I am inherently geared towards originality. Among creative types that always sounds like a good thing. In reality, it's a heck of a burden on my mind. I don't know where it stems from. I don't think it's pride or attention-seeking, but I really don't know. Whatever its source, I feel compelled in whatever I do, to do something that is as close to unique as possible. That compulsion had selecting a masters thesis topic a nightmare, believe me. It's the same for all my creative endeavors, and even my everyday life. "Well, the cookbooks all stop there, but I'm going throw some coriander in, just so it's different." It's dumb. I know.
Here's the thing; I don't even like repeating myself. I write songs, and there are two songs which are perfectly good but over which I obsess because they're "too similar." I don't write down my recipes, because I want to make it just a little different next time. My signature is never exactly the same twice. Etc.
This can be a real hassle, and right now I'm bumping up into this issue in my writing, and where I'd love to hear about other writers' or readers' perspectives on this. There are certain broad themes that I know it's pretty inevitable to repeat if you write with any volume. I'm okay with, "the struggle of a person to define his or her existence in the insensible world," as a theme that I will visit more than once. It's pretty general.
On the other hand, I try to never revisit more specific themes if I can help it. I'm well-read enough to know that my themes have been visited by other authors, but my hope is that my take on them is original enough to be different. But I don't want to deal with a theme I've already dealt with.
But I am.
I'd rather not go into details right now because one of the items involved is a story that is unpublished but that I'm hoping to get out there.
In general, though, what do you all think? Is it okay for a writer to revisit themes, as long as the story isn't the same, or is that tiresome? Are your feelings about it different as a writer than they are as a reader?
.Nevets.
Hi Nevets. I have no difficulty in writing differently from other writers, but a big probelm with writing books that are too similar to each other. For example, all my novels - published and unpublished - seem to have mad old ladies in them, and my editor even complained over the re-use of a particular word in two novels (ok - it was 'thing' for penis, but if you're very naive or very young, and female, that's what it may well seem to be be. No offense). Also certain phrses crop up time and again, tho' I now know to look out for them ('long since' is one). But I think that trying to be stunningly original every time may cramp your style. You risk throwing the repeated (but healthy) baby out with the bathwater.
ReplyDeleteWow, you're braver than I am as far as adding ingredients that aren't called for. I can barely follow the recipe as it stands!
ReplyDeleteAnd as for reading/writing, I'm not sure there is a theme that is so totally unique that it hasn't been done before. I think it's about creating authentic and compelling characters, putting in a twist, and fine tuning the craft.
In an interview at the Poisoned Pen bookstore in Scottsdale, Arizona, mystery author Dennis Lehane argued that all of our writing is repeatedly informed by the same preoccupations (or themes, if you will). They just express themselves differently in each piece. I think he's right. I also think that thematic carrover makes particular authors quite interesting.
ReplyDeleteFYI, the interview is here.
ReplyDeleteGreat comments, all of you -- thanks! I'll try to use your perspectives to keep my psychosis in line. lol
ReplyDeleteAs another example, I've been learning Mandarin, but have missed the days when my wife and I were working on learning a language together. It's nerdy, I know, but we had fun. So recently she and I have started working on Japanese, because she's more interested in that than she is Mandarin. I'll still work on the Mandarin on the side, as well.
Anyway, here's how this fits in. Every time I've started learning Japanese I've quit, largely because (you guessed it) so many other people I know and run across on the internet are learning it. I want to learn a language that's different.
Sometimes I hate being a psychotic dork. lool
I've always found a bit of solace in a phrase from Lewis's Mere Christianity: Even in lietrature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: wheras if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed.
ReplyDeleteB, that's some of the most solid advice I've ever gotten. I've read Mere Christianity more than once, but for some reason never really locked onto that bit. Thanks for calling it to my attention. Seriously appreciated!
ReplyDeleteI've discovered that certain themes appear (in various forms) in several of my stories. Once I realized that, I wanted to go back and change them -- but then I'd risk changing otherwise solid stories simply for the sake of making them different.
ReplyDeleteThey already ARE different: different characters, different plots. Themes, well, I don't start out with a list of them; they just show up. That's okay. We work thinks out in dreams, conversations, arguments. Maybe themes are simply the ways authors work out their own conflicts, questions, or concerns. (Just a thought.)