What are your themes?

[TJSchongar]

Hey all! I’ve been working hard on my novel, which is inspired by the literature surrounding the King Arthur mythos (history? Geoffrey of Monmouth would say so! Ba-dum CHHHH! ...Lit nerd joke, ANYWAY...)

I don’t normally determine the themes of what I write. I like for my readers to tell me what they see. That’s the nature of art - it allows people to open up via their interpretation of what’s in front of them. As I’ve been writing, though, I’ve been noticing some trends with the long-game of a lot of my characters’ arcs, their struggles, their villains, the villains themselves...

I think the themes of my book are addressing the nature of addiction, destructive habits, and reinvention. I don’t want to get too much into the details (SPOILERS!), but most of my characters have something in their past that they did and are trying to outrun, forget about, change, avenge, beat themselves up over, etc. Each person has a different way of ultimately dealing with their demons, and as a result each person either grows or devolves because of the paths they choose.

So I’m curious: beyond plot, beyond tropes, what are the THEMES that you see appearing in your stories? Love conquers all? Friendship is a two-sided coin? What about life are you intentionally or unintentionally communicating?

[Rodimus13]

ermmmmmm not sure. But now I wanna do a thread to see what people think other people's themes are.

[TJSchongar]

Ooo, that’d be interesting, too!

[Rodimus13]

Would you mind if I started that and we let the clever people share their themes for their own story here?

[TJSchongar]

Yeah, go for it!

[JackOfArtAndProse]

I don't think there's anything wrong about that, except that all the talk about themes in other people's stories might be a tad bit spoilerific to the more intuitive folk. But they can just opt not to read the post.

[nathanKmcwilliams]

Mine is mostly a run of the mill, fight through situations and become stronger kind of thing. As far as a theme there are several mythologies that I use as a setting, but I take away the deity of the "gods" and make them human. The current mythos in the series is Norse Mythology, but I have plans for others. I do blend sci-fi and high fantasy as the subgenres.

But I've got some underlying messages that will come through later on, such as the dangers of a surveillance state, the turning of a blind eye to horrible crimes both from governments and the general populace. Also some warnings against technology run wild, and obsession with popularized culture.

[Rodimus13]

I think it'd be more spoilery to read this one. because it comes right from the author. Besides, it's fun to see what people think is the theme- even if it's wrong!

[vothnthorvaldson]

Very interesting subject!

I realized that I always write around the same themes, and it makes sense as they are important to me, but also, that there are other themes that are extremely important to me that I don't write about (maybe because it's more difficult to build a fiction around them, for different reasons? Eg. Languages, Music. I actually speak a bit about both in my comic, but certainly not as main themes).

The few themes that are pretty much in everything I've ever wrote, although obviously not always addressed the same way:

Cultural exchange
Learning as an ongoing process
Exile
Non-belonging

Other very common themes
LGBT-related themes
Nature

More vague notions that are also defining my works:
There are not such things as black and white, only shades of grey
Principles are important, but it's crucial to keep in mind that everything is only a matter of perspective.

[dawgofdawgness]

I’m trying to do something on facades, including the appearance you put on in front of an audience or a following.. and that sort of branches into other themes like intimate relationships, fame, and legacy. :^) also jazz is a pretty big theme, and with that we have more stuff like improvisation and teamwork.

[punkarsenic]

man... ive thought abt this a lot, but also not enough

so like, my main series, There was a War, is a real mess when it comes to themes imo. ive been writing it over my formative years as an artist, n my goals and interests as a storyteller have changed so many times that twaw doesnt have cohesive Themes i have any control over. however, the themes are obviously like... war. clearly. i think theres themes of survivors guilt as well, and revenge, and perspective.

generally in my stories i think im interested in trauma and the people it creates, and the trauma of gender. idk, someone psychoanalyse my work, tell me what im about

[TJSchongar]

Love those themes I like to try to hit a lot of those in whatever I write, too. They just really good, important values that are worth repeating in all contexts!

[TJSchongar]

Interesting! I like stories that address facades, they can be hard to wrangle but so interesting! I’ll have to check your stuff out

[TJSchongar]

You had me at ‘trauma,’ particularly ‘trauma of gender.’ I need to read!

[punkarsenic]

awesome!! the trauma of gender thing is particularly in a story im working on right now, which probably wont be out until october, about puberty and werewolves - but ill be sure to let everyone on the forums know when it comes out haha. twaw doesnt go into trauma of gender so much, but theres defo themes of trauma

[TJSchongar]

I look forward to the announcement! I’ll check out your other stuff until then

[punkarsenic]

thank you! i hope you enjoy it

[yansusu]

Not counting the fluffy romance that only centers around love and relationships, I'd say the underlying theme of my other projects is fate and how our decisions and those of others influence our life

[Azifri]

This topic got me thinking, because I know I have recurring themes in my stories, but never really write them down.

From a character standpoint, I think the most recurring theme is changes. I like to expose my characters to situations that make them question their beliefs and mindset, and cause them to go in directions they would never have considered before. I also tend to make them go to different places/cultures, where they will be out of place and only left with themselves as a tie to their original environment. And similar to what @vothnthorvaldson said, I prefer to keep things gray and avoid moral labels.

Other themes would be: some sort of sci-fi or fantasy element, something bigger than you, things you can't control and/or understand.

[TJSchongar]

Nice examination of your own work! I like what you have here, I’ll check your stuff out!