So what's your story ABOUT, anyway?

[Moniquill]

Edited for clarity of purpose!

Largely imported from a single post in the larger WF because people in the guild are less full of fail and might actually be able to have a viable conversation about it...

What's your current opus about? What are you writing, and what does it explore? Not necessarily theme and meaning in a deeply analytical English Class sort of way, but what are you drawn to write about and why?

I don't often write with a theme in mind, but my stories do generally wind up with a unifying message by the end. I very much believe that stories, any stories and all stories, express something about how the author views reality and what the author's values are. When it's done poorly or done too strongly it comes off as anvilicious/ author filibuster. When it's done well it's subtle and the reader might not even notice (Especially if it meshes with the reader's view of reality is in tune with the author's)

Interesting trend I've noticed in my own work: My YA-aimed fiction tends to be a little more clear-cut/heavy on its message than my adult (erotic, mostly) fiction. This is because my erotic fiction has about as much substance as whipped cream, whereas my YA fiction is meant to probe questions about society and humanity and such. Examples; my two current projects, premise in italics, themes plain:

Book 1: Steampunk-Fantasy erotica. It's AU 1868, the US civil war has just ended via the Union dropping Radium-Cobalt bombs (effectively nukes) on the southeastern US, US colonization happened differently anyhow so the maps are all drawn differently. Characters A and B are brother and sister, are rich, and are black. In Boston. In AU 1868. Character C is a recently immigrated Irish werewolf whose family are high-ranking figures in the Irish mob. Character D is a polyglot hired as a translator for character C. A and C and B and D have sex. Lots.

Conflict comes from social polemic concerning race (real racism and fantastic racism), class, immigrant status, and sociological ramifications of the associated relationships as pertaining to Victorian social mores. Mostly a romp.

Overall message that I hope readers will take: Love doesn't conquer all, but it certainly helps.

Book 2: Soft Sci-fi YA fiction. Several generations post human colonization of a distant earth-like world via generational star ship, a group of 24 children ranging in age from 4-16 find themselves stranded in an outlying pioneer town with no living adults (I promise there is a non-a** pull explanation for how this occurred having to do with indigenous culture and who it's acceptable to mercilessly slay...) and no feasible way to contact the larger colonial civilization. At the time the book begins they've been holding out for two years, largely trying to stick it out until a rendezvous party just happens to find them. Their capacity to survive largely hitches on the aid of a young woman who through plot machinations was raised by indigenous aliens. The book culminates when the kids are able to re-initiate contact with the larger human culture, but they choose not to be 'rescued' and reintegrated into the larger culture, having over the course of the novel become their own distinct and unique cultural unit (noteworthy: The oldest members of the group are in their early 20's when this happens, and some have coupled and had kids of their own). They've also made successful cultural contact with the indigenous people in ways that no other human society has, with the implication that this will result in cultural revolution throughout the larger human and indigenous cultures.

The book explores the ramifications of colonialism, the nature of personhood and human identity (for TVtropers, what measure is a nonhuman), the nature of gender (the indigenous aliens in question do not have gender - they are biologically hermaphrodites that reproduce by spawning), family and kinship networks (the aliens do not arrange themselves into nuclear families), the development of cultures, cultural enmeshment and fusion, coming of age/adulthood and its definitors, and what constitutes community.

Overall messages I hope the reader takes from the story: The Peter Pan scenario fails hard. Culture is shaped by the members of that culture. People are people are people, regardless. Many family structures are functional. Us/Them barriers are fluid and culturally defined - NOT concrete. Gender and gender roles are culturally, not biologically, defined. Sex is not the enemy (no, not even for teens).

Reccomended Reading: What Stories Mean, an awe-inspiring short essay by Shirl Sazynski.  

[Serge-RadicalDreamer]

Good idea for a post. I have 3 major projects right now, none of which are even near completion (well, that statement doesn't really work for # 3)

1. Teen- Fantasy fiction Set in a heavily-themed marine world, with fantastical creatures like mermaids, kraken, and such. The main character is human. She lives near the ocean, and studies underwater ruins that are from the future (so yeah, there is some sci-fi, i generally blend both elements in my stories)

2. YA- Fantasy fiction. Set in an alternate world to our own, in a city of perpetual darkness, in which dreams are used as an energy source. The dreams were once prolific, but now they are dwindling away. There are three races in the city: Fae/Animal/Human, but the Humans were ostracized years ago. Yet two ten-year-old girls show up in the city, one with shadowy purpose, the other having no idea how she got there. It's an adventure that explores the mysteries of the city, and how it connects the two main character's lives...

3. This is a series of short stories set in a fictional town I invented called AngelTown. It is called this because the town actually has angels in it, though most of the citizens of the town aren't aware of it. The angels are flawed characters, as much human as the mortal inhabitants of the city. The stories are used to explore deep, philosophical questions, or sometimes not so deep. I've posted one on here already called 'A New Life', and am working on another about a girl who is invisible (literally) to her parents, but not to anyone else. When finished, I may post it as well  

[Moniquill]

Serge-RadicalDreamer

Good idea for a post. I have 3 major projects right now, none of which are even near completion (well, that statement doesn't really work for # 3)

1. Teen- Fantasy fiction Set in a heavily-themed marine world, with fantastical creatures like mermaids, kraken, and such. The main character is human. She lives near the ocean, and studies underwater ruins that are from the future (so yeah, there is some sci-fi, i generally blend both elements in my stories)

2. YA- Fantasy fiction. Set in an alternate world to our own, in a city of perpetual darkness, in which dreams are used as an energy source. The dreams were once prolific, but now they are dwindling away. There are three races in the city: Fae/Animal/Human, but the Humans were ostracized years ago. Yet two ten-year-old girls show up in the city, one with shadowy purpose, the other having no idea how she got there. It's an adventure that explores the mysteries of the city, and how it connects the two main character's lives...

3. This is a series of short stories set in a fictional town I invented called AngelTown. It is called this because the town actually has angels in it, though most of the citizens of the town aren't aware of it. The angels are flawed characters, as much human as the mortal inhabitants of the city. The stories are used to explore deep, philosophical questions, or sometimes not so deep. I've posted one on here already called 'A New Life', and am working on another about a girl who is invisible (literally) to her parents, but not to anyone else. When finished, I may post it as well

While these are really awesome premises/plot overviews (I'd especially love to read the 'Dream City' one) You haven't touched on meaning/theme/message in the works. What questions are they exploring? What questions do they make the reader ask? What do they answer?  

[Fujiwara Kazunari]

Mostly, I'm trying to work on the Dragon Chronicles.

Story is set... uh, actually it's set at the start of 2009. Fantasy/Sci-fi, with a heavy focus on realism. As in, 9/10 things can be explained by SCIENCE!

As for themes/messages... well, it's a very dark story.

If you've read what I've done of it, two of the Main Characters die at the start, become what is lovingly known as 'Deathless', along with getting powers no human really should have.
With them, it's a question of 'You have this power... nearly no-one can stop you, you can take what you want, do what you want.... will you?'
Jack, one of the Deathless, is also.... well, he has a split personallity after all that, so it's very mentally focused as well, with him trying to deal, not only with his own personalities, but the Spirit within him, and what it tempts him with.


But, I also cover... well, I'll just list what happens

Rape
Genocide
Revenge
Betrayal
Brotherhood through combat
Morality (The mission or the civilians)
Honour
Duty
Love
Sacrifice
Heroism


I can expand on anything if youwant, just ask. But, I don't want to give too much away.  

[Moniquill]

Arakratos

But, I don't want to give too much away.

Mini-rant not directed at you, but at a particular phenomenon that this statement has reminded me of:

There exists a tendency for writers -especially but not limited to unpublished writers- to be tetchy about discussing ideas, even to other writers. Even in writing circles. Even in closed communities. Even in private parlance.

I have NO idea where it comes from, as it is a behavior trait that I never leanred, but it strikes me as shockingly common. The whole 'I don't want to spoil it' assertion.

How does one talk about ideas...without talking about ideas? How does one dissect a plot, analyze it, and make it stronger...without divulging the plot? How does one work out the knotty bits of theme and meaning and message and communicating these things to the reader without being ham-handed without declaring intent to someone, somewhere, who can say 'Yes, that's what's written there' or 'No, I don't see that at all...'

It is safe to assume that anyone you discuss your work in progress with is NOT going to be among your 'virgin readership'.... so what's the use in 'not spoiling'? Much more richness of conversation is achieved through transparency of information, in my experience.  

[Stelle Cadenti]

These all sound really interesting, guys. I like seeing all the different approaches to crafting a story. Personally, I never write something that its main purpose is to get across a message or moral, if it ends up having one, fine. My approach isn't to explore a certain character, setting, or plot, nothing very specific like that. I tend to dwell on the 'what ifs.' I pick a what if and then craft a story around it. I find that the details like plot and character come naturally when I have the main focus of the story nailed down.

One I am working on right now is exploring the two sides of my personality. It's not a self insert fic, but the characters are modelled after myself. I figure that what character can I make seem more realistic than one that's like myself? It turned out being a post-apocolyptic story, very simple in plot and naturally, character oriented. The two personalities are represented by the two main characters. Apathy, and sympathy. I haven't gotten very far in actually writing this story, but I don't feel like it's ever going to leave my alone until it's finished.

Another that I desperately want to start is a bit more whimsical. What if someone got the next day's newspaper every morning before the things reported had happened. It's a bit of my trademark realistic fantasy, and I think it's going to be good. I don't have much of the plot nailed down, or the characters, but I will get around to that sometime.  

[Fujiwara Kazunari]

Moniquill

Arakratos

But, I don't want to give too much away.

Mini-rant not directed at you, but at a particular phenomenon that this statement has reminded me of:

There exists a tendency for writers -especially but not limited to unpublished writers- to be tetchy about discussing ideas, even to other writers. Even in writing circles. Even in closed communities. Even in private parlance.

I have NO idea where it comes from, as it is a behavior trait that I never leanred, but it strikes me as shockingly common. The whole 'I don't want to spoil it' assertion.

How does one talk about ideas...without talking about ideas? How does one dissect a plot, analyze it, and make it stronger...without divulging the plot? How does one work out the knotty bits of theme and meaning and message and communicating these things to the reader without being ham-handed without declaring intent to someone, somewhere, who can say 'Yes, that's what's written there' or 'No, I don't see that at all...'

It is safe to assume that anyone you discuss your work in progress with is NOT going to be among your 'virgin readership'.... so what's the use in 'not spoiling'? Much more richness of conversation is achieved through transparency of information, in my experience.

Oh, see, I'm completely happy to talk about my story.

Ask what happens at X point in time and normally I'll tell you. However, there's been a lot of changes lately, so I'm not really up for disscussing what isn't even set in my head yet.

Just ask Stelle, she knows a hell lot about the story.  

[Moniquill]

Stelle Cadenti

What if someone got the next day's newspaper every morning before the things reported had happened.

Early Edition  

[Moniquill]

I also don't start with a message or an intended meaning; that usually comes about halfway though my story building process, when I decide what the point of the story is/why I should bother pursuing it.

The start of my process is usually looking at something that I love and looking at any and all parts of it that confused or bother me, then thinking about how I'd have done it differently if I'd been telling the story... then taking JUST those parts I'd do differently and crafting another entirely different story around it.

In example, Book 2 up there started as a crux between 'God DAMN Peter Pan always bugged me as a kid and still does', 'I really hate the way that Most stories about colonization are presented and played out', and '******** the Newbury Award Earmarks and Traditional Coming Of Age Tropes... Adulthood is AWESOME as compared to childhood!'  

[Kelethor]

Well, for those of you who actually want to read through "An exile complete as any" I suppose don't read on.


Now, I enjoy writing dark fiction, because I simply believe it makes people think more.

Entire Plot ((Note: Takes place in a medieval/dark ages esque world)): In "AECaA" the story of Johnathan is told mostly through "flashbacks" caused by a disease simply labeled as "Mountain Sickness" in the book. In his past he rose through the ranks of the Bellirian army quickly, after a few years becoming the supreme commander of it's army, after the continual deaths of the army's officers and commanders. His (Often controversial) strategies won his army the war, eventually, putting the entire known world under the control of the Bellirians. He's celebrated as a hero, and quickly gains influence that rivals the king.

It is because of this that when an artifact of legend is discovered, A pendant or something of the like, which houses all of the evil in the world, it is he who is given the honor of destroying it. At first he is honored, but slowly begins to have doubts. Those along the lines of "What right do we have to get rid of such a powerful influence over our lives?" and "If evil is taken away, than good becomes dull, there would be no appreciation for the fortunes of their lives, because they would no longer be fortunes."

So, he steals the artifact, heads to the docks, rows far out into the ocean, and casts the artifact to the bottom. After which, it doesn't take long for his actions to be discovered, and he is eventually found to be the perpetrator. Initially the king was going to be lenient, but while still deciding what was to be done with Johnathan, his brother and sister-in-law are murdered while on their nightly walk through the city.

Believing such a thing could have been prevented with the destruction of the artifact, the king passes two laws. One, exiling Johnathan from the kingdom(Which is impossible since the kingdom controls every piece of known land). The second law ensures a slow death for the man who causes the death of Johnathan, and anyone found connected to that man. The king wanted Johnathan to live out his life in misery, and not simply be killed by an outraged mob the second he left the protection of the castle.

Ten years pass, with Johnathan being subjected to countless beating and banishing as he travels the countryside. The people hate him, for everyone loses someone or something they love due to misfortune that they believe he could have prevented. A fire, a robbery, a murder in the streets.

However, the story picks up on his discovery of a village cut off from the rest of the world, deep in a forest. Nobody knows his name, his face, or has heard of his past. He is sick with the "Mountain sickness" which causes him to relive the memories of his past, but he helps around the village none-the-less. He eventually is well enough to begin smithing again, and he fits into the village life nicely.

However, eventually a group of soldiers shows up, led by one of Johnathan's old generals. He is informed that the king has been murdered, and his son has sent out orders from Johnathan's execution. The villagers try to defend Johnathan, but are cut down, and he is captured.

While they travel back to the capital, more details about Johnathan's past are revealed, and the general taking him back is hailed as a hero. In X weeks they arrive, and Johnathan is thrown into prison, to await execution.

However, his good friend, and old assistant/Aid-de-camp((As shown in flashbacks)) Arthur arrives, with many soldier who are still fiercely loyal to Johnathan, to break him out. They argue, and Johnathan convinces Arthur that he wants to be resigned to his fate. Tired of living on like he has. Execution day comes, and Johnathan is hung, much to the joy of the assembled crowd.

As he looks up though, struggling, he sees Children from the village, watching him from the crowd. His joy at their escape though is dashed, he he continues to see more faces. Ones he saw cut down himself. Then he notices the whole crowd is filled with the dead. Soldiers and friends. When he sees the King though, he realizes that the cheering has stopped. As his vision fades, he notices that they are all scowling at him.

---

Alright, now what I want to get across with this book? I want people to realize, basically, what Johnathan's thought line was when he was contemplating destroying the pendant. I want them to realize that hey, even though bad things happen, they make the good things sweeter.

Another thing is that even the celebrated aren't immune to ridicule, slip ups. That in the end everyone is human. The world isn't all sunshine and puppy dogs.

And I want them to be thankful their lives aren't as bad as his, but that goes for all of my characters.  

[Stelle Cadenti]

Moniquill

Stelle Cadenti

What if someone got the next day's newspaper every morning before the things reported had happened.

Early Edition

Okay, this really pisses me off. I have never in my life heard of this show, not even by passing mention. <********. Now that idea's out the window.  

[Evermore Reality]

Wow. Ummm, well, mine's a modern fantasy focusing on the possibility of a plethora of dimensions and people capable of moving throughout these dimensions. My main character is one of those, although originally she's plucked out of a law firm while in her mid twenties and dragged into a war ragin between two of her former employers and their cohorts.
It all kind of started as a characterization excecise and it just evolved from their.
I should also add that I hate, hate, hate catagorizing things into "themes." It all seems so shallow to me. I started this off as a novel, meant to entertain and transport my readers into a world both similar and vastly different with characters they could connect to. That it is evolving into a social commentary about romance and society's view on the independent worth of a human being as inferior to that of someone in a relationship, not to mention the extent to which one will go to be loved, all happened as a side effect.
I know you aren't saying for people to pick a theme right out of the gate, I'm just saying that you don't need to pick a theme at all. If it doesn't evolve by itself by the story's end, you don't really have a novel.  

[Serge-RadicalDreamer]

oh yeah, i guess i DID forget to include what my projects are about- i believe it was Neil Gaiman who said if you can't sum up what your novel is about in one sentence, then it won't be focused enough to attract readers (something like that, anyway) so here goes:

1. (the marine world story) It's about obsession, really. To what lengths will a woman go to to solve a mystery of future ruins, even though it probably has no pertinence to her?

2. The Dream City - it's about following your dreams, and never, ever giving up.

3. My short stories are too varied to sum up in one sentence. some of the themes explored:

-The bond between siblings, even when one doesn't like the other
- What is good, what is evil, can one exist without the other?
- Who is God? What is his aims for his creations?
there are many others, but that's all i got for now.  

[Undead Superstar]

My main project is a novel called "Getting Lucky". It focuses on an assassin named Lucky Robinson, who is the the most sought after assassin in the world. After a decade of killing, Lucky decides to retire from his agency by faking his own death so he can return to his hometown and see his oldest friend. Retirement isn't all it seems for Lucky though because he's soon being tormented by a group calling themselves the Sprinters. Now he has to figure out who's pulling the strings while trying to stay hidden from an agency who would kill him if they knew he had simply walked.

The primary theme I'm dealing with is redemtion/forgiveness as Lucky tries to forget his past and rekindle a freindship with an old friend. A lesser theme involved is luck, as Lucky had primarily relied on being his namesake to get by in life.  

[Moniquill]

Evermore Reality

...I'm just saying that you don't need to pick a theme at all. If it doesn't evolve by itself by the story's end, you don't really have a novel.

I'm also saying this; what I'm asking of the writers on this forum if if they know what theirs is...

Tangentially, I'm also of the belief that there's no such thing as a story that doesn't say something. If you as an author don't know (or plan or analyze) what your story is saying, that's simply because it's saying things that you're not consciously aware of about yourself and your views. People hold up Hemingway as an ideal of 'Books without message!' all the time, since Hemingway declared that he wasn't trying to inject theme or meaning... but even a flip through will tell you tons about what Hemingway regarded as 'Truth', his ideas of good and evil and correct behavior.

Hemingway liked stoic dudes with crapsack lives way too much for my liking.