Theme as Inspiration and Revision Tool
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Theme is a topic that’s not too common in writing circles, but for your story mechanics here at Ground Crew, it’s an almost daily topic of conversation. Since it’s a subject near and dear to our hearts, we took some of the techniques related to theme that we talk about quite a bit with clients and fellow writers and distilled them into a presentation. For writers who can’t join us in person for a presentation, we thought we’d share a few of the highlights here on the blog.
What Is Theme?
Every story has a theme—and most stories have more than one—so this is a crucial element to pay attention to when you’re writing. Even if you haven’t intentionally written a theme into your story, it’s there!
But before we can get into how to use theme, we should get on the same page about what theme is. Theme is an abstract element, which may be partly why it’s not as common as a subject among writers. It’s often easy to pick out a theme in music—a sound, a riff, or even instrument that repeats. When we’re talking about themes in writing, we’re taking a conceptual idea and trying to wrestle it into concrete terms.
Often, when you hear someone talking about theme, it sounds something like this: “Because of Winn-Dixie is about coming of age.” An author talking about their story may say something like, “My work includes themes of exploration, self-confidence, and identity.”
Because we hear things like this all the time, we’ve gotten used to thinking of theme like ingredients in a soup—a sprinkle of this, a dash of that. However, in writing, theme isn’t a single word. And as we move closer to a definition of theme, you’ll see why a single word doesn’t fulfill the role of a theme.
Theme is a concept that can be defined several different ways. You might think of theme as an argument the book is making, or the author’s point of view on a subject, or even the heart of the book. Looking at these different definitions, I hope you can start to see how a single word couldn’t possibly capture your story’s theme. A theme is a full sentence, a statement.
Broken into its most basic form, a theme is an idea plus an opinion.
The theme is the answer to questions like “What do you have to say about this topic?” “What’s your point?”
Here are a few examples:
Because of Winn-Dixie (Kate DiCamillo): If you’re open, you can find a friend anywhere.
The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins): You don’t have to shoulder every burden alone.
The Lord of the Rings (JRR Tolkien): Even the smallest person can make a difference.
Fly by Night (Frances Hardinge): Those who master words hold the most power.
Now, for any book, you will be able to come up with a variety of themes, and different readers will latch on to different themes as they read. You could come up with different themes from these books, but these examples are just to show you that themes are expressed as full sentences, and they convey an opinion about a topic.
How to Use Theme as a Brainstorming Tool
Once you have a more or less solid idea of your theme, you can use it to help you brainstorm story ideas or find ways to get unstuck if you feel like you’re not sure where to go next. Here are two ways you can use theme for inspiration.
Brainstorming plot
In a very big way, theme determines the plot in a story. Remember, the events of the story are evidence backing up the theme. Sometime it might feel like you have infinite possibilities in front of me about what could actually happen in your story. But when you focus on your theme, you can narrow down those possibilities quite a bit and spark ideas. Let’s take our Lord of the Rings example from earlier to see how this can work: “Even the smallest person can make a difference.”
With a theme like this, it becomes clear that the central protagonist needs to be a person who would be considered small, whether that refers to their stature, their position in society, or their personal power. So Tolkien’s ringbearer, Frodo, is a natural fit as a hobbit. Hobbits are not powerful or strong; in fact, they’re known primarily for less formidable pursuits like gardening, smoking, and throwing lavish birthday parties. The theme shines brightly with Frodo as the ringbearer, taking on a burden that no one else—no warrior, no wizard, no king—could and saving the world.
With a small adjustment to our theme, we can see other opportunities for thematic resonance in the plot. For instance, we might say our theme is “Even the smallest thing can make a difference.” This still fits our hobbit hero, but it’s also reflected in the most important object in their world, the One Ring itself, and its role in the primary external conflict. Such a little thing, but the fate of their world hangs on it.
Exploring/understanding the antagonist
Another way that you can use your theme for inspiration is to use it to explore your antagonist. In many stories, you’ll find that the antagonist actually shares the same desire or goal as the main character. They may even share the same hopes or fears—the difference is that the antagonist isn’t approaching the problem in a healthy way, or they fail to learn what the protagonist does.
To show you an example, in The Hunger Games, Katniss faces several antagonists, including the corrupt government, but we’ll focus on the most immediate antagonist in book one, which are the other tributes competing in the games. Obviously, all of the tributes have the same goal—they want to stay alive! Katniss starts off as a lone wolf, fending for herself and doing her best to survive by herself. However, over the course of the story, she learns that she’s not going to make it on her own; she has to learn to accept help. And because she’s not trying to win the games alone by the end (refusing to kill her fellow tribute), she is able to stay alive and win. The antagonists don’t learn this lesson, and they don’t make it.
How to Use Theme as a Revision Tool
Even if you’re not a theme writer, theme can also be a fantastic tool in revision. Finding the sentence that describes what you’re doing in the book can provide you with the blueprint, the master plan. In revision, you can hold up each element of your book and see how it’s connected to the theme you want to build. Any scenes, characters, plot points, or conflicts that don’t connect to the theme can be revised or tweaked to strengthen the heart of the story. Here are two ways theme can help you as you’re making changes.
Figuring out what belongs in the story
Sometimes when you’re writing, you end up with too many ideas, too many characters, or too many plot threads. You get to the end of your draft and you’re not sure where to start—especially if you really like all of them. A theme can help you sort what actually belongs in this story and what might belong in a different story. You can think about if that side character’s plot line reflects the theme, or you can think about whether that plot point actually undermines the theme you’re building. If you can’t figure out why your villain does what they do, think about how they could reflect the opposite or the extreme of your theme.
Evaluating how satisfying the ending is
When you’re really close to your work, it can be hard to tell if the ending is satisfying, if a reader will feel fulfilled in some way after they’ve read your book. Of course, you always need to get feedback from outside readers on this, but while you’re still in the drafting and revising phase, you can work on the climax and conclusion by focusing on your theme. What question have you been trying to answer with this story? Does this conclusion answer it? How will your ideal reader feel about that answer? Will you need to be more overt about your theme or more subtle?
To Continue Riffing on a Theme
When you’re thinking about theme, you’re really asking, “What do I want my reader to think about?” or “What do I want the reader to remember about the story some time from now?” When you have a strong grasp of the why of your story, you can use that as a tool for inspiration or for helping you make the story stronger during the revision phase.
Whether you’re already a writer who uses theme or all of this is new to you, I hope you’ve found some good food for thought here, and maybe a technique you’d like to try!
There’s a lot more about theme and how to use it than we can condense into a blog, but we hope it sparks some ideas for you. If you’re looking to develop themes in your work, need help identifying them, or want to learn more about how to use these techniques, get in touch with us! We love talking shop.
Photo thanks to Nikki Rowaan on Unsplash!
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