Theme

ExiledStar · Aug 5, 2015

So I've been reading a couple of really good books about memoir, and they all tell me that memoir has to be a theme, that a memoir is basically an argument. And my problem with the memoir I'm writing is this: My theme seems to be the opposite of what I want it to be.

In my memoir, I struggle with the government of Slovenia to stay in that country, despite being deported three times, and ultimately I lose.

So the unintentional theme of all this is: don't fight the power, because the power always wins. That is NOT what I want my theme to be. I want my theme to be something like: Fight the power, because fighting the good fight is worth it even if you lose.

I'm just not sure how I actually implement this in my narrative.

Emily Winslow · Aug 7, 2015

I agree that theme is important, but I think it may be better to discover it after you've got a first draft rather than to decide beforehand. I wouldn't find it helpful to think of my story as an argument for a point of view; I get what they're saying, but I think that's too emphatic. My book is first a good story, I would hope.

Much of life is intending one thing and something else happens instead. You don't have to make the terms of your story, "I wanted X; I didn't get X; I therefore failed." It could be, "I wanted X; I got Y instead; isn't that interesting and in some ways maybe wonderful" or "I wanted X, and I got it for six whole years against the wishes of a powerful government; what an amazing adventure!"

ExiledStar · Aug 7, 2015

That's a good point, Emily. I've got like 80% of my first draft done, but I feel it lacks cohesion somehow, which is why I'm paying more attention to theme.

Theme

ExiledStar

Baby penguin of DOOM

Emily Winslow

Do Not Walk on the Grass

ExiledStar

Baby penguin of DOOM