Tag Archives: theme

Clarity in Writing

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“Having knowledge but lacking the power to express it clearly is no better than never having any ideas at all.” –Pericles

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I recently had cataract surgery on my right eye. The left eye gets its turn later this week. Prior to the surgery, I was accustomed to viewing objects with a slight blur to them, and that’s not bad when you’re looking at the world in general. As a matter of fact, maybe it’s preferable. But it wasn’t a great method for reading, and the font size on my iPad was getting close to max, so I finally agreed to undergo the procedure. Within a couple of hours after the operation, the world suddenly came into perfect focus, and I could see details I had been missing for years.

All this made me think about writing. No surprise there, but it’s not about seeing the words on the page, but rather seeing the story you want to tell. That kind of sight is what every author aspires to, and one way to obtain it is to understand the theme of your book.

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In his book Story Engineering, Larry Brooks writes

“Not to be confused with concept, theme is what your story is illuminating about real life.”

I like that “illuminating about real life.” Theme is the fundamental message you want your readers to get. It’s the lens through which they will view your story and understand the deeper meaning within it.  And when that happens, the reader will walk away with a memorable experience.

But how do you choose a theme?

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“To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme.” —Herman Melville

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Writers.com lists some of the common themes in literature. These include

Coming of Age
Faith vs Doubt
Family
Fate vs Free Will
Good vs Evil
Hubris
Justice
Man vs Nature
Man vs Self
Man vs Society
Power and Corruption
Pursuit of Love
Revenge
Survival
War

A few of the novels mentioned on the writers.com site were Jane Eyre (Coming of Age) by Charlotte Bronte, The Iliad (Hubris) by Homer, To Kill a Mockingbird (Justice) by Harper Lee, and 1984: A Novel (Man vs Society) by George Orwell.

They didn’t mention All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, but that is the book I would choose for its powerful theme of War.

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Some authors decide on a theme before starting a new work. Others may work on their novel for a while before seeing the theme take shape. In any case, having an underlying theme for the story leaves the reader with something more than a good reading experience. It’s a message to carry with them beyond The End.

As a mystery writer, the theme for my books is always that truth will be found and justice will be served. But my last novel, Lacey’s Star, took it one step further. It was based on the theme that finding the truth may depend on who you decide to trust.

My stories also reference the importance of faith and family and emphasize the need for endurance. “Never give up” is an underlying message in every book.

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So TKZers: Do you identify a theme for your books before you start writing? Or do you “discover” the theme as you go along? What themes have you used in your books? What memorable themes have you taken away from books you read?

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“The truth is bitter, but with all its bitterness, it is better than illusion.” –Ahad Ha’Am

2024 Eric Hoffer Grand Prize Award Finalist
2024 Eric Hoffer Mystery/Crime Award Honorable Mention

Available at  Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Google Play, or Apple Books.

When A Thing Becomes a Motif

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There’s a lovely word that describes an object or idea that shows up again and again in a story: motif. To be a true motif, that object or idea should reinforce the story’s theme. But I confess that when we start to talk too long about things like stories’ themes my eyes tend to glaze over. So I’m perfectly happy to expand the definition to anything that appears repeatedly.

Years ago, it was thought that you could up your chances of getting poems into the New Yorker if you included water images in them. I think I read that something like 40% or more of the poems actually did have water in them for a period of time.  Even if an individual poem only contained one mention of water, water was still a motif that strung together many, many issues of the magazine.

Famous literary motifs: a handsome prince, a poor, but humble girl who becomes a princess, darkness, fog or rain, in gothic stories. In Dickens’ Tale of Two Cities, there are sets of doubles, Lord of the Flies has the conch shell, and The Wizard of Oz has a heart, courage, and a brain. Both Shakespeare and the Bible frequently use references to light and darkness to make a point.

In some mystery and thriller stories: the emotionally scarred cop/investigator, the town gossip, weapons, a MacGuffin, a wise mentor. I know there are many more. Motifs and tropes are closely related.

For years, I had an antique comb, mirror and brush set in every story (until someone pointed out to me how weird it was). But now my main motif is a house. I find it hard to write a story unless some of the characters are closely identified with a particular house. As in dreams, a house can be a metaphor for oneself. For me, a house represents a home, and that motif matches up with a theme that’s common to all my books: home is the most important place in the world, even if it’s a terrible, frightening place.

(Update: I originally forgot to include a motif in one of my own stories that someone who was teaching it for a college class pointed out to me. I confess I had never realized it was there, which was probably the reason it worked so well. It’s a recurring dialogue exchange but spoken between varying characters: “Are you there?” “Yes, I am here.” Here’s the link to the story in PANK Magazine. “When I Make Love to the Bug Man.”) 

Do tell, TKZers. What motifs stand out in stories you love? And what things show up again and again in your work?