As corny as it sounds, I'm wild about thematic significance. I mean if the Universal Story longs to manifest, what better way than through a story's deeper themes?
Jodi Picoult in Change of Heart, shows the affects the dramatic action has on the characters' emotional development in order to bring to the fore themes about the life sentence, abuse, loss, redemption and love.
Interestingly, both of the two theme-driven writers, use multiple viewpoint characters, each with their own chapters, with a clear first line for each switch in point-of-view and creates a minimum of confusion. When readers are immediately pulled into the next character’s mind and body, readers they have little reason to feel they will miss the character they just were connected to. And, each character has a very definite point of view about the issues at hand though the protagonist's change overtime to fulfill the role of the protagonist -- the character who changes the most in the story by the dramatic action
By: Martha Alderson, M.A.,
on 3/21/2010
Blog: Plot Whisperer for Writers and Readers (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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Listen to yourself. Write the way that feels right to you.
Often comments from others are more an indication that something needs work. In our zeal to support our fellow writers, we come up with all sorts of solutions. However, what's most important is to know something isn't working and for you to come up with what is the best fit.
I just don't want you to get into trying to please everyone else.
Most important is your relationship to the story.
The story will tell you everything you need to know.
Ask the story what is best and then listen...
By: Martha Alderson, M.A.,
on 9/15/2009
Blog: Plot Whisperer for Writers and Readers (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: theme in stories, thematic significance of our stories, story themes, themes we live by, Add a tag
The Thematic Significance of your story is the thread that holds your story together. The more clearly you can define your thematic significance statement, the tighter your story. Once you have identified your Thematic Significance statement, your scene choices and word choices throughout your story will follow theme. The theme then serves as your compass, determining what fits and what doesn't.
Writers generally begin a new project writing in their strength:
Dramatic Action
Character Emotional Development
Thematic Significance
The writers who begin with an idea they want to explore or a concept they want to prove through their story are beginning with Thematic Significance. For the rest of us, the theme of our stories bubbles up from the story itself in later drafts. No matter what we write, the process of writing is an exploration into ourselves, our own personal themes.
Either way the theme comes to you, the themes we write about most often originate from our own personal past -- at least for the first several stories this is true. Our own belief system and the themes we live our lives by pop up in our stories when we least expect them. Unless, that is, we are aware of the themes we live by and are on the lookout for them.
HOMEWORK:
Make a list of the themes you find that seem to consistently come up in your writing.
Next post, I'll discuss how to take that list and shape those themes ideas into a Thematic Significance statement for your project.
I ripped mine apart recently. I had backed myself into a corner trying to do it how one writer suggested, then another and so on. I took the advice of a published author, I have a lot of respect for. She told me as you have, write as the story wants you to, it can be edited later, but just write.
I did and the flow has been far smoother, I am writing faster. I am not worrying about author pleasing, just readers and myself.
I now listen to only two 'mentors', it is not so mind boggling.
It is so easy to get caught up with what you think you should be doing, rather than just doing it.
Interesting post.