Ok, so I'm in the process of writing my novel and I'm reading all of the books, and I'm subscribing to all of the forums, and I'm basically in super writer mode and I started going through another how to write a novel book. In this one it says that I need a theme, which makes sense, and I need that theme to fit my thesis, which is also a good point. Here's the thing: Like a lot of young adult books, my thesis has to do with the sometimes overwhelming and underwritten theme of ACCEPTANCE. I put that in capital letters because I could, it means nothing except for its importance. So acceptance, that is my theme and to some extent: Friendship... except, I don't have great friends. I don't have any basis as to what I'm writing about because honestly except for a few of them, I have some really shitty friends. I don't know what to write about, except that I want to write about friendship, and that angle is kind of screwing me hardcore. What should I do? Should I pick a different thesis or should I just write about someone else's not shitty friends? Thank you in advance for your input.
There's no such thing as shitty friends. Write about your MC's great friends. It doesn't have to be about you.
Hi, welcome to the forum, Libby. Acceptance by friends is a great theme and from your description, you have an idea what you wish for but maybe not what you have. Of course in writing it you may find you do have friends. Bottom line, you have some kind of emotional experience and desire for something you don't have. Now what you need is a plot. You need the framework to tell your story through. And you need characters that you want to tell the story. Keep reading other novels, read writing advice, keep what works for you, toss out what doesn't. It takes work, you won't find it served on a platter, but I bet you do have a story in you that just needs to find a way to the surface.
Write about the MC's desire and search for acceptance when faced with shitty friends. Should he/she try to become more like them to fit in? Try to make them better people? Find new friends? Give up and become a loner?
It sounds to me like you have great material in your real-life 'shitty friends'. Just ask yourself why they're shit, what would you prefer/find more appealing in a friendship? Once you figure out the ideal, you can build that into your novel. I'm with @Bryan Romer , once you have an ideal in mind consider what your character's experience is of it. Are they searching for the perfect friend, making the best of what they have, or do they leave their 'shitty' friends only to discover the value of loyalty (or realising that they were the problem in the relationship, and mending it?)
Stop reading how-to books. Stop studying to become a writer. Start writing. If they're shitty friends, they're not friends.
Maybe your thesis is "Why Do I Call My Shitty Friends 'Friends'?" And then write a story about the character's crippling fear of loneliness which leads him/her to sell her/himself short in social situations.
