Writing Ideas - Vampire Novel, part 129, more about skills in writing how to develop Storyline, Entertaining, Rising Action

17 August 2014, Writing Ideas - Vampire Novel, part 129, more about skills in writing how to develop Storyline, Entertaining, Rising Action

Announcement: I heard from my publisher that my Aegypt novels will continued to be titled Ancient Light and that the next two books will be called Sister of Light  and  Sister of Darkness.  These were the original titles.  They will be released individually and as a 3 in 1 volume.  I saw the proposed cover.  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.

Your assignment :-) as a writer is to read and write.  The reading provides you with examples and ideas.  The writing provides you with experience to develop your skill set.  I read a novel a week.  I used to read a novel a day.  I don't have time anymore to read that much, because I spend the time in writing.  I have a full time job right now.  When I write continuously, I can write an entire novel and prepare the publisher's and marketing information in a week.  When I first started writing, it took me a year to write a novel.  I can finish a novel in about four to six months depending on my schedule.  At the same time, I keep up three blogs on writing, and my websites.  Although, I haven't been able to work on the websites as much as I wish.  I also do occasional writing.  What I'm trying to illustrate to you is that if you want to succeed in writing, you have to work hard at writing.

I'm not so sure I'm succeeding.  I have six books in publication and two on contract.  I am constantly encouraged by my publisher and hope to have more novels on contract and published.  I'm both lucky and elated that my publisher likes my writing and wants to take the risk to publish my novels.  I'm not making much money, but I continue to write and hone my skills.  I want to leave a legacy of writing that people enjoy reading.  I consider my writing to be fun but serious, literary, carefully researched, entertaining, and exciting.  I want my readers to live an entirely different experience and life through my 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 128, about skills in writing how to develop Storyline, Entertaining, Rising Action

16 August 2014, Writing Ideas - Vampire Novel, part 128, about skills in writing how to develop Storyline, Entertaining, Rising Action

Announcement: I heard from my publisher that my Aegypt novels will continued to be titled Ancient Light and that the next two books will be called Sister of Light  and  Sister of Darkness.  These were the original titles.  They will be released individually and as a 3 in 1 volume.  I saw the proposed cover.  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.

I know in K-12 and college you don't have much scope in choosing your teachers, but let me give you some advice.  Don't try to learn the profession of writing from someone who is not published.  This was my mistaken premise for a long time.  I assumed that a person who was teaching writing actually understood writing and creativity.  I was wrong, and universities are wrong to employ people who have a writing education, but who are not professional authors.  You can't learn to write fiction from someone who has not spent that 10,000 successful hours of experience in learning to write.  When I write, 10,000 successful hours, I mean that they have produced one million words and are acknowledged as a writer by being paid for their works. 

Once you have acquired the basic skills of writing: word usage, sentence construction, paragraph development, scene development, and novel construction, you are ready to begin to build the skills of writing.  The only way to build the skills of writing is to write.  When you have put together one million words--if you learn the skills, you will be publishable.

You might ask, how do I get those skills that are not usually taught: scene development and novel construction.  You have to find it through reading novels or from blogs like this.  You might luck into a class taught at a university by a published author, but I wouldn't count on it.  A university wouldn't hire me to teach because my credentials are in the sciences and not English. 

So, here is what to do, keep reading and keep writing.  Until the world of education changes and takes it out of the control of the unpublished and places it in the hands of the professional, you will mostly have to learn on your own.  Look for authors and experienced professionals in the field of writing--those people will be able to teach you the skills you need to progress.         

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 127, skills in writing how to develop Storyline, Entertaining, Rising Action

15 August 2014, Writing Ideas - Vampire Novel, part 127, skills in writing how to develop Storyline, Entertaining, Rising Action

Announcement: I heard from my publisher that my Aegypt novels will continued to be titled Ancient Light and that the next two books will be called Sister of Light  and  Sister of Darkness.  These were the original titles.  They will be released individually and as a 3 in 1 volume.  I saw the proposed cover.  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.

Writing requires a great deal of skill.  It is not something you simply pick up.  It is not something you take a class in and singularly learn.  You can imagine that everyone in most first world nations has at least 12 years of writing training.  If you are a college graduate, you have at least another couple of years of training in writing.  Do you realize, that this is a small beginning, but not enough to make anyone a competent writer.  Writing competence begins with learning the basic skills in writing--the rules of words, sentence structure, paragraph development, scene development, and novel construction.  If you go to most K-12 and college, you will be trained in the rules of words and sentence structure.  You might get some experience with paragraph development.  In English and American literature, you might get some training in novel construction (for the purpose of evaluating novels, not writing them).  In general, you may learn most of the functional pieces required to write a novel.  The part you certainly won't get is scene development.  You also won't get much help with actual novel construction. 

This is why I focus on developing the theme, plot, and then storyline, in this blog.  It is also why I write extensively about scene construction and development.  These are the pieces of writing a novel that are not generally taught in schools anywhere.  Plus, when I was a student, I thought that people who taught writing, especially in college, had to be published authors.  Boy was I wrong.  Many if not most writing teachers in standard schools haven't published anything, and if they have, it is in college literary magazines of their own construction.  You know, the kinds of literary magazines that are given away for free or that have no commercial basis.  In other words, their work has not be chosen by the commercial marketplace for real people who will pay money for the writing.  I learned this the hard way.

In writing, the skills must be learned one way or another--there is only one way to get experience in writing, however.          

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 126, style rules of writing how to develop Storyline, Entertaining, Rising Action

14 August 2014, Writing Ideas - Vampire Novel, part 126, style rules of writing how to develop Storyline, Entertaining, Rising Action

Announcement: I heard from my publisher that my Aegypt novels will continued to be titled Ancient Light and that the next two books will be called Sister of Light  and  Sister of Darkness.  These were the original titles.  They will be released individually and as a 3 in 1 volume.  I saw the proposed cover.  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.

Let's talk about the craft of writing.  I'm talking about grammar and style.  Bet you thought style was that special skill of the writer--well that is one type of style, but not the style I'm writing about.  What I mean by style is the manual of style that defines capitalization, the writing of numbers, grammar usage, punctuation, word usage, and spelling.  You thought your English and grammar teacher taught you everything--didn't you?  Well he didn't unless he mentioned about style in professional writing.

If you want to be a professional in any field, start studying.  One of the problems with people today, is that they are not willing to put much sweat equity into their desires.  If you want to be a writer, you have to work at it.  I don't mean you write an hour a day and call it good. I mean, you give up TV and other worthless mind-numbing trash and spend hours and hours working at writing.  If you don't understand about writing style, I suggest you study it.  If you are not writing about four or more hours a day, I suggest you start.  Turn off the boob-tube and turn on your creativity.  Dedicate yourself to writing, you may achieve something.

I'll mention again, the rule of thumb for success or extraordinary competency in any field is about 10,000 hours of experience.  For writing, this is about one million words.  When you have written one million words (about 8 to 10 novels), you may be at about the level of competency in writing.  Until then, you are just one of the many who have desires, but with little to show for it.          

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 125, more rules of writing how to develop Storyline, Entertaining, Rising Action

13 August 2014, Writing Ideas - Vampire Novel, part 125, more rules of writing how to develop Storyline, Entertaining, Rising Action

Announcement: I heard from my publisher that my Aegypt novels will continued to be titled Ancient Light and that the next two books will be called Sister of Light  and  Sister of Darkness.  These were the original titles.  They will be released individually and as a 3 in 1 volume.  I saw the proposed cover.  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.

I believe we established that not only are there rules of writing, but also that the rules of writing are not to be broken.  I'm not sure you can bend them.  Let's talk about the real rules that govern writing.  I mentioned grammar.  There are rules of grammar and style.  Guides to style in English include the Chicago manual of style and the New York Times manual of style.  There are others  Which style do you use?  Did you know there is a difference?  Did you know there are manuals for style in English?  There are also styles for grammar and writing in other languages.  If you find a stickler in English, and you use the wrong style, they will complain.  If you don't know what style is, or if you don't hold to a consistent style, you might not get published.

Don't you think that style in your language is something you should understand?  In fact, shouldn't you understand all those rules people purport to tell you to break?  Let's put it this way.  If you wrote music, wouldn't you expect to know the basic rules of music composition from the language of music to the chords and the meter of the music?  If you would expect all this detailed knowledge for music, what is your knowledge of your language.  If you want to write, you must understand the fundamentals of the craft you wish to use.        

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 124, rule of writing how to develop Storyline, Entertaining, Rising Action

12 August 2014, Writing Ideas - Vampire Novel, part 124, rule of writing how to develop Storyline, Entertaining, Rising Action

Announcement: I heard from my publisher that my Aegypt novels will continued to be titled Ancient Light and that the next two books will be called Sister of Light  and  Sister of Darkness.  These were the original titles.  They will be released individually and as a 3 in 1 volume.  I saw the proposed cover.  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.

So, if words follow immutable rules (spelling and meanings) and sentences follow immutable rules (grammar), do paragraphs follow rules too?  I think I expressed this in a reasonable fashion before.  Paragraphs do indeed follow certain rules.  These rules aren't immutable like those for words and sentence construction, but they mean the difference between a cohesive paragraph and an uncohesive paragraph.  What would you rather write?  Something understandable or something not understandable.  If you wish people to understand your writing, I'd go with cohesive.  If you want cohesive, you will follow the very basic rules of paragraph development I mentioned.

What about scenes?  Paragraphs are formed by the writer into scenes.  I've taken a lot of time to show you the basic ideas for scene development--are these rules?  They are not rules in the sense of grammar or spelling.  They are rules in the sense of helping to put together something cohesive. 

Are there rules for novels--that is scenes put together in a cohesive sequence.  Those are the five parts of a novel that I have listed in this blog for a long time.  Are these rules?  Not really rules so much as they are the format for a classical novel.  I don't think you are going to get very far with any serious piece of writing that does not follow this very general guideline.  So, there are rules in writing.  What rules can you break?  When writers or teachers mention that you should break rules in your writing, the first thing I want to ask is what rules are you talking about.  The second is, why would you want to break any of these basic rules?  If your words don't mean the same thing to others, then you will not have any understanding.  If your grammar is poor, no one will read your writing.  If your paragraphs are not understandable, no one will want to read your writing.  If your scenes are inncochate and unentertaining, you aren't going anywhere.  If your novels are a jumble of unstructured mess, who is going to publish you?        

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 123, more putting together paragraphs how to develop Storyline, Entertaining, Rising Action

11 August 2014, Writing Ideas - Vampire Novel, part 123, more putting together paragraphs how to develop Storyline, Entertaining, Rising Action

Announcement: I heard from my publisher that my Aegypt novels will continued to be titled Ancient Light and that the next two books will be called Sister of Light  and  Sister of Darkness.  These were the original titles.  They will be released individually and as a 3 in 1 volume.  I saw the proposed cover.  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.

There is really no such thing as freedom from rules in writing.  For example, every word must be put together correctly and appropriately.  If you don't follow the rules of spelling and phonetics, you will never be able to produce words that anyone else can understand.  Now, it is possible to invent new words, but even the words you invent must follow certain rules based on their composition.  If you don't believe me, just try to make a word without any basis for vowels, phonetics, or meaning and see what you get. 

If you move up to sentences, English particularly has very stringent rules governing word placement in the sentence structure.  Other languages are not as specific, but you will find every language has very exacting rules for putting together sentences.  If you don't follow the rules of sentence structure, no one will understand your writing.  Perhaps we should talk a little about sentence structure.  If you are not an expert in writing sentences...Let's add to that--if you don't have a very strong vocabulary (of proper words), and if you are not an expert in crafting those words into proper sentences, you cannot be a good writer.  To be able to craft sentences means you know all the very detailed rules of English (or whatever language you are writing in) sentence construction.  This is what we call grammar.  Knowledge of grammar is necessary to be able to write at all.  To write well requires expert knowledge.  What rules do you think you can throw out to achieve any kind of worthwhile writing?  I hope you answered, none.  If you know the rules, you might have some ability to bend them or to intentionally misuse them to produce some effect in your writing, but without the rules, you aren't getting very far. 

For example, you might misuse grammar to bring out cultural differences between a country hick and a city dweller.   

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 122, putting together paragraphs how to develop Storyline, Entertaining, Rising Action

10 August 2014, Writing Ideas - Vampire Novel, part 122, putting together paragraphs how to develop Storyline, Entertaining, Rising Action

Announcement: I heard from my publisher that my Aegypt novels will continued to be titled Ancient Light and that the next two books will be called Sister of Light  and  Sister of Darkness.  These were the original titles.  They will be released individually and as a 3 in 1 volume.  I saw the proposed cover.  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.

I was lucky to have a very good education in writing paragraphs.  Once you get the concept of the paragraph down, you can begin to put them together.  In some advanced paragraphs concepts, some writers will suggest your paragraphs introduce the idea or though to the paragraph, have a body of text (sentences) to expand on the idea, and a conclusion/connection to the next paragraph.  This is not a bad idea.  If you find your writing isn't as cohesive as it should be, you might try this method of paragraph development--it certainly can't hurt.  I'll describe the details.

I already mentioned that the first sentence must introduce the subject (idea/thought) behind the paragraph.  The rest of the sentences build on this thought (subject).  The end sentence of the paragraph should sum up the idea and provide a connection to the next paragraph.  The connection does not need to be overt, but direct connection isn't a poor way to write.

If you notice, this input/output method of writing a paragraph is similar to the input/output method I espouse for scene writing.  Writing is a system of building blocks for expression.  The building blocks begin with words, goes to phrases, then sentences, then paragraphs, then scenes, then chapters, and finally novels.  Each building block has rules and techniques for putting them together.  Some writers advocate freedom from rules, but you can't really write with "freedom from rules."  I'll tell you why.

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 121, more paragraphs how to develop Storyline, Entertaining, Rising Action

9 August 2014, Writing Ideas - Vampire Novel, part 121, more paragraphs how to develop Storyline, Entertaining, Rising Action

Announcement: I heard from my publisher that my Aegypt novels will continued to be titled Ancient Light and that the next two books will be called Sister of Light  and  Sister of Darkness.  These were the original titles.  They will be released individually and as a 3 in 1 volume.  I saw the proposed cover.  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.

In writing a paragraph, begin with a single thought or idea.  One idea or thought per paragraph.  The paragraph must have an introduction--that is the first sentence in the paragraph is the introduction.  You must introduce the idea in the paragraph at that point.  Here is the scene setting and initial paragraph from Valeska.

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. 

Notice in this example, the thought or idea is midnight Gdańsk--this is a description of midnight Gdańsk.  Therefore, the first sentence of the paragraph tells you what the paragraph is about.  The description then moves logically from point to point in the description to bring you to the point--the darkened buildings on either side of the street.  Here is another example from Aksinya:

The dank stone room was filled with shadows.  Every corner oozed darkness.  Within a pentagram that was encompassed by a circle stood a slight young woman.  Fat yellow beef-tallow candles marked the points of the pentagram and weakly illuminated only the area around her.  A brazier of incense filled the room with the scent of myrrh along with an underlying smell that was indeterminate, but left a taste of blood in the mouth.  The woman was dressed in a black gown that was much too large for her.  Beautiful hand made lace cascaded down the front of the dress and decorated the sleeves.  Thick velvet competed with black satin to form a perfect attire to greet a Tsar, but certainly not a commissar.  The gown fell loosely away from the woman’s thin chest and small breasts.  It looked odd draped on her body, like a girl playing dress-up from her mother’s closet.  But this gown obviously came from the closet of a princess.

The idea or thought described in the paragraph is the dank stone room.  It is filled with shadows.  The sentences from that point make descriptions in a logical fashion to the character introduction.  In this paragraph, I intentionally make the character part of the shadows in the dank stone room.

Not every reader might get this point, but it is a complex one. The main point about a paragraph is very simple--the first sentence must, I repeat must, introduce the main concept of the paragraph.  Second, the paragraph should be both entertaining and, if possible, exciting.  I think I provided both in these paragraphs.  So single idea and entertainment.  That makes a great paragraph.  Each paragraph you write should have these characteristics.

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 120, paragraphs how to develop Storyline, Entertaining, Rising Action

8 August 2014, Writing Ideas - Vampire Novel, part 120, paragraphs how to develop Storyline, Entertaining, Rising Action

Announcement: I heard from my publisher that my Aegypt novels will continued to be titled Ancient Light and that the next two books will be called Sister of Light  and  Sister of Darkness.  These were the original titles.  They will be released individually and as a 3 in 1 volume.  I saw the proposed cover.  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.

Each paragraph is like a miniature scene--except that a paragraph is specific and conveys a single thought or idea.  For example, a paragraph might be the scene setting in time.  A paragraph might be the scene setting in place.  You might place the entire scene setting into a single paragraph (time and place).  Another paragraph could be the character setting, or you can break the character setting into a paragraph for each character.  If you get the point of the paragraph, you will already guess that I will tell you to use a separate paragraph for the time setting, for the place setting, for each character setting, for each description, for each introduction, etc. 

Each new idea should have a separate paragraph.  That doesn't mean you should have bunches of single sentence paragraphs.  If you are writing single sentence narrative paragraphs, you are not properly writing paragraphs.  I make the distinction between narrative and dialog because, in English, we separate each person's statement as a separate thought (paragraph).  Some thoughts (statements) require more than a single paragraph, but that is somewhat unusual. 

I'll break down the steps of building a paragraph next.

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 119, just how to develop Storyline, Entertaining, Rising Action

7 August 2014, Writing Ideas - Vampire Novel, part 119, just how to develop Storyline, Entertaining, Rising Action

Announcement: I heard from my publisher that my Aegypt novels will continued to be titled Ancient Light and that the next two books will be called Sister of Light  and  Sister of Darkness.  These were the original titles.  They will be released individually and as a 3 in 1 volume.  I saw the proposed cover.  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.

I never get writer's block.  Sometimes, I get tired of writing.  Sometimes, I don't want to write.  But I always can write.  I don't know many professional writers who get writer's block.  I guess there might be some, but I don't know any.  If I went to my day job, which is a great deal of technical writing, and told my boss, "I have writer's block today," he'd probably fire me.  If he felt merciful, he might give me a tongue lashing and tell me to get my head on straight--then he would tell me to pull up my big boy pants and get writing. 

The work of an engineer is to write (technical writing and reports).  The work of an author is to write.  I write novels.  The point I am getting at is about writing storyline.  Storyline is what you read.  It is the product of the writer.  Once we figure out the theme and plot, all the writer has to do is write.  I already gave you some real help here.  I told you to first set the scene, then set the characters, then the introductions (or greetings).  If you can't keep writing after that, you might not be prepared or inspired enough for this business, and it is a business.

Luckily, I don't have the pressure (except when I have a new book coming out) of having to write (or edit).  I do have pressure at work to produce reports and test plans etc.  The business of writing is writing.  If you can't write on command, you need to work on creativity and basic writing skills.  Surely, you can do a simple writing exercise.  When I was in middle school, the exercise of the day was to write a paragraph.  I can write a great paragraph.  Perhaps I should help you with that next.  

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 118, still more action how to develop Storyline, Entertaining, Rising Action

6 August 2014, Writing Ideas - Vampire Novel, part 118, still more action how to develop Storyline, Entertaining, Rising Action

Announcement: I heard from my publisher that my Aegypt novels will continued to be titled Ancient Light and that the next two books will be called Sister of Light  and  Sister of Darkness.  These were the original titles.  They will be released individually and as a 3 in 1 volume.  I saw the proposed cover.  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.

In writing action scenes, description is obviously your friend.  Most reasonable writers can cobble together an action scene.  To make an action scene both powerful and well done, the author needs to write strong and clear description.  Clarity is very important when writing anything, but especially action scenes.  I've found action scenes to require very close attention to words and details.  If you don't know what I mean, then try to write an action scene of any real length.  You will find that confusion will reign without careful attention to pronouns, identification of characters and objects, and precise (clear) verb use.

The who and what and how those move in the scene are everything an action scene is about.  This is another reason I like to write action scenes with more than one person.  Dialog can be a universal clarifier.  You might be astounded to see how much clarity in an action scene you can get from a single character's statement. 

I've written about this before.  Tags and other identifiers for characters immediately provide the reader an identification of a character and many times much more information.  In other words all the description and character development you have provided in the novel comes into play with appropriate identification of the character.  In any case, you will always need to write action scenes.  I think they are more difficult to write than dialog, but most beginning writers seem to handle them better than dialog.  That is, the final product is usually less stilted.

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 117, yet more action how to develop Storyline, Entertaining, Rising Action

5 August 2014, Writing Ideas - Vampire Novel, part 117, yet more action how to develop Storyline, Entertaining, Rising Action

Announcement: I heard from my publisher that my Aegypt novels will continued to be titled Ancient Light and that the next two books will be called Sister of Light  and  Sister of Darkness.  These were the original titles.  They will be released individually and as a 3 in 1 volume.  I saw the proposed cover.  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.

The question then is how do we approach writing the storyline in an action scene?  First, set the scene, second, set the characters, third, introduce the characters into the action.  Obviously, if you has characters, you can also use dialog in the scene and then you have a "dialog" scene.  If you have a single character, now you need to be very careful about how you write.  You don't want to tell too much, and I assure you, most authors can't help telling a little. 

Without dialog, you must use tricks to "reveal" without dialog.  You might ask, why reveal at all.  Here is the example, I won't write it out.  I will leave it as an exercise.  Write an intimate scene between two people using dialog only.  If you are any kind of experienced writer, you will find this very easy to do.  You can exclude every piece of description and write a wonderful and sensual intimate scene with only dialog.  For those who don't get intimate, I mean sexual.  You can be incredibly explicit with only conversation.  If you read back in Aksinya, I wrote just such a scene depicting Aksinya's wedding night.  Note, that you can approach this type of scene in more than one way.  You can write with little conversational revelation about the thinking of the characters, and you can write it with extensive conversational revelation of the thinking of the characters.  You can't write such a scene without directly or indirectly revealing the feelings of the characters.

Now, write a similar scene with a single character--no dialog.  First, you can't reveal any thinking without "telling."  Second, you can't reveal any feelings directly.  Third, if you use the trick of soliloquy, you can give us a lot, but you've suddenly turned the scene into a dialog.  Sometimes, the third idea doesn't work very well--sometimes it does.  My point is to show you how action is dependent on description and not "telling," and how dialog opens so much more possibility for the author.  

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 116, more action how to develop Storyline, Entertaining, Rising Action

4 August 2014, Writing Ideas - Vampire Novel, part 116, more action how to develop Storyline, Entertaining, Rising Action

Announcement: I heard from my publisher that my Aegypt novels will continued to be titled Ancient Light and that the next two books will be called Sister of Light  and  Sister of Darkness.  These were the original titles.  They will be released individually and as a 3 in 1 volume.  I saw the proposed cover.  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.

You can do a lot of entertaining with dialog.  With action scenes--maybe.  I'm always surprised at how short action scenes tend to be.  Even with extensive description, the most complicated action seems short.  There is obviously need for action scenes, but I find they are more powerful when dialog can be incorporated in them. 

There are obviously times when single characters take up some action.  When possible, I like to have these off stage.  If the single character reports back on the action they accomplished, there is room for the character to explain what they did and why they did it.  If you show a single character action scene, there is little scope for "showing" and a whole lot (too much) opportunity for telling.  Show and don't tell.  With two characters working together, their conversation can explain to the readers what they are about.  They can evaluate their own success or failure.

If you do write a single character action scene, I recommend you provide preparation for the scene before and a post operation discussion afterwards.  This way, the character can explain their actions and then explain what they accomplished.  The problem with this approach is that the character can't make these comments during the action scene.  In my published novel, The Fox's Honor, I extensively developed the plot to bring another character to help my protagonist in one of the more important adventure scenes.  I had some single character action scenes getting to this one, but I recognized that for the real action, I wanted to include character interaction and dialog.  

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