Theme
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Theme can be thought of as the underlying idea, message, or truth that envelopes a story. It’s the larger meaning that is formed by a series of specific events – the scenes in the story. Where plot is defined as what happens, theme is related to what it means. It comprises the insights or perspectives the audience is left with after the details of the story have faded.
In personal storytelling, the theme surfaces gradually, by way of the choices a storyteller makes about which events and details to include, or exclude. It’s about the moments that linger, and the emotions that are pulled into foreground. A story about losing a loved one might, in fact, be about resilience, or identity. Each event becomes a vehicle for exposing and examining the theme.
True stories often contain more than one theme, with each dependent upon the angle a storyteller chooses to highlight. The same experience of caring for an aging parent might be framed as a story about duty, or role reversal.While the facts are the same, the theme speaks to which facts matter most in the moment.
The strongest personal stories tend to identify their theme early in the writing process. Using theme to frame the story helps a storyteller decide what elements belong in the story and which ones to leave out. Each scene, setting, and line of dialogue should, in some way, connect to the larger idea the story is about.
Examples
“After the layoff, I spent three months sending resumes into what felt like a void, and it would have been easy to tell that story as one about failure. But looking back, it was really a story about resilience – about how many times a person can be told no and still show up the next morning anyway.”
“I spent my twenties trying to become the person my parents expected, only to realize in my thirties that the whole story had actually been about figuring out who I was underneath all that performing.”
“It took my brother and me fifteen years to speak again after our fight, and when we finally did, I understood that our story was never really about who was right – it was about learning that being right mattered less than being present.”
“I moved to a new country not speaking the language, and while the story could be told as one about hardship, it was really about belonging – about the strange, specific moment a place stops feeling foreign and starts feeling like home.”
“I used to think the bravest thing I ever did was quit my job to become an artist. Now I think the bravest thing was admitting, five years later, that it wasn’t working, and going back – because sometimes courage looks like changing your mind, not just following through.”
these resources will make it more impactful!
The Essential Literary Techniques
The Essential Literary Elements
The Essential Literary Devices
Ten Fundamental Story Blocks