Writing Tips

establishing a theme

OKAY GUYS I COMPLETED THIS TIPS BOOK AWHILE AGO BUT I REALIZED I NEVER INCLUDED THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF WRITING A STORY

YOU. NEED. A. THEME.

I'm literally so mad at myself because I wrote all this down and this is the ONE part I forgot, the most IMPORTANT part of the story. Please don't be angry with me I'm very very sorry.

A theme is the primary ingredient of your entire book. There needs to be a message that you leave your readers with by the end. There should actually be several themes but it's good to stick to one main one (like an allegory).

You should actually come up with the message you want to get across before you even come up with the story idea. It's so much easier to build the story off of the theme idea.

For example (spoiler alert), the main theme of my story Seeking Haven touches on the subject of trying to live of a life that was never meant to be yours. It's a story about sisterly bondage, and a friendship that continues even after one is gone.

You'll want to keep referencing this theme over and over throughout the book WITHOUT giving away the ending of the story. People will figure out that the author has been trying to tell them something the whole time, right when they finish the book.

Here are some helpful tips that will give you a better idea on the meaning of a theme:

Some themes speak truth to human behavior. Seeking Haven is mostly about the relationship between two sisters, which is a complicated relationship due to circumstances of their situation. On top of this, the main character does not even know who she is yet, so this pushes her to try to be someone she's not. It's a coming-of-age story. A lot of my readers can relate to that topic and this story can give a truth that will speak right into their lives.

Themes are often serious. Even if you're writing a [romantic] comedy, a theme of a story is so usually a touchy-feely thing. When you're getting into concepts such as romance, you're actually getting right into the reader's heads and their own personal beliefs. The theme should be a statement that leaves readers with something to take away from the book.

Themes don't have to be true outside your story. Let me clarify this one: you don't have to believe your message reflects on your daily life. But it should be obvious for your readers to see that your character(s) are learning something and not remaining the same throughout the story (main characters are usually dynamic-- meaning they go trough an important change. Other characters are usually static or "round" meaning they are fully developed throughout the whole story.)

All morals are themes, but not all themes are morals. A moral might be an obvious phrase such as "be careful what you wish for," or something like that, which usually comes from a short story that deals with one topic. Themes are much deeper and more detailed and usually come from novels/long stories where the plot develops slowly. Ya feel?

You don't even really need a theme? Some authors completely ignore theme. They just write their story and let the readers come up with their own conclusions on it. I wouldn't recommend doing this at all tbh. This leads to complications.

Your story should be a tip of the iceberg. Not every reader is going to understand every single motif & significant symbolism & message from your book, but that doesn't matter. It's the fact that it's there. It should always be there, in my opinion.

The stories that always get remembered are the ones that readers relate to and the ones that tie together and are not just random events sloppily written with no important outlooks on life.

Short Stories: In each Shawn imagine I write, there is pretty much a theme to each one of them. This is with the exception of the few that were written sloppily & do not include a message. I'm considering these imagines "short stories", because they only have one theme and straightforward events without a slow, long-developing plot like that of a novel. My story "Treat You Better" is also a ten-chapter short story and deals with one main theme, not a bunch of small ones + a main one. Does that make any sense?

Know your audience. Like I said earlier about Seeking Haven being a coming-of-age story, this one is so important to keep in mind. Always remember who is reading this. Most of us are just average teenaged fan girls/fanboys who fell hardcore in love with a brown eyed canadian boy, am I right? So we have that much in common.

But your theme should be one that YOUR readers can understand or will understand in the near future. I'm not saying don't make your characters adults with jobs that pay bills and crap, because if those are the characters you see, please, write that. But make their change something we can all understand, does that make any sense?

That's all I have to say on theme. Don't ignore this. It's what your entire story stands upon.. you need it! You NEED a theme. Every good book has a theme. Trust me.

I love you guys! ❤️ good luck writers, you're all wonderful! (:

-avey