about it.  Aksinya believes she has learned a great truth that you can love without lust.  This thought sustains her in some measure--it will be tested in the future.
 
Aksinya claims Asmodeus lied about Sister Margarethe.  He responds that he did not lie.  The sister is infatuated with Aksinya--this is truth.  We heard it from her own lips.  Aksinya's realization goes much deeper.  If she had attempted the bidding of the demon and tried to seduce the Sister, she might have succeeded.  There is much in this conversation that is unsaid in regard to Aksinya.  She has sexual fantasies and infatuations herself, only those fantasies are true fantasies.  In many ways she is very naive.  She wouldn't know what to do with a man or a woman sexually at all.  The idea scares her.  I don't mention this to say she should be willing, but rather to set up your thoughts for what will happen next.  Aksinya is a perfect countess on the outside, but she is very innocent of human interaction.  The demon realizes this and capitalizes on it.  Not everything Asmodeus has told her is a lie, but much of it is a lie.  Therefore, Aksinya's question that leads us into tomorrow: "Then what is the truth?”