# Recurring ideas in your stories?



## Ireth (Sep 22, 2012)

I've noticed recently that there are certain ideas and themes that pop up in many of my works (besides vampires and Fae) -- people going blind for one reason or another, people going to desperate measures to acquire children that they can't father themselves, and themes of sacrificial love, to name a few. They show up in works that are otherwise completely different in plot and theme, which I find interesting. Does anyone else have experiences like this? If so, what are the things that pop up in your stories most often?


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## The Dark One (Sep 22, 2012)

Definitely. I've always been fascinated by the Lame Boy theme and its allegorical application to life. Somehow I've managed to get him into both my published books - one as a major sub-theme; one as a running joke.


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## Ghost (Sep 22, 2012)

How timely! Earlier today, I reorganized my story concepts chronologically and noticed this as well. I know I've mentioned recurring themes in another thread. There are other things that I return to without thinking about it.

Lots of paranoia, dead family members, groups of people going mad, MCs who collect objects, body parts being kept or scavenged, and moths/butterflies. Several MCs suddenly feel strange about their bodies, someone else (or that person's body), or their environment, like it has become foreign or alien to them. I mention the wind, the moon, trees, and autumn often.

And there are lots of farmers. It's like a default job for my secondary characters.


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## Guru Coyote (Sep 23, 2012)

Recurring themes... very interesting to consider... The topic we deal with (in stories we create) are most likely those topics we deal with - or should deal with - in all our lives.
And as we ALL have these topics, maybe that's an important reason why some books/authors resonate more with some readers than others. 

For me, my main characters usually deal with helplessness/frustration of knowing what should be done, but being (or feeling) unable to do it. Very much the reluctant hero... 

I think being aware of our recurring themes and dealing with them creatively is key. As soon as we can see them clearly we can find new approaches to them, in stories and elsewhere.


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## shangrila (Sep 23, 2012)

Mental illness, isolation, depression, mutilation, faith (not religion), racial bias are some of what seems to occur a lot through my writing. 

Also, creepiness. Don't know why, but it happens.


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## srcroft (Sep 23, 2012)

Ireth said:


> I've noticed recently that there are certain ideas and themes that pop up in many of my works (besides vampires and Fae) -- people going blind for one reason or another, people going to desperate measures to acquire children that they can't father themselves, and themes of sacrificial love, to name a few. They show up in works that are otherwise completely different in plot and theme, which I find interesting. Does anyone else have experiences like this? If so, what are the things that pop up in your stories most often?



Actually, historically, global literary themes tend to have clumps of themes, depending on what is happening in the world. Horror was most highlighted during WWII, because it was a safe way to be scared, something worse than Nazi war planes. Notice the rise of Vampires, Zombies, and Anarchy shows like Revolution and Fairy Tales--all signs of the wars on terror.

Second new technology and theories tend to rule themes. Novice writers also tend to use in your face allegory instead of subtlety-- so blindness for example is a very blunt allegory--not a bad thing but, you can break it down (the reason for it) and come up with something that makes the reader work for it.

My specific Genre is Dark Fantasy. My theme I always get down to a word or concept. Fear, Death, Redemption or whatever. I let the theme be reflected in the characters or the antithesis of those characters (Foils) that reflect those properties.

Now you will always run into themes that will saturate all your works, that's just your perspective on life and personality bleeding through. This is your authorial voice and a good thing. BUT, break it down.  Sometime blunt allegory or symbolism is great, just not when it makes the reader feel preached to or that the novelist is calling them stupid.


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## srcroft (Sep 23, 2012)

shangrila said:


> Mental illness, isolation, depression, mutilation, faith (not religion), racial bias are some of what seems to occur a lot through my writing.
> 
> Also, creepiness. Don't know why, but it happens.



Its not writers with those themes that are scary, its the ones that write about fuzzy bunnies that scare me. We get out our best and worst qualities and fears and values in our work.


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## Benjamin Clayborne (Sep 23, 2012)

The effects of disruptive technology (or magic) being introduced to a society; the illusory nature of power; characters who have hidden anger issues.


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## Roc (Sep 23, 2012)

I have an off-character that will go blind...I don't know why, but I just thought the idea of a blind character would be fascinating.


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## Zero Angel (Sep 23, 2012)

The only recurring thing I do with my stories is ... BE AWESOME

No, but seriously, do you think you have these recurring themes because you are circling the story that you REALLY want to write or because these themes resonate with you?


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## Guru Coyote (Sep 23, 2012)

Roc said:


> I have an off-character that will go blind...I don't know why, but I just thought the idea of a blind character would be fascinating.


If you do write about this character... make sure to do your "research". Try walking blind, and if you can, talk to a person who has gone through the experience in real life. It's very easy to fall into cliche with disabilities.


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## Ireth (Sep 23, 2012)

Zero Angel said:


> No, but seriously, do you think you have these recurring themes because you are circling the story that you REALLY want to write or because these themes resonate with you?



Well, the blindness example does to an extent -- I'm not blind myself, just nearsighted, but when I was born the doctors all thought I'd be totally blind, among numerous other problems (which, I'm happy to say, didn't meet their expectations at all #successkid). The characters in my stories all go blind as punishment for various perceived wrongdoings -- one has his eyes burned out with a hot poker, another is cursed to go blind, but later regains his sight. Other characters only lose one eye.

The theme of sacrifice resonates with me probably because of my Christian faith, which has sacrifice as pretty much THE core theme. As for people being unable to have children of their own, I have absolutely no idea. I don't particularly desire children myself, not only because I'm rather young to be thinking about it yet, but also because I consider myself asexual. So there you go. *shrug*


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## Sheilawisz (Sep 23, 2012)

The value of friendship, loyalty, family and love is a recurrent theme in all of my Fantasy stories, especially important when my characters are facing severe troubles =)

The idea that Magic is superior to anything else is also very constant...

My Monarchist ideas are visible all the time, as well as the concept of an unlimited number of universes and the powers to travel between them.


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## Benjamin Clayborne (Sep 24, 2012)

Zero Angel said:


> The only recurring thing I do with my stories is ... BE AWESOME
> 
> No, but seriously, do you think you have these recurring themes because you are circling the story that you REALLY want to write or because these themes resonate with you?



I don't think committed writers have one true story that's living within them. We have many things to say and many ways to say them. Occasionally you find someone who writes one great thing and then is basically done after that (Harper Lee, for example), but that's vanishingly rare. And I don't know that Lee felt as if TKAM was this great thing waiting to burst out from inside her, or if she just wrote it because she wanted to and then it turned into this huge thing, and after that she just happened to not really feel like writing.


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## Steerpike (Sep 24, 2012)

Lee started another book right after TKAM, and even talked about wanting to be an iconic southern author. But as far as I know she stopped her second books mid-way through and that was that. She didn't expect the success of TKAM, and she talked about it on occasion in less than glowing terms, so some have speculated she didn't want to re-enter the limelight. As far as I know, that is just speculation, as she never confirmed that it was the case. 

But at least immediately after TKAM, she was excited about writing and working on a new book. Then she stopped. Interesting, eh?


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## Weaver (Sep 27, 2012)

Things that pop up a lot in my stories:

- Characters with dangerous secrets
- Characters without families - no siblings, parents deceased, etc.  (These characters may or may not end up married or having children of their own.)
- Characters who are isolated from others, whether physically, socially, psychologically, or whatever
- I've also noticed that a lot of my characters tend to live a really long time...


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## The Dark One (Sep 28, 2012)

Weaver said:


> Things that pop up a lot in my stories:
> 
> - Characters with *dangerous secrets*
> - Characters without families - no siblings, parents deceased, etc.  (These characters may or may not end up married or having children of their own.)
> ...



I'm very much a multi-genre writer but characters who happen upon dangerous secrets (as opposed to having such secrets germane to them) is not uncommon in my work. And as a reader, I'm always a sucker for such stories. If I pick up a book in a book shop and the blurb mentions something about a dangerous secret, I'm already halfway to the cash register. 

Funnily enough, the dangerous secret stories are so often well set up but rarely carried off in a satisfying manner...to my taste.


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## Caged Maiden (Sep 28, 2012)

My writing has evolved since I began, but I've noticed that there are some similarities between some of the stories.

I love to write strong male characters who are exceptional fathers (I'm glad to see you are exploring this too, Ireth, it's often overlooked, men with deep desires to be fathers).  I don't think it was a conscious decision, just something I wrote because I admire my own husband so much for his absolute devotion to his children, and his "baby addiction".  I mean... our last one just turned one, and he's already aching for another... yeah, the men I love the most in my books sort of reflect that.  I hope readers appreciate how much I admire the quality, rather than thinking I wrote them that way out of wishful thinking.

Another theme I just can't get away from is love stories.  I'm such a sucker for love stories... and when I write them, I try to keep them real.  No fantasy here, just the truth about how people fall in love, and I think it adds a bit of humor to the stories.

I too love secrets, and the more dangerous, the more fun for me.

One theme I focused on in a couple novels, and am not sure how I feel about, is sexual abuse.  I write a harsh world, and for me, it didn't feel taboo to write about rape, incest and molestation.  For me, these issues, when writing them, are character-building, rather than psychology lectures, so I hope I pulled them off well, but it's something that I want to separate myself from in the future, rather than being an ongoing theme.


Thanks for this thread, it is interesting to see other people's recurring themes.


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## CupofJoe (Sep 28, 2012)

I write about dreams and visions a lot. About half my MCs have dreams/visions... and a lot of my settings are open wold [soft rolling chalk hills  - Tiffany Aching land]


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## Weaver (Sep 28, 2012)

The Dark One said:


> I'm very much a multi-genre writer but characters who happen upon dangerous secrets (as opposed to having such secrets germane to them) is not uncommon in my work. And as a reader, I'm always a sucker for such stories. If I pick up a book in a book shop and the blurb mentions something about a dangerous secret, I'm already halfway to the cash register.
> 
> Funnily enough, the dangerous secret stories are so often well set up but rarely carried off in a satisfying manner...to my taste.



Yeah, I suspected I wasn't clear in what I meant about 'dangerous secrets,' but I was trying to keep it brief... In this instance, _dangerous_ means something that, if it comes out, will put the character or his/her loved ones in great danger.  A major plot thread of the novel I'm currently abour 2/3 done with concerns such a secret.

Of course, a character who _finds out _something dangerous, rather than one who is _hiding_ something dangerous, is also interesting.  Come to think of it, that pretty well describes the protagonist in a few of my short stories.


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## Telcontar (Sep 28, 2012)

The differences between self-sacrifice (which hurts you) and regular "sacrifice" (which does not).

Teach Them Fear: The concept of a character so powerful and unassailable that even the Big Baddies (wizards, demons, undead, you name it) are afraid of him. Basically answering the question: "What are the monsters in my closet afraid of?"

Morality, Law, Justice. The evolution of power structures.

On the more person-centric side: Depression, despair, anger/hatred/rage, and the effect of music on the emotions. (Also music as magic).


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## Mindfire (Sep 28, 2012)

I notice that the "Call" motif shows up a lot in my work, and the call is almost always divine in nature. Providence, as well as demonic influence, is a background driving force through much of my work. There's a parallel war going on in the background, behind the human conflict. 

There's also a recurring theme of changes to the status quo, with the world never being quite the same again after a big event happens. Along with that comes a lot of torch-passing. Quite a few of my characters inherit the legacies of their parents, ancestors, or even those they have no relation to and must rise to the occasion. My main character, Reuben, inherits the throne of his maternal ancestors. His friend, the king Elias, dies and Reuben must then pass _Elias's_ torch to Devra, the girl chosen to succeed him. Reuben's cousin, Kianna, has to succeed Deowa, a woman Kianna resented for saddling her with the responsibility of looking after Reuben in his infancy, as her tribe's spiritual authority once Deowa dies. A veteran warrior, swordsman and elected leader of a group of freedom fighters dies and passes the torch to his daughter, Shan-Ri. Another character, Leith, inherits the mantle of the long-dead Champion brotherhood in order to restore honor to his homeland Beorgia and break the stranglehold the false priesthood has on the country. And I plan to end the series with Reuben's son, yet unnamed, saving the world when his father fails by becoming heir to a long-lost magical art.

There's also a theme of identity, knowing who you are and not compromising that. One of my characters, Maya, remarks that her scars help remind her of where she's been and who she is. Devra, who has lived her entire life without a magical power that her culture takes for granted is presented with an opportunity to at last also have that power, but she turns it down because she realizes that her "disability" helped make her who she is. Reuben is bi-cultural and rather than choose an allegiance, he keeps one foot firmly in each side of his ancestry. I've already said that in the grand finale, Reuben's son finds a way to save the known world even when his father can't. What I didn't say is that he does this despite (or perhaps because of) being a cripple.


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## Aravelle (Sep 29, 2012)

My theme is freaks. Outcasts. People who stand out in one form or another and either rise against or fall from grace because of it.

As for my characters, there's either wallflowers or glamourous ones/attention lovers. By glamourous I mean the wilting rose, the whimsical youth, the knight with a secret ego.

I have a way of writing about daddy problems too. I blame my own life. xD


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## Alva (Sep 29, 2012)

Telcontar said:


> Morality, Law, Justice. The evolution of power structures.



Have to agree with Telcontar. Concepts and means of power are of interest to me, as well.

Also, such things as
- scholarship
- loss
- loneliness
- feelings of otherness
- conflicting personalities
- nature (ah, well... ecological themes to some extent)
- blindness and
- introverted characters

occur here and there...



Aravelle said:


> People who stand out in one form or another and either rise against or fall from grace because of it.



Oh yes. For some reason I'm attracted to these, too.



Zero Angel said:


> No, but seriously, do you think you have these recurring themes because you are circling the story that you REALLY want to write or because these themes resonate with you?



The blunt answer is both.

More elaborate answer, though, would differentiate between short fiction and novel writing, for instance, and I’d mention that in short fiction I’m perhaps more eager to pick themes that are already in the beginning resonating within me. In the case of longer works, nonetheless, the original structure and even the central idea of the story may change several times during the project, and - in the end - the themes left have to be survivors of the picky process of writing. Thus, new themes have been born and some unrelated and unnecessary stuff has been put aside.


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## Mindfire (Sep 29, 2012)

I just noticed that a minor imperialism theme pops up in one of the works I'm mapping out. It's very subtle though. See, part of the backstory is that this continent was inhabited by an olive-skinned Asian/Polynesian culture, then these white guys who were fleeing religious persectuion came there and tried to seize it as their birthright. This lead to the olive-skinned people having to choose whether to coexist with the invaders (which means giving up some of the better land on the continent) or fighting back. Ultimately they ended up divided and fighting a lengthy guerrilla war among themselves as well as against the invaders. 

...Maybe the theme isn't as subtle as I thought.


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## Jabrosky (Sep 29, 2012)

Hmm...let's see if I can rename some of my favorite themes:

*Redemption: *A lot of my stories have the main characters do something really stupid or immoral, often near the beginning, and the rest of the story centers on the characters' efforts to heal the aftereffects or otherwise redeem themselves. Redemption plots are great for main character development.

*Clash of Cultures: *I love juxtaposing people from visibly different races or societies together and have them interact with each other. My favorite cultures to mix together are Northern European and African, though sometimes I like to throw in Asians or Middle Easterners too.

*African Civilizations: *My favorite civilizations to draw upon for fantasy settings are African ones like Egypt, Nubia, Mali, Ethiopia, or Great Zimbabwe. Everyone stereotypes Africa as a bunch of primitive tribes, but there were larger states too and I wish more people knew about them. However, sometimes I like to write about the more "tribal" (for lack of a more accurate word) African peoples like the Zulu, Hadza, or Maasai too.
*
Strong Leading Women:* My leading ladies may either be love interests for male protagonists or the protagonists themselves, but either way they usually have a lot of power. Most commonly they are matriarchal rulers or Amazon-type warriors. I guess I find headstrong, beautiful women especially attractive.

*Prehistoric Wildlife:* Dinosaurs were my first love, with _Tyrannosaurus rex_ being my all-time favorite animal ever, so no world of mine feels complete without a dinosaur-populated jungle somewhere. For colder environments I like to use Ice Age mammals like saber-toothed cats and woolly mammoths. Either way, prehistory is a rich reservoir for creature ideas.


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