Exploring Theme. What the heck is Theme anyways?

The Boring Part

The word “theme” comes from the ancient Greek word “thema” and has rather vague meaning “the subject of something”. Today the meaning is just as quite vague. Basically, theme is the underlying thought or idea that drives the story.

And here's the tricky part: a story may have more then one theme. Two people reading the same story may experience different themes. This is because we filter what we read through our own life experiences. If, for example, you read a story of loss with a theme of guilt, your reaction will be very different if you have experienced such emotions than by someone who has.

Theme is not genera.

One might think that “love wins out” is the theme of every Romance. Be careful. Do not mistake genera for the theme. Every Romance is a love story. It's what defines it's genera. We buy a book based upon expectations defined by the genera.

If you are a student, try to sum up the story in one or two words sentences. The theme should say something about being human. Once you find what you feel is the theme find elements within the story to back up what you are presenting.

Theme can be found in the pacing, in character development and interactions, and in the choice of settings and moods. It is rarely ever clearly stated. Nor is it meant to be.

As a writer we can approach theme in a couple of different ways.

We can select a theme and write a story around it. There are many universal themes that can be used in any genera to drive the plot. Here are a few:

• Fear of lose – could be a story of overcoming this fear or being held back by this fear.

• Survival – a battle to stay alive through any and every difficulty. This could be anything from a tale of being lost in the wilderness to a hospital drama.

• Good vs evil – the world is not just black and white. There are so many stories here.

• Suffering – internal or external suffering.

• Coming of Age – Growing up is a common theme.

• Deception – where ever there is a secret there is a deception for good or bad.

• Love and hate – two sides of the same coin. They motivate many stories.

• Judgment – weather a true or false judgment many stories have this theme woven within them.

• War vs peace – fodder for conflict used to build many a tale.

You might notice all these themes speak to the human condition and experience.

This is the one thing all themes have in common. Writing to a theme creates a story to test the validity of the theme.

Personally, I find starting with a theme and writing a story around it the more difficult challenge. We can't help but include themes in our writing. They occur naturally and reflect who we are and where we are in our lives at time we are writing.

It is better, in my opinion, to write a story to it's full length, ignoring themes.

Later, examine what themes are present and decide which ones enhance and advance the plot best. Once identified, we can play with elements that resonate with our readers.

One way is to brainstorm how each of our characters are affected by the various themes. List the elements used to represent the theme. These could be the time of day or the weather used to frame a scene. It could be a song or repeating sound (such as waves on the shore) in the background. We can manipulate settings, character reactions, and pacing within the text to enhance the theme. This is best done during the editing and rewrite.

Let's say we write a story about a young single mother who looses her 3 year old son to a drunk driver. The story explores the stages of grief, coming to terms with the loss, and starting a new life. After finishing the story we realize one of the underlying themes is guilt.

Strengthening this theme seems interesting. As the story is written the accident was not her fault. The drunk driver crossed the line and hit her head on. It happened too quickly for her or anyone to react. We can use this. Let's say her child was fussy the whole trip and trying to get out of his car seat. What happens if we make her last memory of her son is of her yelling at him to behave? Where would this take her thoughts? What if she believes she was distracted at the time of the accident?

In another scene we have her visit her son's grave. She brings flowers and is met there by her ex 's parents. This is a scene of bonding over the loss and explores a bit of the support system around our character.

The classic thing to do would be to make it a gray cold day to match her mood. We can manipulate this scene to strengthen the theme. Let's make the day sunny and warm and she is angry that the weather defies her emotions. She is bringing red flowers because her son liked red but discovers, when the grave comes into view, it is covered with white and yellow flowers. It stops her as she feels the red flowers will look like a blood stain among the others. When she sees her ex's parents approach she tries to hide, fearing what they may think of her, not wanting to face their accusations. But they do spot her and the scene can continue as originally planned.

By making little changes and additions we can manipulate elements of the story to explore themes. Doing this builds more complex characters and more interesting stories.

Don't try to do too much.

A very real consideration when playing with themes is to remember the longer the work the more themes it can support. A short story can carry one dominant theme and do it justice. A longer work may have one dominant theme and several minor ones.

Trying to explore multiple themes can muddy the waters. It's a balancing act. Best to choose the one that takes your characters in the most interesting directions.

Another consideration starts by knowing your readers. I'm not a fan of dumbing down a theme for an audience but the material does need to be presented in a manner your readers can relate to.

Regardless how we approach theme our readers may interpret our work very differently from what we might expect. Getting feedback from a few trusted first readers is a good way to judge what themes are coming through. They may surprise you.

Quick. Put your thinking cap on and try one of these.

1) What is are major themes in your own life? For me, self determination is a strong theme. There are others. We all have themes in our own stories and they change as we change.

2) Watch the news. What themes do they use to present the stories? We call this spin. Themes are used to influence how we view events.

3) Pick a theme, any theme, and list 10 elements you can manipulate to strengthen this theme in a story.

Okay, I said quick, but maybe not easy.

Remember, in my opinion, themes should never be forced. They occur naturally and reflect who we are and where we are in our lives. We can use themes to strengthen our stories and deepen our character development.

If you enjoyed this and found it helpful please leave a comment and say hello. Any thoughts, questions or answers are welcome. You can drop me an email at teshenblakewriter@gmail.com