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Use Your Story’s Takeaway (Theme) to Trim Extraneous Content

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Writing an entire book is an immensely complex undertaking. Even if you’ve outlined meticulously, you'll need more ideas than you can possibly imagine to fill the pages of an entire book (50,000 to 100,000 words or beyond, depending on your genre). And what you’ve mapped out in detail in an outline … [Read more...] about Use Your Story’s Takeaway (Theme) to Trim Extraneous Content

Story vs. Plot vs. Theme: Know Your 5Ws and H

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Journalism writing often uses the 5W1H structure. The first few paragraphs of a news article should answer 6 basic questions (which start with 5 Ws and an H): Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How. While fiction writing doesn’t try to cram the essentials into the beginning paragraphs, those same … [Read more...] about Story vs. Plot vs. Theme: Know Your 5Ws and H

Themes and Symbols Go Together Like Peas and Carrots

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So...symbolism. We’re pretty familiar with this storytelling element, and I’m guessing most of us have experimented with the use of symbols in our writing. In a nutshell, you take an object, word, color, phrase, etc., and apply it in a story to give it a deeper meaning: Tolkien’s one ring (evil) … [Read more...] about Themes and Symbols Go Together Like Peas and Carrots

Use a Character’s Career to Support Your Story’s Theme

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Successful stories are often ones whose elements are employed subtly. You may not be able to say exactly why they work, and as a reader, you probably don’t care; you just like the feeling of rightness that settles in as you read. Theme is one of those important elements that are quietly working … [Read more...] about Use a Character’s Career to Support Your Story’s Theme

How Premise Plays into Theme

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For many writers, theme is an afterthought--something they may try to figure out once the book is mostly written. But in reality, for a lot of stories, the premise actually promises a theme, or at least, a theme topic. This may not be true of all premises, but a surprising number actually have a … [Read more...] about How Premise Plays into Theme

Use Theme to Determine Subplots, Supporting Characters, and Tension

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I recently spoke at the Storymakers conference in Utah, and while I was there, I attended a class on theme. Theme is kind of an ethereal topic, difficult to grasp and even harder to apply. But I was blown away by Amanda Rawson Hill's breakdown—so much so that I contacted her and asked if she'd write … [Read more...] about Use Theme to Determine Subplots, Supporting Characters, and Tension

Deepening Our Story: Theme It Like You Mean It

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Our story’s themes—our messages to readers of what to value or believe—can add depth and meaning to our writing, but to avoid being too on-the-nose, our themes are usually developed in the story’s subtext. Unfortunately, working in subtext means we can accidentally create unintentional … [Read more...] about Deepening Our Story: Theme It Like You Mean It

Understanding Character Wounds: A List Of Common Themes

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Characters are the heart of a novel, and within that heart is the Hero’s Inner Journey. The protagonist’s path is much like yours or mine--one that will (hopefully) bring him closer to lifelong happiness and fulfillment. In real life, people strive to become something more, to be something … [Read more...] about Understanding Character Wounds: A List Of Common Themes