posted
How do you guys conceive of your short stories? Do you first think of a theme and then write the story, or do you think of a situation and then just write the story, and if a theme emerges so much the better! Or do you write the story and guide it by theme, or write the story first however it wants to be written and then incorporate theme, or...
posted
I just write the story and don't even worry about putting in a theme. Writing the story is my job. Figuring out what themes are important in it is the reader's job. At least, that's how I feel about it.
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posted
Usually I come up with one vivid scene or image, then I find the characters in that scene, then I go back and forth as I justify what I'm seeing and fill in the beginning and end---then, if satisfied, I write something down. If I'm lucky, there's a theme or moral or something.
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posted
Usually an image, sometimes a line of dialogue, then I build a scene around it, then try to figure out what could be happening - what the story is.
I don't worry about theme until after I know the story, which isn't usually until after I have a couple of drafts written.
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My sources of inspiration range across the cosmos; however, I sketch the plot first. For me story is plot. The theme is an element of the story, what the story is about, the topic. Having a theme suggests and promotes the type of plot, story mode, and general characteristics of the protagonist, other characters, their discourse, and the settings. Everything in a story I write derives from and adds to plot as well as other elements. Knowing the theme-topic, contributes to the tone, suggests rhetorical schemes and tropes,and correlates to audience resonance.
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posted
I do either one, though I guess I lean toward letting the theme come out on its own in the first draft. Typically I'm just happy to be writing on those infrequent occasions, predetermined theme or not.
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posted
In school, ever since second grade, I've always been the kid/teen/guy who was outraged that the teacher/professor felt s/he knew the author's "intended theme and/or message" was in the story. Everything from the basic morals of Dr. Seuss to the feminist messages of Ursula K. LeGuin, I contested it all, arguing that maybe the author "just wanted to tell a good story."
So no, I don't subscribe to the idea of putting themes or messages at the core of what I write. I think it would ruin a perfectly good story.
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I can't say I agree, Saucy Jim. Most do have a theme, I believe, including my own. I didn't consciously decide on the theme before writing.
Our unconscious is certainly at work and they do end up with themes whether we want them to or not. By the end, I can see the theme and often choose a title to underscore the theme.
One of my WIP is a fantasy story for my kids, and I'm writing it to teach them some things I feel they need to understand. Hopefully I can sneak the moral lessons into a really good story they'll enjoy!
My other WIP is a story based on the life of my Granny, and I'm just trying to get it down as it comes to mind. She is a great lady who's getting old and dementia is setting in, so I just want to catch the essence of who she is before she's gone.
posted
I guess my problem is that if I don't write with a theme in mind I end up with a book. Or a story that just has a hodge podge of events with no resonance. On the other hand, I think my obsession with theme is preventing me from writing at all, since I tend to get rid of story ideas if I can't think of a theme that might come out of them.
Maybe I'll try writing it out and just see what happens...
[This message has been edited by annepin (edited July 30, 2008).]
posted
I think I do it both of the ways you describe, Anne. Sometimes I have an idea I want to explore, some idea I feel a particular way about (e.g., sentient computers, one of many ideas I like to play with) and so then I try to invent the situation to put my nifty idea into. These stories are much harder for me to write, I think.
The other way I write is from a more generic idea of a situation, the whole "what would happen if..." kind of story. These are much easier to write, but on the whole I don't know that I'm as happy with the result. I think I spend more time editing these kinds of stories, perhaps to "insert a theme" after the fact - something that I think is rather tricky to do (and clearly I don't know how to do right or I wouldn't have so many half-written or half-finished stories laying around...not to mention the ones I never even start because I'm afraid to. Afraid of what I have no idea, just afraid. LOL)
posted
I write based on a scene or situation. I spin the story around the initial concept. All my themes are based on the concept of INHUMANITY OF BAD WRITERS AGAINST GOOD IDEAS.
Posts: 1008 | Registered: Feb 2006
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You and I thought alike in high school, I was perpetually annoyed by all this discussion of themes whose existence seemed accidental at best. It was a miserable experience, when studying in that high school setting, and it completely broke the natural pace of the stories. I didn't like reading it critically in that way, it sapped away all possible enjoyment. And I was dead certain the authors were never aware of many, perhaps most, of these subliminal "themes" they were supposedly indoctrinating us with.
But later on I realized that just because the author may not have consciously fused a theme into his writing doesn't mean it can't exist.
That is the nature of art in general, think of a beautiful painting or a beautiful song, though the overall tone may be intentionally set, dark colors or melancholy melody, every person will connect to it in different ways, some more than others.
As a reader, you might notice certain aspects of a story (or "themes," if you will) and they will stand out to you, perhaps even remind you of your own experiences. Just because the author may have never intentionally put them there doesn't nullify their validity.
In other words, themes exist even though many are completely by accident.
And there is no such thing as a story with no theme. I think that's as impossible as having no setting.
[This message has been edited by Zero (edited July 31, 2008).]
posted
I was going to say I start with a theme, a design almost. But I don't, especially with the flash challenges, where one starts with a trigger.
What happens to me is I start with an idea, a "what if?", maybe a concept, or even a plot. There are a few themes that attract me and recur in my work--freedom, justice, subversion, hope--and the story will be drawn to one or another as it evolves in either my mind or the writing.
The initial idea might or might not be clearly related to my favourite themes. By the time it's done, the story will certainly have a theme.
posted
You could see if you can state the theme of your story---or the point of your story---in a single sentence.
My last (still unfinished) story comes out as: "You can change your life, but you've got to go somewhere else to do it."
Before that, my next-to-last (finished in rough draft) story comes out as: "You're who you are, whatever the circumstances."
I'm happy enough that they have a point that can be stated. Otherwise they're a bunch of things-that-happen-to-the-characters, just strung together in a random pattern. (Now if I could only be really clear about getting that point across...)
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I've only written novels so, not sure that matters but, at least you know where my perspective comes from.
Story first. The characters will decide the theme as the story progresses, and the theme can be strenghtened and forshadowed and all that good stuff in the later drafts.
posted
Like Talespinner, I begin with a concept, or a “what if idea” and if I think to myself, “Hey, maybe there’s a story there.” That’s how I usually begin.
The fun part is creating characters and fleshing them out while giving them a few challenges along the way, then shoot for a satisfactory ending with maybe a touch of irony.
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