Deriving Theme From Character
Ahoy all! I have returned, refreshed and rearing to go!
In fact, I'm already going.
Currently I'm well into outlining a new book, my first wholly-new one in almost two years. The Alumita series has gone too long without a romantic adventure, so it's time for another one!
And, like all of my books, it started with character. I won't go into any detail about them (they're for you to discover when you read it!), but something that has bubbled up already are the themes of the book. It's a romance, so of course the overall theme is always going to be 'Love conquers all', but many of the sub-themes and other areas this book are going to explore have grown entirely out of the characters, even before I've written a single paragraph.
Thus far in the process, I've dedicated a lot of the time to working out their backgrounds, filling in the bottom of the iceberg that you, the reader, will only see the tip of poking out through the prose. Through that, figuring out what makes these people tick and why, what the story is going to be about has already become evident. Knowing where the characters are coming from is hugely important; understanding their flaws (and why they have them) drives their choices and reactions to the events of the story, which in turn helps gives rise to the overall themes.
And what is a story if not the characters? The plot is what happens, but that's not what it's about, at least not in a romance.
Theme is something that often gets overlooked when concocting a story. Many times it develops unconsciously, only emerging when the story is done, sometimes not even intentionally! It also has a whiff of the academic or arcane about it, something only discussed in classrooms, book clubs or between authors. But theme is the real answer to the question 'What is the story about?' Theme is the through-line that holds it all together.
On a nuts-and-bolts level of crafting a book, theme can help organically generate plot points and challenges for the characters. If you know what the story is about, you can hammer at it and tailor events to reinforce it. If you don't know what to do next, it's a great starting point to figure it out. Theme and character weakness both are very fertile tools (that's a thing, right?) for coming up with plot points when you're stuck. Attack her flaws, give her reasons to make bad choices (Vimika gets drunk, Skathi takes on everything herself); tailor events to exploit these things and force her to grow and change. Sticking to theme can help you do so for both main characters in a romance, since they will have different, if perhaps similar, flaws and you won't always have access to both of their thoughts.
I don't usually set out to write a book with any specific themes in mind, though the overall themes of the Ashes books are an exception. I wanted to write about the effects of trauma, depression and the invisible victims of war. From there, and putting the characters through what they went through, I aimed to have a central, single-word theme for each book: Identity. Truth. Consequences. Renewal. Responsibility. Acceptance.
The theme in Without Words of strength coming in many forms didn't really emerge until well into writing it. (Spoilers for the first half of the book) Only when Skathi had her claustrophobia attack did it really hit me what I was writing about (end spoilers (no, I don't trust the HTML spoiler tags)).
This new book is more typical of my standalones, in that the themes are developing organically from who the characters are and why they are. I can't get into specifics now of course (which may make much of this post of scant use, but I'm excited!), but this is the first time that I can recall the themes of the story emerging so early, and entirely without intention. Just imagining who these characters are, what's missing in their lives, how they will interact and how they will make each other better has made the whole process so far feel very organic and much more streamlined than any other. I already have a spine that runs through the entire thing, making it more solid and coherent. Hopefully that makes it satisfying and more than just a consumable, empty-calorie kind of romance. Yes, there will be kissy bits and a happy ending, but if you can wrap all those in something bigger and more meaningful, it stands a better chance of sticking and being more re-readable.
I apologize if this was frustratingly vague, but this process has been a bit of a revelation for me. Coming out from the Ashes books, I feel an incredible sense of renewal and being able to do anything, in new ways, and this was the first of I hope many manifestations of that.
If you're a writer, I hope you got something out of it, and if you're a reader, I hope you enjoyed a little peek behind the curtain.
In fact, I'm already going.
Currently I'm well into outlining a new book, my first wholly-new one in almost two years. The Alumita series has gone too long without a romantic adventure, so it's time for another one!
And, like all of my books, it started with character. I won't go into any detail about them (they're for you to discover when you read it!), but something that has bubbled up already are the themes of the book. It's a romance, so of course the overall theme is always going to be 'Love conquers all', but many of the sub-themes and other areas this book are going to explore have grown entirely out of the characters, even before I've written a single paragraph.
Thus far in the process, I've dedicated a lot of the time to working out their backgrounds, filling in the bottom of the iceberg that you, the reader, will only see the tip of poking out through the prose. Through that, figuring out what makes these people tick and why, what the story is going to be about has already become evident. Knowing where the characters are coming from is hugely important; understanding their flaws (and why they have them) drives their choices and reactions to the events of the story, which in turn helps gives rise to the overall themes.
And what is a story if not the characters? The plot is what happens, but that's not what it's about, at least not in a romance.
Theme is something that often gets overlooked when concocting a story. Many times it develops unconsciously, only emerging when the story is done, sometimes not even intentionally! It also has a whiff of the academic or arcane about it, something only discussed in classrooms, book clubs or between authors. But theme is the real answer to the question 'What is the story about?' Theme is the through-line that holds it all together.
On a nuts-and-bolts level of crafting a book, theme can help organically generate plot points and challenges for the characters. If you know what the story is about, you can hammer at it and tailor events to reinforce it. If you don't know what to do next, it's a great starting point to figure it out. Theme and character weakness both are very fertile tools (that's a thing, right?) for coming up with plot points when you're stuck. Attack her flaws, give her reasons to make bad choices (Vimika gets drunk, Skathi takes on everything herself); tailor events to exploit these things and force her to grow and change. Sticking to theme can help you do so for both main characters in a romance, since they will have different, if perhaps similar, flaws and you won't always have access to both of their thoughts.
I don't usually set out to write a book with any specific themes in mind, though the overall themes of the Ashes books are an exception. I wanted to write about the effects of trauma, depression and the invisible victims of war. From there, and putting the characters through what they went through, I aimed to have a central, single-word theme for each book: Identity. Truth. Consequences. Renewal. Responsibility. Acceptance.
The theme in Without Words of strength coming in many forms didn't really emerge until well into writing it. (Spoilers for the first half of the book) Only when Skathi had her claustrophobia attack did it really hit me what I was writing about (end spoilers (no, I don't trust the HTML spoiler tags)).
This new book is more typical of my standalones, in that the themes are developing organically from who the characters are and why they are. I can't get into specifics now of course (which may make much of this post of scant use, but I'm excited!), but this is the first time that I can recall the themes of the story emerging so early, and entirely without intention. Just imagining who these characters are, what's missing in their lives, how they will interact and how they will make each other better has made the whole process so far feel very organic and much more streamlined than any other. I already have a spine that runs through the entire thing, making it more solid and coherent. Hopefully that makes it satisfying and more than just a consumable, empty-calorie kind of romance. Yes, there will be kissy bits and a happy ending, but if you can wrap all those in something bigger and more meaningful, it stands a better chance of sticking and being more re-readable.
I apologize if this was frustratingly vague, but this process has been a bit of a revelation for me. Coming out from the Ashes books, I feel an incredible sense of renewal and being able to do anything, in new ways, and this was the first of I hope many manifestations of that.
If you're a writer, I hope you got something out of it, and if you're a reader, I hope you enjoyed a little peek behind the curtain.
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