Hey guys -- I want to know how you determine the themes of your stories. I have been seeing a situation and writing from that. The theme has emerged as I write. But the theme is hard. Do you have it before you start your story, or do you discover it? I have two stories I'm working on. Both are colorful in character but need a theme. From the advice I'm given I think the theme should emerge early, like first or second paragraph. Appreciate your feedback.
Yeah I find this really tricky myself, I don't have it always before I start, some times I get ideas for characters or a plot then write and see where it goes.
I don't think theme should be a target to write to. It’s like swinging at a piñata after you’ve been blinded and spun. Worse, it may reek of soapbox-prophet morality. Given that there are so few themes in existence, they're far too broad to inspire you. Begin with specifics (plot), and widen your scope as you go. To me, theme is something you don’t find until you’ve written most of the work already. In revision mode, you'll notice some repeating elements, common threads or undercurrents. Once identified, focus on just a couple of them and rework passages to support or enhance those concepts.
Theme is more of a feeling than a fact, and deepens the meaning once understood. Sort of like the right-brain’s interpretation of what the left-brain has told it.
I agree with what Stephen King says about theme in On Writing - write the first draft, then look for themes. You might not have set out to write about loneliness, for example, but you might notice that your protagonist spends a lot of time by themselves and they seem lonely. Then you can, if you want, add little subliminal messages about the theme to the story. Maybe their house stands alone with vacant lots either side, or if they're a waitress, they point out the customers who come and eat alone with a book. Whatever you do, try not to be heavy-handed and draw attention to the theme. Animal skins or an extinguised fire hint at the theme of mortality. The narrator saying 'George is preoccupied with death' is not hinting at anything!
Yeah, themes usually emerge after i've written something. I think i've only written one story where i had the theme before i wrote it.
If a theme emerges that you want to accent, then that is something you shoul do in the re-writes. Quite honestly, people will find themes to your stories that you never intended. If you go at it intentionally, you are probably going to seem heavy-handed. Theme, in most cases, is highly overrated. In two years of literary criticism, I've seen books be read in ways that the authors most certainly never intended. It's part of the game. There is as much creative writing going into literary criticism as there is in the novel itself.
So yeah, I don't worry about finding a theme until the story and characters are working. When people ask me "What does it mean?" or "What are you trying to say?" in a workshop, I generally want to kick them, and assume that they don't have any other advice to give me.
The best answer for that I ever saw was in a local writer's group. The "What does it mean?" girl chirped in, as always. The writer, who writes zombie novels, responded. "It means he's a zombie."
I usually outline a theme to have as sort of a larger world arc, but for individual (to the character) themes I usually prefer to discovery write.
Agree with the general consensus that it's not really what you should be digging for.
A similar question, but in my opinion more useful for the writer, is to ask yourself why this matters to you. What is it about this situation that has caught your interest? What about these characters has attracted you? Why are you writing this and not something else? It can be a tough question to answer.
Many of us start stories from a situation that catches our interest or triggers our curiousity--a moment that feels somehow loaded. If you understand why this situation sparked your interest, why it feels loaded to you (and quite possibly to you alone), it can help you dig into the story in a meaningful way.
Here's a challenge. Pick a theme, like The Golden Rule.
Now, write descriptions for three different types of books that use that theme. Then, pick the one(s) you want to write.
- The Monster on Top of the Bed - empowers children to discover how to banish monsters, that friendship conquers fear and that the key to making friends is The Golden Rule.
- The Priest and the Rabbi - Father O'Flannery and Rabbi Evan Goldsmith team up to catch a serial killer and credit the Golden Rule for their success.
- Heaven Sent - Thirty-three year old Elliott Smith is made an angel because he does unto others as he would like to be done unto him.
Regards,
Alan
I found myself sort of subconciously writing a theme in my poetry book, without really going for anything specific theme. It just sort of came together.
^
Curious- does that theme have anything to do with things weighing on your mind a lot these days?
It might, my last poetry book had to do with a lot of the stuff I've been thinking about. So I called the booklet Melodies Of Life.
I am wondering how the latest poem will effect the theme.
