Do you want readers to forget everything you’ve written? To enjoy your plot and characters but then promptly move on to another book without a backwards glance? To neglect to tell their friends and family that your book is one they should also read? Then you should forget about theme. Because a theme that resonates with readers is the one thing that touches people more deeply than plot or character ever can.
But what is a resonant theme? How pervasive should it be? And how do we accomplish this?
That’s what I aim to address in this week’s post. Buckle up.
What is a Theme
Ask any fiction writer except the most commercially driven and they’ll tell you that their book has a theme. I’ve yet to meet a writer in the adult world who will say My story means nothing. It’s just entertainment.
The problem is that few of these stories actually have a theme. Rater, the author has labelled a common thread in the story – for example friendship, or love, or memory – as the theme. The problem is that these generalities aren’t actually themes.
And they’re definitely not the kind that resonates with and causes readers to mull over and return to your book time and time again. Let’s start with a definition.
Surprising? Great writers, even of fiction, are always exploring something and putting forth a belief about something in the world, in humanity, in the supernatural arena, etc. Always. That exploration is wrapped in a plot in which the main (and secondary, if not other) characters explore the ways that people might look at that subject. They’re seeking to understand it as well and to come to a conclusion about it.
Examples
Let’s look at a few examples from well-known works. Keep in mind that these novels may have other themes as well, and/or the themes I’ve listed below could be worded in other ways.
Dracula by Bram Stoker – Eastern European immigration threatened to destroy the British culture. (For more on how I got there, see this video, in particular the 1:27 – 6:20 portion.)
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield – A twin is so connected to her sibling that a loss of one of them kills a piece of the remaining person, forever leaving them incomplete.
The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters – Each of us has a little stranger, a fragment of our subconscious, that acts according to our true desires for good or for evil
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë – Only one who is free and selfless is prepared to give and receive love in a healthy way
What’s a Resonant Theme
Then what makes a theme resonant? Some argue that it has to be something that’s true, for all people at all times. And I will admit that a theme like that, assuming that it’s well written, will have a very wide-reaching audience and appeal. However, I think we can each see that there could be disagreement about even the few well-renowned novels I’ve listed above.
A better way to define resonance would be: a theme that speaks to a desire or question to which most people could relate. I’ll throw out a few examples of my own:
- The soul is immortal and takes all that it learns in this life into the next in which it finds a higher and more perfect use for all things.
- One never has better, more enduring friendships than those he had as a child. [This is essentially the theme in Stephen King’s Stand By Me.]
- A child who grows up with a critical parent will always struggle not to be critical.
Again, I think we can all look at these themes and say that there will be some people (including ourselves) who may not agree with these statements.
Also, note that I’ve presented three very different types of themes. The first is a spiritual one, the second is relational and the third is personal/ psychological. By definition, the first is the broadest and the third is quite narrow. The first and second are more likely to resonate with a large number of readers. That said, the third will still find a very wide audience. We all know or have known very critical people or people who have grown up in a very critical environment.
Don’t hesitate to write a narrower theme if it’s something that really speaks to you, or on which you’ve been dwelling. But if you can find a way to write it so that a number of people will be able to relate to it, you’ll find a solid audience.
The broader the theme (while still putting forth a specific idea) the more resonant it’s likely to be. There are very few people who wouldn’t be able to relate to the idea of childhood friendships being especially poignant, regardless of whether or not we all agree that they’re the best we’ll ever have.
How to Work with Our Theme
Once we have our theme, how do we write it into a novel? Let’s use this theme as our example:
One never has better, more enduring friendships than those he had as a child.
Your plot and MC’s growth will need to center on this idea. Let’s say your main character comes back from fighting in a war abroad. He’s terribly wounded – partly physically, but even more so emotionally and psychologically. He runs into a childhood friend at a Christmas party. This isn’t a happy reunion though. They had each endured deep trauma as children and had parted on bad terms.
He takes up with the local veterans’ support groups. There he meets some people with whom he immediately bonds very deeply. A couple of guys become close friends of his. He starts dating and ultimately marries a fellow female veteran. For a time, all is well.
But then he’s diagnosed with a crippling disease. His temperament turns difficult as the pain grows and his disappointment mounts. He’s financially stressed. As a final blow, his mother dies very suddenly and unexpectedly.
At the funeral, he runs into his childhood friend again. The two have a significant conversation. Something broken in their relationship begins to mend, though they don’t see it yet. Again, they go their separate ways.
You can probably see where this is going….over time his other relationships that were based solely on the veteran experience fall away. [I’m not saying that veterans really do this. Just the ones in my story.] Even his wife fails him. He discovers that she’s having an affair. She can no longer handle the stress of being his caregiver and facing down a long future in which she feels financially insecure.
As all of this is happening, he and his childhood friend slowly rebuild their relationship. In the end, that friend is the only one who stands by him. Who walks him through the last stages of his life, who cares for him no matter how hard it is and then sits with him as he passes away.
Notice that you never once in the entire book have to say that what you’re writing about is the fact that childhood friendships will always run the deepest and be the best. But that’s exactly what you’ve proven. I remember someone saying to me that the most powerful themes are those that are never stated. She’s right. If it’s as deeply entrenched in the plot and character growth as it should be, your readers will catch it even if they can’t quite articulate what it is.
Notice also that you accomplish this theme without preaching because your main character doesn’t know it. He thinks just the opposite and has to try every other avenue until he comes out with the answer that you want to put forth.
What About the Other Characters?
While all of this is happening, what do you do with your other characters? Why, that’s a great question. It took me until recent years to realize that in great writing the secondary characters are also exploring the same theme.
Remember how our main character’s mother died unexpectedly? Perhaps, in the wake of that, our MC needs to reach out to her friends for help or information. You know where they are? Unavailable. Or increasingly aloof. Perhaps it’s one of her earliest friends who helps him with the funeral, gathers photos and stories, and comes over periodically to check in on our main character. She may even become something of a mother-figure for him as he struggles with his illness.
The larger the story, the greater number of ancillary characters you’ll probably have. The more prominent ones should each be learning the same lesson as your main character. It helps me to brainstorm all of the ways a character could have to face this issue, or all of the different opinions one could have about it. You want them all to be running down their own tracks, but in ways that will come together in the end.
In our example, the theme is somewhat less conducive to a wide range of opinions. But many themes are not. Play around with ideas until you find ways for all of your prominent characters to pursue their own journeys that also prove out the theme.
Conclusion
There’s nothing that sticks with readers more than a story that really presents that truth to them in a way that causes them to think. Even if they don’t agree, give them a compelling journey to follow and mull over.
Lastly, if you’re looking for themes to explore, look to those questions – about life, death, relationships, your own mind – that you consider. What would you want to explore? What have you come to believe very strongly? Write that. It’ll be much more powerful than writing something that you don’t feel deeply about.
And of course, let me know what you’re working on. I love hearing about your writing goals and projects!
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