Novel Development: The Mountain
My Collected Notes on the Mountain:
The story of why we’re afraid of snakes, wolves, how scary it is to be ostracized by our community.
Functionally this means a kind of older writing style. Perhaps even a translation into an “dead” language and back to English. The purpose being to strip the colloquial and the contextual from the novel to only speak declaratively in terms that characters of that time would understand (with the requisite suspension of disbelief).
Transcendence and the interaction of homo sapiens transcended time. I think the way to accomplish this in the novel is to use the present tense. Until we come across the sage in the mountains, because it has to be an early story and therefore an archetypal story. Even though these are hunting gathers, who have no time, where the present is assertive, transcending would be to reach a state of recognizing past and future. There is surviving and there is fear and then we transcend. Through visiting the old man on the mountain. Maybe it is useful here to have the old man be part myth and fully human. Someone’s father, put up the mountain to perish. But he survives, many moons, several winters. The myth is that he no longer needs sustenance. That he speaks of memories and dreams. But the reality is that his collective family members bring him food occassionally. Goodness is mythical. And someone brought him mushrooms. A younger person, not wise yet to them, brings him aminita masceria. And he takes it expecting to die. People expect to die. The transcendent moment passes from present tense to past and future tense. It’s the beginning of cause and effect, the beginning of consciousness, the beginning of everything. The second brush is him becoming the old man. And we will see his conquest was unjust. He did it through violence. And the solution was goodness. It is the first moment of awareness, past and future, “did I live a good life?”,. “will I be rewarded for this life?”
Novel Development: Concept
Write Down the Initial Idea as a Concept
Start by developing a concept for your novel. This concept should be framed as a "What if?" question, which introduces the main situation or idea around which your story will revolve.
"What if?": This question allows you to distill the essence of your story. The question should introduce a scenario that provokes curiosity and demands exploration.
What if we knew how consciousness emerged in Homo Sapiens and what that power meant to early man?
Apply Momentum to Your Concept
Once the "What if?" question is identified, it must drive the narrative forward by creating momentum in three key ways:
Up to a Higher Conceptual Ground: Elevate the concept to explore broader themes or universal ideas.
Example: If your story is about a character discovering a hidden world, the higher ground might explore themes of identity, belonging, or power.
Forward into Story Details: The concept should naturally push the story into specifics. As the broader concept unfolds, it should provide direction for the plot and lead to crucial narrative events.
Example: The discovery of the hidden world could lead to political conflicts, moral dilemmas, or personal transformations.
Deeper into Character Nuance: The concept should also drive the development of your characters. The story's initial idea should push the characters into deeper emotional and psychological exploration.
Example: The hidden world forces the protagonist to confront their deepest fears or desires, shaping their personal arc.
Initial Concept:
"What if a man discovers a hidden world under the sea?"
Momentum Applied:
Higher conceptual ground: "What if this hidden world is a reflection of the struggles and dangers of humanity’s own society?"
Forward into details: The protagonist discovers that the inhabitants of the hidden world are preparing to invade the surface.
Deeper into character: The protagonist’s discovery forces him to confront his own deep-seated fears and failures, which mirror the conflicts in the hidden world.
Higher Conceptual Ground: What if transcendence is about splitting time from present into past and future?
Forward into details: The protagonist discovers the old man of the mountain and is given the power to rule over his fellow man.
Deeper into character: The protagonist’s discovery forces him deeper into isolation and the power and prosperity grow corruption his followers.
Premise: Bringing Character into the Concept
Once you have the concept, it's time to turn it into a premise by bringing characters into the equation:
Concept with Characters: The concept now shifts to a premise when you begin to incorporate characters into the scenario. It's not just a "what if?" situation anymore; it’s about how this situation affects your characters, driving the action forward.
For example: “What if a man discovers a hidden underwater world, but this world has ties to his forgotten past and dark secrets that threaten his life?
What if we knew how the very first human transcended time, but the power he discovers unleashes something far darker into his world?
Evaluate the Originality of Your Concept
Test for Originality: Consider whether your concept is original or brings something new to the literary landscape. However, originality doesn't always mean a completely novel idea. If it’s a familiar storyline, think about how you can give it a fresh twist:
New Perspective: Does your concept offer a new take on a well-known idea? Can it add depth or a fresh lens to a common narrative?
The dialogue is only internal, being that homo sapiens were prelanguage. That’s fairly novel as a form. I don’t know of many people writing fiction about the emergence of time in the human consciousness. But it also sounds like a pretentious Ice Age, so that’s humbling.
Ensure Dramatic Potential
Your concept should set the stage for a dramatic and engaging story to unfold:
Dramatic Unfolding: Does the concept naturally create drama and tension? The idea should be compelling enough to build conflict, suspense, and emotional stakes.
Test: Does your concept set up a dramatic story, or does it simply pose an interesting question without narrative drive?
Compelling an Answer: Your concept should pose a question that demands an answer, keeping readers engaged until the resolution. The more pressing and provocative the question, the more tension and intrigue it will create throughout the story.
The “What if?” therefore should be intriguing and compel and answer. I find the concept intriguing, it is an interesting idea (to me as a writer and someone who would read this novel) and compels an answer. The answer being that the power would corrupt and the main character’s absolute power would corrupt absolutely.
Premise:
What if the first hunter gather to transcend releases a violence and a corruption into his world that he cannot control?