Theme Isn’t Optional

Why It Matters and How to Nail Yours

Photo by Nicolas Messifet on Unsplash

What is theme?

It’s kind of a big and important question when it comes to your novel or even your blog post, which is why I’m writing about it today.

According to LitCharts (my favorite definition of theme usually),

“A theme is a universal idea, lesson, or message explored throughout a work of literature. One key characteristic of literary themes is their universality, which is to say that themes are ideas that not only apply to the specific characters and events of a book or play, but also express broader truths about human experience that readers can apply to their own lives. For instance, John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath (about a family of tenant farmers who are displaced from their land in Oklahoma) is a book whose themes might be said to include the inhumanity of capitalism, as well as the vitality and necessity of family and friendship.”

And you can have more than one theme in your story, but we’re just going to be focusing in on one right now.

The theme is something you have to develop in your story and it has a significant impact on your main character.

Let me break it down a bit into three major elements.

• Your book will have a plot – the things that happen in the story.

• Your book will have character development – how your character evolves or doesn’t in a story.

• Your book will have a theme – the more abstract concepts that your story involves.

Themes can be broken into concepts and statements.

A concept would be:

• Love

• Grief

A statement would be:

• Human love is imperfect.

• Living with grief is permanent.

And your work as an author is to embody those themes in your character as they navigate the plot and world of the story.

According to aresearchguide.com:

“A theme in a story is the major idea that the story leans or surrounds. It comments on human experience, and more often a story relates to real life situations. All stories have at least one theme.

“A theme gives the general view of the story. It gives the reader the insight into how the story characters live to pursue something good, the results of conflicts and how all these choices come to pass in their lives. In a story, there can be major and minor themes.

• “A major theme is an idea the writer keeps on repeating in his work, portraying it as the most significant idea.

• “The minor theme is the idea that appears briefly in the story.

“A theme needs to be compelling and captivating. You need to think carefully when choosing a theme for your story.”

Photo by Kenny Eliason on Unsplash

Beyond the paywall, I’m going to talk a bit about Sara Letourneau’s thoughts on theme and also a bit about how to find yours in your book or your blog post even. Gasp! I know! Wildness. There are a couple of exercises about finding your theme and a cool place to submit to.