Themes & Symbolism: ROW80 Update

Shakespeare. He has proved* to be my nemesis on more than one occasion. I respect his works, even enjoy them. Then I got that one professor who considered himself the utmost authority on all things Shakespeare, and I have not read Shakespeare since.

Why? The professor picked out so many absurd, over-reaching varied themes and symbolism, I started to wonder. If Shakespeare was alive today, would he be sitting in the back of a college lecture laughing his butt** off? Did he really intend to put so many elements into his writing?

Or did he write a darn** good story and luck into some academic success?

I am not challenging Shakespeare's brilliance or writing talent, just how much forethought he had on people dissecting his work for generations to come.

But I digress...

As a writer, how much should we pour over adding themes and symbolism to our work?

I'll be honest, I write my story. After it's done, I will see some recurring themes and symbolism. I might even beef them up. Sure, I start with some themes... family issues, teenage insecurity, relationship difficulties, self-discovery... but I end up with more in the natural writing process than by some synthetic manipulation intended to make the reader think I'm talented.

* Just to share my OGD (Obsessive Grammar Disorder), I was torn on using has proved or has proven yet. I looked it up and according to modern usage, proven is only an adjective (such as a proven theory) and proved is the verb.

** Butt and darn were used as a public service announcement to my children who challenge me daily to not use bad words.

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My A Round of Words in 80 Days (ROW80) Update

It's slow going. Quite frankly, it will be until August 27th when my kids go back to school. I only have two weeks left with them. And I'll be honest... if they even sense my muse is considering gracing me with her presence, they set up a barricade of chaos to chase her away.

That being said, I have given a lot of thought to theme in my currrent WIP. Mom and I are doing a theme-based reading with Marty Silverthorne, a wonderful poet and my cousin. We are showing the same themes can be in prose and poems and reading snippets of our work. It's been an enlightening process, especially since Mom and I are again reading from our current novel.

I have two new editing jobs starting August 27 and a list of writing goals a mile long. I'm looking forward to that, but I will miss the time I've shared with my girls this summer. My family is such an important part of who I am as a writer. I think I've only really understood that lately.

One accomplishment I was quite proud of this past week. I blogged five days straight on Mom in Love with Fiction, including three book reviews. First time ever.

Hope all my ROW80 participants are rocking this round. Wishing you many words!