Writing Great Fiction: An Introduction

Chapter 6: Theme and the Interior World

But don't stop here, because this theme stuff is about to get even deeper...and cooler.

What we run into when we really get into theme are paradoxes. In this case it's the ability to tackle two (or more) opposite functions at once. And the first of these paradoxes deals with WHAT you are saying.

Imagine a story where you have a theme, perhaps something to do with the thief example from earlier in this chapter. But...you don't pick a side. Instead of showing how stealing is wrong, you don't show any negative consequences at all. She steals, and then basically nothing happens. It doesn't work very well as a story, does it?

For there to be an interesting story, you need to make sure that you have something to say in your writing. Take a position on your theme. You aren't a neutral journalist, and even though you want to show how well rounded the story is by having flawed heroes and understandable villains; you need to take a stand to have a theme. In our theft story, you could show a host of negative consequences for the protagonist and those around her to show your position that stealing is wrong. Taking a stand like this will definitely keep your story from being wishy-washy. Taking a stand is the first side of this paradox.

But the other side of the paradox...that's the exception to the take-a-stand rule.

Sometimes, as a writer, you will run into a problem or question that you don't know the answer to. You work on it through a story, but you still may not reach an answer. In that case, it's okay that your theme is a question.

And, think of our example story with a strong anti-theft theme. Does it get a little moralistic? Kind of heavy handed? Shallow? For an example of a theme like this, go back to Grimm's Fairy Tales. Remember those? One theme stands out pretty universally there...stepmothers are bad!

But are they really? Does such a black and white theme cut it today? Will readers roll their eyes at our thief story if it has a similarly simplistic theme?

Instead, what if you show a range of consequences, both good and bad? What if you trust your reader to form a sensible opinion about what the answer is? This can actually help your theme feel less bossy and overstated to the reader.

These two positions can seem at odds. One tells you to give a definite position on your theme and one says leave it up to the reader. But, maybe the best answer involves looking at these two dichotomous positions through the paradox...where you stand up for more than one position on the theme and leave the question open for your reader to come up with the final answer. And there are a lot of great methods to help you do this.

But, before we can get into some specific tools, we have to talk about the second paradox, which deals with HOW you talk about your theme.

Those poor maligned stepmothers in Grimm's Fairy Tales...they never seem to get a break, do they? And, when you think about it, we don't get much of a choice in how we think about them. There is nothing subtle about how we are presented with this theme, and once again, this doesn't fly very well with readers today.

This paradox deals with the fact that while you need a theme, you have to try your best to keep it a secret. In this chapter, we've skirted around the reasons why the theme needs to be kept quiet...we don't want to be too pushy, we want our readers to figure things out for themselves, we want to show our fictional world (even a fantastic one) in a realistic way. But, one of the biggest reasons to keep quiet about your theme is to keep a sense of mystery in your story.

No matter what genre you write in, you want some surprises for your readers, and keeping quiet about the exact nature of your theme is a great way to hold onto that mystery. Instead of blurting out how stealing is either all bad or justified in some situations, let it unfold slowly as the plot develops. As an added bonus, this is also a good way to make sure that you are showing things to your reader instead of telling (remember that wonderful rule?). Show us some of the negative consequences and the positive ones as the story goes along. By the end, the reader will have plenty of information and you won't have had to shout from any rooftops, which is very nice for everyone.