Garren Jacobsen
Auror
So, I am writing a new book/trilogy. This book will follow a father and a son. The son, however, is going to be the chosen one and will go through a classic hero's journey. The father, well, the father will be the mentor, with all of that will entail. I imagine, that, at the end of book 1, ole pops will go the way of all the mentors and, well sacrifice himself, thereby allowing the son to escape and do super mega ultra hero things.
In any event, for the first time in my writing life, a theme/motif popped out to me on the first draft: a parent sacrificing for their child. Indeed, the first scene has a common sacrifice of the dad giving his kid a snack that the dad was planning on eating for himself because the kid forgot to get some for himself. I intend on having the Dad sacrifice all throughout the book until, well he dies (epically I might add).
Now, this is the first time I have really had a theme to run through a book on the first pass through, so I wanted to ask the following:
1) how would you handle themes to not make them too hamfisted and
2) what do you do to contrast a theme to highlight the theme better
In any event, for the first time in my writing life, a theme/motif popped out to me on the first draft: a parent sacrificing for their child. Indeed, the first scene has a common sacrifice of the dad giving his kid a snack that the dad was planning on eating for himself because the kid forgot to get some for himself. I intend on having the Dad sacrifice all throughout the book until, well he dies (epically I might add).
Now, this is the first time I have really had a theme to run through a book on the first pass through, so I wanted to ask the following:
1) how would you handle themes to not make them too hamfisted and
2) what do you do to contrast a theme to highlight the theme better