So while searching for inspiration for this blog post I began looking through pieces of my work that have amassed in my hard drive over the years. While I was reading through pieces, some fairly interesting, some absolutely terrible and angst ridden I noticed a few very strong and re-occurring themes throughout my writing. I'm not sure if these are all subconscious things, or just aesthetic fascinations of mine, but I figured it might be interesting to explore them!
One rather morbid thing I noticed is my obsession with death through freezing. I don't know why, but in a lot of my poetry and short stories that I wrote when I was much younger, there seems to be some sort fascination with ice.
"Locked behind a sky of glass
She lays there in an icy womb
Smiling, still, forevermore
The frozen lake is now her tomb"
"Her lips had already tinted blue around the edges and she looked as pale as the snow surrounding her. Before she knew it, she had slipped inside herself, and fallen into a dark sleep. The last thought she had was “Keep… running.”"
I'm guessing the death in these pieces can be attributed to the fact that I was an angst-ridden black-clad middle school child. The ice and the cold, however, still really do strike a chord with me. I just think there’s something so powerful about the image of snow and ice. Numbness; sharp, biting, bitter cold... something about the parallel between the beauty of snow and glistening ice and the simultaneous danger. It's like a sub-zero seductress!
Speaking of seductress… another theme is that a vast majority of my characters are females. I like to write about females. I like to read about females. I don’t know what it is exactly, but I just relate better to female characters. Guys to me are perpetually boring and idiotic. I don’t know. I also find it easier to picture female characters in my mind as well. If there are a bunch of different guy characters in a story my mind blurs them all together.
Through-out most of my poetry and writing I also found a theme of memories. I guess this ties in with my living in the past that I have blogged about before, but memories, hindsight, regrets, forgetting… these are all scattered throughout my work. I can’t tell you how many pieces of poetry or songs are based around these concepts and often use these words. Going hand in hand with this is Karma. Retribution. ‘We all get what we deserve (in the end)’. Countless pieces of my writing are inspired by karma.
Perhaps I should challenge myself more and attempt to break free from these categories I seem to be placing myself into.
The next piece I write will be different!
Are there any themes that you guys can notice throughout work of yours?
" I just think there’s something so powerful about the image of snow and ice. Numbness; sharp, biting, bitter cold... something about the parallel between the beauty of snow and glistening ice and the simultaneous danger. It's like a sub-zero seductress!" << i really enjoyed reading this particluar reflection. this metaphor so to speak has strong imagery.
ReplyDeletethe fact that you enjoy expressing death in a certain way is just fine to me. I mean, you dont have to completely drop a technique or perspective that you have used and continue to enjoy; instead, keep using it in some pioece, but in others, explore either different themes altogether, ro try to play with teh way you can express the same theme through different words and see if you can achieve teh same effect.
I think this piece has revealed something to you, which i think is important as a writer. To identify your writing style so you can grow. that's the point of this course, i think, overall :)
I would love to read some of your old poems :)
ReplyDeleteI like how you described the elements in your writing. This piece, like your others, also had a tone of reminising (sp?).
Even when simply describing your other works you used beautiful imagery.
I don't think there is really a problem on writing on similar themes over and over again. Its good to write about what you're passionate about. But I do think it is a good idea to challenge yourself once and a while.
And again I agree with Diana "I think this piece has revealed something to you, which i think is important as a writer"
:)
Well, it seems with most authors, a specific theme will stick with them throughout their writing, something very specific to their style that follows them, for example Charles Dickens often writes novels based around poverty, and perseverance, so it may be just somehting that you have subconsciously taken a liking to. I can see why as well, what you've written is very vivid and creates quite the image when reading it, it's a great outlet for expression
ReplyDelete