Run awaaaaaaayyyyyy....
I noticed something about myself last week. I was singing along to my favorite playlist on a long drive, and with all my favorite songs bumped together, a pattern became glaringly obvious. Almost every song had the phrase “run away” or “save me” somewhere in the lyrics.
In fact, two of them actually had those phrases as the title.
I’m sure this says something less-than-flattering about my personal life, but lucky for all of us, analyzing my personal brand of crazy isn’t on the agenda for today *g*.
But I started thinking about how I write too. And I realized the same themes can be found in what I write. My first novel – the heroine ran away every time things got hard, and the hero needing saving from himself. The current book? They both need saving. Desperately.
This seems to be a common theme with me all the way around.
Last week, we were thinking about one-line mottos for our characters to really parse it down to something we could pull through the whole novel.
So what about the novel itself? The whole thing has a theme too, something to tie the plot to the relationship and the characters. Apparently, salvation is my go-to theme. Other common ones that we see a lot are learning to forgive, being redeemed, learning to love.
My themes always end up being questions. Righ now, it sees to be "What if no one is who you think they are?" The characters have to figure out who everyone else really is -- who's the bad guy and who's the good guy -- but more importantly, who they themselves are and how to trust each other.
So what’s yours? What is your book or current project about. What theme ties together your character arcs with your plot? Usually this is a few words or a sentence, or even a question. Do you have certain themes you keep coming back to, or themes that show up in your music or reading choices? What themes jump out to you as a reader?
Books by the Crew
87 comments:
I like the "grow a backbone" themes that crop up in wallflower books. Where the heroine is not a daring bit of muslin, but by the end of the book, she's the most daring of all. (Jude Deveraux does this one really good in The Awakening. The heroine is definitely the girl in the ivory tower, but at the end of the book, she's driving fast cars and rescuing the hero. Awesome.)
Huh. I was going to say that none of my books share a theme...but I think I might have found one.
THEME: Everyone deserves a second chance.
GOGU: Ben is the guy that no one trusts, but Livie is the only one who has ever given him the benefit of the doubt. (Of course, then he gets shot and she wonders if she should have.)
ITBA: Adam and Eve are working on finding their soulmates and will find they had them all along--in a sense they're giving each other a second chance. Though very, very reluctantly.
Lucy's story: What can I say? It's Lucifer. Doesn't he deserve a second chance? The rest of us got one.
By the way, is anyone else hearing Denis Leary with the "Run Awayyyyy" bit? "Run awayyyyy!" "Where?" "Europe, Spain, it doesn't matter. Run awayyyyyyy."
Just me?
Figures.
Who be this 'yo' person and why do it matter what 'yo' thinks? ;)
Hmmmm, me theme... Absolutely every-fricking-thing in the universe that you, ya, (or yo) can think a', is possible. Includin' love (and sex) as magical, aliens in need of a librarian, and life after the end a' the world.
Hel - I hear Monty Python's bit on the "Run Away!" instead of retreat...love those guys!
Recurring themes would worry me. It would imply predictability which has no place in the modern Quantum world. If I noticed this weed in my writing I would try hard to root it out. A couple of times is forgivable Hal, but I would keep an eye on it!
Like Chance, the Cosmos would form the backdrop to my novels and no single theme would dominate more than one book.
Helli, I believe that fish were the first to develop backbone which allowed creatures to evolve onto the land and ultimately evolve to humans. "Grow a backbone" has wider implications for me and makes me smile as I start to hum the ditty:
Helli, Helli, Give her some Welly
I also like that theme!
I've got Bon Jovi in my head...:)
I love a theme of second chances Hellie. And I love the wallflower stories too. Maybe it's just because I can relate and have very little backbone myself *g*
You crack me up, Q :)
Thanks for catching that Chance *g*
Now that's a wide them! And it instantly sets my imagination off cause if *anything* can happen....yeah, definitely very cool.
Hal - great blog!
Theme huh? I think mine is a variation of the "forgive yourself" theme. It's kind of "we only can control ourselves." Both my h/h have issues with taking on the rest of the world's (literally sometimes) problems.
They both have to figure out that everyone's got their free will. And that they need to stop thinking that everything that goes wrong is their fault.
Great exercise Hal!
How'd your writing go this weekend?
Nice Marn. Forgiveness is always one of those hard lessons to learn. And they both take on way more blame than is actually theirs *g*
This weekend was awesome - I wrote almost 4k yesterday. It may be too dark, we may have to tone it back down, but at least I'm actually writing again. God it feels good! It's been months since I've been able to just get in the groove and write.
How was your weekend?
I was thinking over the weekend about doing a blog on themes, but you beat me to it. LOL! Great job.
My theme seems to be about trust and overcoming fears. My characters, like most, have all been hurt or let down by someone. They are convinced that not depending on others means no one can let you down. I'm guessing this might stem from personal experience. *whistles*
Q - You can write 20 different stories and it's likely some variation of the same theme will run throughout. It's a subconscious thing - surely something you understand. :)
LOL- Hal, a lot of the songs I listen to in my playlist have about the same theme. "One last time" is more of a theme to the music in my playlist. Or "distrust".
Hellie, I've always loved your theme. Everyone does deserve a second chance. If you don't kill them first. *g*
I think the theme that ties my character arcs together with the plot is "never back down". At least I hope. LOL
Great blog Hal!
Terri said: Q - You can write 20 different stories and it’s likely some variation of the same theme will run throughout. It’s a subconscious thing - surely something you understand
Funny you should mention subconscious Terri. I have been trying out some new ideas involving hybridising (mixing) the mind with the surrounding zero-point vacuum fluctuations. Its all getting pretty hairy and I certainly can't claim to understand it all yet!
See, mentioning that topic sets me off. I'd better stop before I fill the blog with Feynman diagrams (cave man pictures!)
Recurring themes will 'type cast' you as a writer, and are best avoided, rather as actors other than Shaun Connery (why did you miss him out in the Sun blog!) avoid doing too many Bond films.
You only have to worry about it after the n'th published novel though. *grin*
Recurring themes will ‘type cast’ you as a writer
It would take a lot of books though. I can name an author where her recurring theme of "forgiveness & redemption" gets a little old.
At the same time, I don't think people can avoid themes, because as Terri & Hal say, it's an unconscious thing. It's just a part of you, like your soul. I think where authors run in danger is in telling the same theme the same exact way every time. (That's what it feels like with this other author...)
For instance your theme would be "Life is unpredictable" and your stories would all be unpredictable. However, in making all your stories unpredictable, you yourself make yourself predictable as a writer who always writes about the same theme. Smoke that.
Smoke that. LAMO!
Ter - I love that theme. I think anything with trust and learning to depend on someone else is so universal that everyone can relate. I think those are the most powerful themes - the ones that all readers can identify with, even if they've never been in the exact set of circumstances the characters have been in.
Nice shot, Hellie. And said much better than I could. (But I would like to say we aren't so stupid we couldn't figure out what "hybridising" means. *huff*)
:)
Having the same theme doesn't mean you're always writing the same story. In my current WIP, Celi has to TRUST that not all men leave and that sometimes it's worth letting go of the fear to find your HEA.
In my next one, the hero has to TRUST that he and his small town life is enough for the woman he loves. He has to let go of the fear she'll get tired of it and him and leave, just like the last one did.
This is an issue most people face. Once someone has done you wrong, you see everyone as that person. It takes a lot to trust that not everyone will let you down. Don't even get me started on the internal issues of self-worth and defects.
Sin - oh good, it's not just me who has the same thing pop up in music *g*. The "one last time" songs always get me too. I just love angst.
I gotta side with Ter and Hellie here. Using the same theme, told in the same way, of course will typecast an author. But a theme like "salvation" is so wide open that I could tell it 20 different ways. Of course, if I start beating readers over the head with the phrase "save me" over and over, then there might be problems....lol.
I think it's a subconscious thing too. It's just how your characters come to you. Everybody needs saving at some point in their life.
And at some point, everyone is going to need to forgive someone else and be forgiven by someone in turn. Unless you're perfect. LOL!
My guess is that readers don't even recognize these themes. I've read all of Eloisa's (what 17?) books and can't tell you the theme that runs through all of them. But I bet it's there.
I think you're definitely right Ter, that themes are more for us to think about, for us to use to tie everything together, rather than something readers are going to notice or pick up on.
Even thinking about books I like and have read carefully I'm struggling to pick out the theme. SEP's Natural Born Charmer definitely had the theme of learning to stay put instead of running away, but was one of those obvious ones, as the heroine kept literally getting in her car and driving away *g*
Eloisa seems to have a theme with "working it out", "marriage is hard but worth it", and "marriage isn't always romantic"--a LOT of her characters are people who are already married, et al.
That's true about Eloisa. I can think of at least 10 books of hers that have already married couples. So working it out sounds right. Though pretty much all romances involve working out something or other. LOL!
Yeah, but I think Eloisa is somewhat unique in making it work out in a married couple. And she does it often. So many romances have a couple meet and fall in love in a two week to two month period, then living "happily ever after"--as if no other great problems came their way after the killer was caught. Eloisa has MARRIED PEOPLE problems. Not having enough sex, not hanging around the house and paying attention to me, having sex with the secretary--she has MARRIED PEOPLE problems.
Good. :) I wrote about 3000 this weekend. I think it's not as concise or as fresh as it could be, but I'm getting the plot out. I topped 73K! I hope I can get the rest of it out in the next couple weeks. Then I can just smooth out the end 20K after the fact.
The vomit method to the rescue!
I think that romanticizing married people problems takes some serious talent. It takes some skill to make some of that stuff into a HEA. LOL!
Sex with the secretary? Yikes! That maybe a married person problem EJ can't even solve!
I do love stories that start with married couples though. It seems so much more realistic than the fall-in-love in a week and live happily ever after stories.
Of course, finding a way to build in more time for feelings to really grow is a whole new set of issues. How much time passes in the novels you like best?
73K? Nice! You may hit your deadline yet!
I hit 62k, so I'm not too far behind where I should be. Still hoping to be done by late October, which means I really need to get this first draft cranked out in the next month. I'm gearing up for the end, though, and I usually speed up towards the end.
Well, Villiers wasn't married, but he had a passel of kids so that's sort of a married people problem. LOL!
You two excitedly report your word counts and then include some kind of "It's not that good/it needs work" disclaimer. Why can't you just leave the negative stuff out?! LOL! Really, we are such a self-deprecating lot.
Hal - She solves that one, but it's like 8 or 9 years AFTER the incident. :)
I'm running into this problem in my WIP. How long is long enough to believe they fell in love and know they want to marry? But when I read, I don't always think about it. I know I'm reading a romance and that it's usually going to happen pretty quick. I'm either gullible or well-trained.
Is it the pirates in us that are self-deprecating, or the writers? It must be the writer.
I had one of those moments this morning where I read over what I wrote yesterday and thought, "Oh crap, that's not nearly as good as I thought it was when I went to bed."
But you're right. It's on paper, and who cares about anything else?
LOL Ter! I give the disclaimer because it isn't that good.
Yet.
It'll be better once it's all out and revised a couple times. :)
See, but we all know the first draft isn't that great. That's why it's called the piece of shit draft. Saying "it's not as good as I'd like" is like the "you understood" thing. LOL!
I'd say well-trained. *LOL*
And yes, she solves the problem, Hal.
And solving the problem of all those "natural" children in an era you didn't acknowledge them--that was a hurdle for everyone to embrace. *LOL*
a passage of time before solving sex-with-the-secretary makes sense. I have to admit I'm impressed. And all those children - that would be a mess in a historical!
I don't really think about the passage of time while I'm reading either, but I always wonder about it later, if it was realistic. Maybe it just comes down to characterization and if we really believe they're in love. If they are, we don't really care how long it took, you know?
Hal, it does help that she think he's going to DIE for most of the books they're featured in. I think when someone you love is about to croak, you tend to cut away to what is important and re-evaluate what really matters.
Plus there was that whole "she had an affair too" eventually, so "they were equals"--and now it was like, "Well, we have a crap history, but we've learned some lessons, what do you think?"
I think the theme of my current WIP is something along the lines of "You DO deserve happiness"
For reading, I'm a big fan of the second chance at love theme - where the h/h were together once, then they part and are thrown back together 10+ years later. Those past history stories really pull me in.
wow, now that's a history. And kind of sad if he's dying. But I can see them being able to put the crap behind them when it matters. Like when one is about to croak *g*
Sabrina - that's another great, universal theme. As only those of us who are truly well-adjusted don't struggle with the issue of deserving love *g*
And I'm a huge fan of reunion novels too. There's just so much great opportunity for angst!
Great blog, Hal!
I think my theme would be finding that certain someone who accepts you as you are. I love a story that shows the absolute love and devotion between two people when their last relationship or experience was anything but.
I think that is why I love series that show different personality types all finding their HEA so much. It squashes the myth that you have to be blonde, or built, or rich, or meek or whatever to get a guy/gal. It's an equal opportunity HEA formula. It's the old different strokes for different folks thing.
I think a bit of that is why I like reunion or redemption stories, of which Eloisa does a fabulous job, also. It's nice to know that being an a$$ when you're young and foolish isn't going to preclude you from finding your own HEA.
I think we found Irish's theme: "Different strokes for different folks." You could even easily turn that into an erotica theme if you put your mind to it. *LOL*
Helli said: Recurring themes will ‘type cast’ you as a writer
It would take a lot of books though. I can name an author where her recurring theme of “forgiveness & redemption” gets a little old.
At the same time, I don’t think people can avoid themes, because as Terri & Hal say, it’s an unconscious thing. It’s just a part of you, like your soul. I think where authors run in danger is in telling the same theme the same exact way every time. (That’s what it feels like with this other author…)
For instance your theme would be “Life is unpredictable” and your stories would all be unpredictable. However, in making all your stories unpredictable, you yourself make yourself predictable as a writer who always writes about the same theme. Smoke that.
I agree that a theme CAN be a subconscious thing but I don't think it has to be. I rather suspect that the feminine literary mind may be strong on intuition and perhaps weaker on analysis and logic.
The ideas that bubble up from the subconscious are related to the way that your conscious mind perceives situations so that if you are strong on plotting the intuitive side needn't dominate. I think that I would design my plots rather like designing a computer code and explicitly avoid theme repetition. Intuition and imagination then fills in the details.
So I'm predictable in my unpredictability!
I have no answer to that! :lol:
Terri said: But I would like to say we aren’t so stupid we couldn’t figure out what “hybridising” means. *huff*
I will never underestimate a woman's intuitive understanding ever again! :)
I agree that many different stories can be written around the same theme. But are you sure that the stories are not topologically equivalent in the mathematical sense that one could be deformed continuously into the other by changing details, especially when you say it is all coming from the subconscious. Won't a discerning reader notice the similarity and start to become bored after about three stories?
ROTFLMAO!
Yeah, cause as you know erotica is right up my alley. I'll get right on that as soon as I put the finishing touches on that HipHop dance routine I'm working on and finish up the lyrics on the new Rap song running through my head! :)
Go, Irish! Go, Irish! Go, Irish!
Your rap name could be Green-T.
Q said:
I rather suspect that the feminine literary mind may be strong on intuition and perhaps weaker on analysis and logic.
Are you trying to get yourself thrown overboard? I'm tempted to wonder if someone else isn't commenting under Q's identity. I can't believe the real Q would make such a statement.
So I’m predictable in my unpredictability!
I have no answer to that!
Of course you don't. I'm right. And your sad attempts to prove women are illogical is just a sad, sad cover of the fact you were wrong. Life has patterns. They're there. Scientists look for them all the time. Historians look for them. Psychologists look for them. We may be unpredictable, but we still look for patterns. We find comfort in finding patterns. We write our literature around patterns. Every epic journey tale is based on the pattern of the Hero's Journey--but I guess because a man thought that up, it's not repetitious. Right? It's just logical.
Great comments. I don't know what my theme is, but I guess I like to think that if I give my heroine a backbone, then I will find one too. lol
I do see a common thread that I want a past history between my hero and heroine. I don't know if it's a conscience method to make their love believable or just my tendancy to write backstory and not picking the right beginning, but I have yet to start with the very first meeting. Huh. Yet another habit to break, but not today. :)
Irish, your husband will be THRILLED. I mean, first you're trying out people (women, clearly) for that polyamourous routine...and now an erotica brand! Go, Green-T!
Q is really a 14 year old nerd in the basement of his Mum's house.
And the pirate in ya always KNOWS everthin' ya write is BRILLIANT! BRILLIANT! It's the writer that gets picky.
Predictability...aren't there only so many plots? If we can get away with muckin' about with the geranimals of plots, we can do the same with themes.
I still say it's all possible.
I will also stick with the comfort that it takes "at least nine books" to become typecast. I can live with that. lol
When I think about it though, I do tend to go with a theme of sorts of "lost control." One or the other of my hero or heroine needs to be be the one dealing with something outside of their control, a big change. If I don't have that central conflict or theme, my story ideas just die an unnatural death.
Melissa - My fellow control freak. Come join me on the "I have it under control!" couch. :)
Nine books to be typecast? I can live with that too. I doubt I get past half a dozen. LOL! (I know, Chance, everything is possible!)
And you're right about everyone is basically writing using the same rehashed plots so why not the same rehashed themes? It's like trying to write a song. There are only so many chords, people. It's what you do with them that make the song unique.
I think "lost control" is a plotting commonality--and not necessarily a theme. You wouldn't have a story if the status quo was still good. Conflict comes from the hero/heroine dealing with crap they haven't had to bother with before--or thought they wouldn't have to again--and actually growing from the experience.
I think all stories have a universal "loss of control" aspect to them.
Yep, Hellie, you're right, "lost control" isn't necessarily a theme, more the conflict needed in any book. So I guess I don't have a running theme, but a running conflict. lol
Melissa - I'm thinking you likely have a theme closer to Chance's. You have time traveling and a main character who is a ghost. I'd say that qualifies as "Anything's possible". LOL!
Thanks, Terri. I AM sitting here racking my brain trying to identify my theme. I'll go with that one. I think it will work for nine books or so. lol
wow, the comments exploded! I'm still in class, so I'll be back later to join the fun. 33 freshman now dully terrified, 32 more to go (evil laugh here...)
I think most writers do have an underlying theme or "core story."
Word Wenches recently reposted an older blog in which Jo Beverley considered her core story. She had this to say: "I decided my core story is probably a combination of rescue and protection. One of my characters is usually driven to rescue themselves or one they care about. Sometimes that is also protection. Or sometimes the other character moves in to protect/support the rescuer." Q, Jo Bev has been writing for more than twenty years. She's one of the most celebrated writers in the genre. I don't think readers have become bored with her work. She's proof that skilled writers repeat themes without merely rewriting the same story.
I know that redemption and reunion are my core story. That theme lies at the heart of my trilogy and all the story nuggests in my notebook. I'm not sure I could write anythin else.
Julie Rowe, who wrote the RWA Report article Jo Beverley spins off of in her post, has an exercise (#8) on her web site that is supposed to help you discover your core story, which she sees as connected to voice.
http://www.julieroweauthor.com/Voice.html
Is amnesia a theme or a plot device? I read two books this weekend, one a western romance where the hero returns home from war without his memory, and 2nd, a contemporary intrique where the heroine was a private investigator assigned to find the hero, a missing special agent. And my first book had an amnesiac herone!
Obviously, I'm drawn to this plot, but what is the theme? The common thread seems to be hiding from who they are. Maybe I'm drawn to Hal's theme of running away when things get hard. If that's it, I don't think it's the theme that gets old, but I guess I could see it wouldn't be a good idea of always writing an amnesiac. lol
My guess is the amnesiac thing is a plot device. But, if you're theme is "getting to know ourselves" then that would be one story that could come out of that theme.
Janga - So well put. No one would say Jo is writing the same story over and over. I need to go check out that Julie Rowe thing. Thanks for the link.
Question - Which is it in your new WIP? I'm guessing redemption or did the H/H know each other before and it's another reunion story?
Oops, forgot to mention that in the second book, the heroine is the one with amnesia. And something she forgot, other than her assignment, was a heart condition.
Janga, thanks for tying in theme to being the "core story" and tied to voice. That's very helpful. :)
Terri, my thinking is that it's the underlying theme "getting to know yourself" or "hiding from yourself" that I'm drawn to and I can identify from this plot device that I'll probably find it in this kind of story.
Amnesia: plot device.
I was thinking what Terri was thinking--but also "Acceptance of who we are." A lot of the amnesia people find out things about themselves they don't like. So there is "identifying who you are and how you got there" and then "coming to terms and accepting who you are without judgment" (ha! without judgment! what a joke!)--after all, it's only when you accept yourself that others can accept you too and you can fall in love without carrying on major baggage... *LOL*
At the risk of walking the plank let me try to clarify!
Terri, powerful intuition is one of the most admired attributes of a scientist or mathematician. One can get to the answers quickly without all the heavy mathematical analysis and it guides the models and approximations that are developed. Intuition can also warn of problems when analysis is impossible and also signals when things are right. I think that to describe thinking as more intuitive than analytical can be one of the highest complements!
Helli, Have I ever said that life does not have patterns? Group theory is designed specifically to analyse them in science and of course they are everywhere, providing structure and stability to life.
Patterns can be understood intuitively as well as through analysis.
Have I ever tried to prove that women are illogical? I do think that artists in general (male and female!) tend to work more intuitively, which as I tried to clarify, is considered a very positive attribute.
I believe I may once have jokingly claimed to find discrepancy in your logic but we can all make the occasional slip and I didn't mean it to be taken as serious criticism.
Surely intuition and logic are equally admirable attributes and are not necessarily distributed evenly over populations or between sexes.!
OK I can see Terri looking at the plank.
Just let me put on my nose clip first!
Janga, I have read two of Jo Beverley's historicals and was most impressed.I find that having read a couple of novels by a particular author, I have the urge to try someone else. Its probably just me. I don't know whether she repeats themes extensively within the genre and would have to read much more to comment with any authority. But if she has and you say that readers have not become bored, then I willingly concede the argument to you!
Great blog post, Hal. My heroines tend to be unwanted cast offs. Of course my heroes are the tormented sort that come to realize their demons are nothing compared to their heroine's.
So a theme, in my first manuscript my heroine is always trying to run away, each time for a different reason. My hero is forever chasing her down to save her from herself. He has to learn to trust his heart.
My second manuscript is about a woman tossed aside by her parents when she was a child to a man who tried to sell her to a saloon. Obviously trust is a big issue. Accepting affection is another. She never really runs away, although it seems like she does at times, she rushes head long into trouble without thinking and most of the time on her own since she's only been able to truly count on herself. And my hero finds through her that he can forgive himself for all his supposed sins.
Thank you for making me think today, Hal.
Q - Alright, if the intuitive bit was meant as a positive, I'll leave the plank alone for now. And it is interesting that once you've read one or two by the same author, you're more apt to go to someone different. I think with the majority of romance readers, the opposite is true. When we find an author we like, we tend to want to read everything she ever wrote.
I'm sure there are other readers like you, however. But possibly in the minority.
If we do need to approach the plank again, I'll be sure to hand you some water wings as well. :)
I have read authors where I've enjoyed a book, and then read another of theirs and felt like the only thing changed is the character's name. So in those cases, I'm with Q, that it gets boring fast.
But mostly when I find a new author I love, I look up their backlist and devour it *g*
Phew! Thanks Terri.
I can swim, but hate diving where the water can shoot up the nose.
I'm gonna have a huge scotch with minimal ice to sooth me after that bashing! :wink:
Irish - equal opportunity HEA formula. I love that! I think that's why I adore romance novels so much. You're right - no matter who you are or what you've done, there's going to be a hero/heroine who loves you unconditionally, for exactly who you are.
Now, learning to trust that person when we find them.....well that's a whole theme in itself :)
Melissa - your theme might be characters finding their place in this world. Arianna and Ben both have to figure out which world they belong in and how to get there.
Janga - awesome link. Thanks! Core story is a much better way to phrase it than theme, and I absolutely agree that we each have one -- that core belief about love and romance that defines our stories.
I love redemption stories. Even though I kept saying salvation, redemption is probably closer to accurate for me too.
Renee - I adore tormented heroes :)
Glad I made you think. And for someone who's been cast off or left behind before, trust is hard to learn again. Learning to accept help and affection and forgiving the past is a great theme.
Hal is back. Are you done torturing and molding young minds?
lol! For today, at least. They seemed suitably freaked out by the syllabus. a few will probably drop before Wednesday :)
I always loved that in college! I took history class with a professor who would do that the first day and invariably about 5 would drop out of intimidation. And then he'd be so disappointed that the number of droppees was so few. "I tried to get them to quit!"
But then he'd realize the rest of us were people who'd taken his class before and knew he was full of crap--and we were in for a great semester.
LOL! That's hilarious. My class isn't hard, but it's a 4 credit class, so there's a lot of projects. And I'll get kids who just think it's too much work.
My fav professor in college was the one everyone hated...I loved how challenging he was and that if you got anything above a C you worked your ass off for it. I chose to take him for 3-4 history classes...people thought I was insane!
I have a feeling if you told the kids they had to show up to all the classes they'd say, "That's too much work."
Dr. Batterson (another history professor) was HARD. But my preferred history professor, it didn't feel like work like the other classes did. Probably because he was so interesting. And I'd end up working my butt off for the BIG PAPER and he'd say goober crap like, "Almost as good as something I would have written." Don't knock yourself out patting yourself on the back, big guy. Geez.
I'm the same way - I always loved the most challenging professors best. I didn't mind working my ass off if I was learning something.
I had a Speech professor who flat out said the first day that only one student would receive an A. A few would get B's and the rest were stuck with C's. I always managed to wiggle an A out of him, but you couldn't bullshit your way through that class. You had to actually do the work *g*
I was a terrible student, I rarely ever really read the synopsis. I'd glance over it, but then dropping a class was not an option for me.
And I bet Hellie is right, showing up would be too high of an expectation. LOL!
And yes, Hellie. Attendance is often just too hard. Especially at a party school like ours - on Friday's, I have maybe 1/3 show up. And I take attendance. They don't care *g*
Yeah, those S.H.I.T. parties are hell on attendance. *LOL*
You know, back when I was in school the first time, when partying was actually involved, I partied like six night a week and still made it to my 8am classes five days a week. The good thing was, my teachers were mostly music business people so they'd let you sleep through the first half of class.
One of my teachers was a former roadie for the Stones. Coolest teacher ever. And made Keith Richards look HEALTHY.
a roadie from the Stones as a teacher? Wow! That's somebody I'd actually pay attention to *g*
Always loved me hardest teachers. The ones that scared off half the class the first week...all the more fer those a' us that stayed!
Lovin' the blog taday. Even if Q is ignorin' my attempts ta insult him.
Nice backtrackin' there, Q-ster! Covered yer ass admirably and explained the no insult intended very well!
I'll all for intuition and accepting the illogical aspects of emotion. Without judgement! (Which is possible, Judge Hellion!) ;)
Thanks Hal for thinking of my theme, "characters finding their place in this world." Having you familiar with my characters does have its perks. :) However, to acknowledge I may have the same theme is something I have to pout about for a minute. lol
At first it seems like something to balk at -- the idea I can write WITHOUT a theme in mind and still find the same theme lurking beneath the plot of a totally different story...it's like OUTSIDE OF MY CONTROL. Yikes! Will I ever write a different theme? Am I stuck?
Okay, why fight it. :) I'd like to think that even if subconsciously a reader would read more than one of my books because they identified in some some measure with a common theme, I think that's a good thing.
There is the idea of a "core story" too that Janga was talking about earlier. That each author has one "core story" in them that they tell. I kind of agree with that personally, as everything I write seems to have at it's core salvation/redemption. And I mean *everything*. So don't panic too much :)
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