I'm continuing small edits and finishing touches on both of my books. "Grand Rouge" and "Sheila, Quest for the Golden Sapphire". I held off on the edits for a short time, (A week and half really) because the stories had begun to stale off in my mind and I wasn't enjoying the experience. Long, countless hours at the day job wasn't helping. I started to see certain grammatical and punctuation errors that I had missed even after I'd ran through the manuscripts several times--and after I'd taken said scenes, to my critique group and allowed them( certain ones, I'm certain, morph into blood sucking vampires when they review my work--kidding!) to hack away at my drivel. But by and far the biggest piece that I've realized throughout this draft is that theme has its own way of sneaking up on you. It gives you that kind of much needed head slap that helps you TRULY finish your work. It's true, the mind and the heart knows things. And most times theme is there, in the details, sitting next to the devil--with two fingers behind his head and pointing him out to you. "Right here, here he is. Now, get him the hell out of here, so can we finished the damn thing."
It's things I've found about my characters that had been there, but I never noticed. Things, or phrases that they repeat when I'm at the wheel of their point of view and trying to ensure that they are not jumping out of character. But I understand that theme is life, somtimes ironic, sometimes mean, sometimes painful. The best thing about Theme, though, (when its not forced, like a square in a round peg) is that it is beautiful. To me anyway. Nothings more rewarding than when you see on paper a story, that you wrote, with subtle hints about real life and how things could turn out, or have. It's that story question that we all have in our minds and hearts, which may or may not have an answer. For new writers, like me, keep writing and it will show up, I'm proof. It collects all your thoughts and plots throughout the story and brings them together, before you. And when the smoke clears and the sanding and leveling are complete, it nods its head and shows you, "See kid, this is what you were trying to say. . . beautiful, hunh?"
Indeed.
