I was writing along the other day, as you do, when Calliope & Co. blessed me with insight. All of my characters make horrible decisions fueled by good intentions. That sounds so h*cking fancy. What a great theme.
Or is it a motif?
It’s been a really long time since I was in an English class.
Even though I don’t use a lot of the literary terms that I learned in school when I’m talking about my writing, I think that a basic, working understanding of the building blocks of literature are a good thing for a writer to have.
And I know what you’re thinking: Um, I’m not writing the next Great American Novel here. What the h*ck do I need themes and motifs for?
Well…your survival will never depend on your ability to identify the themes and motifs in your novel. But being able to talk about them sounds hella impressive.
Themes and motifs are just recurring ideas and patterns.
There’s a 98% chance that your novel’s already full of themes, motifs, allegories, etc. Big ideas get repeated. Important objects get mentioned over and over. Being able to identify them means getting a better look at how your story is working and what its central ideas really are.
And, again, it sounds hella impressive. “My novel is about family, memory, and morality” is way smarter-sounding than “My book is about a girl who goes to live in Wales with her crazy cousin.” Both statements are accurate, but one of them is way more likely to make people sit up and take notice.
It’s been a long time since I’ve been in an English class as well so I appreciate you for sharing this post! It made me take a closer look at the reoccurring patterns in my writing.
Glad to hear it helped! 😊😊😊