Elements of Storytelling – Theme
Beth Ann Erickson
FilbertPublishing.com
This is the final installment in the Elements of Storytelling
series.
It’s hard to believe, but we’ve finally covered a lot of what you need to know to spin
a good yarn! Now it’s up to you – and I hope you’re hard at it,
writing the story within you.
But before we wrap this series we need to talk about “theme” for a moment.
Raise your hand if you’ve ever sat in an English Lit class trying to vocalize the
“theme” an author was trying to convey in a work of fiction.
For me, it was horrible. I could NEVER
come up with a concise one-sentence definition of what the author was trying to tell me as I read his/her
book.
Besides, sometimes I wasn’t sure they were trying to say anything
anyway.
Determining the “Theme” was something that terrified me as I sat down to write my
first novel. I had this fantastic story swirling around in my
mind, but what if it was just that – a fantastic story without any moral-of-the-story message – without a
theme?
Well, I didn’t have a choice. I had to
write the story or I’d go crazy. But I still couldn’t come up
with a theme. So I decided to write it anyway. I wrote every day, stayed faithful to the story, until I finished
it.
Then, as I finished my first edit, lo and behold I discovered the theme.
Which brings me to my point. I believe
that every writer has a unique story within them. If you’re
faithful to your story, your “theme” will naturally develop.
It’s when you contort your story to suit what you think the theme should be that your story turns cardboard,
lifeless, and heavy-handed.
So once again we arrive at the same destination we’ve visited so many times
before: Just tell your story. Get writing and tell the story.
Sounds easy. And sometimes it
is.
But it’s always a joy.
Now get to work and let me know when you get published.
~~~
Beth Ann Erickson is Queen Bee of Filbert Publishing and the only writing ezine
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