This post is sort of an appendix to the last things I posted about writing on my Italian-language blog.

In a nutshell – when I’m planning a story, I jot down some basic ideas, a logline, a theme, some capsule sketches of the characters.
Then I outline.

Now, the theme is the issue.
And this not because some out there might decide to write without setting down a defined theme for their narrative.
I mean, it’s all right – each one defines his or her own technique.
No, what apparently bugs some readers is that a theme, for a genre story, is seen as superfluous or – even worse – as a Bad Thing.
This strangely widespread opinion is in part an anti-intellectual trend, in part a consequence of “message” having been used too often to justify bad storytelling.
And there’s also this weird idea that any writer defining a set of themes for his writing, is trying to push an ideology, or trying to sell something. Continue reading →