Identifying Your Theme
In our last two Blogs we’ve looked at the difference between plot and theme, as well as how theme is the message or insight you want to convey around your plot.
In the book I’m writing now, the plot is something like this. ‘A lonely Australian girl living in Florence finds herself unintentionally entangled with a couple of American grifters.’ But the theme is ‘loneliness and how capable we are of ignoring our intuition when living an isolated life.’
You’ll find your theme once you start writing. It will become apparent. But know that it is a theme and not the plot. Be aware of it, enlarge it, extrapolate it, explore it, write dialogue and scenes around it.
If you’re struggling to identify the themes in your story, recurring motifs and images can help find it. For example, if a character remembers his father wearing a particular style of hat, and later he wears a similar hat, the parallel might suggest themes of aging or inheritance.
I found in my new book I kept mentioning circles. The circles that people stand in. When they exclude others and don’t make room in circles. Intentionally or unintentionally. A circle of friends sitting at the park. Rings of people around a table. Somehow circles and rings kept coming up, so it helped me focus more and more on loneliness and isolation. My protagonist is outside the circle, not a part of the circle.
In all cases, repetition is important:
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a theme must be addressed throughout the story,
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and the characters' thoughts on those themes will develop, just as the plot develops.
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In this way, the characters (and the readers) will have engaged with an idea.
Themes are open to personal interpretation. A story can have as many themes as the reader can identify based on recurring patterns and parallels within the story itself.
For example, in To Kill a Mockingbird, the plot mostly plays out in a courtroom and at home. But its primary and central theme is prejudice.
Other popular themes are:
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Tradition or going against tradition
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Family
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Honour
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Hard work
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Strength
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Hope
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Belief
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Perseverance
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Stereotypes
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Heritage optimism
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Defying the odds
Sending you my best writing theme vibes from Florence. Let me know how you go! And if you want to, need to or would like to explore your plot and themes in more detail and depth, join me in Florence this year.
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If you’d like to share any comments or thoughts, I’d be happy to hear from you. Email me directly at lisacliffordwriter@gmail.com.