I’ll use one of my favorite novels, The Flowers in the Attic, by V.C. Andrews as a basis for the answer.
What is the Plot: Four children are abandoned in an attic awaiting the death of their grandfather.
What is the Theme: Family relationships (mother and child relationship/abandonment), struggle against societal pressure (the mother’s place in society was far more important than her children), man’s struggle against nature (greed, sexual desire, inner demons)
Theme is not preachy and in your face. Even Christian authors can write great fiction without preaching to their audience, think Dekker, Peretti (see below). All fiction should have a theme but that message should never be shoved down the reader’s throat. It should be intricately weaved into the plot of the story. The reader should read the entire story then realize, “Oh, what she/he was saying was …”
My examples of great themed books:
House by Ted Dekker and Frank Peretti (Christian supernatural) – Man’s struggle with divinity, family relationships (Jack and Stephanie are going to counseling and considering divorce), Death (Jack and Stephanie’s daughter died and they are struggle to understand), man’s struggle with nature (they must kill one of the people in the house or the crazy serial killer, Barsidious White, will kill them all and they struggle with the decision)
Twilight by Stephanie Meyers (YA paranormal) – never judge someone based off stereotypes (all vampires are bad- per Werewolves; all werewolves are bad – per Vampires – until they have to work together), love can come in many forms be willing to accept it (Edward’s struggle against the love he felt for Bella), man’s struggle with divinity (Edward’s refusal to believe he has a soul).
Common Literary themes:
Love; unrequited love, forbidden love, love conquers all…
Family relationships; mother and daughter bonds, abandonment by family, failed marriage …
Man’s struggle against nature; the struggle to remain youthful, sexual struggle, inner demons, death…
Struggle against societal pressure; peer pressure, unfulfilled dreams, the American dream…
Yin and Yang; something good happens then something bad happens to balance it all out
Have a great day. Read a book and laugh.
Oh, I always have more than one theme going on. :) But the major theme of my WIP is lying, to yourself and to others.
ReplyDeleteMe too, Tabitha. It makes the story more interesting to have more than one theme. And might I say "lying" is a great theme.
ReplyDeleteMy latest novel theme::
ReplyDeletePower run amok
Greed
The thirst for an audience
My WIP has a few different themes: acceptance when you're different, greed, and family relationships.
ReplyDeleteTheme is a tough one. I think it evolves naturally, though. I've always heard that trying to think too much about theme will just get in the way of your writing. Let it grow organically.
ReplyDeleteThe distinction between theme and plot is important. When I teach theme I think it is also important to make a distinction between theme and subject, too. Thanks for this post!
-Miss GOP
Oh, Catherine, I like that. I love Greek mythology too.
ReplyDeleteSounds like my kind of story Kelly.
You're so right, Mis GOP. Thanks so much for commenting on this. It is very important to allow the theme to grow naturally and not force it. Thanks!
Great post. The novel I'm writing has two main themes - balance and that we all need magic in our life (in whatever form that may come).
ReplyDeleteI loved Flowers in the Attic. I read it when I was younger, possibly too young to be reading it because I think it scarred me for life.
ReplyDeleteThe theme of my current WIP is learning to love again after loss.
Yeah, Sarcasm Goddess, I was too young to read Flowers in the Attic too, but I gobbled it and the next books in the series up.
ReplyDeleteThe theme for your WIP is the same as my latest WIP. Good luck with it!