26 February 2017, this blog is about writing in scenes. I’m focusing on the tools to build scenes. I’ll leave up the parts of a novel because I think this is an important picture for any novelist. I’m writing about how to begin and write a novel.
- The initial scene
- The rising action
- The Climax
- The falling action
- The dénouement
Announcement: Ancient Light has been delayed due to the economy. Ancient Light includes Aegypt, Sister of Light and Sister of Darkness. If you are interested in historical/suspense literature, please give my novels a try. You can read about them at http://www.ancientlight.com. I’ll keep you updated.
Today’s Blog: The skill of using language comes from the ability to put together figures of speech that act as symbols in writing.
Short digression: back on the tarmac in Wichita.
Here are my rules of writing:
- Entertain your readers.
- Don’t confuse your readers.
- Ground your readers in the writing.
- Don’t show (or tell) everything.
4a. Show what can be seen, heard, felt, smelled, and tasted on the stage of the novel.
- Immerse yourself in the world of your writing.
Creativity is the extrapolation of older ideas to form new ones or to present old ideas in a new form. It is a reflection of something new created with ties to the history, science, and logic (the intellect). Creativity requires consuming, thinking, and producing.
Scene development:
- Scene input (easy)
- Scene output (a little harder)
- Scene setting (basic stuff)
- Creativity (creative elements of the scene: transition from input to output focused on the telic flaw resolution)
- Tension (development of creative elements to build excitement)
- Release (climax of creative elements)
First step of writing—enjoy writing. Writing is a chore—especially if you don’t know what you are doing, and you don’t know where you are going. Let me help you with that.
Suspension of reality requires the following:
- Strong initial paragraphs
- Strong initial scene
- Well-developed characters
- Action
- Conversation
- Well written
- Appropriately written
- No distractors
- Language power
- Well-developed theme
The first step in suspension of reality is the scene setting. Scene setting is the where, when, who, which, up to the what. The what is the action and conversation. Start with where, when, who, which. Bring them into focus with see, hear, feel, touch, taste, and smell.
A distractor is anything that can potentially throw the reader out of the suspension of reality. In any case, distractors are the opposite of appropriately written. They can also be the opposite of well written. We’ll look at all of these. Here is a list of potentials.
- Spelling errors
- Grammar errors
- Punctuation errors
- Style errors
- Knockouts
- Bad words
- Cultural issues
- Historical issues
- Science issues
- Bathos
- Logical issues
- Time issues
You will never win on style. Remember I wrote about style guides. There are two major American English style guides and numerous others. There is one major British style guide and numerous others. Match that with what people thought they learned in school. For example, the famous myth, never end a sentence (actually a phrase) with a preposition. This is an absolute myth that came directly out of poor English teaching. English is based in Anglo-Saxon and French. The Anglo-Saxons (and Germans) end every complex sentence with a preposition. The French do not. The reason the ending preposition sounds more correct in English is because it is correct in English. Not ending with a preposition comes from Latin and French. This myth has more to do with the subjugation of the Anglo-Saxons than with the English language. Another myth is beginning a sentence with a conjunction. This is also a so called no-no. How about the use of adverbs. Adverbs are a wonderful part of speech and just because of one satiric essay by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) the English writers in the world have declared war on adverbs. How about the war on stand up, sit down. The sage advice goes up in stand and down in sit are redundant, yet you find this used over and over in normal speaking and in professional writing. If it was so bad, why would Dickens, Clemens, or the Bronte sisters use it? Now, every time I read stand up and sit down I want to make corrections—it knocks me out of the suspension of reality, and it really shouldn’t. My pet peave is the word said. Said doesn’t knock me out of the suspension of reality, but I do everything I can to not write said. When I need it I will use it. I have my own list of words I like to minimize. I’ve given them before. Perhaps I should give them again. These words usually will not push the reader out of the suspension of reality, but they will add it holding the reader there.
About style—you can’t please everyone. I have had complaints about my writing because it didn’t follow one style guide or the other. Like I wrote, you will never win about style. If you spell out every number, the Chicago, NY, and every other modern style adherent will complain. On the other hand, if you write the numerals (as all modern style guides declare for numbers greater than ten), classic style devotees will complain. I’ve actually gone to writing out all numbers because there are fewer modern style devotees and more classic style experts. I’d rather hold the classic style devotees than the modern (most without a clue) any day. In other words, you will likely get less complaints if you follow classic style rather than modern style—how’s that for ironic.
I’ll write more tomorrow.
For more information, you can visit my author site www.ldalford.com/, and my individual novel websites:
http://www.sisterofdarkness.com
fiction, theme, plot, story, storyline, character development, scene, setting, conversation, novel, book, writing, information, study, marketing, tension, release, creative, idea, logic
Zen of Scenes 