Themes & Symbolism: ROW80 Update

Shakespeare. He has proved* to be my nemesis on more than one occasion. I respect his works, even enjoy them. Then I got that one professor who considered himself the utmost authority on all things Shakespeare, and I have not read Shakespeare since.

Why? The professor picked out so many absurd, over-reaching varied themes and symbolism, I started to wonder. If Shakespeare was alive today, would he be sitting in the back of a college lecture laughing his butt** off? Did he really intend to put so many elements into his writing?

Or did he write a darn** good story and luck into some academic success?

I am not challenging Shakespeare's brilliance or writing talent, just how much forethought he had on people dissecting his work for generations to come.

But I digress...

As a writer, how much should we pour over adding themes and symbolism to our work?

I'll be honest, I write my story. After it's done, I will see some recurring themes and symbolism. I might even beef them up. Sure, I start with some themes... family issues, teenage insecurity, relationship difficulties, self-discovery... but I end up with more in the natural writing process than by some synthetic manipulation intended to make the reader think I'm talented.

* Just to share my OGD (Obsessive Grammar Disorder), I was torn on using has proved or has proven yet. I looked it up and according to modern usage, proven is only an adjective (such as a proven theory) and proved is the verb.

** Butt and darn were used as a public service announcement to my children who challenge me daily to not use bad words.

*****

My A Round of Words in 80 Days (ROW80) Update

It's slow going. Quite frankly, it will be until August 27th when my kids go back to school. I only have two weeks left with them. And I'll be honest... if they even sense my muse is considering gracing me with her presence, they set up a barricade of chaos to chase her away.

That being said, I have given a lot of thought to theme in my currrent WIP. Mom and I are doing a theme-based reading with Marty Silverthorne, a wonderful poet and my cousin. We are showing the same themes can be in prose and poems and reading snippets of our work. It's been an enlightening process, especially since Mom and I are again reading from our current novel.

I have two new editing jobs starting August 27 and a list of writing goals a mile long. I'm looking forward to that, but I will miss the time I've shared with my girls this summer. My family is such an important part of who I am as a writer. I think I've only really understood that lately.

One accomplishment I was quite proud of this past week. I blogged five days straight on Mom in Love with Fiction, including three book reviews. First time ever.

Hope all my ROW80 participants are rocking this round. Wishing you many words!

532 Miles of Books: Fun Facts Friday

Today's Fun Facts Friday post is dedicated to interesting facts about books. Why? Because they bring me much happiness, as do Fridays.

Largest Library in the World

The Library of Congress, Washington DC, USA contains 28 million books and has 532 miles of shelving. The British Library in London is the second largest.

If you were driving at a constant 70 mph in a car it would take you just under 8 hours to pass them all.

I live near DC, and I haven't been there since I was a kid. Guess who just added a summer field trip with the kids to her summer plans?!

Best Selling Fiction Authors of All Time

1. William Shakespeare
2. Agatha Christie
3. Barbara Cartland
4. Danielle Steel

Best Selling Kindle Author of All Time (to date)

Suzanne Collins, greatly aided by Hunger Games.

World's Most Expensive Book

From a 12/7/10 LA Times article: Naturalist John James Audubon's "Birds of America" sold at auction in London on Tuesday for $11.5 million, making it the world's most expensive book. The book, which was sold by the auction house Sotheby's, was purchased by Micahel Tollemache, a London art dealer who was present in the room.

"Birds of America" is oversize -- more than 3 feet tall and 2 feet wide -- with 435 illustrations. When first published in 1827, the images were printed in black and white and then hand-colored by specialists.

If you could have any book-related item, and money was no object, what would you want?

My gut answer: I'd like to sit down with Judy Blume and pick her brain, along with my preteen daughter. Then I'd have her sign all the copies of her books that I still have from my teenage years.

Smurfette and a Gold Frame

“Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed.” Alexander Pope

At first this quote seems depressing. Who wants to go through life expecting nothing? After all, it's the Christmas season. I spend months in preparation just so December 25 is full of special memories and happy children and family. And, to quote Shakespeare, therein lies the rub.

I build up the holidays and birthdays so much in my mind, I'm often left with a lingering sense of disappointment. It's slight, but nagging. My children constantly hand me altered and re-prioritized lists, and I run around trying to make them happy. I send out 150 Christmas cards, bake cookies for neighbors, and give gifts to everyone from the mailman to the office staff at school.

One of my dearest friends shocked me in college... her parents didn't make a big deal out of birthdays. What? I was floored. Not make a big deal out of birthdays. I'd never heard of such a thing. But she always seemed happy on her birthday anyway. To this day, I try to do special things for her birthday.

I'll never forget one of my birthdays. We had just relocated to Wilmington, NC. As usual, we moved during the summer close to my August birthday. I remember sitting on some boxes opening gifts. Later that night, I cried in my room. My presents: a Smurfette and a gold frame. Mom consoled me, and reminded me I had asked for both of them.

For years, I used the Smurfette and gold frame as a tale of parents being out of touch and not caring about their teenager. Later it become a running joke in our family. Any bad gift was compared to my teenage travesty.

Now, as a mother myself, I realize my poor mom was in the middle of yet another move and probably went out of her way to find two of the items I had mentioned. In her stress and chaos, did she mistake a one-time statement about liking Smurfette as a gift request? Maybe. But now the Smurfette and gold frame no longer represent a bad gift. They represent a mom who loved me and was trying her best.

In the spirit of the perfect Christmas or birthday, I often create high expectations for my children and myself. Expectations none of us can live up to. It's virtually impossible to expect nothing from big events, but I am learning to downplay the idea of perfection and highlight the fun in trying my best.

Just the other day, we made a batch of cookies. They came out looking pathetic and flat, more like cookie pancakes. We laughed it off, got out every color sprinkle we could fun, beautified those babies, and ate them. Each of my girls said they were the best cookies ever. Were they? No, but the laughter sure did make them sweeter.

Wishing everyone a beautifully messy holiday, full of endearing mistakes and memories!

Funny aside: Sure enough my middle daughter asked for a Smurfette and frame for her birthday, so the picture is from her set. I got quite the chuckle out of buying it for her!