What is your story about, thematically?

I've just come to the conclusion that one of the reasons "troperiffic" works on here bother me is that I never get any real sense of what they're supposed to be about, in any sense more then the basic plot. So, I decided to make a thread to ask. This isn't really meant as a debating thread - I'm genuinely interested in seeing what kinds of themes people on here are exploring.

Also, if there's an existing thread on this topic, please let me know - I'd love to see it.

COMING OF AGE, BITCH

Legacies: Change, Legacy, Growth, Acceptance of the inevitable.

Most of mine seem to have a theme of long-delayed irreversible and drastic change. Some bits of coming-of-age.

Acceptance, whether social or of self.

The inherent goodness in all people. The power of friendship, forgiveness and redemption.

Whether or not I do a good job of communicating these themes is another question.

edited 9th Feb '12 7:44:37 PM by LoniJay

All of these aren't really themes though. A theme is more along the lines of:

"Alienation from others which leads to self-destruction." or "Human beauty is artificial, and cannot compare to nature." Again, bad examples, but I'm just thinking off the top of my head here, rather than using an actual work.

Coming of Age, especially, is a genre (bildungsroman), not a theme. Some of the stuff presented are also ideas, rather than themes.

That being said, I'm not writing anything at present, but my most recent work thematically would be "People are inherently driven to do bad things, but always have a way back.

edited 9th Feb '12 7:46:07 PM by SCBracer

I'm not sure I understand what a theme is, let alone how to determine the theme of a story. (I understand what a moral is, but I don't think that's the same thing.) That said, at a guess . . .

Perspective. Very few of my stories are about evil people, but many are about people who think other people are evil, and most of those involve people doing horrible things to other people in the name of justice.

Edit: ^ Actually, that's exactly what I would say isn't a theme, but is instead a moral.

edited 9th Feb '12 7:47:12 PM by feotakahari

The story I've in mind has friendship and family strained in the crux of a turnover, with the main background involving the idea of higher dimensions beyond and within ourselves.

I'm not really interested in the distinctions between themes and what most people have been putting here, though (although I agree that "Coming of Age", on its own, isn't) - I'm just looking for what people consider the "heart" of their story as opposed to the typical plot-based premise.

edited 9th Feb '12 7:47:57 PM by nrjxll

Then I understood it correctly. Okay. Acceptance lies at the heart of everything I write, pretty much.

That isn't a theme either. Sorry for being pedantic, but literature class is all about clearing these misconceptions, and I think it's rubbed off on me.

"A theme is the central topic, subject, or concept addressed in a story", is your answer.

Oh, sorry then. I tend to get a little annoyed if proper terminology in litcrit gets abused, because it's something I'm rather passionate about, though it's not really good practice, I guess? I'll go away now.

edited 9th Feb '12 7:51:29 PM by SCBracer

I believe you're looking for premise - like "Fate drives men to destroy themselves in creation." That kind of thing, as Lajos Egri describes. I'm not interested in literature as taught by academia.

edited 9th Feb '12 7:54:23 PM by QQQQQ

Premise is a good word, yes.

Ok I lied. Yes, premise is the best word here. And, QQQQQ, you just nailed what a theme was.

No, never mind. I googled him, and now I feel slightly dumb.

edited 9th Feb '12 8:00:59 PM by SCBracer

A guy who wrote this.

Let's get off the definitional debate and back to the topic, shall we?

For my part, I'm still too early in the planning stages to have a good idea of my "themes", though I know I intend to focus a lot on the inevitability of change and the limits of analogy.

I don't deliberately pick out themes, because the way my brain works would make me feel too restricted by the chosen theme to actually write anything.

I just write the plot and let people who choose to infer themes infer them.

I don't think my stories are about themes as SC Bracer would define them. You could certainly find plenty of themes if you cared to look, and I have the suspicion I've pissed off a few people by writing according to themes they don't approve of, but I care first of all about the story itself, and second about raising questions—answering them is incidental. (I dearly love Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House, which never answers even one of the questions it raises about love and family. I've even tried to imitate it a few times, although I've never been successful.)

(I have the feeling nrjxll won't approve of this statement, but oh well . . .)

Edit: Apparently, I've been left behind on the definition of theme.

edited 9th Feb '12 8:09:35 PM by feotakahari

Actually, I happen to like stories that raise questions and don't answer them (when it doesn't come across as a cop-out) possibly better then the alternative. As I've said in other threads, I think highly of applicability.

To my understanding, a theme is a general statement about life, such as "love hurts". I like to try to SHOW the theme. The most common theme in my Tales is that nothing comes without a price and if it seems too good to be true, it definitely is.

I guess I'd say my theme is that mistakes can be fixed.

Some of my themes are:

"Absolutely nothing is impossible if you have the courage and determination to make it happen."

"Cynicism is not wisdom, but cowardice."

"Closing off one's heart to avoid pain is a surefire way to bring about more pain."

"You only live one time, so you shouldn't waste your only life selling yourself to someone who thinks he has a right to it because he's wearing a crown."

"Nobody has any right to treat another badly or demand allegiance. Respect is earned."

Among others.

edited 9th Feb '12 9:12:16 PM by Lennik

I don't think I do "themes." Part of it is that I don't really think that life has themes. It has stuff that happens. Sometimes you learn a lesson from it, sometimes you don't.

I'm more interested in how people interact (and react) than in what it all means.

Responsibility. Regret. Redemption.