I've just finished reading 'A God in Ruins' by Kate Atkinson, and in the author's notes at the end, she talks about using leitmotifs (not that she calls it that):
'Imagery is for me of paramount importance in a text, not complex imagery that jumps up and down and demands to have its hand shaken but a more subtle web that weaves its way throughout, often enigmatically, and knits everything together. The 'red thread' of blood that binds the Todds echoes the red ribbon of the long leg to Nuremberg that echoes the thin red cords of Teddy's sheltered housing - a pattern that I hadn't even noticed until the final read-through of the novel and yet makes perfect sense to me now.'
She also talks about how the novel is about 'the Fall (of Man. From grace)', adding 'I see only now how much rising and falling there is in the text. Everyone and everything ascending in flight or falling to earth. (And the birds! Flock upon flock!)'
Really interesting thank you. I have a recurrent mermaid/water theme throughout my wip but you've made me think about how I can deepen some of the occurrences.
Thank you! Love the idea of a mermaid / water theme. That's such a rich seam to mine, to mix metaphors for a moment! How do you think you'll start to deepen it?
By the way, since you are a short story buff, you might be interested in this series of articles I wrote called How to tell a story in 7 steps. I was commissioned to write a short story and wrote about my process of first, panicking, and then getting on with writing! I go through each of the steps I took to tell the story, which is the one I was presenting at the Cymera Festival, mentioned at the top of this article. https://sanjidakay.substack.com/t/how-to-tell-a-story
Thanks! I will check them out. One note... I've found that doing too much studying of craft actually reduces my voice and the flow of story. My first few stories, created back in 2018, are still some of my best because of the pure freedom of prose. As a voracious reader of short stories my whole life, my subconscious has an innate sense of structure. (As I am sure all readers do.)
You're right - some people are just naturals! Obviously, you have to read a lot... I recently did a masterclass with Lee Child and he's the same - he has an innate knowledge of story architecture. He reads a book a day. But for those of us who aren't like that, or are missing an understanding of some aspects of story telling craft, it can be useful.
I've just finished reading 'A God in Ruins' by Kate Atkinson, and in the author's notes at the end, she talks about using leitmotifs (not that she calls it that):
'Imagery is for me of paramount importance in a text, not complex imagery that jumps up and down and demands to have its hand shaken but a more subtle web that weaves its way throughout, often enigmatically, and knits everything together. The 'red thread' of blood that binds the Todds echoes the red ribbon of the long leg to Nuremberg that echoes the thin red cords of Teddy's sheltered housing - a pattern that I hadn't even noticed until the final read-through of the novel and yet makes perfect sense to me now.'
She also talks about how the novel is about 'the Fall (of Man. From grace)', adding 'I see only now how much rising and falling there is in the text. Everyone and everything ascending in flight or falling to earth. (And the birds! Flock upon flock!)'
Really interesting thank you. I have a recurrent mermaid/water theme throughout my wip but you've made me think about how I can deepen some of the occurrences.
Thank you! Love the idea of a mermaid / water theme. That's such a rich seam to mine, to mix metaphors for a moment! How do you think you'll start to deepen it?
Fascinating insight. Thank you. Can't wait to start playing around with them now.
Thanks Jon! Great to hear you found it useful. Where do you think you might start using a leitmotif?
Great article— something I haven’t considered before and I’m so going to do!!!
Thank you Angelique! Where do you think you'll try it out first?
I might try to sprinkle in a Leitmotif in my current submission to the Writers of the Future contest.
Let me know how it goes!
By the way, since you are a short story buff, you might be interested in this series of articles I wrote called How to tell a story in 7 steps. I was commissioned to write a short story and wrote about my process of first, panicking, and then getting on with writing! I go through each of the steps I took to tell the story, which is the one I was presenting at the Cymera Festival, mentioned at the top of this article. https://sanjidakay.substack.com/t/how-to-tell-a-story
Thanks! I will check them out. One note... I've found that doing too much studying of craft actually reduces my voice and the flow of story. My first few stories, created back in 2018, are still some of my best because of the pure freedom of prose. As a voracious reader of short stories my whole life, my subconscious has an innate sense of structure. (As I am sure all readers do.)
You're right - some people are just naturals! Obviously, you have to read a lot... I recently did a masterclass with Lee Child and he's the same - he has an innate knowledge of story architecture. He reads a book a day. But for those of us who aren't like that, or are missing an understanding of some aspects of story telling craft, it can be useful.