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| Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson |
“Argh! I don’t have a theme! I NEED a THEME!”
And so a billion stories have remained unwritten for want of a theme.
What is this elusive concept anyway and is it really that important for a story to have one? Simply put, a theme is an underlying idea or common thread that flows from the beginning of the story to the end. It can be something as infinitely broad as Good versus Evil, or something more focused such as Betrayal.
Most brilliantly written novels will have several interweaving themes threaded through the story. Some are so subtle that you can reread the book several times before you finally spot them, feeling as brilliant as Sherlock when you finally do.
A lot of “How to Write” workshops/courses/clinics, suggest the necessity for deciding your theme before you write. While this may work for some, it doesn’t work all that well for me as a Pantser. I’m not sure about the rest of you, but I hear “What’s your theme?” and instantly I hit a blank. How do you sum up your pride and joy, the sweat and blood you’ve poured into the blank pages for months; in a simple phrase or a single word? What happens if you have more than one theme?
In my humble opinion; themes are important, there’s no doubt about that. Someone once said, “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything,” and that’s what a theme does. It gives your book something to stand for.
However, I don’t think that you need to decide on your theme before you even start writing. If, for example, you decide right at the beginning that your book is going to be about Good versus Evil, well, good for you. But what is good and what is evil in your book? Who are the good guys, and why do they have to fight the bad guys? And why should we care?
Before you even decide on a theme, you should be answering the important questions: Why is Bob good? What makes him so great? Do we like him for being good, or do we want to punch his perfectly handsome face in because he’s just TOO perfect?
And if we want to punch him for being so sickeningly sweet, is there a situation we can put him in to make us empathise with him?
Therein lies the key ingredient to writing a book with meaningful themes. Creating characters and situations that readers can empathise and sympathise with, giving them challenges that seem impossible to overcome and yet the reader is with them every step of the way, cheering them on because even though we want to break their nose with our fist, we still want to see them succeed because they deserve to.
Themes are what book-reviewers, editors and publishers look for in your writing. As a writer, your only concern should be with telling a story that means something to you. Because if it means something to you, then guaranteed it will resonate with someone else.
Leave the theme for later, when your betas have read your novel and said “You know, I really love the theme of Unconditional Love that runs through your story, even though it was really difficult for the characters to get to that point.”
Then you can turn around in an elevator when you have a poor publisher helplessly trapped between floors and say, “My book’s theme is Unconditional Love. I’d LOVE for you to read it.”
How do you feel about themes? Do they make or break your book?
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