October Novel Prep Challenge

Wow, that was helpful! Look what I got out of it

This might help as an example of how to identify and organise themes of your novel?

I'm using the Snowflake method - a kind of 'structured brainstorming' where you choose key words and phrases (for plot, characters, backstory etc) and then expand and interconnect them, one step at a time.

So the next step in the process (beyond the one I reach here) is to connect your themes to your storylines and characters, then to scenes and symbols.

As you can see, I have too many themes so I need to organise them and identify the strongest ones (as Lorraine once told me in a review).

Some of mine were not on the list for some reason.


McCarthyist Hysteria:

Becoming the monster to fight the monsters (Nietzche's paradox)

Power of the Mob (e.g. Lord of the Flies, story of Jesus)

Names – power and significance (Power of the Media and dominant ideology)

Power of words (Ideology - Labelling - Innocence, Vulnerability)

Hazards of passing judgment (fear and Prejudice, resulting in Injustice and Exclusion)

Motherhood - Role of Men (Exclusion of single males from caring and mothering - dehumanisation - Man against Nature)

Role of Women (the stereotypical Girl Child: Innocent and Vulnerable, Helpless, Powerless and Ignorant - damsel in distress)

Working class struggles (Exclusion versus Solidarity - Poverty inhibits Fulfilment)

Totalitarianism - by popular demand! Masses want monster powers for the State to fight the monsters

Youth and Beauty (celebrated for the whole of human history, then it became a criminal offence!) - Ideology and dominant discourse - "Looking at pictures a monster makes" - millions of monsters - FBI and vice squads full of child molesters?)

Feminist discourse = demonising men = constructing young women as Vulnerable / need protection = no capacity to exercise agency or autonomy under patriarchy = disenfranchising women


Labelling groups as Vulnerable disempowers them and at the same time automatically dehumanises everyone else - the Not Vulnerable

Power of Words - Labelling - Power to Define - moving the goal posts - redefining and extending childhood = disenfranchising youth

Working-class Struggles - Poverty: Exclusion, based on age and gender, based on fear and prejudice - Exclusion of men from children - dehumanises and brutalises men and inhibits the poor from supporting and nurturing each other, sharing resources, finding solutions, lessening poverty, discovering their humanity, achieving Fulfilment.