The Nature of Book Themes

Ever had anyone ask what your book themes are in your novels? Ever wondered how to answer that?

I have. Because when I'm writing, I'm often paying little attention to what theme permeates my novel.

There's nothing wrong with that. Plenty of authors write what they "have" to write without worrying about how it will be interpreted.

When it comes down to it, three different people may see three different themes in one book. So, how do you define this variable, then, and should you write with it in mind?


With Purpose

Plainly stated, the theme of any book is the point of the story. The main statement about life the story makes.

When considering book themes, then, you can look to your own life and choose universal ideas, then write a story to show that theme.

Or, like I do, you can write a story that's begging you to write it, and think about what theme it conveys afterwards. Then, if you want that idea shown more clearly, go back and make some changes to show the theme more deeply.

Think of Grimm's Fairy Tales (which are far from innocuous children's tales if you read the originals!). They often had a lesson in them.

For instance, Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel and plenty of others have the repeated theme that step-mothers can't love their step-children as well as their own - they must, therefore, be cruel.

Now my own experience is quite to the contrary of this (since my mother was raised by a very loving step-mother after her own mother died), but that doesn't mean there isn't a lesson about human nature there.


Don't Confuse the Issue

Great, you say. Then book themes are the "problems" in the story.

Nope. Not at all. Your conflict is your conflict. Your theme is your theme.

Every good story entertains and enlightens your reader. The conflict is the entertainment, the theme is the enlightenment. The "Oh, I hadn't thought about that!" light bulb that comes on once the story's over.

Used well, your theme is the foundation on which you build your entire novel. With your plot, your setting, your characters (and even in a smaller way, your point of view), you build upon that message of "this is how humans are" with every word you write. You share your views about human existence by illustrating that existence within your novel.

Characters within your fiction change because of the events (plot) of the story. This is human nature, to change when events force you to change. Or perhaps, to resist change at all costs and not grow at all, because "all change is bad". That, too, is a legitimate book theme.


The Deep End

Literary fiction tends to have deeper, more fully developed book themes. Though the author and the reader may not agree on what those themes are, remember.

But even if you write in the more "serious" genres, don't feel you have to be bound to your theme. Especially as you write your first draft. You can always add details and plot points to make the theme fuller.

If you write genre fiction, it tends to have less developed themes: true love always conquers, good beats evil... That doesn't mean you need to, or should, ignore theme. Everything you do to make your novel richer will make it more popular with readers. They just may not know exactly why.

That's alright. You'll know.