Here I’d like to further develop the idea of theme as a tool to help you realise the potential of your work. I often suggest writers finish the sentence, This is a story about… The challenge is to avoid referencing a character, a specific situation or a setting, and instead consider the core concept that is teased out by the events of the plot and the way the characters respond to these events. Most writers start the process with a short list. One writer I worked with identified her themes as ‘adolescence and friendship.’ Another said his story was about ‘identity and belonging’. Great that these writers were able to see the broader ideas underlying their work. That’s a very useful start. However, I’ve come to understand that listing concepts like this identifies the topics explored, rather than the theme.
So, what’s the difference between a topic and a theme? They are closely related, but topics don’t have an emotional value attached to them. I think it’s most helpful to think of theme as encompassing a quality about a topic – you’re not just exploring a topic or subject area, you’re exploring a particular take on that topic. Theme, or story essence, synthesises the topics explored with the emotional impacts and challenges the topic spawns. If theme is a vessel that contains your story, like a glass holding wine (as per Terry Bain’s analogy mentioned here), then the topic is the material of the vessel (such as fine crystal with a gold rim, or chunky coloured glass) and the emotional impacts are the shape (long stemmed with an generous bowl, or stemless and squat). Together they create that particular vessel.
Understanding the emotional perspective on the topic you are exploring is useful in the revision process to help unlock character motivation and develop dramatic tension. Let’s say I’m writing a story where a woman learns her husband is having an affair with her best friend. Saying ‘This is a story about an extra-marital affair,’ names the topic. It doesn’t indicate the emotional aspect I want to explore. I could say, ‘This is a story about betrayal.’ That gives an emotional shape, but I’ve lost the connection to the topic. I can dig deeper.
It might take a number of drafts for me to work out what I want to say about the emotional consequences of the affair. I could land on something like, This is a story of how betrayal changes our sense of who we are. Or, This is a story about how to learn to trust again when the people you trust the most betray you. The two are related but slightly different, and would result in slightly differently inflected plotline. Narrowing it down to one will help me tighten the work further.
In converting topic to theme, think about what will resonate with readers. What is it that makes this story about ‘us’, not just the characters populating the fictional world? Using the first person plural ‘we’ or the second person singular ‘you’ in a statement of themes invites the reader to emotionally and intellectually engage, even if, in this scenario, they have never experienced an extra-marital affair.
I cannot underestimate the value of clarifying the theme of your work in this way as a developmental tool. It can open up your understanding of the characters, it can sharpen plot points, it can help determine the structure. And your statement of themes will have a place in your synopsis; the more you are able to emotionally engage the synopsis reader, the more likely they are to be curious about the story and want to read it.
A list of topics you are exploring in your story is a great start – but it’s just the start. What is the material and shape of the vessel holding your story?