Does Your Story Need a Theme?

One of the things that comes up regularly in craft advice is the idea of a “theme” in your story.

Now, I have to admit, it hasn’t ever been something I’ve focused on, or given as a tool recommendation to my authors. To me, the idea of a story theme in fiction had always felt a bit… ridiculous. Something for classic or literary literature, trying to teach me a lesson. Not something that has a place in my fun book about elves, love, or spaceships.

But I’m here to revise that opinion and tell you why it might not only strengthen your story, but also help you on your writing journey, to isolate what the “theme” of your book is, no matter what genre you write.

But, first, let’s back up.

What is a “Theme”?

As defined by MasterClass, “A literary theme is the main idea or underlying meaning a writer explores in a novel, short story, or other literary work[….] In simpler stories, the theme may be a moral or message[….] In more complex stories, the central theme is typically a more open-ended exploration of some fundamental aspect of society or humanity.”

If you are anything like me, after years in school of being made to read boring books and having to isolate and discuss what the “moral” or “message” was, this definition might bring back horrible flashbacks.

It either always felt like your teacher was stating the obvious—of course Romeo and Juliet is about forbidden love—or that they were reaching, trying to find deeper meaning in a story when it is subjective, and in my opinion, not really needed—like reading too far into the symbolism of The Great Gatsby (I may get some hate for that one. Some people really love The Great Gatsby. But I digress).

So what is the purpose of figuring out the theme for your story if all you really want to do is write a fun book about a kid going on an adventure and figuring out they have super powers? Or tell a story about two people falling in love?

One of the main edits I almost always give when doing a developmental edit (a story edit) is the need for clarity on the main character(s)’ internal and external conflict. What is their goal? How are they growing, changing throughout? How are they reaching that goal in the end?

You may think this is obvious—how could this be so hard? That is a massive part of the story! But you’d be surprised how often the idea of what the main characters’ want and need, how they’re growing over the story, gets lost in the details of everything else—worldbuilding, magic, romance, politics, etc… Books are made up of so many different layers, and different hierarchies to those layers.

This is where identifying your theme comes in. If you are lost or stuck in your story, take a step back and look for the overarching theme, the focus of your story. Especially if you didn’t isolate it beforehand, the answer may surprise you.

Is it the power of forbidden love? Is it showing that the underdog can overcome the high and mighty? Is it an exploration of life as we know it if AI truly took over?

Then from that, keeping that at your center, what might need to change about your story’s journey or your character’s goal? See how that can help you tighten your story, or get over the writer’s block you may be experiencing. Perhaps you wandered too far into the politics, and need to bring the story back to focus on the characters, especially if the theme is the underdog winning. Or maybe the chemistry isn’t working between your two main characters, and you need to adjust to make sure the theme of forbidden love is coming through over the in-fighting between the two families (Romeo and Juliet style).

Not only can figuring out your theme help your story, but having an understanding of this will continue to help you as you progress beyond finishing your book as well. Understanding the underlying theme of your book can help you create a powerful, true-to-story hook for your book, can help you identify comps, and even help you narrow in on your top audience.

As I said, you don’t need to isolate a theme, especially not before starting writing, if that isn’t how you plot your book or if you are a pantser and just want to dive in. But if you ever get to a point where you get stuck, where something isn’t working, or you are struggling with identifying market or creating the pitch for your book, take a look at your theme and see how that can clarify what you need to do to take the next steps forward.

I hope this has been helpful! Don’t forget to like and subscribe. For the full video, go to the link here.

And until next time, keep writing!