Revisiting Themes
First of all, I couldn't find a good pic so I choose this one. It's getting colder in my neck of the woods. I thought it appropriate.
Secondly, a huge shout out to my Philadelphia Phillies for the good work they did this season. We came up short but it was a great run. Go Phils.
Ok, on to what I really wanted to talk about today.
I’m plotting out my next story and I’m trying to get everyone’s motivations in the right place. Luckily, I already know these characters a little as they appear in my first story. But that doesn’t make this phase any easier. Just because I knew them as a secondary character before doesn’t mean I’m ready to write their point of view without a little work.
I always end up wrestling with my overarching idea in the beginning. With what the main theme of the story will be.
My last story was a redemption story. Two people, searching for ways to make up for things that weren’t entirely their faults. Nothing is harder to fight than ghosts from the past.
I think my new story is similar. Demons from the past again. The characters don’t necessarily blame themselves for anything—don’t feel the need to make up for something—but they’ve been shaped by their experiences. This story will be more about them learning to live with themselves the way they are. Sometimes that’s harder than redeeming oneself, I think.
I have no idea if there’s a pattern in my story themes, if I’ll revisit the same theme over and over again. Something about overcoming personal demons really speaks to me. Something about facing personal hardship and coming out the other side stronger and smarter…. Who knows?
How about you? Do you revisit the same theme again and again in your stories/plots? What are some of your favorite themes in books?
Books by the Crew
54 comments:
Well, in me Caribbean series, it always be 'bout savin' the world. Small pieces a' the world and sometimes, it be the bigger world.
But I find since I started workin' on other pieces, it often be 'bout overcomin' past fears, present fears... Fears a' not bein' worthy; real fears, like fear a dyin'...
I think the theme I revisit...heroines dealin' wit' deeply buried fears. So deep they often don't realize they have them.
I mention afore how I view writin' as therapy? ;)
I have just finished listening to an audio book of 'Simply Love' by Mary Balogh and was struck by the awesome way that she can bring a story to life. How she drags the reader into intimate contact with the pain, love, desires, and ambitions of the characters. And most of all by the way that she always forces love to find a way!
I also finished 'Caribbean Spell' by our own illustrious Chance and was again struck by the way that a good writer 'grabs the reader' once they open the pages. Sort of like that magical diary in HP written by 'He who shall not be named'.
There is no way that I can compete with such talent so I have to find plot based themes with novelty and humour to try and reach those parts that other writers fail to find. Here I'm aided with a fair knowledge of how the universe ticks and much experience of the eccentricities and foibles of people and animals. The short story is my medium and like Chance, therapy and relaxation is my motive.
Having attempted a full length novel and floundered at the half way stage I can only bow down to the awesome talent of writers who finish the job with a quality product that will drag me in, willing or not, once I open the pages.
In a way I'm glad that I don't have access to Marnee's or Helli's or Sin's or Bosun's, or Lisa's or Haleigh's work. If I did I know that I would be lost and Science would have to manage without me! :lol:
Yay on starting the new book (plotting anyway)
I love reunited lovers. But it's not something I rely on all the time. I'm not sure if I've figured out my recurring themes. I use sympathetic villains in three of my four books.
I'm redemption all the way. My characters have made huge mistakes, and they struggle to get past them. It's kind of funny, cause I'm the original goody-two-shoes white-bread girl who sat with her ankles crossed and her hands folded. Maybe my inner bad girl is expressed in my books!
Chance - I love the overcoming past fears thing too. :) And you're right; writing is therapy. LOL!!
Q - Aren't you the charming flatterer this morn? And I love that you mentioned HP. Nothing saps me out better than fattery and HP.
Grabbing the reader by the throat is what we aim to do. Even if it starts off as just making a reader sit up and take notice and works toward grabbing by the throat.... Keeping the reader turning those pages is the key. I do admit that I've put down some very good selling books lately. I don't have time to feel less than devoted to a story.
Tiff - Ahhh.... Reunited lovers is a good one. I love that too. And I think a villain is the best when he/she's sympathetic.
Mags - Sister redemption users. I think it's cool that you get in touch with all that bad girl-ness. :) Have your daughters read your stuff yet? Just curious....
My current WIP that I'm plotting seems to have a theme of deception. The heroine is not only lying to everyone else about who she is, but lying to herself as well. So I think the core story is really figuring out who you are and learning to live with that.
Come to think of it, that was kind of the theme in my last novel. A pattern? Hmmm....I'd hate to see what Freud thought of that! *g*
I think most of our stories have a little bit of the redemption theme in them, just because all our characters tend to have baggage from their past that they’re not proud of and it will seep forward and be something they have to overcome. I love it! The book I’m writing now has a little of that, but I look at the theme more as a nature vs. nurture story. Can a man ever truly escape what he was born to be?
I really don't know what type I write. I'm a big internal conflict/healing life's insecurities kind of writer. My biggest problem as a writer is giving my characters unappealing characteristics. As Terri mentioned once her H/H were so nice the story was over by page 80. That's me! I really have to work at the grabbing the reader by the throat thing. I should probably try to write a redemption story just to get me to give the H/H something they need to redeem. :)
As reader I love all kinds of stories/plots. I do tend to gravitate more to the character driven as opposed to cops/robbers/FBI agent type plots.
You know, I write the cops/robbers/FBI agent type plots, but it's almost a backdrop to the internal conflict. In my last WIP, they were super spies trying to stop a terrorist from attacking London and taking over British parliament, yet that was almost secondary to them trying to figure out how to muddle their way through their marriage. Is that weird? I feel like they're character-driven thrillers, which really shouldn't exist together :)
Hal - figuring out who you are and learning to live with that, huh? We just won't tell Freud. What he doesn't know won't hurt him....
I also think that the character-driven part of FM is what makes it so fabulous and different from a lot of the other RS out there right now.
JK - Can a man every truly escape what he was born to be? Wow. What a big big question.
In my last story, my heroine tried to deny who she was and it caused her a lot of grief. She had to come to accept things about herself she can't change. Lots of fun.
Irish - You gots to get in touch with your inner meanie, girl. Make your characters have torturous lives with horrible pasts. Or at least a little secret. Then you get to be the good guy when you work it all out for them at the end.
I read somewhere once that most authors do have a core theme that runs throughout their stories. It's usually not something they do on purpose, it just happens. The one thing all my characters have to do is let go of assumptions. Either about themselves, other people, or life in general. It's that tendency to stand behind the muted window so no one can see the real you. Unfortunately, that means you can't see them clearly either.
Working on this NaNo story, it's the first time I'm really thinking about motivation and not breaking out in hives. Having something rough on the paper is helping me see what I need to see. Later, I'll have to figure out how to make the reader see what I need her/him to see. :)
That's the hard part. LOL!
In my current NaNo story, I started with the theme that "You can't ignore love (or run from it forever) because you're afraid to lose it."
For example - my heroine ran away from love becuase she didn't want to be another woman in her family in love/married to cop. She didn't want to be like her mother waiting by the phone every night, worried her husband wouldn't make it, only to have that nightmare come true. So she runs. The story starts 5 years later, with the chance meeting of the h/h again.
Maybe the theme could also be stated something along the lines of "You can't run away from your heart."
BTW Haleigh - the more you write about your stories the more I can't wait to get my hands on them. I'm all over character driven thrillers!
Ter - Letting go of assumptions is very Pride and Prejudice. I love love that book. I think your current story sounds fabulous. :)
And motivation isn't a four letter word. Really. I swear.
Sabrina - Your story sounds really interesting! I love the idea of not being able to run from your feeings. Such a true story. :)
oops sent before I was ready...second thought coming...LOL
I think I do have a core theme in my stories, which I discovered was something like "finding your way in this world"
...and also a common trend for a reunion type story. Also, that third thing of a heroine who takes that step back when faced with going after what she wants. I would like to see if I can force myself to go against the trend and write a story with a first meeting and bold heroine.
Yeah, I'm slow this morning. LOL
I think if a character achieves the HEA, then redemption, in large ways or more subtly, is part of the story.
For me, another core idea is the concept of home--what is it? how does the character find it? how are the I and the We reconciled?
Marn - The more I plotted this story the more I saw the similarities with P&P. Which is why I call it P&P meets Bull Durham. :) In fact, I say in the story that Nate (hero) played for the Tampa Bay Rays because their farm team is the Durham Bulls. LOL!
Sabrina - I can totally relate to your story. I am the queen of walking away from things. LOL!
Melissa - So your heroines are more passive than aggressive? I can see where changing that would be tough. That's like me writing Beta heroes. Nate seems to be more alpha and I have no idea how I'm going to handle that.
Janga - Again, I can totally relate. I'm convinced I've been single too long and am too set in my ways to try turning *me* into *us* again. Don't have the patience, the energy, or the belief I could find someone to mesh with in any kind of sane, smooth way.
Melissa - a first meeting and a bold heroine, huh? I haven't really written a reunited story just yet. I'm not sure if I will. Maybe. I have an idea for one for the future, but it's kinda low on my priority list. :) But I love reading them.
Janga - I love the questions you ask about home. They're very Debbie Macomber. I wanted to tell you.... At that conference this past weekend, two different agents mentioned they were looking for the next Debbie Macomber, something with that homey, comfort food feel about it.
I definitely don't write like that but I suspect there are some on this boat who do.
I do similar themes over and over. Redemption is a favorite--or acceptance. Unconditional acceptance. Which breaks into two parts: self-acceptance and others accepting us for who we are.
I sorta read some authors because they write similar themes over and over. Themes I prefer to read. :)
Hells - I love the acceptance theme. :) I agree that I read authors who write the themes I like. I think I come to expect certain black moments out of my favorite authors and those come from the resolution of the themes I like. I live for reading about other who conquer their personal demons or overcome major baggage.
The one thing all my characters have to do is let go of assumptions. Either about themselves, other people, or life in general.
Assumptions about herself seem to be what my heroine in my WIP is trying to overcome. I'm still trying to get a handle on her actually, but she's turning into a bit of a princess whose initial attraction to the hero seemed to be that he treated her like a normal person. But since she's a product of her environment - - a bit of the "can a man (or woman) truly escape who she was born to be?" -- she does have some self centered characteristics. The REAL her IS actually a bit of a princess! How can she not be? Now it's a little easier to give her unappealing characteristics, but hopefully keep her a sympathetic character.
It's weird how long it takes to really get to know a character. I'm at the part now where she's angry and hurt that the hero kept secrets from her (thus, being like everyone else) and I've been stuck a bit on how she gets over it. It's kind of a whose fault is it? Who's to blame? They're driving me nuts. LOL
This is so cool! I love readin' what people see themselves writin'... now the fun part is does a reader see it that way, too?
Q - Such a sweet man! Here, a fresh bottle a' scotch fer ya.
I like the word redemption. I think as I write more that does play a lot inta the characters. Redemption that they don't even know they need! I do love the surprise when a character realizes they really are as broken as everyone else. And I love puttin' it ta them in such a direct way, they can't dance from it.
Facin' fears might be the main tango move in me books... Even Miranda reaches that stage in later books!
Bo'sun, I look forward ta seein' this Nano book. I do like shiftin' perspectives, ie, upsettin' assumptions. I read a lot a' that sort a book.
Melissa - I don't know my characters at all with this book. But writing this crazy first draft is like putting the clay on the table. I'm able to see what directions they can take and make them more three dimensional later. Though I'm looking forward to seeing how much more I know them in the 30 and 40K ranges.
Chance - I think it's pretty common that no one likes to admit they were wrong. Forcing characters to admit so and so is not the person they originally thought should be interesting and very tough to write. I'm guessing so anyway.
Half the time, me characters fight their revelations, half the time, they embrace them. Mainly because I like ta put in their face in such clear terms and with such good examples, they jus' can't play the denial game. It generally builds a good black moment, but also offers a great path ta follow...
Though generally, me male characters still resist. Always needs a big hammer ta get through ta the guys!
Facin’ fears might be the main tango move in me books…
That's a cool way to put it, Chance!
I always revisit the same theme. I'm stuck on repeat. LOL
Sorry I'm late today. Had to report for jury duty this morning. :(
She do have a way with words.
Did we screech to a halt or did the seas get rough and everyone jumped ship?
I'm trying to think if I lean toward books with the same themes. *thinks harder - smoke shoots out of ears* I'm not sure. I used to read lots of RS with FBI agents and characters on the run, but I bet I haven't read one in more than five years. The only real historicals I read are Eloisa & Kleypas, and I don't think they write the same themes.
I think I chase angst. LOL! I'm really that simple.
Uh, what theme, Sin? You tease! Jury duty? Wow, last time I was right on the verge of bein' picked and the defense attorney, last minute, excused me. All I could do not ta jump to me feet and dance out a' the courtroom, fist thrust in the air... Wish I knew what I did wrong so I could do it everytime!
I know I want ta laugh wit' books. And I like dogs in books... I'm a simple soul... ;)
I do like ta tango, and done right, it is one story-tellin' dance, fierce, passionate, angsty...
I can think of one author, Catherine Anderson, who seems to be my "go to writer" when I want a sweeter romance, both that ...something with that homey, comfort food feel about it. and some angst. She usually writes about a disability, usually in the heroine. "Annie's Song," with a heroine unable to speak from a trauma, has to be one of my all time favorites. And, come to think of it, she's one of the few where I've enjoyed both her historicals and contemporaries equally well.
What she also does is well is create a big, close knit families for either the hero or heroine, while the other has the opposite. That usually makes for an interesting dynamic. I don't think I could imagine writing a story with both of them coming from well adjusted homes though!
How about both of them coming from dysfunctional homes? That's what I keep creating. Though at least in this one, one of them has both parents still alive. That's good for me. LOL!
I've never been called for jury duty EVER. Can you believe that? And I think it would be fun! Or could be, let me clarify that.
Melissa - Books that make you feel good and don't throw the negative aspects of the world around you. That's how I describe those. Not that we don't appreciate the ones where we see the evil we'd rather not think about (Hal, Marn & Sin!), but sometimes you just want to feel relaxed and safe.
Jury duty = fun? Uh...well. Not in my experience. There always be one twit who completely screws things up by ignorin' the judge's directions, or already has a prejudice they will not abandon. IE, stalking doesn't exist, it's just a courtship method.
I am not kidding. I so wanted to slap that juror! Had no business sitting on that jury...
Grrrr!
As for dysfunctional homes? Hell, no matter how a home works, there always be one aspect that is dysfunctional. Almost an oxymoron anymore!
Give me a dog and a laugh... I think I've been depressed fer years and that is all I really want ta read anymore! I swear! I'm tryin' to read me way out a' it? LOL!
Now that's another interesting trend I hadn't thought of; how disfunctional are my hero and heroine's family or whether my hero or heroine both have parents still living. Yep, I have yet to have both the hero or heroine have both parents living. In the first, the hero's parents are dead, as are his nasty brothers. The heroine's parents are living (her mother remarried with a wild bunch of step siblings), and her father will live on forever...he is an immortal. LOL
Now, in my current WIP, the hero's parents are dead and the heroine's mother is dead. Her father, not such a nice guy himself, remarried and she has a wicked step-mother and step-siblings. Her whole family is a "pit of vipers" while the hero has the most "normal" family yet. He has one sister who is rather similar to the hero; a free spirit gypsy, but she's more ecentric. She's becoming the comic relief and that's yet another trend.
It's funny how many forms disfunctional can take!
I love the dysfunctional family unit theme - and all my stories seem to have h/h with parents who have died. (that could be me projecting there)
I found it easier ta have characters wit' little connections ta a family. Sad ta say, it's easier fer them ta leave behind a life without connections and move inta a new life together without the 'baggage' of parents...calls that must me made, letters, etc. Explanations ta make...
Hell, I destroyed Miranda's everythin' in the first pages of A Caribbean Spell. Did the same thing with Ivy in The Changed World. Uh...oops. Did the same thing, basically, with Cameron in The Alien Library...
I sense a theme here!
Last Chance, don't take it personal!
I am a world destroyer... Bwah ha ha!
I can see how it's neater to have no family connections for the hero and heroine. They like are, um, killed off, because they might not serve a purpose as secondary characters. Or siblings never created because they're just taking up space. I bet there's a huge amount of heroes and heroines who are only children.
I guess I write an over abundance of family and it's funny that I never do some kind of family history chart at the beginning of my stories. The family members just sort of show up. (Like real life!)
At the very least, there's room for sequels. Ha! Several secondary character family members are nagging for their own story but they will live have in limbo a long while.
I think I've gone for the lack of connection before, but in this story I've put the characters in their hometown. The heroine never left and teaches in the HS she attended (with the hero a year ahead of her) and the hero is just coming home after not returning since he graduated. So she never had the guts to run and he never had the guts to come home.
Though to make it more believable, he had to have come home for at least a couple holidays and his father's funeral. Will add that adjustment to the list for December. LOL!
Now that I think about it, my next story is about a hero who won't leave his hometown (which is actually an island). Oh, and I'm thinking the brother of the hero in this NaNo book might get his own story. But we'll see how he develops.
In the Caribbean series, Miranda ends up with a massive family and friends network. And it gets really difficult keepin' them all organized. I think I like ta start uncluttered, then add in a family made by choice, not chance.
No offense, Last Chance.
(Man, I could be gettin' meself inta real trouble today!)
Oh I LOVE the family made by choice, not chance.
That's happening in my current WIP - starts with just her elderly mom, but hero has a huge welcoming family.
If you can't handle the family you were born into, make one you really feel part of. That is my writer philosophy!
NO offense, Last Chance.
I need to shut up, now.
Anyone else have a family member that lurks on the blog?
No offense, Last Chance.
LOL! I'm lucky not to have lurking family...on the blog anyway! I guess there's advantages to having the "writing life" an odd part of my life separate from the non-writing family.
Nope, just you. :) LOL! My mom and sis can't get on because their company has blocked every blessed bit of the internet. Stupid company.
I'm actually not close to my own family and don't create one of my own making either. Except online, which is where I pretty much live anyway. LOL! I'm a loner I guess, not good at making connections.
I'm sure Last Chance is not offended. She's probably had the same feelings toward you and the rest of the bunch. LOL! Haven't we all?!
I think there's a difference in imperfect families and dysfunctional familiies. Imperfect families have baggage and conflict; they often irritate and sometimes anger one another. But they care about one another; they are the voice on the phone when you need affirmation, the hug that gets you through a crisis, the hand that helps you out of the hole--even if they remind you that you dug it yourself. They don't have addictions, they don't abuse physically or verbally, and they function as well as anyone can in a fallen world inhabited by flawed human beings sharing life with other flawed human beings.
The hero of my current book has a mother who thinks she knows best, a father who won't follow doctor's orders, a sister who is afraid to take risks, and a kid who is grieving for his dead mother. He has repressed his own pain over the losses life handed him. But these people do things for one another, spend time with one another, like as well as love one another. They are a family in many ways like the ones I know best.
Teri, good thought to have the hero return at least a couple of times since graduation for believability. I guess it would be odd if he had NEVER returned, especially for his father's funeral. Then everyone [family!] would be really mad at him.
Well. Now Janga's gone and made me feel bad. LOL! Actually, that pretty much sums up me family. Maybe this is why I don't write dysfunctional family in me books... No personal experience? Well, if ya don't count extended family. (I don't.)
I do like the difference, Janga. Dysfuctional vs. imperfect. Or maybe another word would be normal. Though that can be a loaded word also.
I suppose my book families are more imperfect then. Though I'm toying with the heroine's father having an addiction. It's more sibling rivalry and parents who didn't or didn't know how to express their true feelings. I suppose maybe this one is about growing up. The last time these two saw each other, they were both in HS. Today, they are both in their 30s and very different people, but upon seeing each other again, see the other as that HS student.
I know in real life this same thing happens. The moment I walked into that 10 yr reunion, I was the outcast girl no one really knew.
I just attended me 9th grade reunion...hilarious! I like this new story a' yours, Bo'sun. The opportunities fer misconceptions be so numerous! I certainly am not the girl I was in high school. I think...but when ya marry yer high school sweetheart, life has a tendency ta feel like one big lunch break...
And the heartache a' high school, the snubs, the little things...they never go away. Ta revisit that...and small towns? They think ya never change at all. Which means if ya have, ya have ta beat away the pictures people already have of ya.
Chance, I didn't mean to make you feel bad. I just think the term "dysfunctional" is often used rather loosely. It's like the term "hyperactive" bacame when it was used to describe any high-energy kid, and the misuse was a diservice to both the child who was not hyperactive and to the one who was.
Terri, one of my favorite Madeleine L'Engle quotes says, "The great thing about getting older is that you don't lose all the other ages you've been." The bit of outcast adolescent that lingers inside you helps to make you the strong, sensitive achieving woman you are.
But I also like the perk of rarely going back to my hometown. I NEVER run into anyone who knew me that long ago. LOL!
Thanks, Janga. That's a very sweet way to look at it. And I don't think I'd change what I was then or what I am now. I like where I am and I have to figure who I was then had something to do with that. :)
Nah, I'm good, Janga. And you're right, it's one a' those words that be misused and I certainly know better! ;)
BTW - Did we drop Marn on some deserted island somewhere? LOL!
Post a Comment