
This is a reprint of a post I wrote many years ago, but it bears reprinting!
Motifs are powerful elements that writers can take advantage of when constructing their novels. But few novelists ever give thought to adding motifs. They might do so subconsciously or inadvertently, but I’d like to encourage you to take some time and deliberately construct some motifs so that they serve as superglue in your story.
Motifs differ from theme. However, the best way to bring a motif into your story is to tie it intrinsically into your theme. In The Hunger Games we see that not only does author Collins use an actual object or thing—the mockingjay itself, and the metal pin Katniss wears—the “song” of the mockingjay is used symbolically. The characters adopt the bird as a symbol for their revolution, and so the object and the theme are bound together. Continue Reading…