TECH: 101 Tips (37)

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Original posting 20 July 2009

Writers' Digest, October 2004, pages 26 to 33, has a collection of short "nuggets of wisdom" related to getting published. Maria Schneider is the author of the compilation. Take a deep breath, and here we go:

"Find your theme -- illness, abuse, bigotry, poverty, love, separation, justice -- and weave it like a master craftsman. It can meander through your book like a winding, beckoning path or be as painful as an open, gushing wound, but don't lose it in the trappings of the tale." Nancy Hendrickson

Theme? Ah, now that's an interesting suggestion. After you get done with the craft -- who are the characters, what's the plot, where are we going, what happens along the way, how do we raise the stakes, get everyone involved, and hit that climax -- there's still this notion of theme. What's the story about? Not to lean too heavily on the moral of the story, because that's often overdone, but what's the golden thread that ties it all together? Romance stories usually are about love and human relationships. Most of the samurai dramas are about justice at some level. Maybe that's how they tie into westerns -- which also often are about justice.

Something to think about. What is the theme of your story? How does it get expressed? How do you manage to show it to the readers without being overbearing about "THE MORAL OF THE STORY IS..."? Do you start with your theme, and wrap the story around it, or do you let the story show you the theme as it develops? When you are revising, do you do a pass through the story with theme in mind? What do you adjust in that pass?