What to write about???

[SleepyWitch]

hi all,
a while ago I read the autobiography of Erica Jong, a Jewish American feminist writer. She seems to think 'we' (writers) still write about love far too much.
(oops, I'm not sure if it was actually her who said that, but never mind).
I agree that there are loads of novels that deal with love either as a main theme or one of the themes. It's hard to think of a book where love doesn't play at least a minor role.
So, what else should we write about?
some suggestions:
*gore and splatter (I don't think so, thanks a lot)
*coming of age/ Bildungsroman? usually involves love/getting married
*parents and children, family matters
*friendship
*work???? who wants to know about that unless the characters job happens to be something 'interesting' like detecitve, film star, hero, special agent.
*violence and abuse
*adventures in foreign countries
*the immigrant experience (no use writing about it unless you're an immigrant yourself)

~can't wait to read your ideas~ :)

[Virgil]

Good thought for a thread Sleepy. I also see you've passed 1000 posts!:banana:

Well, until we strip love from our lives :p then we will write have to write about it. The novel is essentially the art form of telling experience. Love remains one of the central experiences of life. How could you not write about it? Like most radical feminists, Jong is kooky if not bonkers. :D

I think you covered many subjects. Other possiblities:
nastalgia, or loss or looking back to innocence
conflict or battle (Lord of the Rings)
Journey, say especially a return home (Oddyssey)
Journey to enlightenment

[Pensive]

hi all,
a while ago I read the autobiography of Erica Jong, a Jewish American feminist writer. She seems to think 'we' (writers) still write about love far too much.
(oops, I'm not sure if it was actually her who said that, but never mind).~can't wait to read your ideas~ :)

Ok. If she did say this, then she should know that "love" is a really vast topic, a very complex term as well. It is the source of one's writing. Even when you are writing about wars, love will be always there - love for humanity, love for country, love for anything.

So I think that is the reason people talk of love, write about it. Bring up their own theories as well of what love really is. They just can't avoid it.

Loving someone is human. One can't live without love, which one can do without railways, telephones... (just my opinion) So it is not surprising if people write about it. :)

[Flora]

I agree, Pensive. Love must be somewhere, and if there is none, the lack of it will be present.

[Jean-Baptiste]

Ok. If she did say this, then she should know that "love" is a really vast topic, a very complex term as well. It is the source of one's writing. Even when you are writing about wars, love will be always there - love for humanity, love for country, love for anything.
I appreciate these sentiments, Pensive.

This is a very interesting question, Sleepy. I wonder, if we were to take the concept of hate as opposite of love (which I do not, but will try on out of laziness and convenience) would it be possible to write anything that genuinely treats of hate without love as a foundation? I don't believe that it would be possible, unless one were writing mere propaganda.

Could one write a novel devoid of human emotion by focusing on nature? Perhaps telling a story in the style of Naturalism could skirt the concept of love: Person against Force, or some similar conflict.

[SleepyWitch]

i like your ideas Virgil :)


would it be possible to write anything that genuinely treats of hate without love as a foundation?
wow, that's an interesting thought... i suppose if you wrote about hate you'd have to explain why a character has become full of hatred and the answer would probably be that he/she didn't get enough love from their parents/siblings/someone they fell in love with...

hm, I don't think Jong meant we shouldn't write about love for brothers/sisters, humanity, your country etc. I think she said we write far too much about romantic love and also rely on romantic love for our happiness too heavily.
I agree that in real life you should try to enjoy lots of different aspects of your life, like friendship, work, family, learning things, and also love. I.e. people shouldn't think their lives are meaningless just because they don't have a partner.
But a story without any romantic love in it would be quite boring wouldn't it?
I mean, if it's a story about someone from a country were the Western concept of romantic love hasn't been adopted and people marry for convenience or economic reasons, it would be OK (and they could still love their mothers, friends, siblings, humanity etc anyway).
But if it's a story about someone from our cultural background, I agree that love is "one of the central experiences of life" (not [I]the most central[I] experience)...

[unknown_lady]

wow nice topic bro

i agree with you i mean no novel or even short story doesnt have a love as atheme or idea


why there are alotof themes in real life why should we care about love and make it our first intrest

why we should write about it always