Development – The Demon in the Picture of the Creative Process

26 May 2012, Development – The Demon in the Picture of the Creative Process

Introduction:  I wrote the novel Aksinya: Enchantment and the Daemon.  This was my 21st novel, and on 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–start with http://ldalford.wordpress.com/2010/12/12/daemon-installment-1-the-incantation/.

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.  At this moment, I’m showing you the creative process I used to put together the novel.

Today’s Blog:   To see the steps in the publication process, go to my writing website http://www.ldalford.com/ and select “production schedule,” you will be sent to http://www.sisteroflight.com/.

The picture that provided the focus for the novel Aksinya is a metaphor for the creative process.  It is also a direct example of how I created the ideas for the novel.  I showed you already the depth of the historical research and information that went into developing this picture.  Remember, once we have the picture (the scene setting) we can release the characters to act in the scene, and this first scene defines the entire novel.

We have built the character Aksinya.  Now, we need to build the demon.  I wanted a real demon.  This required about a week of research.  The demon I centered on was Asmodeus.  Asmodeus was my choice because, first, I wanted part of Aksinya’s problems to be related to sensuality.  Therefore, I chose specifically for her temptation to be luxuria.  This is one of the seven deadly sins that is usually translated as lust in English.  Luxuria is more than a desire for sex or intimate sensuality.  Luxuria includes all the temptations of human sensuality: good food, drink, clothing, possessions, desire, etc.  I chose the demon Asmodeus because in literature, he is the demon of luxiria, and luxuria is Aksinya’s problem.  I also chose Asmodeus for other reasons.

We’ll continue to explore the concept of the demon, Asmodeus, for the novel Aksinya, tomorrow.

I’ll repeat my published novel websites so you can see more examples: http://www.ldalford.com/, and the individual novel websites: http://www.aegyptnovel.com/, http://www.centurionnovel.com/, http://www.thesecondmission.com/, http://www.theendofhonor.com/, http://www.thefoxshonor.com/, and http://www.aseasonofhonor.com/.

Aksinya Cover Proposal

Development – Even More Developing the Picture of the Creative Process

25 May 2012, Development – Even More Developing the Picture of the Creative Process

Introduction:  I wrote the novel Aksinya: Enchantment and the Daemon.  This was my 21st novel, and on 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–start with http://ldalford.wordpress.com/2010/12/12/daemon-installment-1-the-incantation/.

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.  At this moment, I’m showing you the creative process I used to put together the novel.

Today’s Blog:   To see the steps in the publication process, go to my writing website http://www.ldalford.com/ and select “production schedule,” you will be sent to http://www.sisteroflight.com/.

Aksinya, the heroine of my novel, Aksinya, is a troubled person.  We are seeing how I used the creative process to make the initial picture then the initial scene for the novel.  Within that initial picture, we see a demon and now a young woman.  Through her ancestry, she is an aristocrat and indeed a Russian princess.  That last part is not revealed until near the end of the novel.  We also have a basis for her afflictions.  She perceived that she was unloved by her mother, her step father, and to some degree by her brother and sister.  Still, she loved her family enough to call a demon (give up her soul) to protect them.  This in itself is revealing.

I wrote yesterday about her acquisition of sorcery.  We discover in the novel that she was trained by an Orthodox priest and learned Latin and other languages.  She was given a decrepit guest house and there found texts about sorcery.  Sorcery texts, we discover, are written in Latin.  The language of sorcery, we find, is Latin.  Aksinya has learned Latin perfectly.  She studied the books of sorcery and perfected the use of sorcery.  At the dawn of the novel, we discover a person grounded fully in the art of sorcery.  This is also something I wanted to present in a novel.  Too many novels about magic have incompetent sorcerers.  I wrote a novel where the sorceress was entirely competent–perhaps the most capable sorceress of her time.

In addition to the design of the character, I also had to design the means of the magic.  I used classical sources for that part.

We’ll continue to explore the concept of the main character for the novel Aksinya, tomorrow.

I’ll repeat my published novel websites so you can see more examples: http://www.ldalford.com/, and the individual novel websites: http://www.aegyptnovel.com/, http://www.centurionnovel.com/, http://www.thesecondmission.com/, http://www.theendofhonor.com/, http://www.thefoxshonor.com/, and http://www.aseasonofhonor.com/.

Aksinya Cover Proposal

Development – Still More Developing the Picture of the Creative Process

24 May 2012, Development – Still More Developing the Picture of the Creative Process

Introduction:  I wrote the novel Aksinya: Enchantment and the Daemon.  This was my 21st novel, and on 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–start with http://ldalford.wordpress.com/2010/12/12/daemon-installment-1-the-incantation/.

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.  At this moment, I’m showing you the creative process I used to put together the novel.

Today’s Blog:   To see the steps in the publication process, go to my writing website http://www.ldalford.com/ and select “production schedule,” you will be sent to http://www.sisteroflight.com/.

With the history of the woman, Aksinya, the picture is coming into better and better focus.  The next question is what kind of person would be able to call a demon.  The answer is simple, a person who is a sorcerer or necromancer.  This means that Aksinya must be a sorceress.  Her history itself doesn’t lend itself to this, but the beginnings are set in her history.  A person might become a sorcerer if they had time and exposure to sorcery.

Aksinya is a person who grew up alone.  Her mother ignored her.  She had a brother and a sister, the son and daughter of Aksinya’s mother and step father.  We find throughout the novel that Aksinya unsuccessfully sought her mother and step father’s love and attention.  Since they didn’t seem to care, Aksinya had too much time by herself and too much time to study.  She studied originally to gain her mother and step father’s attention.  Her step father gave her an old guest house for her own use (as much to get rid of her).  In the guest house Aksinya found ancient texts about sorcery.  This was the beginnings of her study of sorcery.  The sorcery that eventually led to her being able to call a demon.

We’ll continue to explore the concept of the main character for the novel Aksinya, tomorrow.

I’ll repeat my published novel websites so you can see more examples: http://www.ldalford.com/, and the individual novel websites: http://www.aegyptnovel.com/, http://www.centurionnovel.com/, http://www.thesecondmission.com/, http://www.theendofhonor.com/, http://www.thefoxshonor.com/, and http://www.aseasonofhonor.com/.

Aksinya Cover Proposal

Development – Even More Developing the Picture of the Creative Process

23 May 2012, Development – Even More Developing the Picture of the Creative Process

Introduction:  I wrote the novel Aksinya: Enchantment and the Daemon.  This was my 21st novel, and on 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–start with http://ldalford.wordpress.com/2010/12/12/daemon-installment-1-the-incantation/.

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.  At this moment, I’m showing you the creative process I used to put together the novel.

Today’s Blog:   To see the steps in the publication process, go to my writing website http://www.ldalford.com/ and select “production schedule,” you will be sent to http://www.sisteroflight.com/.

Aksinya, the heroine of my novel, Aksinya, is a troubled person.  She is a sorceress who called a deamon–you can’t get much more troubled than that.  We are seeing how I used the creative process to make the initial picture then the initial scene for the novel.  Within that initial picture, we see a demon and now a young woman.  Through her ancestry, she is an aristocrat and indeed a Russian princess.  That last part is not revealed until near the end of the novel.  We also have a basis for her afflictions.  She perceived that she was unloved by her mother, her step father, and to some degree by her brother and sister.  Still, she loved her family enough to call a demon (give up her soul) to protect them.  That, in itself, is revealing.

I wrote yesterday about her acquisition of sorcery.  We discover in the novel that she was trained by an Orthodox priest and learned Latin and other languages.  She was given a decrepit guest house and there found texts about sorcery.  Sorcery texts, we discover, are written in Latin.  The language of sorcery is Latin.  Aksinya has learned Latin perfectly for the purpose of sorcery.  She studied the books of sorcery and perfected the use of sorcery.  At the dawn of the novel, we discover a person grounded fully in the art of sorcery.  This is also something I wanted to present in a novel.  Too many novels about magic have incompetent sorcerers.  I wrote a novel where the sorceress was entirely competent–perhaps the most capable sorceress of her time.
In addition to the design of the character, I also had to design the means of the magic.  I used classical sources for that part.

We’ll continue to explore the concept of the main character for the novel Aksinya, tomorrow.

I’ll repeat my published novel websites so you can see more examples: http://www.ldalford.com/, and the individual novel websites: http://www.aegyptnovel.com/, http://www.centurionnovel.com/, http://www.thesecondmission.com/, http://www.theendofhonor.com/, http://www.thefoxshonor.com/, and http://www.aseasonofhonor.com/.

Aksinya Cover Proposal

Development – More Developing the Picture of the Creative Process

22 May 2012, Development – More Developing the Picture of the Creative Process

Introduction:  I wrote the novel Aksinya: Enchantment and the Daemon.  This was my 21st novel, and on 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–start with http://ldalford.wordpress.com/2010/12/12/daemon-installment-1-the-incantation/.

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.  At this moment, I’m showing you the creative process I used to put together the novel.

Today’s Blog:   To see the steps in the publication process, go to my writing website http://www.ldalford.com/ and select “production schedule,” you will be sent to http://www.sisteroflight.com/.

The person in the picture with the demon is a young woman.  I almost immediately gave her a name.  More than a week went into the development of her name, but I’ll just give it right to you and explain how it came to be.  The young woman in the picture is Aksinya Andreiovna Golitsyna.  I came by the name very deliberately.  I’ve written before to you that you must name characters.  This is very true of the main characters, but also the secondary and to a degree the tertiary characters.

All my novels are enveloped in history.  They are fitted perfectly in their time and place.  I research the times and the places extensively before and while I write.  The mother of Aksinya Andreiovna Golitsyna was Princess Nina Vladimirovna Golitsyna, nee Bockmann.  She was killed by the Bolsheviks in February 1918.  In my novel, I did take some liberties about her death and placed it in November 1918.  Aksinya’s stepfather was Count Andrei Nikolaevich Golitsyna.  He was also murdered by the Bolsheviks.  Aksinya’s birth father was Grand Duke George Alexandrovich Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov.  This fact isn’t revealed until late in the novel, but I want you to know this for the detail and the color of the picture I am building initially–this picture than defines the first scene.  The Grand Duke died of tuberculosis in 1900.  He was not married and did not leave any children.  In my novel, I gave him and wife and a child.  All the players were real people and all played the parts in real life that I gave them.  I did play with history a little to make Aksinya who she was–I just tied up some loose ends.

This means that Aksinya’s baptismal name was Aksinya Georgovna Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov.  She was one of the many Russian princesses.  Her grandfather was Herzog Vladimir Bockmann, a German Duke.  She was aristocracy from her German and Russian ancestors.  You can see the beginnings of the problem that is Aksinya.  Her mother married a Romanov Prince and had a daughter–Aksinya.  The prince died before the child, Aksinya was born.  Aksinya’s mother married a Russian Count–perhaps the relationship was based on love.  I don’t tell you anything–I just leave tracks.

We’ll continue to explore the concept of the main character for the novel Aksinya, tomorrow.

I’ll repeat my published novel websites so you can see more examples: http://www.ldalford.com/, and the individual novel websites: http://www.aegyptnovel.com/, http://www.centurionnovel.com/, http://www.thesecondmission.com/, http://www.theendofhonor.com/, http://www.thefoxshonor.com/, and http://www.aseasonofhonor.com/.

Aksinya Cover Proposal

Development – Further Developing the Picture of the Creative Process

21 May 2012, Development – Further Developing the Picture of the Creative Process

Introduction:  I wrote the novel Aksinya: Enchantment and the Daemon.  This was my 21st novel, and on 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–start with http://ldalford.wordpress.com/2010/12/12/daemon-installment-1-the-incantation/.

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.  At this moment, I’m showing you the creative process I used to put together the novel.

Today’s Blog:   To see the steps in the publication process, go to my writing website http://www.ldalford.com/ and select “production schedule,” you will be sent to http://www.sisteroflight.com/.

The initial picture for the novel Aksinya is coming into focus.  I am showing how the main character came into being for this novel.  With a demon involved and the concept of calling a demon, I intended the theme of the novel to be about temptation.  Already, we see the main character is an aristocrat, a loner, a person of some skill, obviously one who is fearless (or almost fearless), but who loves her or his family.  Now, I want to settle on the person who will be this main character.

I mentioned before that I sought a pathetic character.  A pathetic character is one who evokes emotion.  A male who is tempted and succumbs to temptation is viewed by most cultures as either weak (for succumbing to temptation) or as over pious (for resisting temptation).  Generally, in terms of temptation, a man will not do.  A boy is similar.  There are pathetic circumstances for young men and boys, but most of them are romantic.  On the other hand, pathos is very easy with a woman and especially a girl or young woman.  A young woman is the character I thought would best represent temptation and most believably fit in the picture I was developing. We’ll continue to explore the concept of the main character for the novel Aksinya, tomorrow.

I’ll repeat my published novel websites so you can see more examples: http://www.ldalford.com/, and the individual novel websites: http://www.aegyptnovel.com/, http://www.centurionnovel.com/, http://www.thesecondmission.com/, http://www.theendofhonor.com/, http://www.thefoxshonor.com/, and http://www.aseasonofhonor.com/.

Aksinya Cover Proposal

Development – Developing the Picture of the Creative Process

20 May 2012, Development – Developing the Picture of the Creative Process

Introduction:  I wrote the novel Aksinya: Enchantment and the Daemon.  This was my 21st novel, and on 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–start with http://ldalford.wordpress.com/2010/12/12/daemon-installment-1-the-incantation/.

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.  At this moment, I’m showing you the creative process I used to put together the novel.

Today’s Blog:   To see the steps in the publication process, go to my writing website http://www.ldalford.com/ and select “production schedule,” you will be sent to http://www.sisteroflight.com/.

For the book Aksinya, the picture for the first scene is developing.  Remember, there is no title yet.  I set it long after the novel was written.  I mentioned that I wanted to develop a character who evoked emotion.  That character is becoming clearer and clearer in the initial picture.  The sex of that character has not been determined yet, but we have a member of the Russian aristocracy who called a demon to protect their family from the Bolsheviks.
I asked the question before.  Here it is again: what kind of person could call a demon?  A member of the aristocracy would potentially have the opportunity for a fantastic education.  They would have the time to study an esoteric subject like sorcery.  A person who studies sorcery, especially at a young age, would have to be somewhat isolated and alone.  They would be very intelligent but not necessarily used to interacting with people.

We’ll continue to explore the concept of the main character for the novel Aksinya, tomorrow.

I’ll repeat my published novel websites so you can see more examples: http://www.ldalford.com/, and the individual novel websites: http://www.aegyptnovel.com/, http://www.centurionnovel.com/, http://www.thesecondmission.com/, http://www.theendofhonor.com/, http://www.thefoxshonor.com/, and http://www.aseasonofhonor.com/.

Aksinya Cover Proposal