In this issue, learn the difference between motifs and themes (and the importance of trusting your reader); plus, an interview with Teddy Wayne, and much more! |
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Motifs, Themes, and Trusting Your Reader |
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A crow lands on a fence in chapter two. Perhaps it means nothing. Another arrives in chapter five. Then, in a later chapter, the sky is black with their beating wings. Hopefully by now the reader’s body is responding, perhaps their heart is racing, their muscles growing tight, and all of this is happening before their mind catches up. By the later chapter, nothing has been explicitly stated in terms of telling the reader ‘Crows signal trouble is near.’ There is no need to, because the motif is doing its job.
(3 Things I Learned Writing Fairy Tale Adaptations.)
Writers tend to confuse motifs and themes, sometimes treating them as interchangeable. However, the distinction matters. Getting either wrong is the difference between a novel that tells the reader what to feel and a novel that allows the reader to organically make that discovery. I’m a writer who trusts my readers. I prefer to provide them with the tools to discover the meaning that is unfolding in the story, and I do that using language and imagery.
Read more... |
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Writing a Different Kind of Love Story |
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One of my earliest memories is of pretending to be Ariel singing on a rock to entice Prince Eric. The happily-ever-after love story took root in me early. As I became a teenager, it began to blossom. How many times did I watch You’ve Got Mail with my grandmother? Moonstruck with my mom? Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind with my high school boyfriend? The love stories became thornier—but they nevertheless affirmed one thing: these two people can’t live without each other. I devoured these stories, and this idea. It lives in me, still.
(21 Popular Romance Tropes for Writers.)
And I’ve been lucky enough to have my own love story—one that’s picture perfect for a friends-to-lovers rom-com. I met my husband at summer camp when we were still kids. We ended up at the same college and became friends. In my junior year, we took a Renaissance poetry class together(!) and—against our will, because he was about to graduate and I wanted to remain free to date around—fell in love. Reading Catullus, for God’s sake! We got married when I was 24, because we couldn’t live without each other. The end!
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Teddy Wayne: Write the Book You Would Want to Read |
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"The classic advice to write the book you would want to read. Any attempt to write toward the market will look like pandering and be less successful, and even if you pull it off, it’ll be a hollow victory."
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Writing Music Into Fiction |
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Award-winning writer and filmmaker Nicole Conn shares how writing music into fiction is one challenge, while translating to audio is another.
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Write Like a Pro
In this issue, we aim to demystify aspects of the publishing business for writers who hope to publish both traditionally and independently. Likewise, we cover how to write carefully and considerately about real people and jobs who inspire dramatic fiction. And of course, no May/June issue would be complete without the official Writer’s Digest 101 Best Websites for Writers.
Click here to learn more >> |
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Of Twins, Monsters, and the Duality Within Us |
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| Author Lindsay Kent shares how being an identical twin shaped the psychological core of her debut thriller.
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| From Your Writer's Digest Editor: Robert Lee Brewer
Robert Lee Brewer is a senior editor for Writer’s Digest and former editor of the Writer's Market book series. He is also the author of Smash Poetry Journal and Solving the World's Problems. He went to a baby shower over the weekend. |
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