The Industry (Through my Eyes)

Book Themes (My $.05)

 

Romeo and Juliet

Coming from the romance genre I think I’m more aware of themes in a book and how as authors we all take a crack at themes (i.e. rags to riches, bad boys/bad girls, love on the run, etc….). I mean how many times has Romeo and Juliet themed books been done? You know, two young and tortured lovers who wanted to be together but couldn’t because of a major external conflict (family drama, coming from different worlds, race, etc.). Hell, I can think of a dozen right off the top. lol.

Trust me, I wanted to lay my nickel on the counter about this because after ten years of being published, I can admit that I had to tell myself that in the beginning if I saw a book even a little like mine. I had to have a conversation with myself and it went a little something like this: “Whoa chick, just chill, hell you read a book with this same premise twenty years ago so how you going to flex.”  lol.

Anyway, my advice as a writer is not to worry about the bare bones and make it your business as an author/storyteller/book attention seeker and receiver to add your unique layers (your voice, your timing, your way of telling a story, your character development, your emotions) that fleshes the book out as only you can.

As I said on Facebook–and I’ll say it again:

When it comes to story lines, it’s all been done before and will be done again. The difference? The delivery.