Now that we’ve covered most of the major story elements, it’s time to talk about the Theme. The Theme brings the Lie, the Truth, the Want, the Need, and the Ghost all together to create a seamless framework for your story. Without it, the plot would be a jumbled mess, and the character arc would have more loop de loops than a roller coaster.

The Theme really has more to do with the character arc than the plot. After all, the character arc is all about internal stuff—the struggle that’s going on inside the character. Whereas, the plot is the external happenings—the bank heists, college graduations, near-death experiences, and heart-to-heart talks. However, the plot has no meaning without the character arc. Yet neither of these would have any direction—or connection—if it weren’t for the Theme.

We’ve really been discussing the Theme all along, but I haven’t brought up the direct concept until now. If you were to take your entire story and sum it up in a few words, that would pretty much be your Theme. At its very heart, what is your story about? (Some would say that the Theme could also be worded as a question, but we’ll explore this aspect when we get to our Flat Arc series.)

Let’s take a look at our examples to see how the Theme is portrayed in real-life fiction:

In the movie, “Beyond the Mask,” the Theme is redemption.

In my short story, “In Time of Need,” the Theme is accepting help.

Though the Theme may seem like a very vague way to represent your story, it holds a lot of potential. Take the Theme of forgiveness… that could have many different connotations. The character could be struggling to forgive someone else, struggling to recognize their need for forgiveness, or struggling to accept forgiveness. There are tons of possibilities just from one Theme.

And, though the Theme is only a few simple words, a story without it will be very haphazard. To illustrate this, I’ve written a short narrative below (this is another one of those thought-up-on-the-spot examples, so bear with me):

Tom lives in mid-19^th century England, and he and his family are going to travel to America. However, business plans delay Tom, and he tells his family to go without him, despite his wife’s insistence that they all stay together. When he receives word that his family has been captured by pirates, he feels guilty for not spending more time with them, feeling that he could have prevented the capture.

Tom determines to save his family alone and refuses his friends’ help. He hears about an ex-pirate living in the East End of London and goes in search of the man. But upon finding the man, he becomes extremely frustrated with the fellow’s mysterious behavior that he blows up. The man leaves, and Tom feels as though his only chance has gone down the drain. He gets mad at himself for getting angry and vows to curb his temper.

Then the pirates contact him and ask him to pay a huge sum to ransom his family. He has no choice but to sell his business to pay the money. However, the pirates don’t return his family. Now penniless, Tom begins to steal food to survive. He is caught and sent to jail. He feels dejected and realizes that he should be doing things the right way, and shouldn’t steal.

When Tom is released from jail, he finds the ex-pirate. He apologizes, and they set out to find his family. They reach the pirate ship, free Tom’s family, escape to America, and start a new business with the ex-pirate as Tom’s partner. And they all lived happily ever after… The End.

So… what was this story’s Theme? Family responsibility? Dealing with guilt from one’s past? Learning to accept help? Controlling one’s temper? Valuing family over money? Not compromising when things are tough? Trusting God?

This story’s plot was all over the place because it didn’t have one single Theme. Without the Theme to guide your story’s structure, your character is going to have no direction whatsoever.

Some may argue that this kind of liberty allows creativity to flow freely. However, I would argue that creativity must have some kind of guidance, or you will end up with very mixed results. The Theme offers the foundation for this guidance—channeling the creativity rather than hindering it.

Every single plot point must hammer the story’s specific Theme home. If the character’s Lie is that death is the end of everything, how is the mentor-character’s lecture on controlling their temper going to impact the story? Controlling one’s temper is a great thing to talk about, but it’s the wrong Theme for the story.

Now, there are times for practical advice and warnings that don’t have to do with the main Theme, but these should be very secondary. Make sure that the audience has no doubt in their mind what the real Theme is.

(By the way, the same thing goes for Wants. Don’t let your character stray too far from his Want. There is such a thing as a scene goal, but they should always be directly related to the main Want. A character’s plot goal might even change depending on their circumstances, but their internal goal—their Want—will always stay the same.)

Okay, so what if you don’t have a Theme at all? What if your story is all about the external stuff—the narrow escapes from the villain’s lair, the car chases, the cool fight scenes, the awesome wardrobes? Maybe you have some internal conflict, but it’s random and doesn’t really lead anywhere.

Well, you’ll need to take a step back from your story and ask yourself what it’s trying to tell people. Choose a Theme that fits the plot—and, if need be, change the plot to fit this Theme. The message should remain the same throughout the story, tying both the plot and the character arc together into one, complete whole.

There are a few more things to note about the use of the Theme.

First, the Theme is not just for your MC’s journey—it’s for the supporting characters, too. Remember, every character’s got an agenda. They’ve all got that Lie or Truth they believe in. Whether they’re on a Positive Change Arc, a Flat Arc, or some kind of negative arc, their journey should tie into the main Theme.

Your antagonist, as we’ll talk about soon, will most likely embody the MC’s own Lie—though perhaps to a greater extreme. The other supporting characters will explore their own angles of the Theme… some believing the Truth, others believing the Lie.

In “Beyond the Mask,” Charlotte Holloway, the Love Interest, is a Flat Arc and believes the Truth (though she does doubt at times). Charles Kemp, the antagonist, believes the Lie that someone like Will can never be redeemed. Jeremiah Flack, the Holloways’ servant, is a stronger Flat Arc, believing wholeheartedly that redemption is possible through Christ. Joshua Brand, a minor antagonist, believes the Lie even more viciously than Kemp. Other side characters simply represent a vague idea of the Truth or Lie, like when Benjamin Franklin sees potential in Will.

In “In Time of Need,” Reverend Sheppard, as the main mentor, believes the Truth that Tad needs help from others and God. Mr. Beasley, the antagonist, believes a variation of the Lie—Tad not only shouldn’t seek or accept help from others, but he can’t. Tad’s friend, Bevan, also believes the Truth that Tad should accept help, though he doesn’t take it as far as Reverend Sheppard since (as far as we know) he doesn’t believe in God.

If you’re struggling to find angles on your story’s Theme, start asking questions. Let’s say your Theme is humility. Well, how can we become humble? Should we have humility? Is there a time for being prideful? Is humility a good leadership quality? The more questions you ask, the more material you have to expound on your story’s Theme.

Exploring the Theme from more than one aspect provides complexity to your story, but it also pulls all of the subplots together. By expounding on your Theme, you can have both an intricate and well-rounded story.

Second, in a book or movie series, it’s common for the entire series to have its own, overarching Theme. A series Theme pulls all of the books together, much like a singular Theme pulls all of the story elements together.

An example of this is the “Men of Grit” book series, which follows the adventures of three different main characters—twins Lawrence and Chester Stoning, and the mysterious Colonel Nobody. As a whole, the series addresses the idea of duty, while each book’s individual Theme explores different aspects of this encompassing Theme… duty to family, to friends, to the innocent, to God, to your country.

I hope this understanding of the Theme has helped bring the rest of the elements together and laid the foundation for when we finally start talking about plot points. First, however, we have one more thing to introduce… you’ll find out what that is in two weeks.

Comment below what your favorite book or movie’s Theme is!