This is a line from the movie “A Christmas Story”. Have you seen it? Maybe a few weeks ago.

I don’t think I was ever assigned to write a theme. It seems back in the fifties there was such a thing as being assigned a ‘theme’.

Tuck that away for a minute.

Fiction writers are creative people. We’re the ones that can say “be nice to me or I’ll write you as a villain” or “I make up stuff for a living”. Some of us don’t even make a dime off the hours we rack up reams of writing yet we’re still at it.

I feel sorry for those who have the creative bug but are short on ideas of what to write. Thats like having a sports car and no gas or battery to drive it. I’m afraid of free writing prompt services, no really. If my ideas file gets any bigger I’m going to be writing novels until I’m ninety. Here’s the thing, I’ve learned that I can’t let ideas go too wild. I give them space to develop and then they need to start behaving under some basic rules. I’m a Panster, applying ‘rules’ is not an easy condition to put on an idea. I’ve had to learn some Outliner strategies.

Exercises like writing out notes about characters, where they were at before the start, where they are at along the way at pivotal points and where they will end up.

I also know that once a first draft is done or steam rolling ahead, it’s time to write a one sentence summary, five sentence summary and a serious stab at a query letter. See my post “Put Your Shirt on Panster” for more on that.

Now, however, I have discovered the merit in identifying the theme of a story. The theme being that underlying framework that everything that happens in the story is built on. Like a corset, the theme gives the book a purposeful shape. Hunting for it in a first draft (second, third, fourth etc) will let you know what state your novel is in. If the initial sweep comes back with five candidates for the theme or if you’re tempted to say ‘this is a complex two themed work of art’, it is highly likely your story is still forming and you’ve got a lot of slashing and rehashing to do.

A good story needs to know its identity. It needs to be solid, sure footed able to leap tall buildings. Without a central thread, the point will not be received by the reader. It will quietly, almost silently leave the reader unsure if it was a good book or not. An agent will see right through that in the first sentence of your query letter. You know, the one you labored hours on end to get right.

What am I saying? Your assignment is find the theme. If it’s not there or not clear, study your draft. Study the characters, break them down, outline the changes they go through. Dig, dig, dig. Ask questions about why a scene goes one way and not the other. That’s a lot for a Panster but the reward is that theme will shine like a beacon. It will surprise you that wow, every character in one way or another is in harmony with the theme or resisting it. You will sit back with confidence that you have a story ready to be ripped apart by an agent or editor that is excited about the story and willing to help you get it out there.

Get to your homework people!

Let me know when you find your theme.

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Need some help? Leave a comment and I’ll help best I can. Happy New Year! May the writing bug take you on an adventure in 2024!