Recurring Themes--A Commanding Thought
JRR Tolkien has eucatastrophy. Greg Rucka has lesbians. What recurring elements do I have in my writing?
The obvious one is the power of the mind. I think literally and figureatively there's a lot of truth in this. The mind is capable of so much we don't know, the possibilities are endless. What we do know about the mind can get us through so much. When someone has a strong conviction or force of will, they tend to push harder and farther. Those who put their minds to a task, tend to finish.
Another element that I value is honor. This doesn't mean we all have to conform to a single code and live by it. What this does mean is that we should each have a code we are willing to live by, a basic set of convictions, and keep it always. With Commander, the phrase "twisted sense of honor" is used. He doesn't necessarily play nice or fair, but he always keeps to his own code. He doesn't betray himself or his values. I'll tell you an unconscious rule I have: if a character with some form of honor is conflicted by a character without honor, the character that has honor will be victorious in the end. It might take a long time, but honor will give you victory, true victory.
Inner demons in some form keep coming up in my ideas as well. This isn't the traditional concept of having inner secrets. Instead, it's a more visceral conflict going on inside of each and every person. I think we all have the capacity for good and we all have the capacity for evil. I also think, if you stick around someone long enough, you'll see them do both.
Another aspect might be the static journey, a quest that makes a character look at the familiar and see something new or a quest that doesn't change the character. That doesn't say the character feels static--depending on the story, narration, and point of view, we just might be seeing more and more of a character that isn't actually growing. This one is thin at best right now.
The obvious one is the power of the mind. I think literally and figureatively there's a lot of truth in this. The mind is capable of so much we don't know, the possibilities are endless. What we do know about the mind can get us through so much. When someone has a strong conviction or force of will, they tend to push harder and farther. Those who put their minds to a task, tend to finish.
Another element that I value is honor. This doesn't mean we all have to conform to a single code and live by it. What this does mean is that we should each have a code we are willing to live by, a basic set of convictions, and keep it always. With Commander, the phrase "twisted sense of honor" is used. He doesn't necessarily play nice or fair, but he always keeps to his own code. He doesn't betray himself or his values. I'll tell you an unconscious rule I have: if a character with some form of honor is conflicted by a character without honor, the character that has honor will be victorious in the end. It might take a long time, but honor will give you victory, true victory.
Inner demons in some form keep coming up in my ideas as well. This isn't the traditional concept of having inner secrets. Instead, it's a more visceral conflict going on inside of each and every person. I think we all have the capacity for good and we all have the capacity for evil. I also think, if you stick around someone long enough, you'll see them do both.
Another aspect might be the static journey, a quest that makes a character look at the familiar and see something new or a quest that doesn't change the character. That doesn't say the character feels static--depending on the story, narration, and point of view, we just might be seeing more and more of a character that isn't actually growing. This one is thin at best right now.
posted by LEN! at 12:18 AM
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