I think I live by O. Henry's rule for short stories. I write to please myself. I don't look for a theme or try to write to satisfy whatever that theme might be; I leave that for the reader to figure out. I don't think of myself as that deep. I don't read a story looking for its theme, I read it because I enjoy the language as well as the…
I think I live by O. Henry's rule for short stories. I write to please myself. I don't look for a theme or try to write to satisfy whatever that theme might be; I leave that for the reader to figure out. I don't think of myself as that deep. I don't read a story looking for its theme, I read it because I enjoy the language as well as the story. I believe if I write something that interests me, and satisfies me, I'll find readers who feel the same way. But I have a habit of going over the word count. My stories tend to be long...ish. 10, 12, 14,000 words are typical lengths. I like to layer things. Events that happen are played out slow as the characters develop. And when I finish and look back at it, I discover there is a theme, but I was unaware of it at the moment of writing. I think if I wrote a story with the intentions of proposing a theme I wanted to convey from the start, I'd fall flat on my face.
I'm similar in that approach. I can't say that I've ever gone into a story looking to inject a theme. It's more about what struggle or emotions I want the character to experience, and that will typically play into a larger theme. Whatever that meaning is, will end up being more important because hopefully the reader will feel something from it, or connect with it. When I find I'm typing too much exposition, I go back and remove it, and instead think of ways the character can experience it through their words and actions.
I think I live by O. Henry's rule for short stories. I write to please myself. I don't look for a theme or try to write to satisfy whatever that theme might be; I leave that for the reader to figure out. I don't think of myself as that deep. I don't read a story looking for its theme, I read it because I enjoy the language as well as the story. I believe if I write something that interests me, and satisfies me, I'll find readers who feel the same way. But I have a habit of going over the word count. My stories tend to be long...ish. 10, 12, 14,000 words are typical lengths. I like to layer things. Events that happen are played out slow as the characters develop. And when I finish and look back at it, I discover there is a theme, but I was unaware of it at the moment of writing. I think if I wrote a story with the intentions of proposing a theme I wanted to convey from the start, I'd fall flat on my face.
I'm similar in that approach. I can't say that I've ever gone into a story looking to inject a theme. It's more about what struggle or emotions I want the character to experience, and that will typically play into a larger theme. Whatever that meaning is, will end up being more important because hopefully the reader will feel something from it, or connect with it. When I find I'm typing too much exposition, I go back and remove it, and instead think of ways the character can experience it through their words and actions.