Today is the monumental day when I begin my first post in what I imagine will be a long series of posts about my experience and my research on writing specifically book-length fiction or fantasy. Sort of a backstage pass that shows you the rudiments of making a novel. Some of this comes from my personal perspective on creation, having written (but failed to publish, hint hint to any of you publishers out there) eight novels myself. A fair percentage of this, however, is based off of a fabulous book entitled Revising Fiction by someone whose name I have unfortunately forgotten. I would like to thank them for their experience, and emphasize that anything I write here would be reiterated with much greater detail and guidance in that fabulous book, Revising Fiction, that my Humanities teacher lent me twice.
Today, I write about . . .
THEME
Your theme is your message.
When I sat down to begin my first book, well, it was a far cry from anything worthy to line the shelves of a bookstore. At first it was just a kernel of inspiration from a fun book called A Practical Guide to Monsters that I read when I was eight or nine. From there, I was intrigued by the fantastical creatures of this whimsical realm. As time progressed, several failed attempts at forming a plot resulted in . . . a stupendous waste of paper. But still, this demesne of dragons and faeries clawed at the walls restraining my imagination until, coupled with a cute lighthouse lamp, an idea that I could finally manage poured out onto my rickety and aged laptop.
The point there is, a book can start as just a nugget of thought or interest, or as the inklings of an idea, or already as a full-fledged story. Beginning without your entire plot already worked out and sequels beginning to formulate is not a crime. In fact, its something of the norm for me. I get halfway through my first few drafts before thinking, alright, I should probably have some idea of where this series is going now; it's time to get that onto paper. Occasionally, when a sudden brilliant twist strikes me, I'll have to go back and write some revisions, but revisiting the past is even less of an offense. In fact, it's a pretty smart idea. I'm still a fairly (okay, ludicrously) young writer, so my style is ever changing. As I look back on something I wrote a year ago, my improved technique screams at me adaptations that I should make.
Other themes can be lessons for readers to contemplate; values for them to emulate; a great idea for a hero, villain, or just a side character; or even a setting that you simply wish to share through fiction and end up elaborating on.
A genre that has accumulated its fair share of stereotypes is science fiction. Let's take a look at some of the themes related to our dear old friend. . . .
Science fiction: science fiction themes often explore a question about scientific advancement or a social trend blown drastically out of proportion. What if technologies like time travel, genetic engineering, teleportation, or faster-than-light space travel developed to dominate our lives? What if sociological trends like overpopulation, censorship, worldwide collaborative government, or nuclear proliferation were extrapolated to their logical conclusions? Science fiction is a guess about where we're going with what.
Or another fairly common one, dystopias. . . .
Dystopias: most dystopias are about what can go wrong. It's some sort of alteration made to the regular functioning of humanity that completely twists are future; you're denied the right to fall in love, everyone is surgically enhanced to look beautiful, children are forced to fight to the death for entertainment. Usually, whatever this futuristic realm is seems great. (Well, maybe not that last one.) In the beginning of Uglies, Matched, or Delirium, everyone's perfectly happy about whatever the norm is in this society. Usually the main character is poised - or forced, in the case of Hunger Games - to follow through with it. But then, something changes, causing them to question their whole worlds development. They fall in love. Making them pretty makes their brains defective. Or, y'know, they don't want to fight to the death. This whole new society comes crashing down and things revert to pretty much how they are now, in the 21st century. Apparently we really nailed how the human race should behave.
You know the theme of a book is strong when for hours after completing it you're dazed. The potent message wraps you in a stupor, suppressing all emotion until something even more powerful cracks through the cocoon. Books that I've found to do this are Mockingjay, Everfound, and Inheritance. (Notice they are all the end of a series, not just the middle or first book in some chronicle.) As I write this, I've just completed the first example, instead of cocooning me, its energy has funneled into efficient writer's block, preventing me from doing anything more complicated (like working on my novel) then drawing up this post. But the effects are dissipating fast, thankfully, nothing compared to when I finished writing my first real series. That may as well have enclosed me in a concrete cell that, over a period of weeks, maybe even months was weathered away by exquisite words and searing inspiration. Finally, I have recovered from the staggering pressure of that theme - friendship - and moved onto the next series, of which the theme is undetermined. Perhaps my message would not be so strong to other readers, only to me, the author.
The point is, every story needs a message, an ideal, a quality, a person that was special to you, or just a concept - really anything that it can revolve around. Make your core strong; blow readers off their feet, hold them captive in deep musings even after their done reading. if it has a huge impact on you, that's a good start. Choose a them that matters, that evokes emotion. And when you're finished . . . have a friend read it first. Or send it to me! I can give you the adulation and the harder truths.
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