Consider what a
GPS can do: location coordinates, the surrounding area, and time
information. This information allows you to find your way in
sunshine, cloudy nights, and storms. Theme is the GPS of your poem,
short story, novelette, novel, or seriaes. Know your theme and you
will have your very own guidance system while navigating your current
WIPs.
When navigating by
GPS, you don't want a fuzzy map. Whether you have plotted your
journey ahead of time or are traveling by the seat of your pants, you
need to know your theme so you can decide what areas are “great”
for traveling through and which areas are “not so great”.
Great for what?
Great for the reason why you are writing. There are many different
reasons to write but a few (or just one) is your core reason for
writing this piece and making this journey.
Knowing the
driving themes of your piece will help you choose where to go next –
whether just the next stop or every stop along the way. You can find
your themes in many places – a central character, a central plot, a
central idea, a primary emotion effect, or primary style.
Over the next
several Thursdays, we will look at these different sources of theme.
Up nest week: emotional effect.
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