Theme and internal conflict are important for all genres. But have you dug as deep as you can go with your WIP?
Until recently, I thought I’d figured out my WIP’s theme and the internal conflict of my main character. But when I sent it out to my beta readers, one kept asking me questions about these two elements. Fortunately, I had put a lot of thought into it so I could answer them.
But as my awesome beta reader kept asking more questions, because she wanted to figure out the universal feeling I was going after, we both realized (okay, she realized it first), my theme and internal conflict weren’t quite what I’d originally planned. Yes, my story was still about how revenge is never as clear cut as it seems, but when I dug deeper, that wasn’t the true inner conflict or universal feeling I was apparently going after (wow, who knew?). The one my story dealt with had to do with control, or rather, the feeling of lack of control, something many teens can relate to.
So, what is universal feeling (okay, I’m not sure if this is the real term, but since this is my blog, I can call it whatever my beta reader wants)?
Think of Percy Jackson from The Lightning Thief. Percy’s inner arc is that he has to come to terms with being a demigod and that his father is Poseidon. This isn't your typical inner conflict for a teen. But what is typical is that teens have to figure out who they are and embrace their strengths. That’s the universal feeling of the book.
So my challenge to you is to dig deep. Ask yourself if you’ve really captured your character’s inner conflict, and see if you can identify the universal feeling you’re after (or do you need to dig deeper?).
Warning: digging might cause your story to unravel to the point it’s no longer workable. This is why it’s important to dig BEFORE to plot your novel. Unfortunately, no matter how many times I tried adding two and two together, I kept getting five. Now I’m no mathematical genius, but even I know that’s a big #mathfail. Lucky for me, while having a shower yesterday, the answer finally hit me on how I could rework the story. *does happy dance*
(A huge thanks goes out to my CP extraordinaire, Christina Lee, for all her brilliant suggestions and cheerleading while I banged my head against the wall. And to Laura Pauling (the beta reader) for asking all the painful throught proking questions. You two rock!)