There are some ideas that are especially useful to fiction writers, but many can also make a non-fiction book an enjoyable read, and that’s important if you want the reader to glean the valuable information you have to share. In this post, we are going to cover one of the elements of a story: Theme. We’ll give due diligence to the other elements in other posts.
Yes, the destination is important (so is the ending of your story), but as is often said, the process of getting there is paramount, so as vital as your ending is, you need to remember that your story is all about the Journey to the Transformation of the Hero. When you are writing your story, you need to keep in mind why you are writing it: the Theme, or the Focus of the Story, or the Most Important Point. Whatever term you use, the concept has to run through the entire story.
You may hear folks tossing the term “Theme” about as if it’s something complicated, but it’s really nothing more than a technique of approaching the Transformation, allowing the Hero to be fundamentally changed and resolving the problem in a predictable manner. To understand it better, take a look at the list below.
Theme Examples
- In the Rags to Riches theme, the Hero has to pull himself up by the bootstraps, and is transformed by his hard work.
- In the Underdog story, the Hero is portrayed as being gutsy and good, being transformed through spirit, hope, and belief.
- The Accidental Hero (my favourite) is thrust into his role by accident or circumstance and is transformed through realisation.
- Often used is the Lesson Learned theme, where the Hero faces many challenges in life, discovering that it is true that only fools refuse to learn and is finally transformed via self-discovery.
- Rather intense is the Failure and Redemption theme, forcing the Hero to respond to failures, showing his true character as he finds that coming back from failure is powerful, transforming with fire.
- Finally, there is the Hero’s Quest (the most talked about), common to all societies, all countries, all time. In this theme, the Hero develops the internal strength to conquer all obstacles, no matter how seemingly impossible. This is the theme of many epic tales as the Hero is transformed by triumph.
There are plenty of other themes (including Forgiveness, Success, and Honesty), but these few are enough to give you an idea of what you’re aiming for.
To help you stay directed, you may want to print the Theme out (in big letters) to hang over your monitors. That way, if you come across a scene that doesn’t support that Theme, then just toss it (not completely, of course…save it elsewhere, because that scene may just belong in the next story). Keeping your theme in sight will give your story a feeling of intent, a cohesiveness, a raison d’être as they say.
Keep plugging away at it, and you’ll only get better!