Post History

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/44966
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

When I write I often don't have any great meaningful moral to share. I don't have a message that I want to convey to the reader. I often don't write about the nature of the battle between good and evil. Or what constitutes good. Or coming of age in a society that devalues adolescence. In fact I am often just along for the ride. I create characters and then set them on their path and watch what happens. Sometimes a theme develops and suddenly my story has more purpose and writing it becomes easier.

And sometimes, nothing. In fact things tend to begin to stall. I find myself throwing the characters into more and more contrived circumstances to explore them until my tolerance for absurdity is exceeded and I abandon the project.

I often have a point where I know that if I just had a greater purpose for the work than just a series of events, things would go better. However, if I just pick a random arbitrary theme by spinning the great wheel of themes, then I find myself struggling to develop it because there is nothing behind it. Then I fizzle out and abandon the project.

Is there any process to come up with a theme to use in these situations when I don't have any clear direction? Or is this a sign that the project is flat and I should let it die?

Original score: 11