  Short Stories
This week: Edited by: Mavis Moog  
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The more carefully the theme of a story is constructed, the more satisfying the read. This month I give you some tips on finding and developing a theme.
Plus
There's a great selection of short stories for you to read and review on Editor's Picks. These are the best of the huge number of stories submitted.
Plus
The Ask and Answer section is becoming a very active and interesting discussion forum. This month: literary versus popular fiction; And do you think I was unkind in last month's newsletter?
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Theme
The theme of a story is its message. Fables have a very clearly defined theme - the moral. Other stories are more subtle. Do not confuse the subject of the story with its theme. The subject is the condition portrayed, whereas the theme is a statement about that subject.
Successful stories tend to avoid preaching to the reader. They imply a point rather than state it directly. For instance, in this month's Editor's Picks a story by E E Coder  "The Coldness of Revenge," deals with the brutalisation of an Iraqi man. It implies that one should not be surprised by the rage of Iraqi insurgents, but it does this by encouraging the reader to empathise with plight of an ordinary Bagdad family.
The theme of pride is discussed in another featured story, "The Woodshed," by lillibet53. A boy's pride causes his father to behave badly, and learn something fundamental about power and humility.
When planning a story it is important to have a firm idea of the theme. Indeed, many stories germinate from a theme, rather than from a plot or a characterisation. Once you have decided on the message of your story, you can go one to consider how to illustrate it.
Motifs and symbols help the author to establish a theme, without being too heavy-handed. Consider the classic story, "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck. The strong theme of this story is power. The motif of the mouse, killed by Lennie as he tries to love it, is a metaphor for the general theme, and is reflected throughout the relationships in the story.
This list of common themes is a useful guide:
Themes connected with human relationships:
Parents are flawed and cause great damage to their children.
Parents should not sacrifice all for their children.
Old men will always be betrayed by their young wives.
Loyal friends should be valued, but are often tested to the extreme.
Themes connected to man's relationship with nature
People are destroying the environment.
People stubbornly attempt to over-power nature.
Love of nature is a spiritual enlightenment.
Nature is indifferent to the needs of man.
Man is part of nature.
Rites of Passage
Some trial or obstacle must be overcome in order to reach maturity.
Many people never grow up entirely, we retain childish flaws.
Adulthood is often arrived at due to a random crisis.
Life and Death
Make sure every day is lived to the full, because life is so temporary.
One only achieves wisdom moments before death.
Death is nothing to be feared.
Good behaviour will always be rewarded.
Good behaviour is no guarantee of reward.
Alienation
Someone is isolated because he is too sensitive to deal with society effectively.
The world is a callous place and it would be better to withdraw from it.
Self-protection is a barrier to love.
There are many more themes to work with. One exercise I do with my students is to ask them to write a story with a well-known proverb as its theme. The proverb must not be stated or referred to in any way. We all enjoy trying to identify the proverb when the stories are shared in discussion sessions. Some of the more archaic proverbs make amusing themes.
Here are just a few interesting proverbs:
Spare the rod, spoil the child.
Children should be seen and not heard.
A watched pot never boils.
A friend in need is a friend indeed.
There's no honour amongst thieves.
A fool and his money are soon parted.
Every dog has it's day.
Don't take proverbs literally. They are metaphors and should be used as a spring-board for your theme, not illustrations in themselves.
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Here are your responses to last month's newsletter. It was on the subject of writing about trauma and tragedy.
susandudzinski
Mavis. You are a strong writer and too strong a person, I don't think you will ever be truly "affected" by tragedy. Some people are like that.
The weak writers you speak of have been crippled by pain, likely never to recover enough to translate their tragedies into fertilizer for literary acceptability. Only a handful will be able to make a successful jump. Some kindness is required here.
My suggestion to you is don't read the really bad authors, just pass them by because they have a place here, too, at WDC. At least one reader will be able to relate to their work. You only have to change the life of one person to make a difference.
Your directives in favor of strong writing skills are most useful but not at the expense of attacking the weakened.
Just my thoughts, thanks, Sandy.
Thank you for your contribution, Sandy. My point was that therapeutic writing should remain private. Authors on this site, who want to improve their writing skills, should remember their audience. Poor emotional writing is not very readable. This is a writing site, not a psychotherapy clinic. Of course I have sympathy for troubled people, I have my own troubles from time to time, but that's not the issue. I hope I made this clear, I do not claim tragedy has no place in fiction. It does, but it needs to be written with skill and not simply vomited onto the page. I do not accept that this is in any way attacking the weak, simply promoting good writing, which is what this newsletter is all about. ~ MM
Brother Don
This is an excellent issue. I agree with everything you have said. Much of the writing here on Writing.com is actually therapeutic in nature. Some writers do as you suggested and make the experience something that others can learn from. The others, not having the same degree of experience or insight, are actually writing for themselves. I find that my own submissions also follow this pattern.
I am glad that these authors have been given a place where they can find relief by putting their experiences down in writing. I try to read and review as many of these authors as I can. However, I am also grateful for those writers who are able to be more objective and try to make their writing more universal because they provide an escape from painful reality for me.
This is the first comment I have seen on the dual purpose of writing and I think your comments are very well put and very helpful to aspiring authors. Thank you for your excellent suggestions.
Donald Brown
Thank you for the support, Donald. I do not advocate the persecution of emotionally disturbed writers who are not expert at expressing themselves, and all members must treat such items with gentle care, but for those who aspire to be writers, I hope this discussion is helpful. ~ MM
demor
Regarding your point about writing about tragedy, I think that when we do that we reveal our most basic selves. This is a risk that many of us are unwilling to take, so we embellish our writing with words that do not describe our true feelings.
Your advice to write these things for only private use is excellent.
Exactly; the benefit of writing about ones deep emotional crises does not rely on public display; in fact the prospect of public display may weaken the therapeutic benefit, in just the way you suggest ~ MM
magicink
Tragedy is more part of people's lives at this present time. Of course there are many joyful times. But I feel that people's joy wouldn't feel good if it wasn't for pain. Pain makes joy feel better. The good and bad can't exist with out the other.
Emotional texture is an important part of good writing too. ~ MM
Answers to last month's question.
What's the difference between popular writing and literary writing? Can a women's magazine story be good literature? Or is quality writing destined to languish on dusty, book shop shelves?
⭐Princette♥PengthuluWrites 
Mavis,
Good literature can be read over and over again and you find something new in it every time. Popular literature is like a treat; you read it once and you pretty much get everything in it. With good literature, you're pulled below the surface.
Vivian 
Mavis, quality writing really can't be distinguished only as literary writing. Quality writing can be found anywhere, although not in all writing. Much of what is now considered "literary" writing is rather dull, although not all is. ~~ Viv
tom
I'm 64 and have read all my life. I'm not a lit. prof., therefore not educated in the medium except through practice. I believe you can take the trashiest rag available on the book/magazine shelves of the sleaziest store in town and given enough time and patience could find a wonderful piece of literature. By the same token, some of the pieces that receive critical acclaim turn out to be hackneyed junk drooled over by critics who are nothing more than cloned mouthpieces for PR firms.
Really quality writing though, indeed proves to be the most enjoyable. "Body and Soul" by Frank Conroy is one of the most amazing books I have ever read. Then I discovered that he is amazingly educated and is one of the premier writing professors in this country. Oh well, just wanted to respond, enjoyed the newsletter.
Thank you for those interesting and insightful replies. I think you make some excellent points. ~ MM
This Month's Question
Please may I have your thoughts and advice about fictional names.
How do you choose names for your characters? How important is a name? What does a name do for a character? |
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Short Stories: November 15, 2006 Issue [#1371]
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