A Snarky Guide to Master the Essential Elements of Fiction Writing

Theme

If characters are the showmen (or women) and staff at our show, then theme is the underlying reason of the show. With this in mind, what do you think the theme of our hypothetical magic show is?

If you said "magic," bzzzzz. Nope. Magic is considered the genre--the headlining category we'd find the show listed under on our entertainment app. Theme is a fickle trick to nail down sometimes, because it is entirely based on what the author, you, want to convey. To figure it out, think about the driving force of your characters. (Ahh, that's how this is all connected.)

Example: Our magician is a narcissist and lives for the praise and applause that comes with notoriety. The theme could be fame or greed.

Change up the character's motivation and the theme will turn on its head.

Example: Our magician was abandoned by his mother at the age of ten, and he learned magic as a way to survive on the streets.  

The theme now reads more of acceptance and a longing to be loved and wanted. 

How does theme relate to "voice?" 

The forces that drive us dictate our actions and interactions. The trials and failures/successes we experience through life will then change our personalities for better or worse. Characters work the same.

*Helpful Hint: The change in personality or outlook in a story is also called a character arch. 

So not only is voice important, but how voice changes in a story makes it essential for growth. 

Every story (should) have an inciting incident. (The catalyst that puts our characters on their new path--more on this and other pyramid parts later.) Depending on the incident, our characters beginning personality will shift, usually sideways, changing voice and the outlook of a story.

Example: Take a happy, outgoing girl who loves to party. Take that same girl and have her mugged by a scary guy one night and left for dead in a dark alley. How would you react to such a violation of safety and young naiveté? 

Well, I personally, would be more guarded, both in how I spoke and acted, especially around strange men. I'd also be getting some major self-defense courses going. So what once may have started off as a sweet, flirty girl approaching a guy at the bar, "Hi, I'm Grace. I love your shirt" now may look like her getting approached (if she went out at all) and her responding, "Not interested." 

Ouch, chilly change, right? But totally reasonable. 

Voices can be big or small, boring or colorful. Whatever choice you make, it needs to stay true to your character or theme. 

Example: If you're writing a horror story, it isn't appropriate for your main or narrator to be a technical jargon robot. Your readers will lose too much of the suspense that comes with chilling word choice and a whispered threat.

On the flip side, you probably don't want to use dark and dreary word choice if your main point of view (POV) is a spoiled princess who flies on the pink clouds of unicorn farts.

Now, forget everything I just wrote above. There is one wonderful exception to all rules when it comes to voice. 

Humor.