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.