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Central theme vs plot device

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Rowan
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Central theme vs plot device

Post by Rowan » Wed September 3rd, 2014, 10:13 pm

As I struggle to write my first manuscript, I realise how little I know of things central to the craft that I have aspired to all of my life.

So I'm metaphorically standing here begging for guidance. What's the difference between a central theme and a plot device?

I thought I knew what there is to know about writing and I find I know nothing.

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MLE (Emily Cotton)
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Post by MLE (Emily Cotton) » Wed September 3rd, 2014, 11:50 pm

A central theme is the thread that runs throughout the novel, hopefully one that is portrayed by the story, not by little mini-lectures at the reader from the author or one of the characters --think British Children's Literature from the early 1900s. (Which was great in its way and at its time, just feels irritating now.)

A plot device is one of the things in the story that MAKES it something you would tell. For instance, if I were to relate the story of how we trekked the John Muir trail with our llamas and a group of people (let's assume this is fictional, thought it isn't) the trail and the llamas would fall under the definition of plot devices. That's what the story is about, the reason there is anything to tell. (Bears would be a plot device for the section in Yosemite and Kings Canyon.)

But say the reason I'm telling this narrative, is to demonstrate how different modern civilization is from the primitive/natural. That would be my central theme. Of course, I could put the emphasis on other things for a different central theme. I could be telling this to show the process of a group learning to work together. Or I could use as my central theme the training of the four two-year-olds we had to press into service for so large a group.

Now if I tried to do all of them at once, it would not work as well as if I picked one and framed every event in the light of that theme.

In Lord of the Rings, the One Ring is a plot device. The central theme is good versus evil, and every hobbit's personal responsibility to do his best.

In Harry Potter, the theme is also good v ersus Evil, and also that people (the Ministry of Magic) would rather pretend that evil doesn't exist, or isn't as potent as it is. Lord Voldemort is a plot device. As is the entire Magical World.



So: you can have many plot devices, but your story should have only ONE main central theme. And it's a good idea to figure that out ahead of time, so that each scene or episode in your narrative builds on and adds to that theme. I read so many stories where one scene completely undoes the impact of the previous one, as though the writer had no idea where they were going.

The best book I have on this is actually for writing screenplays, but it's well worth reading for novels, too.

The Moral Premise: Harnessing Virtue & Vice for Box Office success by Stanley Williams

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Rowan
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Post by Rowan » Thu September 4th, 2014, 2:51 am

I think I understand now. Thanks so very much, MLE. You have no idea how this has helped me.

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MLE (Emily Cotton)
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Preferred HF: Currently prefer 1600 and earlier, but I'll read anything that keeps me turning the page.
Location: California Bay Area

Post by MLE (Emily Cotton) » Thu September 4th, 2014, 5:10 am

You're welcome! Although sometimes having to explain things makes you think about them in new and interesting ways. For instance, the two fictional examples I just gave were both fantasy -- where Good Versus Evil is almost always the overarching theme. (Not to criticize that; good versus evil is at the core of everyone's moral dilemmas, so it always works in one flavor or another.)

Then I got to thinking: what are the central themes of historical fiction novels? "This happened, really it did, and things were like thus-and-so?"

So I started scratching my head. What is the central theme in Anya Seton's Katherine? or in Sharon Kay Penman's Sunne in Splendor? Or Diana Gabaldon's Outlander?

Or maybe Historical fiction doesn't need a central theme, as long as it's a ripping good story?

Thoughts?

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Rowan
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Post by Rowan » Thu September 4th, 2014, 1:17 pm

Very good question. I was actually thinking/wondering the same thing. Lol

I think it depends on the type of historical fiction. If it's straight up about the life of a real person in history, there's no real central theme. But if it's about fictional people in a historical period, then perhaps there is.

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fljustice
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Post by fljustice » Thu September 4th, 2014, 4:35 pm

I think fact-based historical fiction can have themes or love, courage, striving, societal good, etc. In my Selene of Alexandria the overarching theme is the enduring "actions have consequences." When the secular governor fails to negotiate with his religious rival, there are riots. When Hypatia focuses on the elites to the exclusion of the masses, she's brought down by an uneducated superstitious mob. When my fictional character dresses up as a boy and disobeys her father, she's grounded and her beloved servant is dismissed for helping her. I'm not saying these characters should or could have acted differently, but even acts of kindness and generosity might result in something unforeseen. By the end, my initially naive pampered protagonist has learned that nothing in life is free, there is no deus ex machina, so be willing to accept the consequences of your choices, learn from them, and move on.
Faith L. Justice, Author Website
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MLE (Emily Cotton)
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Interest in HF: started in childhood with the classics, which, IMHO are HF even if they were contemporary when written.
Favourite HF book: Prince of Foxes, by Samuel Shellabarger
Preferred HF: Currently prefer 1600 and earlier, but I'll read anything that keeps me turning the page.
Location: California Bay Area

Post by MLE (Emily Cotton) » Thu September 4th, 2014, 7:35 pm

That's a good theme, Faith. I Think you can tell a narrative without a central theme, but as the book referred to above points out, people naturally respond to themes that resonate with them. The big blockbusters all had themes that the target audience agreed with, and the flops generally didn't have a theme, or the theme turned off more people than it won.
I, for instance, am sick unto death of the ever-popular animated movie theme "Don't let anybody else tell you what to do" although from 24 to toddler that is exactly what most kids want to hear. (Loved the Princess and the Frog, which had the theme of work: more for the lazy hero, and less for the workaholic heroine.)
And the equally overdone theme from Avatar: "Big business BAD BAD, primitive people wonderful virtuous never-exploit-the-planet" bored me to tears. But it worked for the target, so I have to agree that if I were a big-business Hollywood investor, I'd bankroll it.

I think in Sunne in Splendour the theme was : Richard III isn't the bad guy you thought he was.

The theme in Katherine is a little muddier. It has several--Seton was all Freudian about John of Gaunt worried he had been adopted, and there was the Lollard Rebellion, which was a rich versus poor theme, or maybe more Jesus versus the religious Pharisees.
Yes, maybe Katherine was more about religious turmoil of the age, since she spent a lot of time dealing with the moral dilemma of being the mistress of a man who was married to somebody else, and the resolution was that once John was properly widowed (the second time) he came and made an honest woman out of her, because in Seton's version, that was the only way he could get her. Or maybe he was repentant too, I can't remember.

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MLE (Emily Cotton)
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Posts: 3566
Joined: August 2008
Interest in HF: started in childhood with the classics, which, IMHO are HF even if they were contemporary when written.
Favourite HF book: Prince of Foxes, by Samuel Shellabarger
Preferred HF: Currently prefer 1600 and earlier, but I'll read anything that keeps me turning the page.
Location: California Bay Area

Post by MLE (Emily Cotton) » Thu September 4th, 2014, 7:54 pm

Now I've got this as a brain worm. So thought it would be fun to figure out the central themes for books and movies we like. Especially the ones everybody has read or seen. And how the story shows it.

I'll start with Beauty and the Beast: Handsome is as Handsome does. Or alternately, Looks aren't everything. Disney particularly brought this out by including Gaston as a counterpoint: a guy who is handsome on the outside, but ugly inside.

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