Themes! They’re vitally important to any creative work, and if you’re writing a story then you have to keep them in mind. But what exactly are they?
If you’re going with a strict definition, then themes are ideas that recur through or pervade a work of art. In a looser sense, they’re what your work is about; the deeper meaning behind what is immediately apparent in the text. So why is all of this important? Can’t you just write a romping good adventure and leave all that highfalutin nonsense to book reports? Well, no. You really can’t.
Because if you don’t have a clear idea of the themes of your work, then it’s increasingly likely that it will turn out as a bit of a mess. Themes help provide structure, a skeleton upon which stories can be written. Without that structure everything just kind of piles up on top of each other, making disconnected events and character interactions where there should be a cohesive through line bringing everything together.
In many ways to explore themes is to explore an author’s intent. As the writer it’s important to have an idea of your own intentions with your writing and thus its themes. Just because the readers might see something in your writing that you don’t doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have a clear idea of what you meant to put in there.
Especially since themes will worm their way in regardless even into the most jumbled of stories. As mentioned, readers will bring their own interpretations to your writing. If you’re not careful then your work might be viewed as saying something you didn’t intend or, worse, saying things you might be adamantly against. Better to avoid the risk altogether.
So when you’re fleshing out the concept of your story, make sure to note what themes you want to work with that lend themselves well to said concept. What recurring questions are being asked in the narrative? What are the characters grappling with beyond what is immediately happening to them or, even better, how are these events connected to those questions being asked? How are those questions answered? What ideas come up again and again as the story progresses?
When you have all of this worked out you’ll find your writing will be stronger for it.
Themes! They’re vitally important to any creative work, and if you’re writing a story then you have to keep them in mind. But what exactly are they?