RTW: Recurring Elements

Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question that begs to be answered. In the comments, you can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic.

This Week's Topic:
What themes, settings, motifs, scenes, or other elements do you find recurring in your work?

I made a list of things that I realized were recurring in my works, but it's quite old. My recent works have been so different in nature that I'm having trouble thinking of something for this post.

A few things that are on the old list are business owner parents, white rooms, and characters that can't pick out clothes on their own (I've had two main characters whose best friends helped them pick out outfits at least once over the course of the story). I think the majority of my early main characters also had brown hair and brown eyes. I was an unimaginative person when it comes to character appearances.

Most of my books have some sort of "coming of age" or "finding yourself" theme most likely because that is the stage of life that I am currently in. I also think it's a fascinating and turbulent time that all teenagers go through at some point and I enjoy writing about different characters' journeys through it.

Comments

Kate Hart said…
That's an interesting list! "Business owner parents" is pretty unique, I'd say.
September 14, 2011 at 8:32 PM
Bailey Hammond said…
Ah yes, the coming of age. I do that too. It's so easy to write, because I know it! I once toyed with the idea of writing nudist characters based in a world where no one wore clothes, that way I wouldn't have to pick out things for them to wear. Thankfully, I realized having nude characters would lead down a darker path than I was willing to travel. That and I didn't want to picture some of my *ahem* less attractive characters naked. Crisis averted.
September 15, 2011 at 3:59 PM
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