by Katherine Reay, @Katherine_Reay
“Longer Ago, Further away or ‘About to be’…” *
If you’ve written more than one story, I expect you can look back and find a recurring theme — or a few of them — in your writing. This is not a character or a story thread that connects your stories, but a deeper current that provides the foundation on which your stories sit. For me, I tend to push characters towards hope. I have a few other themes, but that’s one that I’ve found exists in each novel I’ve published. That doesn’t mean all my characters get hope-filled, happy endings — it isn’t always hope and good realized — but, rather, that each character gets that glimpse of something “longer ago, further away or about to be.”
Finding those deeper themes in the novels we read — ones that explore the truth within our humanity — is one reason we find fiction so powerful. Good fiction invites us to share in an experience we recognize or sympathize with. We dip a toe into another’s world and come out with greater understanding. It gets beneath our armor and surprises us.
As you look for themes in your writing, consider what attracts you to the stories you love to read. Oftentimes, the answer is not obvious — it’s layers deep, and that’s part of the brilliance of good literature. And recognizing it in the books we read helps us layer it within the books we write.
I contend that to write a good and compelling story, deeper themes must be carefully threaded throughout. They become that substantive and grounding influence flowing beneath the plot structure and surface tension within a story. They form a deeper connection with the reader and compel them to stick with you and the world and journey you’ve created.
So, as you refine your current work-in-progress or begin a new one, I offer that spending a moment in those deeper waters will pay big dividends later.
Enjoy the writing today!
Katherine
* “All Joy reminds. It is never a possession, always a desire for something longer ago or further away or still ‘about to be’.”
― C.S. Lewis, Surprised by Joy
Katherine Reay returns to the cozy and delightful town of Winsome where two people discover the grace of letting go and the joy found in unexpected change.
After fleeing her hometown three years earlier, Alyssa Harrison never planned to return. Then the Silicon Valley start-up she worked for collapsed and turned her world upside down. She is broke, under FBI investigation, and without a place to go. Having exhausted every option, she comes home to Winsome, Illinois, to regroup then move on as quickly as possible. Yet, as friends and family welcome her back, Alyssa begins to see a place for herself in this small Midwestern community.
Jeremy Mitchell moved from Seattle to Winsome to be near his daughter and to open the coffee shop he’s been dreaming of for years. Problem is, the business is bleeding money-and he’s not quite sure why. When he meets Alyssa, he senses an immediate connection, but what he needs most is someone to help him save his floundering business. After asking for her help, he wonders if something might grow between them-but forces beyond their control soon complicate their already complex lives, and the future they both hoped for is not at all what they anticipated.
With the help of Winsome’s small-town charm and quirky residents, Alyssa and Jeremy discover the beauty and romance of second chances.
Katherine Reay is a national bestselling and award-winning author of several novels, including Dear Mr. Knightley, The Printed Letter Bookshop and the upcoming Of Literature and Lattes. She has enjoyed a lifelong affair with books and brings that love to her contemporary stories. Katherine’s has also written one full-length nonfiction work, Awful Beautiful Life. She holds a BA and MS from Northwestern University and currently lives outside Chicago, IL with her husband and three children. Publishing credits also include Redbook, USAToday, Christianity Today and FamilyFiction. You can meet Katherine at www.katherinereay.com or on Facebook: KatherineReayBooks, Twitter: @katherine_reay and Instagram: @katherinereay.