Staying on Theme by Mary Dutta

I recently signed publishing contracts for three new short stories in themed anthologies. One story was inspired by a city, one by a song, and one by a crime.

I love writing to a theme. There are an infinite number of stories we each could tell, and starting with a broad focus helps me narrow down those endless possibilities. Conversely, a theme can get me thinking about topics I might not have come up with on my own.

The latter was the case when I was invited to submit to an anthology on pickpockets. It wasn’t a subject I had ever considered writing about, and I had a lot of fun researching the details of how those particular criminals practiced their craft. Or used to, anyway. In today’s world a thief is far more likely to rifle through a digital wallet on a stolen phone than ease a physical wallet out of a pocket or purse. I ended up setting the story in the 1980s, so I could include some of the tricks of the trade I had read about.

That story was set in New York City. My newest city story is about Pittsburgh, inspired by a visit there last fall. I’ve published multiple location-based stories featuring places such as Minnesota, Nashville, and Charlottesville. For that kind of story, it’s important to include local details and lore without making them feel shoehorned in. As the winner of the 2020 New England Crime Bake’s Al Blanchard Award for best crime short story set in New England, I became a judge for the next year’s contest. It wasn’t hard to spot the entries that relied on a quick Google search or overused clichés to try and meet the setting requirements. Getting it right takes effort.

I’ve learned to get it right when choosing a song for an anthology of stories “inspired by the music of” a particular artist or music genre. My first foray into such an anthology involved choosing by song title alone. As a result, I struggled to come up with a story that evoked the brief and largely content-free lyrics of the song I had chosen. Lesson learned, I read through the lyrics of many options before choosing the song that I wrote about for a forthcoming yacht rock anthology. Having content to inspire me made my work much easier.

I’m looking forward to the release of these three stories and am already, and always, on the lookout for my next theme.

 

Do you enjoy writing to a theme? Or reading works centered on one?