Theme in a Novel – Does Your Choice Really Matter?

I’m not a person who thinks a lot about theme in a novel. When I dissect why I did or did not enjoy a book, you usually hear me discuss, above all things, believable character motivation. (And a decided lack thereof). Many books suffer from the “why didn’t they just do XYZ, which would have been SO much easier and more straightforward?” syndrome. The author answer is, sadly, “Because then there wouldn’t have been a story, silly!” but that’s just terrible. Honestly, I’ll follow any rickety plot if you convince me that the character is realistically motivated to make the plot decisions they’re making.

After that, I’ll critique plot holes, pacing (for sure!) and the writing. But you’ll never hear me say, “I thought the theme was weak” or “I don’t think the author made full use of the theme.” For me as a reader, theme is only working on my subconscious. (Which is not to say that there aren’t books that have totally NAILED theme. There are tons of them. I just don’t notice that element.)

So when I started to work on a broad outline for The Empress Game’s books 2 and 3—using Libbie Hawker's book on plotting called Take Off Your Pants—and it called for coming up with a theme, I was a little stumped.

This recalled me to a recurring discussion about theme that I keep having with one of my critique partners, the lovely and talented Jen Brooks. She has a fantastic YA contemporary fantasy novel out this year, In a World Just Right.

She wrote an introspective and generous blog post about the difference between a “romance novel” and a “love story.” (Don’t get me going on this debate! We disagree ;-) But her great post is here)

She asked me once what I thought the theme of her novel was, because she constantly struggled against her publisher’s classification of her novel as a “YA Romance.” (She considers it a SF novel with romantic elements). I love the book, but I have to admit, I agree with the publisher. To me, the principle motivator of Jonathan’s actions in the book is his love for Kylie. He wants to do what’s best for her, even when it goes against all of his best interests.

When I told her that, though, she told me what her actual theme was, what message she wanted to get across. It was a great theme, don’t get me wrong, but I have to admit, that wasn’t the message I got from the book. I obviously took my own personal experience and viewed the book through that lens. What I saw was profound, but, as I learned, very different from what the author intended.

This brings me to my 2 points. (And what Take Off Your Pants got me thinking about.)

1)      The only person who really knows what the theme of the book is, is the author. Which, being a fact, is why I don’t enjoy the literary analysis side of English degrees. (And why I mastered in “Writing” instead of “Literature”)

More importantly, to me, is the thought occurring to me today:

2)      It doesn’t matter what theme the author intended. It only matters what the reader takes away from the story.

In the end, you can’t control that. You can try, but everyone’s filters are so strong that invariably your theme will be washed through the experience of your readers’ lives until it (sometimes even) becomes unrecognizable to you.

And that is perfectly fine. After all, as commercial authors, we write to share our stories with others, we don’t just write for ourselves.

I recently met a friend of James’s, and he said that his wife had written an SF novel but she was so shy about it she wouldn’t even let him read it. I offered to help her with the insanity of starting on an agent search and tell her what I’ve learned about the business so far, and her husband said she wasn’t even sure if she wanted to try to sell it. I told him, without any doubt, that I knew, without even meeting her, that she wanted to sell it (or share it at least).

We don’t write a story down for ourselves. We already know the story. It’s in our mind, it keeps us awake, we live and breathe the characters. The reason we slave to capture the essence of the story and these characters on the page is because we are storytellers, yarn-spinners, and we long to share to story with at least that one soul who will “get it.”

I’ve gone totally afield from my topic of theme, but, welcome to the workings of my brain. ;-)

Post-Traumatic Stress is Not a Disorder

So I was listening to NPR the other day and heard a correspondent say, in passing, that they are dropping the “D” from PTSD and that it will just be called PTS (Post-Traumatic Stress) these days, not Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

I wanted to put in my two cents and say I whole-heartedly support this decision. It is not a mental disorder to have a mix of anxiety, depression and anger after a major traumatic event. (In most cases, we’re talking about war-time experiences, a rape, and things equally horrifying). After the shit some people have gone through, it is totally normal and natural to have those reactions. I would be more concerned by people who saw and dealt with death and near-death situations *without* being messed up by it.

Thumbs up to the military/psych community for beginning to change this language. The only damage such a change might bring is if insurance companies somehow find ways to weasel out of paying for the treatment of PTS because it is no longer “technically” a “disorder.” But I have (some) faith that the people in charge are smart enough to see their way around the dropping of one word from a diagnosis, and realizing that treatment is still needed, all the same.

The Washington Post released an article with a good discussion on whether PTS is more like a bullet wound or a bipolar/depressive mental disorder.

PTS is an issue I’m exploring with my character, Vayne, who (in my novel) is a mental/physical torture survivor. It’s one thing to handle the topic in fiction, but the reality for many people in the real world is much, much worse. My heart goes out to all of those who struggle with PTS daily.

Time Magazine had a short online article on the topic, you can find it here: http://nation.time.com/2011/06/05/the-disappearing-disorder-why-ptsd-is-becoming-pts/

COVER REVEAL: The Empress Game – Debut Space Opera

It’s finally here, the long-anticipated cover for my space opera/science fiction novel The Empress Game!

I love everything about it. They couldn't have captured Kayla, the female protagonist, any more perfectly.

Here’s the back of the book blurb:

One seat on the intergalactic Sakien Empire’s supreme ruling body, the Council of Seven, remains unfilled, that of the Empress Apparent. The seat isn’t won by votes or marriage, it’s won in a tournament of ritualized combat in the ancient tradition. Now that tournament–the Empress Game–has been called, and the females of the empire will stop at nothing to secure political domination for their homeworlds.

The battle for political power isn't contained by the tournament’s ring, however. The empire’s elite gather to forge, strengthen or betray alliances in a political dance that will shape the fate of the empire for a generation. With the empire wracked by a rising nanovirus plague and stretched thin by an ill-advised planet-wide occupation in enemy territory, everything rests on the woman who rises to the top.

The Empress Game is set to release in July 2015.

Pre-order The Empress Game at Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

Add The Empress Game to your “To be Read” shelf at Goodreads. 

Writing Process Blog Tour

This week the fabulous Jen Brooks tagged me in to do a post on my writing process. Check out her answers to the questions here: http://www.jenbrookswriter.com/2014/07/21/mywritingprocess-blog-tour/

And here are the questions!

1)      What am I working on?

I am working on the sequel to my debut novel, a space opera titled Empress Game. This will be the second in a trilogy and is called Cloak of War. It follows Kayla and her family of psionics in their fight to free their homeworld from occupation by the Sakien Empire.

2)      How does my work differ from others of its genre?

In a genre with ray guns, plasma rockets, ion pistols and so forth, there can be a lot of shoot outs. I like to bring the more personal elements of fighting into the action, and include gritty hand to hand combat in my novels. I like to showcase martial arts and the use of a good old-fashioned head butt to bring immediacy to the character’s struggles.

I also have kick-butt female protagonists, willing to sacrifice everything in their dedication to their goals. Now if only the men could keep up with them! ;-)

3)      Why do I write what I do?

I write speculative fiction (and space opera in particular, in this case) because it gives me freedom to explore any plot I want because the world-building is in my hands. If I want to see how a character would react to sudden freedom of choice after being the victim of mind-control for 5 years, I can create a sci-fi world in which that kind of set-up is possible. (Cloak of War is exploring that very topic!)

I also write kick-butt female heroes because a) there are just too few of them in literature/movies, b) I love to explore the strengths, mental and physical, of women, and see what they can do when driven to the edge, then past it. I have a lot of strong female role models in my family, and that’s just what comes natural to me, writing a character strong enough in her own way to meet and master any challenge.

4)      How does my individual writing process work?

Oh man, I could write a book on this topic! Honestly, and I suspect this is true of most writers, my processes is an amalgam of all types.

I do my best writing when I’ve already outlined. I love outlining. With an outline in hand, I can tackle a scene and only worry about the words, not also having to come up with the plot at the same time. Ideally I’d outline all the time.

But, I’m impatient, and a little lazy. Sometimes things don’t come to me. I have no idea what happens in the plot next. In that case, the only way to shake loose the story is to write. I put one word in front of the other, painfully sometimes, just typing and telling myself, “I can always rewrite this later.” I say, “Okay, write 500 words and see what happens.”

Sometimes they’re crap and I get nowhere ;-) But usually, it gets me going and slowly the wheels of plotting start to turn again. There’s no such thing as writer’s block. If you’re “blocked,” then you’re just not being versatile enough in your process. If one avenue isn’t working, attack it from a different direction: outline, free write, take a walk while musing on it, listen to suitable music, do a mock interview with your characters, read a book on writing craft (this usually gets me crackin’), try word association, write a list of things you don’t  know yet, and start thinking of the answers.

I like that last one a lot. Don’t ask yourself “what happens next,” ask “what would happen if she just gave up here?” or “Why is my villain so angry?” or “How does the nanovirus I’ve created actually work, on a scientific level?” Thinking of these details gets you going on how they affect the plot.

In the end I’d say my process is outlining whenever I can, and knowing that I need to utilize every other process at some point in the creation of a novel to keep me going.

Want to hear what two other great authors have to say to these questions? Check out:

Diana Botsford

Writer/Producer Diana Dru Botsford's work runs the gamut from novels to the screen including several Stargate SG-1 novels, the Star Trek TNG episode, "Rascal's" and the award-winning science fiction webseries "Epilogue."  She most recently contributed to the up-and-coming Stargate short story anthology, "Far Horizons," due from Fandemonium this fall. Check out her answers here: http://dianabotsford.com

And fellow Southwest Florida Romance Writer Patty Campbell

Patty Campbell has just finished the second book in her military romances, and has begun hero number 3's story. Her fascination with the USMC is part of family history. Check out her answers on her blog: pattycampbellauthor.blogspot.com