Can I use the same message over a series of novels?
This question is slightly less straightforward than the title implies, and requires a little explanation.
Firstly, I am an entirely self-taught writer. Because of this, my methods are probably a bit different than 'the norm' (if there even is such a standard). For example, I believe that the message of a novel is its most important aspect. I strive to form a novel from a message alone, so that the story naturally conveys what I am trying to say to the reader. Everything else - characters, stakes, and especially plot - flow from the message. This may or may not be ideal; it's simply what I've found works the best for my writing.
Because I write my novels this way, the message is a very important part of my development process. It's where everything begins, and it's something I have to develop correctly the first time, or everything that springs from it will ultimately not work to its full potential.
Question: Can I repeat the same message over a series of novels? Because the novel springs from the message, my concern is that the novels will all follow the same plot, and so become boring. If I can use the same theme, how can I ensure that the novels are different?
My reason for confusion is that Harry Potter seems to have done this quite successfully. The message of Harry Potter, as I see it, is the power of love, and how those with love will always triumph over those without. This message remains the same throughout all seven books, and at least the first six books seem to follow the same general pattern. (Dursleys, school, steps to solving main conflict, confrontation with Voldemort, resolution.) This clearly did not detract from the books, hence my confusion.
Note: Please be clear: I realize using a message this way is vastly different than the majority of authors. That's not what my question is about. My question is about using the same theme over a series, when the plot springs from the theme directly.
3 answers
The theme (I think that's what you're talking about) is something that is often part of a novel, but it's not part of the plot at all, if that makes sense.
The theme is also not the concept (a vague, 7-ish word plot summary) or the premise (which is a one or two sentence description of your novel with specifics). I think that's where you're getting messed up. The concept is plot-related, while your theme (what you call message) has nothing to do with the plot. It's woven into how you tell the story.
Here's a concept: Two lovers struggle aboard a sinking ship
And a premise: Aboard the powerful Titanic ship, a poor painter and a wealthy young woman fall in love, but struggle to save each other when the ship hits an iceberg
The theme: Love is timeless. Or, kids are stupid.
I haven't read Harry Potter, but from analyses online, you pulled a completely different theme out than a lot of people. Which is fine. Please be careful not to be too ham-fisted with your theme. People really don't want to be preached at, and if the "moral of the story" is obvious, they will be irritated.
But to answer your basic question, yes you can repeat the theme for each of your novels. Because the theme is completely separate from the plotline, and because as your characters evolve and their situations change, so will the specifics of how the theme is applied.
Please, please check out the extremely helpful K M Weiland writing about Theme vs Message. You may also want to read about plot and theme working together.
This post was sourced from https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/20271. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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If your work is nothing but message, it isn't a novel, it's a polemic or an allegory. And reading the same polemic or allegory over and over would be excruciatingly boring, because there would be nothing new in each iteration.
But if you've really done the work to make your message come alive with living characters, and a plot that isn't just an excuse to beat the reader over the head with your ideas, then you could write a hundred books with the same message and never repeat yourself once. You really have to commit to letting the book live as a thing in itself, not just a soapbox.
In summary, if you find own work repetitious, it might be the writing, not the message that is to blame. For what it's worth, I agree with you about the paramount importance of the message. But consider Les Miserables and The Brothers Karamazov. They couldn't be more different in plot, characters and setting. But the message of both is very close, and neither one feels like a thinly disguised philosophy paper.
This post was sourced from https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/29918. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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If, as you say in comment to Kitsune, you refuse to make a distinction between your Theme and your Plot, then the answer, due to your insistence, is that you will bore your readers by repeating exactly the same plot with all other changes just window dressing.
Part of the enjoyment of a novel (or film series) is not knowing what will happen next: If your plot is for all intents and purposes identical, that wonder vanishes. A reader of Novel 1 will quickly identify which characters in Novel 2 are the same people, quickly know who the bad guy is and the fates of all the other characters, too. They will not be surprised by any twists; they will not hold their breath when Alice, out of desperation, grabs the killer's gun and struggles to gain control of it. It will be no better than watching a rerun of mystery you saw last week. The funny lines aren't funny in the retread, the sexual tension is no longer very tense, the unexpected is entirely expected.
If you don't think that is true, then there is a distinction in your mind between theme and plot, and you should accept the terms as illustrated by Kitsune.
On the other hand if all I have said is true; find yourself another theme.
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