The Importance of Themes

18th of October 2024

Themes are at the core of every story, yet writers often overlook them. Meanwhile, they are one of the easiest tools for overcoming creative blocks.

Why are we afraid of themes?

The reason themes are often an afterthought rather than a starting point when approaching a new idea is that they are not as exciting as other storytelling mechanics. Deciding on a zombie outbreak setting makes you feel like you have already made a creative choice rather than merely “survival”, no? Or, thinking about the modus operandi of a serial killer character rather than just “mental health”?

However, choosing a setting or a type of character is beginning to build a fictional world and designing a narrative rather than deciding on what a story will truly be about. This is skipping a vital step, which is one of the issues that usually leads to getting stuck after your first act.

So, it is safe to say that themes scare writers because they seem vague. However, this ambiguity is the beginning that offers the creative freedom to shape a consistent idea and keep crafting a focused narrative until its very end without getting stuck.

What exactly are themes?

To better understand themes, the many forms that they can take need to be addressed. This is because they can be everything from a brief turning point to a character’s motivation, objective, or even entire arc. For example, a story’s central theme can be the protagonist’s motivation, such as revenge. Yet, there can be a lot more than just revenge, as other universal subject matters, such as betrayal or justice, are usually involved.

In fact, this is where frequently used phrases such as nature versus nurture or even good versus evil come from. This is because these themes have a symbiotic dependency, and portraying one without the other is nearly impossible. Furthermore, if the protagonist’s revenge arc ends on a positive note and they redeem themselves, which is another theme, the story can project a meaningful message.

How can themes help us?

Continuing with the protagonist-revenge analogy, assigning each character a theme can add even more topics to the narrative to increase its complexity. For example, what sparked the lead character's path of revenge could be the antagonist’s greed or jealousy that led to the hero/heroine getting wronged. To push this even further, the antagonist’s backstory can explain these evil motivations, which can be based on yet another theme, such as extreme poverty.

What do we have so far? Poverty leads to greed that results in wrongdoing, sparking a path of vengeance, only for justice and redemption to follow. Currently, these keywords represent character backstories, goals, and motivations while even being scenarios for turning points and already suggesting an ending. For example, the theme of justice can be the scene where the antagonist gets punished, like the climax. Meanwhile, the theme of redemption can be the moment where the protagonist changes to complete their arc, which can be the resolution.

See how this works now? The more themes are added, the easier it is to craft the skeleton of the story’s outline. Also, the more layers of complexity a story has, the more options are provided for scenarios. This not only benefits character development and the work’s thought-provoking substance but also helps the writer move forward with their story, preventing creative block.

Can themes really help us defeat creative block?

Even for writers who struggle to start developing their premise with their themes or get distracted by an exciting idea, the themes can still be worked around an existing narrative. A common occurrence is writers getting stuck halfway through their second act, specifically right before or exactly after their midpoint. Yet, this is the easiest place to push the story in various directions, again, by adding themes.

For example, a secondary character can make a sacrifice, which is a theme, to spark another motivation in the protagonist, such as selflessness. Betrayal, one more theme, is another path that can be taken in this Act II situation, whether from a lover, sidekick, or mentor figure. Consequently, the story now has options for its protagonist regarding what they will do since they have to respond and make choices, as the newly added theme is a brand new obstacle within their journey. This is an example of a theme taking the form of a turning point.

Disclaimer: It is important to address the fact that whenever stuck, and such turning points are added halfway through the text, it is vital to go back and foreshadow and set up the event while reconstructing the characters’ design to make the action organic.

Why should we trust themes?

Finally, focusing on themes is the best approach to begin a new story when not knowing where to start. This is because we can look back on our lives and think about which subject matter we are familiar with or feel strongly about and explore it on the page. This can be anything from happiness or a sense of belonging to grief, especially for dramas, as they can raise awareness by telling the audience a healthy way to mourn the loss of a loved one, for example. Even spectacle-filled action pieces can initially stem from other single-word topics. The already mentioned revenge is a fantastic example that can offer scenarios for the plot and facilitate the characters’ adventure with arcs that still keep them relatable, even if they have superpowers, unlike us.

Therefore, do not ignore themes, as they are the most humane aspect of stories. This is because they are emotions we have all felt to one degree or another, and all we need to design a narrative of our own is to choose a few of them.