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Please excuse the Lewis Carrol reference. 😉
Yes, you guessed it. This is another topic on theme (more or less). I know we talk about this a lot, but I’m forever refining my theories, and when I get a revolutionary breakthrough I’m always wild to share it with someone who will be as excited as I am.
Thank you for your convenient existence, my dear fellow KeePers. 😉
Okay, so this is somewhat about theme, somewhat about plot. Most specifically, picking and choosing plot threads that most enhance the theme. In any story at all, there are thousands, if not millions, of plot threads you can choose to develop. Every single piece of backstory; every single arc, every single choice of every single character ever. If you develop them all, chances are you’re going to have a million themes in one book.
Bad.
End of story.
No pun intended. 😉I’ll give you an example. I have a judge in my WIP whose backstory is absolutely fascinating. It’s an amazingly compelling ‘rags to riches’ (sort of 😛 ) story whose theme would be triumph over grief; not letting the destruction of everything you hold dear break you, but rising above it and letting it make you stronger. It’s a beautiful story.
And it totally wasn’t a part of the book. I didn’t let it be.
Why?
Because it doesn’t enhance the theme. The theme for the book in which this judge played a part is man’s inability to reason truth for himself. The two morals don’t enhance each other. Both of them are equally powerful and equally true, but they do nothing to draw each other out and complement each others’ depth. They’re two completely different things.
See, truth is complex. It has a million different angles and a million different facets. It never changes, but there are gazillions of different ways you can look at it. Gazillions of different pieces. You can’t focus on all of them at once.So pick and choose. It may not sound all that important, but it really, really, really helps with keeping your story focused and presenting a clear theme.
Thoughts?
Never felt the convenience of my existence so strongly before. Glad to be. *Tips imaginary hat*
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*curtsies* You have my sincerest thanks, @Daeus. 😉
I agree, though it is sad. That’s the problem I have with one of my WIPs (Scarlet Rose). I’ve too many subplots, some of which don’t really have to do with the main plot. And I’m going to have to go though and trim plenty of parts and figure out what to focus on and what to just let be part of a character.
INTJ - Inhumane. No-feelings. Terrible. Judgment and doom on everyone.
@Hope I know! *sniff* All the backstories of all my different characters are so complex and amazing (‘scuse me while I pat myself on the back) and yet good writing compels me to ignore them.
*sigh*
Oh well. Maybe one day I can turn all the backstories into books of their own. 😉 Fans would love that, don’t you think?
*gulp* Assuming I have any fans… 😉@kate-flournoy Easy solution. Just record videos of yourself going into the back stories of you side characters. You could probably sell those for more than books and they would take 1/50hth of the time.
As for fans, just yell loud. If pay attention, they’ll keep paying attention. Signed and sealed.
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Videos @Daeus? *perks up* Cool… where am I going to get the actors? 😛 😉 Seriously though, that would be fun.
Okay, guess I better start polishing up my yelling skills.
I happen to be an expert on yelling. I’ll give let you in on my super secret trick. Do it loudly.
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*chokes* Sure @Daeus, thanks. I’ll keep that in mind. What a revolutionary trick. It’s like I’m breaking unbroken ground here… I’m not used to living so dangerously. 😀
Or you can write short novellas on characters or give extra scenes or secret pages to those who have read your books and/or joined your newsletter. 😉
As for yelling, you must also use your mouth. And your hands cupped around your mouth. The mountain tops are best for getting your voice spread the furthers, or so I’ve heard. But since there are generally very few people on the mountain tops, climbing on a statute in a busy town square should do the trick.
INTJ - Inhumane. No-feelings. Terrible. Judgment and doom on everyone.
Wow @Hope, I have to use my mouth? Oh boy. *starts looking around for a notebook and pen* I need to write all this awesome advice down before I forget any of it! 😉
Okay, so another thought having to do with this topic. (Which by the way is highly intuitive— I apologize to those of you who are more structurally minded. I know it can be kinda difficult to wrap your heads around this). Once you realize that you have to pick and choose, the question that naturally arises is how do I decide which ones to keep and which to… um… discard. *weeps* :'(
Glad you asked. First, what I said above: those that enhance the theme should be kept. Now how do I define enhancing the theme? Well… that’s also highly intuitive, and unfortunately there’s no formula. But look for these kinds of plot threads— first, look for negatives. Look for plot threads that portray the opposite of the theme. That will give you a good sounding board to contrast things against. Second, look for parallels. Threads that portray the message with a twist. Perhaps, if the theme is— simplistically— ‘growing up’, look for a character besides the MC who is growing up, and yet does it differently than the MC. Better or worse, it doesn’t matter. Just differently. So we can compare the two.
And… yeah, pretty much all necessary plot threads should be either negatives or parallels. I’m not saying it’s bad to have plot threads that aren’t, but if you wanna be focused in what you’re saying it really helps to cut all those unrelated ones out.Any questions? I work best with questions. 😉
@kate-flournoy, @daeus, and @hope
I definitely agree with you on this. While I do think it is important to have backstories for characters, you can’t include them all. However, while you are developing characters, you do need to have some of their past figured out. For example, say you have a particularly bitter, melancholy character. Why is he or she so bitter? I believe it is vital to have a good reason for a character’s pesonality, and to come up with a reason, you must have a backstory for him/her.
I so wish I could include ALL of my character’s pasts in my WIP, but sadly, it would take a whole different novel to explain it all. 🙁
So, yeah. Just my brilliant thoughts. 🙂A dreamer who believes in the impossible...and dragons. (INFJ-T)
Great thoughts, @Ingridrd. 😀
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