How do we come up with a theme for our story?

When I’m looking at a new story idea, the very first thing I want to figure out is, what is the theme?

Theme is the thing we want our story to say. It is the foundation that everything else is build on. Out theme can be either a life lesson or a moral problem we want to present an alternative view on. In either case, it should make the reader think.

Why is Theme Important?

Many would-be authors want to focus on the story, the characters, the physical happenings. These types of stories may be entertaining, but they lack depth. They are missing that special something that makes a book memorable and inspiring.

As humans, we have a need for story. The thing that truly sets us apart from the rest of the animal kingdom us not our opposable thumbs nor our ability to use tools–lots of apes can do that–its our ability to use story to learn and grow.

Think about it, of all the things you know, some you may have experienced directly, but many you learned because someone shared their experience with you. They shared a story.

Humans like to be entertained, but moreso they like to feel they are learning, growing, and moving forward. That is what moves a story from one of the millions of books out there to a memorable, recommendable, favourite book of a time kind of read.

How Do We Use Theme in Story?

Theme is all about the internal journey of the character (and therefore the reader). That means theme is going to show up in all kinds of places!

The theme is the idea or moral quandary that the character will explore and learn throughout the book or series. This means the the character’s false belief, flaws, and personality must related directly to the theme (or its opposite).

The world and conflict of the story must also be representative of the theme. This is typically metaphorical, but might be overt.

The theme should also show up in our subplots and the arcs of our side characters.

Essentially, everything is informed by the theme.

How Do I Find My Theme?

I remember puzzling for a long time over my first novel, obsessing over theme and what I was trying to say.

The truth is, it doesn’t have to be that hard. Or scary. Theme is more about heart than it is about knowing the right thing.

I believe many of us already know what we want to talk about or what it is we want to say to other people. If you were asked, what advice do you have for living a great life, your answer would be your theme.

In case your theme isn’t coming easily, here are two other ways I will think about theme.

Theme Discovery Method 1:

Think of the feeling we want readers to feel. Then, think about what gives you that feeling.

If I want readers to feel empowered, I know that I feel empowered when I am standing up for something I believe in. So my theme should be standing up for what you believe in.

If I want readers to feel like they are not alone, I know I feel connected when I think about many different people working together to achieve a common goal. So my theme should be about people working together.

I usually present my theme as an opinion. Something like, we can achieve great things if we work together. But if you’re writing a more speculative novel, you could also elect to explore the theme as a question: do we achieve more working alone or together?

Theme Discovery Method 2:

When writers have an idea or inspiration, most of the time it is a flash of something that happens or a unique character or world idea. More often than not, your theme will be buried in here.

It goes back to feeling. If you’ve got a scene in your head, what’s going on? What is the feeling in the scene? Why is that important?

Many times when I imagine a scene, I come up with an all-is-lost scenario. I usually have a pretty good idea of the despair of the main character, and I have an idea of the thing they are lamenting. They’ve done something wrong, and now all is lost. Whatever went wrong is the antithesis to my theme. Ie, if they didn’t tell their friend where they were going to chase the bad guy and ended up getting hurt, the theme might be, always trust your friends or don’t try to do it alone.

Sometimes I imagine a positive scene, and I start thinking about what went right?

If I am inspired by a character, this can be a little trickier. I spend some time talking to them, psychoanalyzing them, until I figure out what’s not normal about them (or where their personality goes to extremes) and I think, how would I temper this or turn it into a benefit?

An inspiration of something unique in the world we are building can be a very interesting way to develop theme. I think about how this would change the residents lives, and what skills they would need to develop to thrive in this situation. My theme will be the skill itself or a belief shift that needs to occur in order to grasp that skill.

When All Else Fails:

Start at the root and work your way up.

Love > Fear

This is the root of every popular book theme, and the secret to living a good life. Love is more powerful than fear. Live in love, not fear. Love will always triumph over fear. We can achieve far more when we focus on love instead of fear.

Think of your inspiration, and think of what how love shows up and how fear shows up.

Ask yourself what you believe, and massage the words until you find a theme you feel good about.

Your theme may be something you yourself are working on (many writers write to better understand and process their world). For example, my first series, the Red Fever Trilogy, is about overcoming the past and societies expectations and trusting ourselves to become who we want to be. At the time, I was working through a lot of personal demons that said I shouldn’t write because it was not what was expected of me.

Writing With Theme

The theme informs every other aspect including character, world, and conflict. As we keep building our story plan, the foundation it is built on is theme.

But remember, the author is not here to teach, you’re here to entertain. This means theme should never be blatant. It should be buried under everything else.

The more you can encourage your reader to think, to feel the emotional pressures of the story and ask themselves what they believe, the more powerful your theme becomes.

This is why I believe so strongly in theme based story planning and my Theme Based Fiction method.