: Re: Can I use the same message over a series of novels? This question is slightly less straightforward than the title implies, and requires a little explanation. Firstly, I am an entirely self-taught

@Odierno164

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If, as you say in comment to Kitsune, you refuse to make a distinction between your Theme and your Plot, then the answer, due to your insistence, is that you will bore your readers by repeating exactly the same plot with all other changes just window dressing.

Part of the enjoyment of a novel (or film series) is not knowing what will happen next: If your plot is for all intents and purposes identical, that wonder vanishes. A reader of Novel 1 will quickly identify which characters in Novel 2 are the same people, quickly know who the bad guy is and the fates of all the other characters, too. They will not be surprised by any twists; they will not hold their breath when Alice, out of desperation, grabs the killer's gun and struggles to gain control of it. It will be no better than watching a rerun of mystery you saw last week. The funny lines aren't funny in the retread, the sexual tension is no longer very tense, the unexpected is entirely expected.

If you don't think that is true, then there is a distinction in your mind between theme and plot, and you should accept the terms as illustrated by Kitsune.

On the other hand if all I have said is true; find yourself another theme.

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