What themes may come?

[At Dusk I Reign]

Thinking back on all the stories I've ever written, be they a thousand words or a hundred thousand, I've noticed that two themes seem to pop up quite regularly. In some cases they lie buried so deep that only the most patient excavation will ever uncover them. In quite a few, however, they're apparent from the first page and are obviously the foundations upon which the entire plot is erected.

One such theme is loss and the scars it leaves upon the soul. My main characters have all been bereft in some way: the physical struggles they face exist in tandem with the internal turmoil which occurs when something or someone precious has been torn from existence.

The other theme, which is tied inexorably to the first, is impermanence. All the worlds I've created are in the final throes of decay: the magma is cooling, the sun burns less bright, the clock of time is winding down. An atmosphere of melancholy settles over the actors, and no matter what victories they wrest from the jaws of defeat they all know that the curtain must fall sooner rather than later.

Neither of these things is the product of my conscious mind - by and large I'm not given to dark thoughts or worrying about what the future holds. I tend to roll with the punches and hope for the best.

As with everyone else, though, my experiences have obviously left some kind of indelible mark, and therein lies the point of this thread:

Fiction is a broad canvas. We each daub our dreams upon it. So what themes do you explore in your writing? Are there any underlying ideas which power your creative engine?

 

[sashamerideth]

For me the themes of redemption or failure to achieve the same have driven a couple shorts, and my main work right now. Other shorts are loss, desperation, and striving for equality, usually, for some reason with regards to sexuality or identity.

Also are the fight against destiny and a mistaken belief in deity. I am still new with only a few short stories, and a couple first drafts in need of rewriting.

 

[Amanita]

In many of my stories, the main character is being taught by a clever but relatively evil man he or she has some personal history of conflict with. This acutally caused an uncle of mine to be quite worried when I told him but I don't think there's a reason for this.
Another one is the clever and talented young person starting out under disadvantages and struggling against them, sometimes violently.
In the greater scheme of things a common theme of mine are totalitarian or "evil" governments and the way the people deal with them. And the question if they prefer to be "freed" and occupied by another nation or to stay under their government.

 

[balthore]

Many of my larger stories deal with the death/murder, often tragic and brutal in nature, of someone very close to the main char in my stories. It is often the spark that changes the char in one way or another, and not always for the best either.

In other stories the theme that comes out often deals with how one person or group of people can influence everything around them. Kind of the whole "pebble in the pond" or Ta'veren type theme. Of course it doesn't always turn out well or as planned, that is the fun in the writing.

I find myself sticking withe kind of a standard "hero and friends" type theme in most of my writings.

 

[At Dusk I Reign]

Great responses so far : it's always fascinating to peer into the minds of fellow writers.

 

[drkpyn]

One main theme of my current project is the importance of having a strong belief in something. The other is that, as I'm sure you all know, true love conquers all.

 

[Ophiucha]

Rather the opposite of yourself, I have something of a fascination with the permanent. Though change is part of the world, and many of my stories are set at the end of the world or the beginning of a new era, I don't focus on the things that change. I write about the immovable, the unaltered. Mountain imagery features heavily in all of my works, and you can always find at least one prominent static character in my pieces, often even as the main character. I like to see how those characters react to change, how they react to the changes in others, and how they stand their ground in spite of it. When I write a political fantasy, I focus on the things that are left the same, the things we'd all cling to in the face of such societal upheaval. Hell, I practically write 'slice of life', except set in a world of Lovecraftian horrors and mythological fantasies.

 

[J. Rosemary Moss]

Excellent thread. I've found that a consistent theme in my stories is pitting my characters against a given framework of rules--the rules of their society, the rules of their religion, the rules of their clan. Some learn to bend and manipulate the rules, others rebel against them and deal with the consequences, still others defend them.

The rules themselves have good aspects, bad aspects, and neutral aspects--so it's usually not a case of pitting a character against a force of evil or a force of good.

The question of static-vs-change is intriguing; thanks At Dusk I Reign and Opiucha for bringing that dynamic up. I'm fascinated by the question of how a character who's invested in societal rules would react when some upheaval occurs and the rules no longer apply. (That's probably why I like books like Gone With the Wind--despite it's nauseating racism--and plays like Fiddler on the Roof, both of which deal with precisely that question.)

 

[Helbrecht]

Themes that always seem to crop up in my writing are those of family. I seem to play a lot with the perceived importance of heredity and concepts like "like father, like son", as well as to what extent family life and upbringing can define an individual. Perhaps relatedly, I also often find myself discussing relationships between siblings either of the blood-related or metaphorical sort. Frequently, my writing juxtaposes the hero's perceptions of his real family against the certain group of people outside of it that he nonetheless regards as brothers and sisters.

I also seem to find myself working comments on the social, cultural and economic divide between the rich and the poor into my writing more frequently as of late. Maybe it's genetic - my mother is a raving Marxist and trade union organiser.

Less frequently, but still extensively, I've written about a well-cemented, life-defining belief of a character's being suddenly questioned or shattered, often as an instigating or continuing event in a plot, with the ensuing narrative tracking their development as a person as they're forced to reconsider or shake off this belief. I also seem to be fond of the eternal romantic rebel struggling against a monolithic establishment.

 

[James Chandler]

I hate this question because it is so good. Unlike every other story I have ever written, the manuscript I am working on now began with the question, what themes do I want to explore? The ideas of redemption and forgiveness are such a rich topics - redemption from what or whom? So, that was basically where I started. But, I've found all kinds of other themes. Speaking of change v. permanence, dealing with this is very perspective dependent, and I am finding that very intriguing, particularly where it has been an issue on the public conscience in the U.S. over the past few years. That is, there is an image of what America is or should be, but did it ever really match the image? The answer will be very different depending on who you ask.

 

[At Dusk I Reign]

As someone who's interested in how and why writers actually write it's great to see in-depth responses regarding the process. I've always found it a pleasure to delve inside the writer's mind and poke around in the clockwork.

 

[Chilari]

Interesting thread. I think the main theme I'm working with in my current WIP is perspective, and how there's more than one valid perspective - how the "bad guy" isn't necessarily what you might think he is; part of that is the old shades of grey theme. I've never been a fan of stark good vs evil stories, in which the good guy is never morally compromised, the bad guy is evil through and through, and everyone gets exactly what they deserve: the good guy gets the girl or to be king or whatever, the bad guy dies, and any shades of grey characters get punished within the story exactly in proportion to their crimes and how sorry they are for them. I want to tell a story in which every character has his or her own prejudices and beliefs and these shape their goals and their actions, and are questioned by the actions of the other characters.

The other theme I keep coming back to in a lot of what I write, and which also appears in what I'm working on now, is the idea of two characters who really hate each other - whose political ideals, personal goals, and world views conflict so strongly that they cannot agree on anything - finding common ground and, through a series of circumstances, end up listening to each others' views without trying to argue with them, and ultimately working together towards a common goal, even if that goal is small and trivial compared to what they are each working towards separately. They tend to end up with (at the least) mutual respect, though in one or two things I have written it becomes something a little more than that (I indulge my romantic side a lot further in fanfic, which nobody else is ever going to read and in which I feel I can justify the cliche of hatred turns to love; in my original fic, I prefer to base my romances on an earlier establishment of mutual respect and let them grow more gradually.)

 

[TWErvin2]

I don't always start out with a theme in mind for a story or a novel. It usually starts with an idea, an interesting twist/what if. Then the story develops and as the characters interact around the question or situation, the theme(s) develops.

In my novel, Flank Hawk, it centers on loyalty, friendship and sacrifice.

My most recently published story, "The Exchange Box" deals with responsibility and choices having consequences.

I have found, however, that really a writer may intend to convey something. But each reader brings something different to the table (perspective/life experiences/views) and thus comes away with something different--unless the themes and ideas are subtle as a sledge hammer. Just like multiple witnesses to a crime--interview them and you won't get the exact same description of events.