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All my ideas revolve around the same theme...



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Mon Jul 23, 2012 1:26 am
Blues says...



...but they all have different settings, plots and characters. Or even sometimes, the plots have similar elements, but I suspect it's because of the same theme. Both novels have the same theme power... and then I had a plot bunny arrive a few minutes ago whose theme was the same too.

Has anyone else felt the same? :3
  





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Mon Jul 23, 2012 4:25 am
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Rosendorn says...



I've felt the same. I don't think I have a 100% "this is my go to theme" thing, but I do have recurring ones. Especially for novels.

It tends to depend on what you're absolutely fascinated with. For awhile, my theme was loyalty. Now, new ideas involve a lot of duality. I toss in a lot of themes, too, just for variety. I usually try to have two themes per book, minimum, so it doesn't get stale.
A writer is a world trapped in a person— Victor Hugo

Ink is blood. Paper is bandages. The wounded press books to their heart to know they're not alone.
  





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Mon Jul 23, 2012 12:19 pm
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Tenyo says...



My works tend to revolve around the same theme (though a little more subtle) but that's not a bad thing. As a professional author readers will turn to your work and enjoy that familiarity of theme.

Besides, Power is a pretty good theme anyway, that's why it's used so much. I'd say among Love, Acceptance, Justice and Self Realisation it's one of the most commonly used.

Most of my novels are written based on something I really, really want at the time I start writing it, but I think in all of them Morality is the key theme, and I always put my heroes through trials that test and push their ideas of morality in hope that they'll still be one of the good guys when they make it through.
We were born to be amazing.
  





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Mon Jul 23, 2012 1:31 pm
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Blues says...



As a professional author readers will turn to your work and enjoy that familiarity of theme.


While I do agree, does that not have the risk of making your works repetitive?
  





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Mon Jul 23, 2012 5:14 pm
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Rosendorn says...



No.

The thing about broad themes is, you can execute them countless different ways. And, as Ten says, it can become comforting. It helps slot authors into different mental categories, where you pick up one when you want to know your favourite couple ends up together and pick up another when you want reassurance the underdog can win.
A writer is a world trapped in a person— Victor Hugo

Ink is blood. Paper is bandages. The wounded press books to their heart to know they're not alone.
  





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Sun Aug 12, 2012 9:41 pm
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wordsandwishes says...



I find that I have this issue with what I READ rather than what I WRITE. So, from a readers perspective, I think that having your ideas revolving around the same theme is okay. As long as they have a unique plot-line and characters. Because then it's like a completely new story and most people won't mind the theme similarities.

You could also do a lot of different perspectives on one story. If that's easier for you.

It could also be the result of having not quite found the right way to convey your "Image" of what the story would be like.

Anyway, there's tons of possibilities.

Keep writing and sharing!

w&w
  





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Thu Aug 16, 2012 4:34 pm
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Aurrora says...



I've noticed that too, similar themes cropping up in lots of different ideas. I think its a good thing. It lets you explore the theme in different stories, with different characters and situations, and make it change with every one. I like beautiful, doomed things, and therefore I almost always have a pretty, doomed character. Perhaps later it will be a good thing - like others have said, with reader familiarity and creating brands - and I think its a good learning experience now.
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As a former (and rather excellent) liar herself, Aru knew that, sometimes, speaking the truth felt like wrenching a thorn out of your side. But doing the opposite meant pretending it wasn't there. And that made every single step ache. It was no way to live.
— Roshani Chokshi, Aru Shah and the Nectar of Immortality