Even when a story has memorable characters, a riveting plot and a fully developed genre, it may still be coming apart at the themes.<\/p>\n
Theme is perhaps the most powerful, yet least understood element of story structure. It is powerful because theme is an emotional argument: It speaks directly to the heart of the reader or audience. It is least understood because of its intangible nature, working behind the scenes, and between the lines.<\/p>\n
When mis-
In this article, we\u2019ll separate the elements of theme by their dramatic functions so we can understand the parts. Then we\u2019ll learn how to combine them together into a strong message that is greater than the sum of the parts.<\/p>\n
What do we really mean by the word, \u201ctheme?\u201d In fact, \u201ctheme\u201d has two meanings. The first meaning is not unlike that of a teacher telling a class to write a theme paper. We\u2019ve all received assignments in school requiring us to express our thoughts about \u201chow we spent our summer vacation,\u201d or \u201cthe impact of industrialization on 19th century cultural morality,\u201d or \u201cdeath.\u201d Each of these \u201cthemes\u201d is a topic, nothing more, and nothing less. It functions to describe the subject matter that will be explored in the work, be it a paper, novel, stage play, teleplay, or movie.<\/p>\n
Every story needs a thematic topic to help hold the overall content of the story together, to act as a unifying element through which the plot unfolds and the characters grow. In fact, you might look at the thematic topic as the growth medium in which the story develops. Although an interesting area to explore, the real focus of this article is on the other element of theme.<\/p>\n
This second aspect of theme is the message or premise of your story. A premise is a moral statement about the value of or troubles caused by an element of human character. For example, some common premises include, \u201cGreed leads to Self-
A story without a premise seems pointless, but a story with an overstated message comes off as preachy. While a premise is a good way to understand what a story is trying to prove, it provides precious little help on how to go about proving it.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s begin by examining the components of \u201cpremise\u201d and then laying out a sure-
All premises grow from character. Usually, the premise revolves around the Main Character. In fact, we might define the Main Character as the one who grapples with the story\u2019s moral dilemma.<\/p>\n
A Main Character\u2019s moral dilemma may be a huge issue, such as the ultimate change in Scrooge when he leaves behind his greedy ways and becomes a generous, giving person. Or, the dilemma may be small, as when Luke Skywalker finally gains enough faith in himself to turn off the targeting computer and trust his own instincts in the original Star Wars movie (Episode IV). Either way, if the premise isn\u2019t there at all, the Main Character will seem more like some guy dealing with issues, than an example in human development from whom we can learn.<\/p>\n
Traditionally, premises such as these are stated in the form, \u201cThis leads to That.\u201d In the examples above, the premises would be \u201cGreed leads to Self Destruction,\u201d and \u201cTrusting in Oneself leads to Success.\u201d The Point of each premise is the human quality being explored: \u201cGreed\u201d in the case of Scrooge and \u201cSelf Trust\u201d with Luke.<\/p>\n
We can easily see these premises in A Christmas Carol and Star Wars, but what if you were simply given either of them and told to write a story around them? Premises are great for boiling a story\u2019s message down to its essence, but are not at all useful for figuring out how to develop a message in the first place.<\/p>\n
So how do we create a theme in a way that will guide us in how to develop it in our story, and also sway our audience without being overbearing? First, we must add something to the traditional \u201cThis leads to That\u201d form of the premise. Beside having a thematic Point like \u201cGreed\u201d we\u2019re going to add a Counterpoint \u2013 the opposite of the point \u2013 in this case, \u201cGenerosity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arguing to your audience that Greed is Bad creates a one-
To create such an argument, follow these steps:<\/p>\n
1. Determine what you want your story\u2019s message to be<\/p>\n
We all have human qualities we admire and others we despise. Some might be as large as putting oneself first no matter how much damage it does to others. Some might be as small as someone who borrows things and never gets around to returning them. Regardless, your message at this stage will simply take the form, \u201cHuman Quality X is Bad,\u201d or \u201cHuman Quality Y is Good.\u201d<\/p>\n
If you are going to create a message that is passionate, look to what truly irks you, or truly inspires you, and select that human quality to give to your Main Character. Then, you\u2019ll find it far easier to come up with specific examples of that quality to include in your story, and you will write about it with vigor.<\/p>\n
This is your chance to get up on the soapbox. Don\u2019t waste it on some grand classic human trait that really means nothing to you personally. Pick something you really care about and sound off by showing how that trait ennobles or undermines your Main Character.<\/p>\n
As a last resort, look to your characters and plot and let them suggest your thematic point. See what kinds of situations are going to arise in your story; what kinds of obstacles will be faced. Think of the human qualities that would make the effort to achieve the story\u2019s goal the most difficult, exacerbate the obstacles, and gum up the works. Give that trait to your Main Character, and you\u2019ll be pleasantly surprised to see it take on a life of its own.<\/p>\n
Of course, you may already know your message before you even get started. You may, in fact, have as your primary purpose in creating the story the intent to make a point about a particular human quality.<\/p>\n
No matter how you come up with your message, once you have it, move on to step 2.<\/p>\n
2. Determine your Counterpoint.<\/p>\n
As described earlier, the Counterpoint is the opposite of the Point. So, if your story\u2019s message is \u201cBeing Closed-
Note that we didn\u2019t include the value judgment part of the message (i.e. \u201cGood\u201d or \u201cBad\u201d) as part of the point or counterpoint. The idea is to let the audience arrive at that conclusion for themselves. The point and counterpoint simply show both sides of the argument. Our next step will be to work out how we are going to lead the audience to come to the conclusion we want them to have.<\/p>\n
3. Show how well the Point does vs. the Counterpoint.<\/p>\n
The idea here is to see each of the two human qualities (point and counterpoint) in action in your story to illustrate how well each one fares. To this end, come up with as many illustrations as you can of each.<\/p>\n
For example, in A Christmas Carol, we see scrooge deny an extension on a loan, refuse to allow Cratchet a piece of coal, decline to make a donation to the poor. Each of these moments fully illustrates the impact of the thematic point of \u201cGreed.\u201d Similarly, in the same story, we see Feziwhig spending his money for a Christmas Party for his employees, Scrooge\u2019s nephew inviting him to dinner, and Cratchet giving of his time to Tiny Tim. Generosity is seen in action as well.<\/p>\n
Each instance of Greed propagates ill feelings. Each instance of Generosity propagates positive feelings. As the illustrations layer upon one another over the course of the story, the emotional argument is made that Greed is not a positive trait, whereas Generosity is.<\/p>\n
4. Avoid comparing the Point and Counterpoint directly.<\/p>\n
Perhaps the greatest mistake in making a thematic argument is to directly compare the relative value of the point and counterpoint. If this is done, it takes all decision away from the audience and puts it right in the hands of the author. \u00a0The effect is to have the author repeatedly saying, \u201cGenerosity is better than Greed\u2026 Generosity is better than Greed,\u201d like a sound loop.<\/p>\n
A better way is to show Greed at work in its own scenes, and Generosity at work in completely different scenes. In this manner, the audience is left to drawn its own conclusions. And while showing Greed as always wholly bad and Generosity as always wholly good may create a rather melodramatic message, at least the audience won\u2019t feel as if you\u2019ve crammed it down its throat!<\/p>\n
5. Shade the degree that Point and Counterpoint are Good or Bad.<\/p>\n
Because you are going to include multiple instances or illustrations of the goodness or badness or your point and counter point, you don\u2019t have to try to prove your message completely in each individual scene.<\/p>\n
Rather, let the point be really bad sometimes, and just a little negative others. In this manner, Greed may start out a just appearing to be irritating, but by the end of the story may affect life and death issues. Or, Greed may be as having devastating effects, but ultimately only be a minor thorn in people\u2019s sides. And, of course, you may choose to jump around, showing some examples of major problems with Greed and others that see it in not so dark a light. Similarly, not every illustration of your Counterpoint has to carry the same weight.<\/p>\n
In the end, the audience will subconsciously average together all of the illustrations of the point, and also average together all the illustrations of the counterpoint, and arrive at a relative value of one to the other.<\/p>\n
For example, if you create an arbitrary scale of +5 down to –
Then, you do the same with the counterpoint. Generosity starts out as a +4, then shows up as a +1, and finally ends up as a +3. This makes the statement that Generosity is Good. Not the end-
At the end of such a story, instead of making the blanket statement that Greed is Bad and Generosity is Good, you are simply stating that Generosity is better than Greed. That is a lot easier for an audience to accept, since human qualities in real life are seldom all good or all bad.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>But there is more you can do with this. What if Generosity is mostly good, but occasionally has negative effects? Suppose you show several scenes illustrating the impact of Generosity, but in one of them, someone is going to share his meal, but in the process, drops the plate, the food is ruined, and no one gets to eat. Well, in that particular case, Greed would have at least fed one of them! So, you might rate that scene on your arbitrary scale as a –![](\"https:\/\/storymind.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Screenshot-2023-11-27-3.58.58-PM.png\")
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