How I Peed on my Theme

I'll bet you'd never guess that a discussion on theme would begin in the bathroom, but that is exactly what happened.

I had just finished taking sheets down from the line and thought the time was right to pay a visit to the bathroom. I was sitting there minding my own business when I caught a flicker of movement out of the corner of my eye at exactly the same instant that I felt something...weird....on the inside of my knee.

I looked down.

And, shot off the toilet and into the living room, trailing toilet paper and screams behind me like party streamers.

An insect about the size and girth of a baby carrot was crawling up my inner thigh. Unfortunately, the foul creature, a pine beetle of some kind judging by its enormous mandibles and waving antennae, did not sport the cheerful orange hue of a baby carrot - instead it was a dull grey, splattered here and there with a moldy white crust that was probably a pathogenic fungus, no doubt deadly to humans.

Not worried about modesty at that moment and desperate to get the freakish baby carrot off of me, I raced outside, pants down around my knees and picked up the monster (surprisingly hefty inside my palm...shudder) and tossed it off the porch. As I hiked up my clothes, I watched it crawl away, seemingly unconcerned about its abrupt change of venue.

All of which got me thinking about FEAR.

And fear got me thinking about the theme of my second novel.

Every one of the major characters in my second novel has a desperate Fear of Being Rejected.

As I start the huge task of paring down the first draft into a taught thrill ride, I know it is essential that I keep this theme front and centre in my mind.

Every character is terrified of being left behind, turned down, laughed at, humiliated. Each of them reacts to this fear in a very different way, and it sets them each on a course of action that makes their situation so much worse.

I think I've captured those essentials in the first draft, but in the second draft I have to make sure that I've SHOWN it.

For example. Grace has PTSD and her resultant fear of being rejected  is driving her into a downward spiral. My challenge is to show her symptoms, her emotional and behavioural responses, and the reactions of others, without ever saying PTSD out loud. Not to mention, that it all must be shown in a way that adds to the thrill factor of the story. This isn't a high brow literary tale, after all, but an intense three day nightmare that Grace may not survive.

Okay - no problem. Seems doable.

Oh ya, but did I mention that this same filter must be applied to each and every character, and every aspect of the plot?

FEAR. FEAR. FEAR.

Am I showing how each character reacts when their fear of being rejected is pushed to the limit? Does their response make their life terribly worse in a heart stopping fashion? Does their attempt to rectify the situation make things even more dire? And, how in God's name will they pull their bacon out of the fire at the last second? Or, will they?

FEAR of Rejection.

There is no way to avoid the THEME.  It clings to your tender flesh. A big black baby carrot, hairy and gross, spindly legs tipped with velcro claws that won't let go. And as much as you wish you could ignore it, and just let the story go where it will - you cannot.

You must gird your loins, crack open that mold-infested exoskeleton and reveal the juicy theme that pulses inside. Then scoop up that bloody gore and smear it liberally throughout your story.

One image too many, methinks?

Not to worry, I'll address that in the second draft.

ANYWAY - In my favour - MY fear of the second book being rejected will likely help as I plow my way through the second draft. I will have no problem showing the sweaty-palmed, compulsive terror-induced eating, heart thumping, vomity taste in the back of the throat that comes with a fear of rejection.



yay...lucky me. Here's hoping the whole thing doesn't end up in the crapper.