Story and Theme
The other day, over at Lurker Monkey's place (and I really do think of a Monkey having a coffee shop on the Internet when I am there, just as I think of this blog as my own personal diner--and I control the tunes, since, as of the moment, David Bowie's Ashes to Ashes is on), there was a discussion of Story versus Theme. It sort of evolved into a "versus" situation because some debate was occuring, but really, they are intrinsically united.
And so I started thinking about it. At the beach this weekend, I was reading two books simultaneously. Both clock in over 1,000 pages, give or take, I think. The first is this one by Dostoyevsky. I've read it before, but it's been a while, and like a lot of Dostoyevsky, it's a very involved story. However, unlike modern stories, there's tons of telling. And it's all about theme. Big, grand themes that almost fry your brain because they are so complex and debate-inducing. It's a story, but it's told in an old-fashioned way. Dostoyevsky didn't create a page turner, yet every character is compelling.
And then, I am reading this, a book recommended to me by someone I know, a Muslim. And he is right. There are universal truths no matter your religion, and this book . . . you know the theme in the FIRST sentence. The very first one.
"It took me a long time and most of the world to learn about love and fate and the choices we make, but the heart of it came to me in an instant, while I was chained to a wall and being tortured."
And all of this brings me to an exciting new project of Lurker Monkey's. A storytelling project you can read about in the two links below.
http://1-millionmonkeys.blogspot.com/2009/07/storytellers.html
http://1-millionmonkeys.blogspot.com/2009/07/july-prompt.html
As I worked on a short-short story this week (400 words only), it started with a theme. It told a little story. They are united. But had I excluded theme, I would have 400 words that said nothing. I think of a novel as a church now. There is the altar of story. Any words not serving the story are tossed on a pyre. But the the hallowed few, there is an even greater altar. It is Theme. Any parts of the story that do not serve the theme, that's where they are burned.
Thoughts? Are you a storyteller? How do you know?
29 comments:
Thanks for the shout-out!
My only change is that I moved the date for submission back to July 16 so people would have more time to finish their stories -- but if anyone is done early, I'll post it early. On July 16, I'll link to ALL the stories (even ones I posted before) so anybody who wants to can read them all and comment.
I'm definitely a storyteller, and I've actually had to train myself away from it a little bit. My default position was always, "Yes, but is it COOL?" It didn't really matter how it fit into the larger theme or even if it was consistent with characters, etc. Just as long as it was neato. Lately, I've begun to pull back some of the wilder elements of the story and focus on Theme and Character more. And as I've done it, I've gotten greater love from the publishing industry.
And I had the same observation about older literature (not just Russian). The themes are huge, almost operatic. And they have no problem telling you almost everything. It's very different than the way we write today.
If this is a diner, I want some pie. Pecan. With a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
I'll tell you what. I didn't think I'd know what to do with Lurker's photo, but after studying it for a minute, it wasn't the overall picture that inspired me, it was a single small detail. And boom, I was writing. I don't know that I'd call it a story, more like an encapsulated scene, but it's sure an interesting way to get your brain going.
I'm with Mark. If this is a diner I want pie. But I want coconut cream.
I'm writing a post right now about story-telling, and how that is really the most important thing in life and always has been -- way before the printed word and the blog and micro-messaging, even before cave-drawings. The way we move forward in life is to tell stories, whether it be our own or others, real or make-believe.
I think we also tell stories in not only how we write but in how we walk and talk and live our lives. So those who don't think they are story-tellers might be the most interesting ones of all -- and probably the ones WE are telling stories about!
I'm going to check out LurkerMonkey's place now. Geez, I hope there's pie there too.
I'm certainly a story reader. Ascertaining the theme is an intellectual exercise for me. Reading a story is an emotional one.
The theme of my next novel is going to be the utter futility and meaninglessness of human existence. In fact, I've already finished it. It's 1000 blank pages.
Just as an esoteric, oh-so-intellectual aside, one of the way the brain stories memory is called narrative memory, ie., placing events into a narrative (story), which I think is why humans are so drawn to stories.
Interesting. I've been thinking a lot about theme lately, wrote something tongue in cheek to a friend and realized THAT'S IT!
I too have an issue with wild story elements. I just wrote one that I'm wondering if I need to reel back a bit. It's a kind of "better to have loved and lost or never loved at all" sort of thing.
Lurker:
It's funny. As I read about Aloysha and the other characters in Dostoyevsky's novel, I find he has such amazing detail--frozen moments that tell me SO much about them. I feel like I perfectly know each brother. Perfectly. And yet . . . not the way we tell a story today at all.
E
Mark:
I am developing the MOST BIZARRE story frm the prompy. Which was kind of interesting. Like why did my mind come up with THAT?!?!?!?!
E
P.S. Pie comin' right up.
Amy:
The person who recommended the Shantaranbook is, I think . . . on a Matrix-like quest to discover what is "story." What do we tell ourselves. What illusions. We all seem to cling to story . . . and fo some people, there is a natural storytelling element that lets them make sense of the world.
E
Joe:
Interesting way to look at that.
E
Jude:
Good luck with selling it. ;-)
E
Starbucks:
Some of the ideas I have lately are way out there. So I hear you . . . That's why I think it boils down to serving the story and serving the theme, like Lurker said--not keeping it because it's "neat-o."
E
Welcome back from the Bay. Hope you found time to enjoy a martini...
I believe I'm a story teller (disregarding the show vs. tell debate), and I always stick to a theme which I interpret as the "what if" that prompted my story in the first place.
And as always, your life parallels mine. Yesterday I began reading Gore Vidal's Judgment of Paris - not a page turner but definitely something I can wrap my brain around. Strong theme, lots of telling - it would totally bore today's reading majority, but I'm digging it. (That's all that matters, lol)
kath:
Ahh ... those parallel lives again. :-)
I am surprised how much I am enjoying Dosoyevsky this go 'round.
E
I used to hate it in high school when the teacher would make us name the theme of what we had read. Not that it's necessarily hard: often it's just something like "love hurts." The problem I had, and still have, is that naming it weakens it somehow.
I don't like themes to be obvious or named explicitly. I like to get a feeling from a story, and the harder it is to describe that feeling, the better the story.
stephen:
Interesting.
I think I've found from writing MG and YA that those editors like the theme to be more explicit. Maybe a convention of the genre.
E
I love that, about the burning. That's how I figure out what to write and what to leave out.
That is one heck of a first sentence! I have to say, that is the only author website I've ever been on where I can't find the book, LOL. I'll check it out today at... Barnes and Noble. *sigh*
Natasha:
He wrote it/published it about 5 years ago, maybe a little more. But my B&N had it in stock. It was a best-seller in several countries.
Helluva first sentence. A big part of it takes place in Bombay's slums . . . he makes them come alive is all I can say.
E
First, I must say that I'm more than a little intimidated by the rest of you who are writing for Jon's prompt.
Erica, I've always said I'm a storyteller and it surprises me how sparse my writing sometimes feels (to me at least) because I'm one of those who goes on and on when verbally telling a story. Writing seems like a natural way to share what's in my head with others. You know I have an issue calling myself a writer, but storyteller fits more comfortably.
I got my idea for my story last night and I'm shocked by what I came up with too -- it's my first sci-fi piece!
melanie:
Mine's not quite sci-fi, but it is very odd. ;-)
E
Did anyone get the deep inner hidden meaning of my previous comment?
It's that we fill our pages with stories, not themes. If themes emerge during the process (and they always do) then it's sometimes useful to exploit them during subsequent drafts. Starting out with some sort of teaching agenda in mind...I don't think that's the way to go.
Like Stephen, I hate to nail a theme to tight to the page. I like to leave lots of room for reader interpretation. I'm reading a John Connolly book right now, and in the interview at the back he said that he deliberately left some things very ambiguous for readers. I like the idea of consciously doing that.
For instance, in the book I'm writing now, the main characters fall in love-- a regular love story subplot going on. I never broach the subject of their homosexuality via any other character or the narrative, they simply are. Not sure what I mean by it except that it's my own little dreamworld in which it's a non-issue. But other betas have already brought a lot of their own viewpoints to the table about it. I find that really intriguing.
Jude:
I think it's whatever works for each individual writer.
E
starbucks:
I am always delighted when I hear from readers who got my themes, even if they describe it in a slightly different way.
E
Informative and thought-provoking. I'll have to go over and take a peek at the links...
But I HAVE to ask, because The Brothers K has been on my reading list since grad school, do you like it? I LOVE Dostoyesky's writings.
Chris:
I do like it. But I can't explain why I like it--LOL! It's so different from modern writing, but I find myself more and more wrapped up in it.
E
That does it! I'm getting that book off my shelf right now (and putting aside "The Risk Pool" which is my least favorite Russo book so far).
:-)
Chris:
LOL! I've not read The Risk Pool . . . . but I like his writing.
E
Post a Comment