Short and sweet, hopefully both informative and entertaining - join us at I-Spy to find out the how's and why's of what we do.
TODAY'S POST: I-Spy Writing the Gay Mystery…with Josh Lanyon
One of the least understood elements of writing is theme. The very word makes some writers
break out in hives as they flashback to high school compositions on Moby Dick
and The Scarlet Letter. Theme is too often viewed as the stuff of literary
fiction. Not something genre writers need to worry about.
But that's quite wrong. Every story has a theme, even if the
theme is unconscious or not clearly defined. Theme is what your story is about.
Plot is what happens. Theme is the point of it all. Or, if you can think of it
as the moral of our story.
Now you might think that the potential themes of any given
mystery novel are both obvious and limited: crime does not pay, good triumphs
over evil, justice can be found in an unjust world. OR (if your taste runs to
hardboiled and noir crime fiction) crime DOES pay, sometimes evil triumphs over
good, there is no real justice in an unjust world.
It’s actually, or at least ideally, a little more complicated than that. Especially when it
comes to the GLBT subgenre. Because GLBT fiction has to do with sexuality, it
is inevitable that the gay or m/m mystery will differ from mainstream mystery
in regard to the relationships and romance of your main characters. The themes
you choose to write about reveal your personal philosophy about life and love. When
you write about two people in love you reveal your own feelings and beliefs
about relationships and society and sex and all kinds of things you may not
have consciously been thinking about.
While it remains true that in our culture, to write about
men loving each other openly is, in itself, a thematic statement, in a genre as
crowded and competitive as gay mystery, you’ll have to come up with something a
little more meaningful.
Coming out
Self-hate/self-acceptance
Isolation/alienation
Illness/disability
Family
Superficial values/material world
Facing prejudice
Addiction
Monogamy
Obsession
Death
The power dynamic
The closet
There are other important and interesting themes to explore.
But let’s say you don’t have any interest in writing
anything “heavy.” Maybe you just want to say something about the healing power
of love. Your theme doesn’t have to be some big lofty PRINCIPLE. In fact, it’s generally
better if you don’t put your message in flashing neon lights. Even readers who
agree with you philosophically and morally don’t like having an agenda rammed
down their throats. You don’t want to be heavy-handed or blatant. Your first
job as a mystery writer is to entertain.
Ideally theme is not something that can be lifted out of one
story and plugged into another. It should be integral to this particular story
and these particular characters. Theme is, in fact, closely linked to
character. Theme often develops through the conflict of your two main
characters. Each man brings his own experiences, expectations, attitudes,
beliefs and dreams to a relationship. When those different personalities
collide it creates conflict, and through conflict we explore our themes about
love and belonging and compromise and whatever else we think important in human
relationships.
But keep this in mind: when you’re writing these themes,
your own lack of experience and knowledge can turn something earnest and well-intentioned
into pretentious or just plain silly sermonizing. Be sensitive to that. And
remember that you’re preaching to the choir.
It’s okay if you haven’t decided on a theme before you start
writing. Theme often develops organically through the creative process.
Sometimes the most powerful themes gradually reveal themselves through the
course of the story, through the journey the characters take. Sometimes your
characters will surprise you; sometimes the theme of your story turns out to be
something different than you imagined. Often the very best way is to let theme
develop naturally out of the characters’ journey and the events of the story.
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FUTURE POSTS will cover:
Kindlegraph / the art of research / writing male/male romance / rejection and writer's block / building suspense / writing love scenes / anti-piracy strategies / audio books / interviews with editors and agents / using Calibre.
We welcome everyone's constructive comments and suggestions!
8 comments:
As always, an article that makes me think, both as a reader and fledgling writer. Thanks, Josh.
Sometimes theme comes easy and other times its obscure until you get that blinding flash. Great article. I'm thinking the theme of my latest book might be forgiveness. It started out as a redemptive story but I think the deeper issue is that of forgiveness.
Great essay, Josh, as always. I never know what the theme of my story is until after I've finished writing it. I'd like to think that means I'm intuitive, rather than oblivious...
I think the bit about sermonizing and getting on soap boxes is often overlooked, especially by the hip, new writers.
I recently read a story that was so preachy and point blank disrespectful that I swore I would never again read anything by that author. It was that bad and it ruined the reading experience of the whole anthology in which that story was included.
*Let your characters argue out two sides of an issue that’s important to you.* Perfect! This is an important way to show the characters growth.
I'm pretty sick of cliché situations. Taking a subject and twisting it is what makes it high concept and more likely to be interesting to an editor. The movie, A Single Man, with Colin Firth took on the subject of death. I thought it was brilliant.
Great post! Thanks.
Interesting as always, Josh. I'm finding I'm concentrating more on theme in my current story - and am enjoying writing it more because hopefully it has something to say.
Without being preachy.
Especially since it may end up noir
Thank you for the article.
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