Authors with a Recurring theme

I've even seen this with "big" authors like John Green. A Fault In Our Stars was different enough, but the female MCs in Paper Towns and Looking for Alaska were EXTREMELY similar, and I hated them both. I guess if you make the rest of the story original enough, it's okay to have similar themes, even a formula to your writing.

brmerry said:

I've even seen this with "big" authors like John Green. A Fault In Our Stars was different enough, but the female MCs in Paper Towns and Looking for Alaska were EXTREMELY similar, and I hated them both. I guess if you make the rest of the story original enough, it's okay to have similar themes, even a formula to your writing.

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Wow, I've heard A LOT of people say this. I've only read one of his books, Looking For Alaska, and the main female character was definitely a Manic Pixie Dream Girl (which is not a type of character I'm fond of as they seem to exist purely for the male hero's benefit.) I looked at the descriptions for his other books and found the characters way too similar to bother reading anymore from him.

When I heard about The Fault In Our Stars, I quickly realised that it's still following his formula: the only difference is that the genders are flipped, with the male protagonist being a Manic Pixie Dream Boy!

Strange. I don't think that JG is a bad writer, so it's somewhat unfortunate that he limits himself like that. Any thoughts?

Animad345 said:

Wow, I've heard A LOT of people say this. I've only read one of his books, Looking For Alaska, and the main female character was definitely a Manic Pixie Dream Girl (which is not a type of character I'm fond of as they seem to exist purely for the male hero's benefit.) I looked at the descriptions for his other books and found the characters way too similar to bother reading anymore from him.

When I heard about The Fault In Our Stars, I quickly realised that it's still following his formula: the only difference is that the genders are flipped, with the male protagonist being a Manic Pixie Dream Boy!

Strange. I don't think that JG is a bad writer, so it's somewhat unfortunate that he limits himself like that. Any thoughts?

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I LOVED Looking for Alaska when I first read it, and I think on it's own its okay... but when I start reading all of someone's work (which we tend to do when we like something) I like a little variety. I don't want to read the same thing over and over again.

As much as I love Sarah Dessen (and let me tell you, that's a whole freaking bunch) she definitely has a recurring theme as far as MC's go. My favorite of hers is This Lullabye (followed closely by Dreamland), because Remy is different from the usual heroine.

The only upside to this is familiarity. When I pick up a book by JG or SD, I know what I'm getting into. It's like putting on my favorite pair of jeans...

lucyfilmmaker said:

As much as I love Sarah Dessen (and let me tell you, that's a whole freaking bunch) she definitely has a recurring theme as far as MC's go. My favorite of hers is This Lullabye (followed closely by Dreamland), because Remy is different from the usual heroine.

The only upside to this is familiarity. When I pick up a book by JG or SD, I know what I'm getting into. It's like putting on my favorite pair of jeans...

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Haha. That's a good comparison. It's how I feel when I pick up a Sophie Kinsella novel; I expect something light and fluffy, rather than the deeper and more philosophical novels which I tend to prefer.

I was unfortunate with Sarah Dessen, as I think the first novel of hers I read was 'Someone Like You' which I hated. Thank goodness I didn't give up on her as an author. I picked up 'Just Listen' and it remains one of the most beautifully written YA books I have ever read. The male romantic lead was unique and the main character may have started out passive but I loved how she changed and became more confident over time.

Funny, I don't think she really has a formula. Isn't she merely following the conventions of romance? I think her books all seem rather different from each other, judging by the descriptions of her other novels, which I have yet to read.

You know, I know I have common themes throughout my writing but I think what's probably most noticeable is what they lack -- romance.

I do the same thing. Some of the things that seem to pop up in all of my stories are:

*Fish-out-of-water MC
*Parental Issues (usually having an issue with one parent while totally loving the other)
*Tall, dark, and inscrutable romantic interest
*Annoyance-at-first-sight dynamic between the MC and the romantic interest

I admit, most of these are author appeal. I don't really like parental issues, but they are great for tension so I tend to use them. I do recognize I'm doing them so I try to make sure if they do crop up, they appear in different forms than in previous works.

I don't think it necessarily bad for similar things to show up in multiple works by the same author, as long as they are taking a fresh look at them. If they are just giving you carbon copies of what they've done before, then we have a problem.

Love this thread *clicks subscribe button*!

- I often write overbearing mothers, and fathers that aren't really in the picture.
- Oftentimes the main character is an only child, but if there are siblings involved it's usually an older, annoying brother.
- Romance also is a recurring theme, as is humor.
- I have a thing for gender bending.
- And people with a (usually creative) talent they build their life around.
- And money, or lack thereof. The MCs always come from struggling families.
- Plus, if there's more than one love interest, one is usually a stable and quiet geeky type, and the other a charming and outgoing type.

As a reader, I tend to like recurring themes in the books of my favourite authors. That is, the only authors I tend to follow are the ones who I feel like are consistently building on their obsessions. I don't often read sequels or series, but I love it when stand alone books kind of talk to each other in ways you have to read the author's full body of work to understand. Hannah Moskowitz and sibling/big family stories. John Green and imagining others complexly. David Levithan and being a good boyfriend/friend/human in relation to other humans. Chuck Palahniuk and the value (or not) of fucking shit up.

On the other hand, plenty of people look at those exact same authors and feel like "if you've read one of their books, you've read them all" for those exact same reasons.

So it can really go both ways: attracting a loyal fanbase who share your obsessions, but also losing interest of readers who don't feel the need to read more than one crazy twin book.

And, you know, even as a consumer who gets into recurring themes, I do like it when a creator *also* puts out material that isn't about that. Like, I love everything Sarah Polley's directed, but I'm also really impatient for her to make a movie that isn't about adultery.

I think it's normal for authors to re-use plot devices, character archetypes, or narrative structure for a variety of reasons. Off the top of my head, I re-use:

-Younger generation fixing a "mistake" caused by the older generation (typically a parent or grandparent)
-The father of the MC is either missing, dead, or they have a strained relationship. In one WiP, the mother is also dead; in the other two the MC has a strained relationship with their mother
-Historical settings; usually between the Victorian Era and pre-WWII
-MC learning that the world they believed they knew isn't what it appears to be
-Male/Female relationships that aren't romantic (romance is pretty much background noise in my WiPs to begin with)
-A murder (or murders) instigates the initial plot
-In two of my books, the chemist of the group is a female

Some of this stuff comes from my interests (familial ties; solving puzzles/mysteries). Some of this stuff is wish fulfillment (females finding achievement in typically male-dominated fields). Some of this stuff is things I want to see more of in the media (female and male non-romantic relationships; a female MC who isn't defined by a LI). All of these things ensure that I want to write these stories.

On paper, it looks like I'm writing the same novel. But of my 3 "main" WiP, one is a Sherlockian mystery, one is a time-travel/Speculative Fiction, and the other is horror. Two exist in alternate timelines and one is more grounded in actual events. The motives behind the murders that occur in all three WiPs are different: one is for revenge, one is the villain eliminating threats to his master plan, and the last is for survival (monsters have to eat).

If there is a theme or character type that you happen to like, the trick is using it as a base and then molding it to fit your characters, tone, and plot, all of which should be different depending on the story you're telling.

I'm guilty. The anthro bug hit me hard. The sad part is, by the time I realized it, it was waaay to late to stop.
Other than that, I think I'm pretty good. Granted only one project is 'complete', the others in the works. But as of now each is different in plot.

One author I can think of who does this is Brian Jacques. Redwall fans, don't hang me, 'cause I haven't read them all, but most of them seem to share an Evil Overlord/Army of Treacherous Minions trait. But then, it seems to work for him, so who am I to judge?
~Lev

lucyfilmmaker said:

I LOVED Looking for Alaska when I first read it, and I think on it's own its okay... but when I start reading all of someone's work (which we tend to do when we like something) I like a little variety. I don't want to read the same thing over and over again.

As much as I love Sarah Dessen (and let me tell you, that's a whole freaking bunch) she definitely has a recurring theme as far as MC's go. My favorite of hers is This Lullabye (followed closely by Dreamland), because Remy is different from the usual heroine.

The only upside to this is familiarity. When I pick up a book by JG or SD, I know what I'm getting into. It's like putting on my favorite pair of jeans...

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Yes, John Green and Sarah Dessen are some of the ones who most immediately come to mind for me when I think of recurring themes. After reading The Fault in Our Stars and then the descriptions for Green's other books, I wasn't particularly inclined to continue, because while I liked TFIOS okay, and Green is a good writer, I'm not sure I like that premise/those characters enough to read it again and again.

I admit that I do enjoy Dessen and have read quite a lot of her books. But I always find that I need to break up reading Dessen books with reading other books in between, or else after a while, I kind of want to stop reading YA contemporary romance for a while. And this, even though I do genuinely enjoy Dessen.

I feel similarly about Gail Carson Levine, though she genuinely is one of my favorite characters and I've loved every book of hers I've read. Not that her books are all the same, but that there's a pattern that becomes very familiar to me (possibly because I also occasionally read her writing blog).

I agree that an upside is familiarity, and I think it's a substantial one. I like knowing every time I read Levine, for example, that there will be a happy ending and characters I enjoy. At the same time, yes, it would be difficult to restrict my reading to just Green, or just Dessen, or just Levine. But I guess we don't have to

I definitely see this present in YA, but as a reader of historical romance I also see a strange theme recurring in some authors works: the virgin falling in love with the widower. For some authors that is, without exception, the trope of all their stories.

But I keep reading, even though this is annoying, because the writer gives that trope+. It's not unheard of writers having a recurring theme, but you really need something else in the story for it to entice your readers. Historical romance usually has pretty similar setups (sometimes the same town) which leads to pretty smart subtle character dynamics that make each story different.

I think what you need to do when thinking of this recurring theme is to think of your stories as questions. I imagine these historical romance writers asking these questions:

How would a virgin fall in love with a widower if she is hiding her illiteracy?
How would a virgin fall in love with a widower if she is pretending to be a boy?
How would a virgin fall in love with a widower if she is struggling to keep her medical practice afloat?

Funny enough the "virgin fall in love with a widower" part kind of disappears behind the plot - the issue, and in the book blurbs it never mentions this recurring theme. While that recurring theme causes tension necessary to the plot it is not the only facet of the plot, and usually not the most important element either. It just complicates an issue already present in their lives and giving layers beyond the plot to explore while the story progresses.

My recurring theme is unlikable female MC's. It started on accident, but now it's on purpose.

Windcutter said:

I think it can be a signature.

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I agree with this. It's like something you come to expect when reading a favorite writer. Not expecting in a bad way, but its what gives that writer that certain thing you can identify them by if you read a book without knowing who it was from. And another person said it earlier, about it being a lot do with personal interests and experiences.

And since we're naming some of my own, my personal recurrences include themes of war, competition and characters that only have one parent. Usually a mother. ALl of which reflects my personal interests and experiences. I love reading about wartime history. I love video games and grew up with only a mother. In fact, it's a bit hard for me to stray off of the beaten path so to speak. When I writer families with both a mother figure and a father figure, I often feel like I'm stumbling around a dark and unexplored room.

But no. Common themes aren't necessarily a bad thing. Just make sure to spice it up little bit. I don't mind reading similar things. But reading the same book I already read is a bit much.

Elidibus said:

I agree with this. It's like something you come to expect when reading a favorite writer. Not expecting in a bad way, but its what gives that writer that certain thing you can identify them by if you read a book without knowing who it was from. And another person said it earlier, about it being a lot do with personal interests and experiences.

And since we're naming some of my own, my personal recurrences include themes of war, competition and characters that only have one parent. Usually a mother. ALl of which reflects my personal interests and experiences. I love reading about wartime history. I love video games and grew up with only a mother. In fact, it's a bit hard for me to stray off of the beaten path so to speak. When I writer families with both a mother figure and a father figure, I often feel like I'm stumbling around a dark and unexplored room.

But no. Common themes aren't necessarily a bad thing. Just make sure to spice it up little bit. I don't mind reading similar things. But reading the same book I already read is a bit much.

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I think I'd like to add hat YA readers love trends. How many teen girls fawned over all those vampire books? I was a bit disappointed when I went from childrens/middle-grade to YA and noticed a distinct lack of WW2 fiction. It was kind of unusual, because everyone read, and loved those books. Almost every high school has a huge unit on WW2 as well, so not having younger-geared books is a little strange.

Sometimes what you read becomes your signature. Mine for awhile? Asia in WW2. I'll still pick up those books and fondly read them.