Our Masterpieces...Err, Our Novels

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

RTW: This Seems Familiar

Writing Song of the Day: "Deja Vu" by Beyonce



It's Wednesday which means road tripping with the ladies of YA Highway. This week they're asking us:


What themes, settings, motifs, scenes, or other elements do you find recurring in your work?



I was a little lost on this one at first, but then Pam pointed out that we have discussed certain elements that continue to show themselves in ALL of our writing.



Pam's Answer:


Okay, my answer is really strange because:


A.) I'm a daddy's girl.

B.) My dad is pretty much awesome and

C.) Did I say I'm a daddy's girl??


With that being said, the recurring element that pops up in both Wants and Project J is daddy issues. My major characters either have a physical or emotionally MIA pop. Now that I think about it, this could stem from the fact that my dad was in the military for most of my childhood and he was gone for at least a year when he fought in Desert Storm.



Quita's Answer:


The recurring element that surfaces in my writing would be literally killing some of my darlings. For some reason I kill every single one of my character's best friends. Not just the associate they talk to in school sometimes--their best friends. In both In Limbo and The Blues the killing of the best friend serves major purposes, but still--I don't know why this keeps happening. It's not like I want to kill people--it just seems like the right thing to do. Wow. That sounds pretty creepy...



Your turn! Tell us what keeps popping up in your writing??

14 comments:

  1. Um, if I were Pam I think I'd be scared right now! =)

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  2. Come to think of it... I've killed a number of my characters' best friends as well. Didn't realize that until you wrote it.

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  3. Pam sleeps with her eyes open, doesn't she? LOL

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  4. I'm a character killer too, Quita, don't feel bad.

    *sends Pam number for body guard*

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  5. I'm a killer too. We should form a club.

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  6. I like your take on killing your darlings. Now that I think about--I haven't killed anybody off in a MS. Yet!

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  7. I have a lot of MIA dads, too, and my father-daughter relationship is totally fine. Maybe it's the proliferation of other fathers being terrible that has influenced this theme?

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  8. I am also an unrelenting character-killer. I won't do it if I don't have to, but if I DO, I do it with a smile and an arsenal of twisted ways to die.

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  9. Lol, thanks for all of the warnings, lovelies. Believe me, I keep a close eye on Quita. :)

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  10. Ha ha ha Quita, you kill me! I mean, er, you're hilarious. Your stories must be really fun to read. Also, I feel bad for your best friend. :)

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  11. Poor friends of Quita's characters. They don't stand a chance.

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  12. My sister pointed this out to me: I have so many short stories that involve, babies or pregnancy. Don't ask me why. I'm thinking it's because I know a lot of people that had children early. LOL.

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  13. Hear ye for daddy issues! I definitely have recurring themes in my writing - there was this, like, 8-year period where all my mother's kept abandoning their kids.

    Thanks for checking out the interview! Boba is AMAZING

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