Recurring elements/themes in your stories.

Exir · May 16, 2008

Have you ever discovered themes, elements, "signatures" that seem to occur in a lot of your writing?

For me, I find that I like to have a "color theme" for every story I write. And most of the time, it's red.

I also like describing a scenery at the start of the story, then describing it in a different light by the end.

I seem to love including sycamores and maples in my stories. I also like red leaves.

And I did none of the above intentionally. Just seemed to happen.

tehuti88 · May 16, 2008

Psychological themes show up a lot in my writing--in particular Jungian ideas and dreams--though I often plan this. Not in a forced way (I hope), it's just something that seems to fit in with everything I write.

Oddly, I find that abuse issues often show up in my work too. I don't always plan that, it just seems to happen. o_o

Regarding more subtle themes like the ones you mentioned, I haven't noticed any, but that's not to say they're not there. I just haven't noticed them. *shrug*

SPMiller · May 16, 2008

Romantic love.
Platonic love.
Vengeance.
Skepticism.

jennontheisland · May 16, 2008

Control.
Respect for the power of nature.
Hidden abilities.

KikiteNeko · May 16, 2008

Asian stuff
Failing marriages
Pregnancies, not in my present timeline, but an emphasis on past pregnancies
Grief
Family ties.

maestrowork · May 16, 2008

Cultural differences.
Regrets and redemption.
Father-son relationship.
Unconditional love.
Friendship and loyalty.
Water -- it features prominently in both novels

Phaeal · May 16, 2008

Young male protagonists (and here I am, a growed woman).
Intelligent and adventurous female protagonists.
Natural history and botany.
The allure of the inexplicable.
The theory, practice and consequences of magic or psychic ability.
The connection of the individual to the cosmic.
Providence, Arkham, Kingsport, Innsmouth, Dunwich, Cape Cod and other New England locations, real and invented.
Slimy monsters.

Mr Flibble · May 16, 2008

I have a thing for red too

Also:

Revenge
Redemption
Tattoos / brands
Turnips

jennontheisland · May 16, 2008

Hm. I'm going to add redemption to mine, but it's more redemption from within...

Is there a word for that??

DWSTXS · May 16, 2008

predetermined fate

Harper K · May 16, 2008

animal welfare
suicidal characters
birthrights
people who feel trapped and / or too exposed
scientific laws and theories
road trips
the modern, urban U.S. South
outcasts

underthecity · May 16, 2008

I've only written the one novel, but its themes include:

obsession
man versus machine (literally!)
sex
science versus human ability

allen

DWSTXS · May 16, 2008

free sex -
drugs -
fate -
family ties-
living in communes -
mistaken identity

mikeland · May 16, 2008

memory
family
death
abandonment
struggling with loss

Yikes, I sound cheery, don't I? I think I'm going to read Doyle's book instead.

James81 · May 16, 2008

The main theme in just about every story I set out to write always centers around "redemption".

geardrops · May 16, 2008

Gods
Good being perceived as evil
Platonic love

Couple other things I'm not realizing, I'm sure.

Polenth · May 16, 2008

Belief - Religions, conspiracy theories, superstitions... I like characters who believe in things they can't prove.

People being eaten - Most of the stories like this came at a time when 'Algie met a bear' was stuck in my head. I blame the song.

Goats - I have to de-goat many stories. Anytime I need a random animal I think "Aha, goats!"

KTC · May 16, 2008

Mine are almost always about fallible people finding a glimmer of perfection. Broken people being just a little bit fixed. I love broken people... especially if they find that glimmer inside them that helps to make them stronger. They don't have to win or come out on top... but they do have to come to the realization that there is beauty in their fallible lost little worlds. My theme, I suppose, is likened to the lotus in the mud. My god, but those petals are about the most beautiful things on the planet... if you know enough to wipe off the shit they grow in and have a look at them.

Danger Jane · May 16, 2008

Redemption
Sisterly love

A motif that seems to occur over and over in my writing is the sea or sky as a metaphor for a character's emotional state.

It's interesting to read these. Shows a lot about each one of us.

CDarklock · May 16, 2008

Culture clash. A person from one culture entering a new one, and much of the lower-order conflict (as opposed to the central storyline's conflict) revolving around the mutual adjustment of each to the other.

TheIT · May 16, 2008

Misunderstanding one's own talents.

Stormhawk · May 16, 2008

*Strong female characters
*Biological family vs. one you make for yourself
*Children growing up without the traditional family unit
*Mind over muscle
*Less than conventional romance plots
*The strange hidden in the everyday
*The value of a good fantasy

HeronW · May 16, 2008

loss of a family member, trying to live a normal life while being different, having a great horse, getting to the goal no matter the cost, finding a love and losing to horrible circumstances. I'm sure there's more but that's all off the top of my head.

Dale Emery · May 16, 2008

Supernatural jarring of people's minds:

A year after running away, a twelve-year-old boy returns to find that nobody remembers him.
Time begins to loop; every 29 hours everything resets... except people's minds.
A man finds that he and a killer are sharing each other's minds.
A magical system where the magic affects people's minds (motivation, attention, empathy, interpersonal restraint, ...).

Soccer Mom · May 17, 2008

Mother-daughter relationships
animals
spirituality
free will
slimy monsters

Recurring elements/themes in your stories.

Out of the cradle endlessly rocking

Mackinac Island Fanatic

Prodigiously Hanged

the world is at my command

.

Fear the Death Ray

Whatever I did, I didn't do it.

They've been very bad, Mr Flibble

the world is at my command

Mr Mojo Risin...

here's to the girl on the go

Finestkind

Mr Mojo Risin...

Call me Pookie

Great Scott Member

Good thing I like my day job

Mushroom

Stand in the Place Where You Live

Yes!

Infuriatingly Theoretical

Angry Bunny Girl

Down Under Fan

is way off topic

Crypto-fascist