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Yay! Well, in that case…
No seriously, I want to read both of them, so I would have done it even if you hadn’t wanted to read the Lord of the Rings. 😛
And while climbing trees is somewhat of a dangerous pastime, I would not suggest giving it up altogether. I still do it myself, even though I’m sixteen and my siblings think I’m nuts.Okay… themes. Um… what else can we say? I think I would like to see more themes of sacrifice in literature, personally. So many stories end in happily ever after, with the message that evil always overcomes good and good barely suffers in the battle, and while that is all well and fine, in reality a great price has to be paid for the overcoming of evil. If overcoming evil was done with as much ease as I frequently see in stories, then Christ would not have had to suffer such a horrible death to do it.
So maybe show that good always overcomes evil, but show what it cost. Maybe some really important people had to die. Maybe the MC lost something that was important to him— he had to give it up so that the good guys could win. Maybe he even lost a limb or something. I don’t know— let’s work on this. How are some good ways to show that good always overcomes evil, but that it takes great pain and perseverance on the part of the good guys?And thank you for putting up with my hard questions. =D
Sacrifice – I couldn’t agree with you more. And bitter sweet endings. I love bittersweet endings. I don’t know If I’ll ever write aught else.
The strange way in which evil seems to triumph from an immediate standpoint, but yet is defeated from an ultimate standpoint, is, I think, not so unsearchable as it may at first appear. The simple fact is that while all else fails, it is the ethic which stands. It may not even be what the hero was striving for, in fact, it is probably better if it is not. The hero is only human and his visions will be marred by the wisdom of the world. Nonetheless, when all that waste is burnt away, he will see the foolishness of his previous course, and discover that in the end, only the gold remains. The apparent triumph of evil comes from the hero’s earthly view and sullied mind, thinking noble that which is only temporary. The fire burns away the dross, which is the cause of all the torture and anguish and apparent sadness. To the reader, this removal is like the tearing apart of limb from limb, but in the end, there is glory, and they shall feast evermore.
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Wow… that almost sounded scriptural! I guess what you read really does rub off on your writing…
Yep! Sounds great! I’m too woozy right now to think of anything I can add to that train of thought— that always seems to happen when it gets late.
But I certainly agree about bittersweet endings. There’s nothing emotionally stirring about a completely happy ending. It doesn’t take you to the depths of human nature like bittersweet endings do. Okay, okay, I won’t run through this all again. If you want to read my full rant on this, go to the KPR topic ‘Aliens and Allegories’.
That being said, I don’t think the majority of endings should be more bitter than sweet. Some are great that way, but when all books are like that, it’s kind of… depressing. I think the theme of sacrifice can certainly be shown very strongly in an ending that is primarily happy— but no ending, in my opinion, should be wholly happy.
Any more thoughts on this? Anyone else care to join in?I don’t think I have anything more to say, except that I agree the bitter should not outweigh the sweet.
Any third opinions would be welcome.
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Third party joining here!
I loved, loved, LOVED reading through this topic discussion, very intriguing and some of your thoughts were fantastic! I agree that I particularly like a bitter-sweet ending, but as Daeus said, only preferably if the sweet outweighs the bitter. So that when I set a book down, firstly I sigh and then I smile, because the author gave me the desired ending, but not so much in the way I expected he would.
Along the lines of theme… I was thinking over this concept. A lot of books are written with both Christian and non-Christian readers in mind, the author wanting their book to be exposed to as many readers as possible. But what if you wrote a book targeted for a more select audience of Christian readers in mind? What do you think the theme of such a book should look like?
Believers definitely need to be reminded how powerful the gospel is and how it has changed us, but now that we have been given understanding about spiritual things, I’m thinking the themes focus might be different when written to a believing audience. The themes truths are the same no matter what audience you write it for, but each reader will have different needs when reading a book, non-believers are in need of the gospel and believers in need of encouragement and reminders to continue to fight the good fight.
Do you usually target an audience before you decide how to present the themes your writing about?https://rolenahatfield.com/
Yay! A fresh perspective! Mine was about strangled…
Good thoughts, Rolena. I like the point you made about a believing audience needing more than the truth of the gospel by itself. That’s funny, because I never really picked a target audience when I wrote a book. The question was always ‘How do I present this theme that I’ve chosen in as fresh and inspiring a manner as possible?’ And in choosing the theme, I usually just have the story, and the stories are inspired by things I’ve thought through and experienced, so the themes tie into those thoughts. If that makes any sense…
But if I were writing for an audience specifically of believers, I think one of the better themes to use would be faithfulness in the little things. Cause it’s so easy to think that you have to go and be a missionary in Africa to make a difference, or go to China and start an orphanage, but really, the little things are as important as all that big stuff.
More important, maybe, because who is going to raise tomorrow’s missionaries if all the women are on the mission field and not focused at home?
You don’t have to go to China to make a difference for Christ. Serving Christ can be as simple as showing hospitality to a stranger (we get a lot of those with our cabin rental business)… or even writing a book. 🙂 Because that’s what writers are, when you think about it. Teachers and contenders for the gospel, and we have a wonderful medium in which to do that. Who doesn’t love a good story?
Anyway… all that to say, sometimes believers can get caught up in all the big things they should be doing for Christ and completely overlook the mission field right under their noses.Very true Kate. We often overlook the everyday little things that are SO important for us to be faithful in. Like honoring our parents, volunteering for a menial task, or giving a stranger a smile… 🙂 That’s a great concept that I’d love to see in books!
I’d also love to see being utterly satisfied in the Lord as a main theme. Or gratefulness. Or steadfastness through persecution. I find lots of these themes when I read biographies, but don’t find it so often in fiction. (maybe I just haven’t read the right books yet)Hehe. I never used to pick a target audience either! I just wrote my books for fun and dreamed of them being best sellers and lots and lots of people reading them no matter who they were 🙂 All along I had wanted the Lord to use my writings, but hadn’t really caught the vision of how He could. I’ve found that one way is that He’s place lots of themes close to my heart that I’ve wanted to write stories about and most of them are geared for a believer’s life. Themes that will challenge them and encourage them in their walk with the Lord!
One of the difficulties I’ve found in writing about characters who are faithful in following the Lord is that they tend to fall into the reader’s category of “this character is too perfect.”
My character is definitely human and therefore has a sin nature, but perhaps I’m only showing the reader them in a season of life where they are exampling faithfulness to the Lord and you aren’t seeing them, say before they were saved, or when they struggled to learn about the theme I’m portraying themselves.
In this perspective, Ester was actually one of my favorite characters in Ben Hur, because I saw a young lady who loved the Lord, who loved and submitted to her father and took pleasure in serving others. It was really kind of refreshing to see a character who was setting a good example to the other characters in the book and at the same time is a good reminder to me.https://rolenahatfield.com/
Yes! Definitely agree with you there.
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I know this topic is like 7 years old but I thought it looked interesting. Themes are the hardest part for me and I have trouble not having them feel cheesy. I tend to use the topics that are my weaknesses in life though and that helps. I have a book all on how a government deceives people and the protagonists have to find a way to make the truth come out before the city gets mind controlled. I also have a redemptive arc but it’s a bad guy and it’s actually his partner in crime who brings him to Jesus. His partner got saved in prison. I tend to write a story and then the theme comes out in a non-cheesy way. If I start with a theme then it starts to feel cheesy. I’m not sure why but I guess it’s the way my brain works it out. I have now made 4 voices happen on the forum. Plus I’m the 1st one not on the team to post here so that’s different. 😛😜😏
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