Theme-Driven
So far, we’ve focused on plot in a very practical way. The specific events, conflicts, and consequences. This chapter challenges you to write a plot using a different approach: one driven by theme, first and foremost.
This is actually very common and preferred by many writers. That’s why I wanted to discuss this one early. Theme is the secret (and somewhat indefinable) sauce that turns a merely “good” or “fun” story into a “classic”.
It has a few simple steps.
- Pick one theme.
- Pick characters that all have different perspectives on that one theme.
- Make them fight it out.
A theme is a universal concept related to human nature. Think of: love, family, friendship, freedom, pride, legacy, greed, death, trauma.
It’s usually something that’s hard to define. Something subjective or complex by nature and therefore worth exploring through story. In the real world, many people exist with different perspectives on this particular theme. (If your theme is a simple question with a pretty clear answer, it’s not a theme. It should be debatable.)
Your theme is family. Then you pick one character who cares nothing for family, one who doesn’t have family, one who puts family before everything, and so forth. Because your main characters have contrasting beliefs about this very human theme, conflict (related to the theme) is bound to ensue.
Your theme is legacy. One character is obsessed with leaving a legacy (putting it before everything else), one character cares not for it, one character already has a great legacy (so they’re like a wise mentor that’s famous throughout your world), etcetera.
That’s the technique.
Stick to one theme
A common mistake is to add loads of themes to the story. And you can! If you have the space, if you have the skill, surely you can deal with several themes. Simply give each main character a different belief about each theme.
This, however, quickly becomes overwhelming. It’s likely that you do not pull this off, creating a messy story instead that feels unsatisfying.
In general, just stick to one theme. Each story should have one clear main storyline. The one that gets the most time, the one with our main character (usually the first character the audience meets), the most important one. Stick to one theme for the main storyline. And because you need other characters to explore the theme, those side characters will also be confined to that one theme.
If this means changing your characters, do so. A character is judged based on their value within a story, not their value on their own. A great character in theory, might be a nightmare within the particular story you’re writing.
It’s better to write a story that explores a theme well (in-depth, from all perspectives), than one that pays lip service to five different themes.
The “Thesis” Method
Writers from a more academic background usually call this method the “thesis” method. With a slight modification, your story becomes almost like doing research or writing an academic paper.
Instead of picking a (one-word) theme, pick a hypothesis around a theme. This hypothesis is the central question the story is asking. Usually, it’s also the question the hero must ask themselves. It’s the belief they have (about the theme), which is challenged.
An hypothesis could be: “Family is more important than anything else”. That’s the scientific way. Most people would prefer it phrased as a question: “Is family more important than anything else?”
Another hypothesis could be: “It’s worth living a lonely life if it leads to wealth and power”. As a question: “Is it actually worth living this lonely life, in exchange for wealth and power?”
The plot of your story is the “experiment” that should prove or disprove this hypothesis. You must invent situations that either show it to be true or false, or reveal potential for future research. Keep the events of your plot laser focused on testing this hypothesis like it’s a rigorous scientific experiment.
The end of your story is the “conclusion” based on the results of this experiment. Note that this is not a final answer to the theme (as if that was possible). It’s the logical conclusion the hero draws after doing the research. They either confirm their hypothesis, or reject it.
Perhaps their experience teaches them that money is not worth living a lonely life. Or, they doubted themselves throughout the story (which led to issues), but their experience confirms that they value family above anything else.
You can take the metaphor even further. All research has a “discussion” part at the end, which lists everything they didn’t research, flaws in their approach, and ideas for future research. For a story, this’d mean you handle any questions left unanswered and quickly show the reader that there’s more to be done.
The Spanish word for plot is argumento! :) Plot is nothing more than exploring arguments for and against a thematic hypothesis.
Now write!
Follow the steps above. Write a short story with it.
If you don’t know how to extract plot from this, simply think about the logical choices your characters would make. They really have to believe their view on the theme. They would go to great lengths, great sacrifices or inhuman deeds, to defend or uphold it. Now come up with actions or events that hinge entirely on this belief.
Take my first example about the theme of “family”. Maybe, at the start of the novel, the hero is attacked. They have a choice to save their family … or the whole city. Already an interesting conflict if your hero really believes family comes first, always. Make it even more interesting by adding a friend of the hero, somebody they need to pull off this rescue, who thinks it’s insane to put family before the lives of others. They refuse to help: even stronger conflict.
Usually, though, conflict flows naturally. Once you have your theme and characters on different sides, it’s easy to find situations that’d lead to disagreements. That’s why theme-driven plotting is so powerful and common.
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