Thank you, Tori! And I’m glad to hear you already recognize some of your stories’ themes in that way. 🙂

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Funny what we see when we take a look at stories we’ve been working on for a while, isn’t it? 🙂

Thanks for commenting, E.!

Thank you, Faith. 🙂

I think all writers have a passion for storytelling and the written word, so that wasn’t necessarily the “passion” I was talking about here, but the other things we’re passionate about. Example: I wouldn’t be surprised if I write about a musically inclined protagonist one day. I’m not a musician, but I’ve been such a fan of music for a long time that it’s bound to creep in through my characters someday. That’s what I meant in the passions section.

“Do your values matter to the protagonist and/or supporting characters? You’ll know they do if those values are threatened by the story’s events, or if the characters live in a world where they struggle to achieve those values.”
–I hadn’t quite thought of it that way before, but it’s true. I now see more values that have weaved their way into my WIP without me realizing why. But it makes sense that an author’s values and the themes they cherish most would make it into the works they write.

Yes! And I was thinking about myself… I seem to have a bit of a ‘thing’ about voices in the heads of my main protagonists. They all get there in a variety of ways and the end result is quite different. But I’ve promised myself that I’m NOT starting any more new series with that particular issue for a while. And you’re right about particular themes appearing in an author’s work – I’m very interested in inter-generational relationships, rather than love stories, so while I do have a splash of romance, it generally doesn’t take centre-stage. The relationships that do hog the limelight are between parents and children – both good and ill…

Thanks, Sarah! And I agree with your points about “preachiness” of theme and repeating ourselves in future works. As writers, it’s important for us to focus on the story, characters, etc. first, then see what themes emerge as a result. If we focus too much on theme early on, it can sound forced and didactic – and most writers don’t want their work to come across that way. (I don’t want mine to, either.) So you really have to concentrate on storytelling first, then discover its themes later, almost as if “by accident.” And now that I think about it, this might be a good topic for a future Theme: A Story’s Soul post. 🙂

As for the “repeating ourselves” bit: I think it’s fine for certain themes to crop up in multiple books over our careers, but we definitely should avoid telling the same story more than once. If writers want to avoid that pitfall, they can do so by writing about different kinds of characters, settings, conflicts, and so forth, or experimenting with different types of plots. I already know my future stories will feature different protagonists and struggles than my current WIP – not only because they call for those differences, but because I want variety to be a big part of my career. And as a result, different themes might emerge in each story… But I wouldn’t be surprised if other themes reappear from time to time, either.

Does that make sense, on either front?