Questions: Theme: Planned in advance or develop as you go?
musingaloud asks: Do you think of theme in the early stages of writing, or let it develop from your subconscious as you go?


Yes.

Oh, wait, that was the answer to the last question.



I do both. In fact, I think this directly mirrors my outlining/not-outlining answer, because I feel it’s all part of the same process.

I do have thematic issues in mind in the early stages of developing a story, and I think about and develop the story in light of those themes.

For instance, one of the thematic elements in the Crossroads trilogy is that of corruption--how individuals and even cultures can become corrupt, how we slide into corruption without being aware we are falling there, and how we rationalize what is going on even as we cross under the gate of corruption.

If you’ve read the first two books, Spirit Gate and Shadow Gate, I don’t need to explain how that works within the story; it continues to be a major thematic element in book three, as suggested by the title, Traitors’ Gate.

At the same time, things will come up I did not expect.

For example, in King’s Dragon I deliberately made Hugh beautiful, well spoken, melodious, charismatic, well mannered, well dressed, and in every possible way outwardly a person one would be pleased to meet and associate with and admire. One reason I chose to do this was because I am shallow, and I enjoy writing about handsome men. Another was because I had read one too many novels or seen one too many films in which you can instantly identify the villain and his minions because of their gross behavior, their pimples, their slovenly dress, or their fearful appearance.

But the third--the main--reason was to create dramatic contrast between his outward beautiful physical appearance and manners and his actual inward psychological state, which is twisted and evil (this is not a spoiler as potential readers should figure out Hugh within one sentence of meeting him).

In fact, I made sure to contrast Hugh’s outward beauty and inward twistedness with that of other characters: Agius’s inward torment, the wall Liath builds “around her heart” to protect herself, Hanna’s good-heartedness, Alain’s clarity of spirit, and so on.

During the course of continuing research in the early medieval period after I was already writing the books, I ran across the notion of the inner heart and the outer seeming in source material from the Middle Ages. Reading the lives of saints and bishops from the early period, I discovered that these medieval folks were themselves aware of and eager to discuss, within the context of their times, the contrast or balance between the inner heart and the outer seeming. It seemed I had been examining this very theme without consciously being aware I was examining it, if you see what I mean.

Once I realized what interesting thematic material this was, and how much it was already present in the narrative, I began to use it more deliberately. A careful read of the Crown of Stars books will show that later on I more consciously flag this thematic material or put my characters in situations (especially Alain) to illuminate or raise the question.

Thematically (for me as a writer) I feel a novel or series is a success if

1) I have to my satisfaction explicated a thematic element from the outset, something I wanted to explore, and

2) if one or preferably more thematic elements crop up in the course of the writing that I did not specifically intend.

I have learned to trust my subconscious. It does a lot of work for me, and this is true in the matter of themes as well. Also, frankly, it’s interesting to see what bubbles up from the deeps. I mean, really, you never know, do you?