writing the heart of your story (16 page)

Likewise, he wants his farm to run smoothly, and part of that involves his dogs herding the sheep into their pens for various reasons. When he sees how Babe has acquired a knack for herding these sheep effortlessly, his attention rivets on the humble swine. Here is a pig with a destiny—with a purpose. Perhaps it is an unusual one, a strange and aberrant one. But Hoggett is not one to give a hoot what anyone else thinks—even when hundreds of people are laughing at him as he strides out into the arena with Babe as his “sheepherding dog” to compete in the time trials. He doesn’t enter Babe so he can get attention or laughs, or to become famous or notorious. He enters Babe because it makes perfect sense. Babe is an excellent sheep dog, despite his porcine nature, and it is only logical for him to compete and earn the recognition deserved for his skills.

Hoggett is a man of few words, but we do get a sense of the affection he has developed for Babe when the pig appears sick and won’t eat. Hoggett lapses into a sweet song and dance to cheer Babe up, which is exactly what Babe needs to fight off his depression and meet his destiny snout-on. Hoggett and Babe bond in purpose, and there is nothing so powerful as two linked together in such a manner.

By the end of the movie, Hoggett’s gate closes perfectly, and Babe ends his sheepdog trial—to the astonishment of the flabbergasted audience—with Hoggett only making one simple move: lifting his hand to close the gate behind the sheep Babe has properly herded into the pen. That action with the gate is emphasized in slow motion and as a close-up—just so you will pay attention to the importance of the moment . . . and the symbol.

No, It’s Not Just about a Pig!

The audience in the stands jumps to their feet and cheers—and those watching the movie feel the same exhilaration. Babe and Hoggett have faced all odds and humiliating jeers and the weight of others’ disbelief in them. But they shine victoriously because they proved faithful to their calling. They found their purpose in life and grabbed it by both hands (or trotters), despite every possible obstacle and discouragement.

This theme is huge when you realize the movie is not about a pig that just happens to have some special skills—that’s not the theme at all. Because
Babe
explores a universal theme that each one of us struggles with daily—how to find our purpose in life and fulfill it—this movie met with enormous success. Take it from
Babe
—once you realize there are two kinds of stories—stories “with a purpose” and stories “without a purpose”—you will understand what you need to make your novel a breakout success. Learn this lesson from
Babe
—in your own life and in your writing—and look for the universal theme that needs to be expressed, however masked in your story.

City Slickers
Is Pretty Slick

As we continue the topic of using universal themes in writing, I want to talk a little about universality. Having a theme is great, but if a lot of people can’t relate to it, you’re not going to interest readers. You want your themes to have universal appeal—which means they should be common to the human condition. If your theme is weak and simplistic, it won’t have impact. But if you build it over the entire novel, weaving it in as your characters experience life and learn and grow, the theme will deepen and become entrenched in the heart of the story.

As you plot out your scenes, you’ll want to always ask yourself how you can tie your theme into that “high” moment (more on that in the section on scenes) in some way, however subtly or blatantly. It’s not so much the universality of the theme, though, that determines how powerful an effect it will have; it’s how well you develop it throughout your story.

A Great Theme Will Make You Laugh and Cry

City Slickers
is another movie chock-full of theme. Not many comedy movies do such a brilliant job of juxtaposing humor with heavy issues, but
City Slickers
is a gem of an example. Half the time you don’t know whether to laugh or cry—if you’re paying attention.

There are two big themes happening in this movie. The most obvious is related to Mitch, Phil, and Ed and their midlife crises. They go off on adventures and try to find thrills to offset the growing truth that they are not getting any younger and maybe the best of life has passed them by. Mitch voices the problem when he says, “What if this is the best I’ll ever look, the best I’ll ever be, the best I’ll ever do—and it’s not very good?” The theme, then, is: How do we find true meaning and happiness in life? Is it something we need to look for outside . . . or inside ourselves? Can true happiness be found, or do we have to settle for a mediocre life and learn to live with it? This major theme is closely tied up with the second one, and by answering the latter, the former is solved.

The Secret of Happiness

The second theme is presented by Curly, the trail boss. In his enigmatic way, he looks hard at Mitch and says, “Do you want to know what the secret of happiness is?” Mitch says yes, and Curly holds up his finger. “It’s this,” Curly says. “One thing.” “What? Your finger?” Mitch asks. Curly explains the secret of happiness is different for each person—you have to go figure what it is, but when you do, you’ll know it—and you’ll be happy. And you could fairly say that the pointing of his finger is a recurring visual symbol in the movie that has deep meaning,

It may sound trite and simple, but when the three friends run into real danger and have to make tough choices, they find that being true to who they are and what they believe in is what leads them to their “one thing.” For Mitch, it’s risking his life to save Norman, the calf, as he’s swept downriver. Yet, it’s bigger than that. Mitch is suffering from feeling unimportant, that his life is meaningless, makes no difference to anyone, doesn’t matter. But when he saves Norman, his act mattered—maybe just to a cow, but the symbolism to Mitch is huge. He made a decision and gave it all he had because he believed it was the right thing to do. He wasn’t standing on the sidelines anymore but engaging in life.

Ed deals with his anger at his delinquent father, and Phil deals with his compromised and squelched life. Their problems aren’t miraculously solved by going on a cattle drive, but they do learn the true secret of happiness—and it has nothing to do with seeking out the greatest adventure or challenge “out there.” They discover, to their surprise, that happiness is in the last place they would ever imagine—inside them.

Rather than look outside to find happiness, Mitch learns that he needed to change his attitude. “I’m just going to do everything better,” he tells his wife when he gets home. There’s a bit of Zen philosophy here—the “collect water, chop wood” realization that joy can be found in simple mundane tasks, because even those kinds of tasks have value.

Humans Do Have a Purpose

There’s an interesting little bit at the end, when the three friends bring in the herd, to the surprise of the cattle ranchers. When Mitch, Ed, and Phil are told the cows are going to market to be butchered and wrapped in plastic, they get upset. But they’re told, “It’s not like those cows have anything to live for. This is what they’re bred for; they’re not an endangered species.” Mitch jokes: “Well, Phil doesn’t have anything to live for either, but we’re not going to kill him.” This is a nice subtle tie-in with the movie’s theme, implying that we humans do have purpose—we’re meant for more than mindless wandering from one place to another. And just as those cows have their place in the universe, so we too have a place—we only need to look inward and find out what it is.

Did this movie make it big because of the brilliant script and fantastic humor? No doubt. But the rich themes took it to a much higher level, making it not just another funny movie.

Think about
. . . watching
Babe
. If for some reason you’re embarrassed to do so, say it’s for a writing exercise—which it is. But take a look at the themes at work and pay attention to the symbolism. Think of a symbol you could use in your novel to tie in with your theme.

Think about how you can gradually build your theme over your novel. Consider having your protagonist or another major character in the book present the opposing view to the theme message you want to convey and come up with scene ideas in which you can have this character gradually step over to the other camp. And treat yourself to watching
City Slickers
, even if (like me) you’ve seen it a dozen times.

Chapter 23: What’s Your Motif?

“Words are but symbols for the relations of things to one another and to us.”

~Friedrich Nietzsche

Because motif has some similarity to theme, I would be remiss if I left out a discussion about motif. We’ve just discussed the topic of theme by looking at some of my favorite movies, and now would be a good time to look at motifs. Not many writers consciously plan out motifs to use in their novel, but sometimes they come naturally into the story. Motifs are symbolic elements packed with inference, but they don’t have to appear in your story as an actual item. Motifs can be a word or phrase, a concept, an image—just about anything that can be repeated with significance and symbolism. The weather can be a motif, for example, if each time something terrible is about to happen, lightning literally strikes.

Using motifs in writing fiction is one of the most powerful and evocative ways of getting across your themes in your novel. Few authors use them, and few use them well. My favorite novels of all time are ones that use motifs beautifully throughout their novel, and these elements weaving through their stories tend to stay with me for months and years after I’ve read the book. Why is that, and just what are motifs and how can they be utilized effectively in fiction?

A Splash of Color

Two definitions of motif in Merriam-Webster’s give a good feel for what a motif is: “a dominant idea or central theme; a single or repeated design or color.” Think about a motif as a splash of color that you are adding to your story palette—a very noticeable, specific color that appears from time to time and that “blends in” beautifully with the overall picture you are painting. As an example, you could say that I just introduced a motif in this discussion by using the concept of color to emphasize my theme.

Motifs can be combined in your novel to create richness. I like to have at least two or three motifs woven in my novel, and I’ll give you an example by referring to my contemporary women’s fiction/mystery
Conundrum
.

Motifs with Double Meanings

In
Conundrum
, my protagonist, Lisa, is searching to uncover the truth regarding her father’s bizarre death twenty-five years earlier. Her interest and effort is prompted by her brother’s suicidal bipolar disorder, which she believes is exacerbated by the myths and burdens surrounding their father’s death. So as Lisa embarks on this journey, I brought into play a number of motifs.

The first is obvious—the word conundrum, which is the overall theme and serves as the title. The best use of a motif is in your title, and a great title will tie in with your book’s theme, often as both a motif and a double meaning. for example—Jodi Picoult’s book titles often do this, as seen in
Saving Faith
(faith being both the girl character’s name and hinting at her need of being saved) and
Plain Truth
(where plain refers to the Amish people by that name as well as the book’s plot wherein the plain truth needs to be revealed in the case of a mysterious murder among the Amish). So, in
Conundrum
, I open the novel with an actual word conundrum, one that has great symbolism to Lisa’s quest. She tells of how she and her brother told conundrums through their teen years, and then I introduce a specific conundrum that serves as another motif in the book.

Motifs Bring Cohesion

Lisa’s father’s expertise was in Boolean algebra. Lisa discovers a conundrum based on that algebraic formula of “and, or, or not.” What I did, then, was take two motifs—the conundrum and the father’s profession—and found a way to tie them together, which is a great thing to do. Throughout the novel, Lisa comes across clues that make her think “and, or, or not.” Her quest is one big conundrum, and the next motif comes from the actual conundrum she found—where two guards each stand in front of a door, each claiming they guard the door to enlightenment, but one is lying and one is telling the truth. The conundrum requires the puzzle-solver to figure out which door really does lead to enlightenment. You can imagine why I was so thrilled to run across this conundrum, as it represented Lisa’s search for truth (enlightenment) but with the confusion of not just many doors but many guards claiming they were telling the truth.

I hope you can see here the motifs at work and how, throughout a novel, these can surface to bring cohesion to a story. You can use an object, like a balloon for example, to symbolize important qualities. A balloon could represent freedom, the need for release. A slow-growing tree could represent faithfulness, steadfastness through all seasons, something a character can be viewing out her window at different times in her life. One of my favorite books,
The Art of Racing in the Rain
, uses the motif of race-car driving throughout the book as metaphor and symbolism.

Motifs Tie in with Theme

In
To
Kill a Mockingbird
, the bird itself is a great motif. It comes to represent the idea of innocence; thus, to kill one is to destroy innocence. This ties in beautifully with the book’s themes and plot involving guilt vs. innocence (with layers of meaning, including a legal one). After Tom Robinson is shot, Mr. Underwood compares his death to “the senseless slaughter of songbirds,” and at the end Scout voices that hurting Boo Radley would be like “shootin’ a mockingbird.”