(no subject)

[fadeaccompli]

Today I resolve to stop fretting over coming back to the same themes in my work, over and over again. Because:

1) They didn't call that guy's stretch of art "The Blue Period" because he was experimenting wildly with different colors, and yet no one seems to hold it against him;

2) Repeating the same themes from several angles certainly hasn't stopped other people from getting published repeatedly;

2a) (And we're not even going into people who repeat the exact same plot each time, yes, David Eddings, I'm looking at you, but hey I read all your books when I was young so it's not like I held it against you then, right?)

3) If I keep working on the same themes and tricks and tropes and favorite ideas and images long enough, eventually I'll get them right.

Comments

[lizvogel]

I don't remember if it was Bujold or Wrede or both, but someone whose opinion I respect a whole lot said that many (most?) writers do this. I recognized a long time ago that Loyalty is a recurring theme for me; luckily it's a big theme with lots of potential variations, so I should be able to get plenty of mileage out of it without directly repeating myself.

[archangelbeth]

Agreed with lizvogel! I sure wind up doing it. You can probably guess what themes are catnip to me, just from what I write. *facepalm*