Many writers struggle to demonstrate it, some have trouble identifying one, and a few proudly disdain the very concept: Theme.
While studying literary themes in junior high may have left a bad taste in your mouth, eventually you’ll have to accept that your work does have a theme, even if you don’t know it. Even writers who insist they don’t write with a theme in mind will return to the same ideas and ethics, the life lessons and moral codes they believe we should live by.
For the rest of us who write with intention, themes can still be difficult to identify. We’re challenged to insert themes without sounding heavy-handed.
In a post on the Write Practice, J.D. Edwin offers advice for identifying your theme and weaving it into your story naturally. A theme is a message that you repeat throughout your story, Edwin says. Your theme reminds your reader of the ideas you want them to take away after the story ends. In her post, Edwin picks a hypothetical theme and walks through ways that details and dialogue and reinforce it, without being too obvious.
