Personal themes in writing

I woke up at o'dark thirty this morning from a dream because it gave me a really cool idea for a story.  I love that.  I more love it when I have the time to write it down in depth.

What's really cool about this idea is that it all falls together really easily with other ideas I've been tossing around-- and a story I started which stalled due to lack of plot.  I have the basic characters, some already-built world, and a story arc/premise.  And this morning I have been able to write out the gist of a cool trilogy which someday I might actually write.  Whoo hoo!

(I'd share it with you, but I have never heard of anything with even a passing resemblance to this idea.  There are some similar concepts in the widest-angle view; but nothing that, close up, is like mine.  So I shall hug it to myself and develop the treatment.)

And on to today's topic.
The funny thing about when I develop story ideas is that I can, generally, tie all my various worlds together via my frequent pondering of what would happen if one could transfer to another universe. 

At its root, my writing aims to answer a pair of questions.  What is the nature of the soul?  What would happen if you entered another universe?  The answers are not simple; but the questions are.  So, I have a theme going here. 

What question(s) are you answering?
I would be willing to bet that many of us have some underlying question we address in our writing.  It's as if we need to take our thought toys out of the box and examine them, play with them in order to see what variations work, how they play out if we tweak this or that.

I suspect our curiosity is worth looking at.  We are craftsmen and artists, and to gain an understanding of how our mind works is to add another tool to the writerly toolbox.  Not to forget that sticking to one thematic allusion is limiting if it is stuck as a subconscious drive.  It isn't bad or wrong to have a phase, a "blue period" like Picasso; but it should be our conscious choice to stick with the blue paint over orange. 

So maybe take a look at what questions you are answering when you conceive of a fictional world.  If you do not know, you will have a more difficult time in asking new ones and thus broadening your horizons.

Happy writing and happy holidays!

Comments

[Patricia Wood]

ALoha WW and hope your holidays are happy. I concur with not talking about great ideas. You lose your creativity when you do that.
I have learned the hard way not to share ANYTHING!

[Charles Gramlich]

Good luck with developing that idea. Sounds intriguing.

I agree that most writers are exploring/questioning something with their writing. I think, for me, it is mostly a questioning of myself. What would I do in a particular situation? What would I hope that I'd do? What does the dark side of me wish it could do?

[writtenwyrdd]

Hi Pat! Mahalo and Mele Kalikimaka! (Hope I remembered how to spell that!)

I think your question as to what you would do in a given situation is a good one. We all ask variations of that question as we write; but it's the selection of the situation that we question that is the significant thing.

[sex]

happy holidays!

I don't discuss my ideas until they're on paper. I find it goes out my fingers or my mouth, not both.

Themes, hmm. I keep coming back to family and friendship.