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Favorite topic to write about?

pmmg

Myth Weaver
I dont know.

I think I have the most fun writing scenes that are showing the growth of relationships between characters. The topic does not matter. I suppose the real topic that affects all the characters, is how do I win the war?

Themes in my stories, which might sub-in for topics, include things like love, responsibility, duty, sin and atoning, religion and meaning, grief pain and healing, justice, honor, anger and hate....meh, pretty much anything that might be a part of us all.
 

TWErvin2

Auror
I am not sure that I have a "topic" that I most enjoy, other than writing what I think is entertaining, and will hopefully entertain readers. That might include an intriguing plot, interesting characters and dialogue, engaging action scenes. Things like that.

I don't really set out, with my tales, to have a particular theme or message, so that would not be a favorite, for sure. A theme or themes may come about as the story develops, but it's not, for me, a central issue.
 
Scavengers.
People thriving despite everything.
Food-chain-adjacent rejects who found out (or are finding out) that owning it is the secret.
That confidence is just being so damn cocky about your ability to make lemonade that you catch the lemons underhanded and then juggle them to the kitchen.
The kinda people that dare everyone else to work as hard as they do and then show mad respect to the ones that even get close.
The kinda people that point to God when they rock the world and MEAN it, but hustle for it behind the scenes like hellhounds are on their trail.
The kind of people that don't expect s**t but squeeze the guts out of even the tiniest opportunity.
Scavengers, basically.
 

Demesnedenoir

Myth Weaver
I take my cue from Judy Hops... Blood, blood, blood. And Death.

All right, not really, but I don't have a favorite topic. My favorite scenes are either the set-ups or the reveals... Probably the reveal, but whenever I think to myself: "That's gonna screw with the die-hards," and by die-hard, I mean those people who've read the books 2-3 times pulling out little details. I love it when I get emails from these poor bastards.
 

Rexenm

Inkling
I like to write about poor or disadvantaged characters, they have drive and can be inspirational - I love how the chance lone wolf character will seize his opportunity, and there might even be a mother they are trying to save, or a daughter they are about to suave.
 
I suppose topic is different from theme, with ‘theme’ being a more overarching description. But still, it’s difficult to know what to say when it comes to topic. Really within the themes I like to write about lots of different topics.

So anyway, some topics probably include womanhood, magic, domestic life, plants and landscape, duty versus desire, coming of age, love. Lots ‘o’ stuff.
 
Anything macabre and horror-orientated. Regardless of the genre I’m writing, there is usually a horror element to it, not just within the story literally but also conceptually.

Some motifs in my writing also include; loss of religion, the question of authority, fascism, inescapable dread, hopelessness in society, capitalism, sexism, LGBT issues, and the self destruction of humanity. Even when I’m not intentionally being preachy these topics come up, simply because they impact a lot of my thoughts. I’m a recent father as well, so the parental dynamic is now impacting my ideas for stories.
 
Anything macabre and horror-orientated. Regardless of the genre I’m writing, there is usually a horror element to it, not just within the story literally but also conceptually.

Some motifs in my writing also include; loss of religion, the question of authority, fascism, inescapable dread, hopelessness in society, capitalism, sexism, LGBT issues, and the self destruction of humanity. Even when I’m not intentionally being preachy these topics come up, simply because they impact a lot of my thoughts. I’m a recent father as well, so the parental dynamic is now impacting my ideas for stories.
Geez. Not everything is giggles and cotton candy, Rex. You should try writing about some serious issues.
 

skip.knox

toujours gai, archie
Moderator
People.

Favorite is one way to look at it, but "challenging" is another, and "interesting" still another. Maybe it's, "topics I seem to keep returning to". And that's still people.

But I write fantasy, so that word covers more ground. Of particular interest to me is writing about different kinds of people, finding ways to portray them in so that dwarves are recognizably dwarvish yet still with variation. Likewise with elves, humans, ogres, and gnomes. Those are the ones that have occupied the most space so far. I do need to get to orcs and trolls at some point, so I can show "monsters" with variations.

For some reason I have latched onto ogres. I've got a couple of verbal tics, and a view of the world that is very roughly Stoic. Elves have been a real challenge, trying to emphasize their fierce individualism while maintaining discernible common characteristics. Still hardly touched dwarves so far, except in one novel, and he was rather an outlier.

To go along with that, then it's also been a challenge to construct social, economic, cultural, and political background that supports and brackets those individuals. My aim is to have "nations". Just as we humans have national characteristics while all being obviously human, so I want to have characteristics for elves, dwarves, and so on. The only way I am able to make this work is from the inside out. I have to write stories in which I have specific characters experiencing particular events, building that while keeping one eye on the larger context (social, economic, cultural, political).

This is an approach I probably ought to have adopted thirty or forty years ago. <wince>
 
As Skip said... people.

Creating interesting people and then putting them through the ringer - giving them what they want then taking it away. Especially dickheads - I'm quite talented at creating dickhead characters that readers loathe. Let them win for a while, then the world comes crashing down in amusing fashion.

Readers love that.
 
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