Choosing Themes for Your Stories

How to Pick and Develop Themes in Your Writing

By Sheila Arellano

Having overriding themes within stories can enrich your writing. They add layers to your storytelling and allow your readers to connect on a personal level. Now, you may be asking—what is a theme? A theme is an idea or philosophy that permeates a work of art or literature. Themes often lurk beneath the obvious and encompass the entirety of a story. 

For example, in my Latinx fantasy, I explore themes such as family, coming of age, losing hope, fear of failure, grief, death, guilt and friendship, which are under the umbrella of a larger theme—identity. Sometimes themes emerge as you write your story. In my case, however, I like being deliberate about which themes will appear in my book. Today, I will share three tips that will help you choose themes for your stories. 

Be Inspired by Your Experiences

When wondering what themes to include in your story, it is useful to ask yourself: what themes have been present throughout my life? By analyzing the feelings and values you’ve experienced first hand—such as love, loss, friendship, compassion, anger, etc.— you can write from a place of true understanding. This will add a layer of realism to the themes you embed in your story and will make your characters’ inner conflicts vivid. For example, family responsibility plays a large role in my life, so I included this struggle in my main character’s arc. This theme comes naturally when I’m writing because I have first-hand experience. 

Write a Theme Statement

Writing a theme statement can be useful during the brainstorming process. This is a sentence that will describe your overall theme(s). You can refer back to this sentence as you write your first draft and tweak it as you go, but the core idea will be represented in your statement. For example, a very simple theme statement is “embracing your true self can lead to inner peace.” However, you can make your statement as complex as you wish. One important thing to note is that, even though themes seem to be synonymous with morals, they are not. Themes aren’t lessons; rather, they are ideas that give your writing deeper meaning. 

Include Your Themes in Your Story Outline

Having your themes in mind when outlining is helpful. The way I include my themes in my outline is by embedding them into my characters’ arcs. If your story is world- or plot-driven, characters might not portray themes. But if you are writing a character-driven book, this can be a great way of showing your themes. For example, when outlining, I create two triangles that represent my characters’ arcs like so:

What your character wants

                      How they see the world                          How they see themselves

I draw one triangle for the beginning of the story and one for the end. At the top, I write what my character wants; at the bottom, I write how they see the world and how they see themselves. This shows me how my character will grow and transform throughout the story, but it also guides me to see which themes will be present in my book. Once you know the beginning and the end of your characters’ arcs, you can sprinkle scenes throughout your outline to show character growth and portray your overall themes.

I hope these tips guide you when thinking about themes. The wonderful thing about themes is that, more often than not, they are universal. They allow you to connect to everyone, which is magical. Please let us know how you weave themes into your writing! We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.