What is your story really about?

I know it’s about certain characters and plot events.

But what’s it examining, behind all that, which could resonate for audiences?

What life issues does it explore?

The answer to that is “theme.”

I say “explore” because the best themes don’t have easy answers or conclusions.

And theme is not an obvious value judgment that most would agree with.

For instance “Racism is Bad.” Or “Climate Change Needs to be Addressed.”

Such sentiments might be present in your story and may even be your reason for writing it.

But “theme” tends to be an examination of competing values, with a lot of nuance.

Something richer, deeper and more complicated.

For instance: The Godfather weighs family loyalty against individual preference and the final verdict is… complicated. It also explores several other themes that are similarly nuanced. (Can you name some in the comments below?)

Save the Cat’s “Beat Sheet” suggests a “Theme Stated” beat around p.5.

Meaning someone hints at the theme, in dialogue often spoken to the main character.

In Blake Snyder’s follow-up book, Save the Cat Goes to the Movies, he suggests the Theme Stated in The 40-Year-Old Virgin as the moment when Andy’s neighbor says “That guy has got to get laid.”

Then Snyder asks, is this true? Is sex necessary to a good and happy life? (I would add: “including pre-marital sex with a variety of partners?”)

It’s really an opinion stated by the neighbor, that raises questions the movie explores. Does Andy need to get laid? What should be his approach to his virginity, his new friendships and the woman he starts dating? 

The movie kind of comes out on the side of ignoring the friends and following his instincts. But it’s not cut-and-dried or black-and-white. He does enjoy making these friends and they do try to help. He experiments with their approach. But as the story plays out, eventually he goes his own way.

Theme gives the audience something to chew on, to consider, that applies to life beyond the story. It’s part of the fun of experiencing the story, these thematic questions. And multiple perspectives on a thematic issue are depicted and weighed.

My book The Idea uses the acronym PROBLEM (since every story is about one) to present what I think are the 7 elements to a viable story concept.

The final element, the “M,” is for Meaningful. And Meaning comes from Theme.

It’s appropriate that this is the last of the 7 elements because I think theme often emerges late in the development of a story. And that’s not a bad thing. You don’t have to know it upfront.

And you don’t need a “Theme Stated” beat in early drafts of a beat sheet.

In fact, one thing that can really hamper a script in meeting those other 6 elements (Punishing, Relatable, Original, Believable, Life-Altering, Entertaining) is when a writer puts Meaningful (or “theme”) first.

Or their idea of theme, which often is more of a “message” they want to send to the world, or a way in which they hope their movie will change the world, inspire people, create movement on an issue, etc.

Are stories good at this? And is this a good reason to write one, as the main intent?

I usually say “no,” on both counts.

Audiences don’t consume scripted film and TV to be educated or convinced about issues. Documentaries, maybe. Non-fiction books, perhaps. Articles and blog posts. But movies and TV? Not really.

That doesn’t mean such works can’t push cultural conversations in certain directions. But usually that’s not the reason they were made, or the first priority of the writers. They don’t exist to try to convince people of something. That rarely works.

For instance, the series Will & Grace arguably made gay characters and relationships more palatable for mass audiences and played a part in the U.S. shifting on that front, leading to policy and legal changes.

But it was primarily a screamingly funny entertainment vehicle that wasn’t trying hard to do anything like that. It just treated its characters and lives as a viable basis for a sitcom. Period.

But I digress, somewhat, because a “message” like “Gay Marriage Should Be Legal” in a story trying to change minds isn’t a “theme” anyway, as I define it.

But it’s often what writers think theme is all about.

Another confusing way people talk about “theme” is when they say something like, “The film explores themes of… motherhood” or “the refugee experience” or “out-of-control technology.”

Those aren’t themes. Those are topics. Or settings. Or story elements.

Now if a film explored the challenges of motherhood for someone with a demanding job, and focused on the costs, challenges and compromises in that, and weighed out the options in a nuanced way, as she struggles with the best path forward, with no easy answers, like Erin Brockovich does, then you have theme.

Or if a story showed technology greatly helping improve someone’s life while at the same time leading to great risks or unintended negative effects, that’s also theme.

Now I’m not saying the author and story can’t have their own take on a “right” answer  to such thorny questions in their themes. I’m just recommending you explore all sides, and not be heavy-handed, obvious or black-and-white about theme.

And that you earn the conclusions you’d like an audience to come away with through what you’ve dramatized. This is not easy to do. At all.

My thoughts on theme were shaped a lot by the Dramatica theory and software for story, which teaches that a good theme has two sides, each of which can be good or bad depending on the situation, and which contrast with each other over the course of a story. Often it can look like competing goods or competing evils. Or a good that has an evil. Or an evil that has a good.

This appeals to me because I’m a big believer in nuance and “gray areas.” And I think simplistic judgments are usually boring or unconvincing for audiences.

So how do you figure out your themes? (And you can have more than one!)

I encourage you to let them emerge gradually as you develop a story. When you know what you’re looking for, you may find you’re exploring certain themes without realizing it and can then consciously choose to massage how you do that, to create the greatest impact and meaning. While also reflecting the complexity of life and being human.

It’s one of the trickiest areas to master for writers but also perhaps the most rewarding.

Check out the “Meaningful” chapter in my book or the 5 “Meaningful” units in my online course (30-day free trial with no credit card required!) for more…