A Few Words About Theme

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Themes can be old, new, reworked, and restated. They can be softly spoken or boldly shouted. Themes from one book to the next—even for the same author—can be contradictory. Remember, a theme is true for the book it comes from, not necessarily for life or for other works of fiction. Theme is a natural product of good storytelling. Overemphasized, it makes for bad story.

Played just right, with the right emphasis by character and situation and revelation and word choice, theme becomes another satisfying element in good fiction. An element that will remain with the reader far longer than plot or character quirks, setting or dialogue. The story I wish I had time to write right now is a theme that is seen from multiple viewpoints and leaves the reader to choose their own.

You know, I always hated analyzing books in English class, so when I found themes in my work, I was pretty stunned. I guess those lessons did sink in. Usually on the tenth read through or after. In my view, themes are very important to give a story substance, to make it more than just the interaction of a few characters. A short story might just have a single theme, but a novel can be more powerful if multiple themes are interwoven.

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And as Dana said, some themes will emerge unbidden as the writing takes place. For many, themes just emerge. As Dana said, it comes out of our subconscious. What we think on, what we believe, makes itself known whether we intend to let it out or not. Vivian, I hope everything stops screaming at you soon!

I always wondered how the teacher just knew what the theme was. Of course, now I see that many are quite obvious. Olivia, you definitely have themes to your work. Guess they come very naturally to your writing.

Theme (narrative)

As James said, themes give a story substance. Many of the extras of writing are what give story depth and punch and resonance.

Mostly, I just have dead bodies and hot sex not at the same time! Hi, Is this the grade 10 English class? I am supposed to talk about themes right? I dont know too much aabout themmes but Im willing to learn. I like Pat Bertrams response. I was taught that the theme was presented overtly or covertly at the beginning of the story. This may not be true in plays. However, it would give the audience a scene of the direction of the play. So maybe it's not only about the words. It's voice and pacing and dialogue The reader will focus on what stands out.

Hi Christopher, I am so glad to hear that and I hope it goes well for you — keep at it Grace. I have written many books and I have been having writers block. Thanks to this website I am able to continue! Would you kindly help me develop it? HI Thomas If you are truly passionate about writing you will write at least 5 days a week.

Start with short sessions of even 30 minutes, build up more time. Writing regularly is vital to your development. Go here to start with https: Hey, I was looking for a list of themes to help give me motivation and creative guidance to make a school essay which is very important to me. Best wishes for the future!

Hi I am so glad it helped you and I wish you all the best with your school essay and the rest of your school work. Keep in touch, Grace. I have to write an essay for school soon and this website is really helping me out with my study. I hope more people will find this page in the future because it is so helpful. Hi Brooke I am glad it helped you with your essay and best of luck with your studies. How does your overall story goal affect your characters? What I mean to say is, if my overall goal is isolation, my character obviously wants to change this, by running away from it, etc.

How does this originate? Is it shown subtly throughout the book? Lastly, what leads up to this goal being achieved? As in, what kind of inciting incidents that more or less throw the book forwards into action and new experiences. Once again, so sorry this is about a mile long. Hi Krishna, I am not sure I am clear what your question is. Are you perhaps confusing story goal with character goal?

Your goal as a writer may be to write a story about a man who wants to become President but who fails at this and instead decides to become an actor. Your characters goal might be to become president but your story goal takes him away from his goal to where you as the writer decide he should go. Sometimes writers can over think — maybe you should write your story and see where it takes you? Best of luck with your work.

The theme of your story ends up being what your character will realize in the end to conquer. For instance, your character goal might be to get away from being rejected by getting a new boyfriend or sacrificing morals, etc but the theme of the story might be that you need to accept yourself before others will accept you. Other examples are Man of Steel where Jonathan Kent tells young Clark that he needs to decide what kind of man he will be — in the end that allows him to save the world.

EXAMPLES OF THEMES

A place to call home? Finally, after going through everything, they realize the theme and it helps them reach their goal. How do you accept love from others? How do you overcome childhood failure?

Theme (narrative) - Wikipedia

How do you save the world? You get the idea. I hope this helps. We writers have many challenges and theme is so crucial.

Examples Of Themes

Best of luck with your writing. An example of a theme relates to what your trying to express in a story, essay, etc. Hi Genesis, Thanks for the comment and a great example.

Thank you so much for your unique post on Themes. It truly helped me understand character goals better and realize that the story goal may be different than the characters.

I agree Theme really is the backbone of a story. Not many others were this helpful, this page was just what I needed. Look up theme in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Reading, Reacting, Writing , Paulinas, pp. Story-telling techniques in the Arabian nights. Alternate history Backstory Dystopia Fictional location city country universe Utopia. Irony Leitmotif Metaphor Moral Motif. Linear narrative Nonlinear narrative films television series Types of fiction with multiple endings. First-person Multiple narrators Stream of consciousness Stream of unconsciousness Unreliable.

Retrieved from " https: Literary concepts Narrative units Fiction. All articles needing examples Articles needing examples from March Views Read Edit View history.

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