I Need a Message...

So, the story I am working on is probably going to be split up into a trilogy. The gimmic of the story is that seemingly random people are being brought back from the dead after several years. The overarcing inner conflict for the risen characters (the MC in particular) is the obvious question: "Why was I brought back when (insert beloved dead character) wasn't?" I'm planning for this question to be particularly heavy in the first book, but I don't want it to be put to rest at the end of that one, and while the characters will kind of come to the conclusion that it doesn't really matter, I don't necessarily want that to be fully realized until the final book. And so, for the first book, I'm kind of lacking a lesson for the characters to learn.

I know I want key message of the second book to be about blindly trusting corrupted leaders, as well as accepting that those you have had to protect (i.e. the characters' kids, or those the characters have come to view as such) have grown into their own persons, and letting go. The final one is ultimately about tying up the overarcing question, as well taking responsibility for past actions, but I'm running into a wall for the key message of the first book.

Basically, the plot is that an innocent, yet enslaved dancer girl winds up getting killed helping her best friend escape, only to awake in the cellar of a roadside inn, five years later. The innkeeper tells her that a mysterious stranger came one day and paid him to take her corpse and leave her food and clothing each day, and, after a brief rest bit, heads off in search of the stranger. She meets some interesting people along the war, but ultimately finds him a disgruntled, pessimistic mercenary, who was also raised from the dead, over a decade ago, and cannot explain why or how he brought her back. The MC manages to convince the merc to train her, and they travel to the border to try and help defend against a foreign invasion.

I think this is a nice baseline plot for a first book, but I for the life of me cannot figure out a good message that I like. Do you have any ideas?

 

Well, it sounds like the first book is set up nicely for a classic "twisted worldview gradually gets stripped away" story. For that, you could have her dreams of what the non-enslaved life is like clash with reality, and have the message be "accept the good and the bad as they are and learn to live with both."

 

I like @LastMindToSanity's suggestion. Mixed morality is very often a good choice of theme to include because it's very much a part of real world experience. And it's diverse, so focusing on it specifically is not hard to make interesting, you can tap into the ethical issues of many parts of life.

 

You say you are 'working on' this three-volume story? By working on, do you mean you're actually writing it? If not, I would get started writing. Stick with the plot you've envisioned. Trust me, the themes (lessons) will evolve as you write. As your characters develop, you'll get to understand them better, and their worldview will gain perspective.

As long as you develop a good plot and good characters to inhabit that plot, and you write honestly from your own heart and perspective on the issues raised by the story, the 'lessons' your characters learn (or fail to learn) will emerge. It's one of those leaps of faith that writers take, in many cases. Don't try to force your theme if it's not obvious to you now. Give it space to grow.

Once your theme becomes obvious to you, you can then go back during your edits and strengthen that theme. It's not as difficult to do as it sounds.

 

I don't actually usually think of it as a 'message', but I do spend a lot of time thinking about the thematics. Stories are as interesting as they are because they aren't just 'something happened, it was kinda cool', but because they are a way of exploring philosophical questions, and touch upon broad and interesting subjects in one way or another.

 

I think you're going about it the wrong way. If you have an idea for a story and then shoehorn a "message" into it, you risk it feeling forced and preachy. If you really want to write a story with a message, you should start with the message you want to convey. Then devise a plot which will act as a metaphor or vehicle for that message.

 

Yes, starting with a message you want to convey and designing a story around it can work. However, that can DEFINITELY end up sounding preachy, because the message is the whole reason for writing the story, then, isn't it?

It's tricky. Of course it can be done, but at some point I think a writer needs to relax about the message and have faith that it will come across via what the characters are like and what they do and what happens to them. And also have faith that the readers will take some insight away with them, after they've finished reading.

That can be slightly different from the 'lessons' that the characters themselves learn.

For example, because somebody he loves has betrayed him, the 'lesson' a character might learn is to never fall in love, or never trust the person you love.

However, the thing a reader might take away is that a person should never fall in love with the kind of person who is likely to betray that love, or that all love carries risks, but that the risks are worth taking for the good things that love can bring. A slightly different lesson from what the character might learn.