How to Include Themes in Stories


The relationship between themes and the main story is an important one. Themes underscore what happens in the story and provide the basis of the reader’s deeper understanding of the characters, their actions and what the true meaning is at the heart of the narrative.
When we think of themes, the most common ones we find in novels are love, betrayal, loneliness, acceptance, deceit, friendship and so on.  Most are formed around emotions; therefore what characters think and feel towards others can form a theme – hate, perhaps, or misunderstanding. This emotional element draws the reader – they can relate to many themes, therefore they will create some empathy.
Thriller and crime stories tend to lean heavily towards the darker side of human emotions – so themes of power, corruption, hate, mistrust, betrayal and deceit are very common. Romance novels rely on themes of love, naturally, but also might involve deceit, jealousy, betrayal and maybe forgiveness.
Themes run through the entire story. The main thing we notice about them is that they’re not visible. They dwell beneath the surface of the story like invisible threads. They can be quite subtle or they can be quite overt in nature. Like motifs, they can be repeated throughout the story to remind the reader, known as leitwortstil, by using recurring words or phrases to underpin the theme. Often such phrases and words are spoken by characters, so they become even more easily recognisable.
Many themes develop symbiotically with the story. They grow with and during the story because they're directly related to the characters and the plot. As they develop, so do the themes. And as a writer, you have to understand the relationship between theme and story arc. For example, To Kill a Mockingbird isn't just about racism. It has other themes: good v. evil, prejudice, distrust, hatred, friendship and innocence. These are borne from the very fibre of the story and not something that was added afterward. This is how themes work.
How Do You Include Theme Within Narrative?
Normally you’ll have a good idea of a central theme to your novel because of what the story is about.  For instance, a boy meets girl story will dictate the theme of love. A story of an awkward teen finding his way in the world will dictate a rites of passage theme. So within that central theme, and during the planning process, the writer will see more themes emerge, known as sub-themes.
The best way, then, to include themes within your stories is to know and understand the story and what it’s about before you even type a single word. That’s because themes don’t work if they are an afterthought. It’s hard to force themes to ‘fit’ the narrative. Don’t overthink themes, either. Writers sometimes try too hard to shoehorn themes into their stories without realising they have no relation to the story. Let the themes occur naturally.
With some idea of the main theme, you can then construct your story accordingly. For instance, if the main theme is injustice, then one might expect that one character inflicts the wrongdoing on the main character as part of the story plot. The main character suffers because of this, which will create conflict, but it will also create empathy with the reader, who will despise the villain and root for the poor protagonist. As the story expands, the main character decides to exact revenge for this injustice. This revenge becomes another theme, borne from the developing narrative.
Another example might be a main character that works for a big company and is downtrodden and treated badly by the greedy, power-hungry boss. The main theme is greed and power and the effect it has on people. As the story develops, circumstances change for the protagonist, who finally outsmarts the boss to impress his peers, leaving the greedy boss looking foolish. This overcoming the odds is a sub-theme that develops from the narrative. Empowerment could be another sub-theme.
This is how themes become part of stories. The main theme comes from the main plot, and the sub-themes materialise as the story and characters develop. Theme within narrative gives the story more colour and depth. Most novels have a main theme and multiple sub-themes running through them. It really depends on the story. So in other words, the more you understand your story, the better the themes you’ll be able to develop.Summary

  • The type of story will dictate a main theme. Look at the plot – what themes might arise?
  • What are you trying to say to the reader? – This will often be the main theme.
  • Planning or outlining the story will show possible sub-themes.
  • As the story unfolds, more themes may naturally emerge from the narrative.
  • Characters and their actions often give rise to sub-themes.

Next week: How to make your story flow.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chapter & Novel Lengths

Just how long should a chapter be? What’s the best length? And does a novel have to fit into a set amount of words? These are just two of the most common questions asked by writers.   They assume they have to work to a strict template of X amount of words and X amount of chapters, usually because most novels have around 30 or 40 chapters and around 80,000 words.   Novel Lengths Firstly, let’s dispel a few myths - novel lengths are dictated by the story itself, not the writer or the editor or a specific written formula.   Secondly, writers don’t have to fit their word count into generic set amounts.   Again, the story will dictate how long the novel will be. It’s also worth knowing the different types of novels that work well with different word counts.   Uncomplicated stories containing minimal characters tend to be short – usually around 20,000 to 60,000 words.   These are called novellas. Longer, more complex stories, which contain a handful of main characters and periphe
Read more

What Makes a Story Dark?

If you’re a horror writer or you love to write dark, psychological stories and thrillers, or moralistic tales, this is the one question that needs an answer. Wanting a dark story and writing one are two different things, so how do you actually make a story dark? To answer that you first have to understand what is meant by ‘dark’. We usually define ‘dark’ as quantifiable elements that we know and are familiar with, but it’s more than that. Dark doesn’t necessarily mean scary or gory with a crazy psychopath going around chopping people into bits. Instead we have to think of ‘dark ‘as anything outside our accepted rose-tinted reality. Dark is the underbelly of our society; it’s the handling of ideas, themes, social issues and behaviours that would be seen as morally unacceptable. It’s less about fictional monsters but more about the real monsters that lurk in the shadows, something that is underscored by our fears and anxieties. It’s the unknown, because the things we don’t know
Read more

Cadence in Writing

Following on from last week’s article about purple prose, cadence – something many writers haven’t heard of – is something that writers aspire to but don’t always manage it, yet it’s the fundamental difference between poetic language and over-indulgent, flowery prose. Cadence in writing is a sense of rhythm and pace, it lifts the narrative from the page and makes it dynamic; brings a certain tempo to the words and sentences; it’s what makes prose poetic, layered and fluid without it being extravagant. Cadence makes the writing visual and evocative, and to an extent, beautiful . It’s an important element in fiction writing, because without it, narrative certainly won’t be as effective. Writers don’t actively think about cadence – they simply want to write and get the words down. It’s not until later, while editing, that they realise that a sense of rhythm might be missing from their narrative. When poetic description works, it’s called cadence. When it doesn’t work, people ref
Read more