National Novel Writing Month is just days away. If you followed along with my tips from last week, you should have set aside some time to write, developed a word goal, and found a place where you can get your writing done. Now that we’ve got that stuff out of the way, it’s time to start developing a theme for our future novel.

Writing a Theme

When I went through high school, we always talked about themes inside literature, but we never spent much time on it. We would say things like the theme of this book is love and war. But that’s not really what a theme is.

I like to think of theme as the point your story is trying to get across.

Children’s literature provides great looks at themes. Children’s books try to teach children something in a way that they can understand.

For example, in books like Green Eggs and Ham, one character is simply trying to get the other to try something they’ve never tried before. Once the character gives in and tries it, he enjoys it. So the theme is: give things a try that you might not otherwise.

A movie like Wall-e has many themes inside it like taking care of the planet, don’t become too dependent on machines, but at its heart is a story about a lonely character wanting to have friends.

Think of some of your favorite movies or books. Can you identify what the theme of the story was? Did it have a central theme? Examining things that you have recently consumed can give you a better idea of what to look for.

If the story you’re trying to write doesn’t have a message, it doesn’t mean that it’s wrong, but developing a theme can put that something extra into your story.

Writing Exercise – Develop a List

For this first writing exercise, make a list of five things you could possibly write a story about. Just make a list, and don’t get too carried away with story. Think about things you might want to make a statement about or something on your mind.

My five themes:

• Being there for your kids
• Doing the right thing versus what you want
• Funding in education needs to improve
• exposing hypocrisy in politics
• Fighting through doubt to do something you want to do.

These aren’t stories in my head. These are things that have become important to me in the last few weeks or months. I’m going to take these and see what I can come up with after a little bit.

But first…

Take a Walk

Once you have some ideas down on paper, take a walk. Let things run through your head a little bit. See if anything sticks with you for that entire time. Make a cup of coffee and see if a story takes shape in your mind about these things you wrote down.

Seriously. Do it! Take a break! That’s why we wrote these down, so we don’t forget them. Maybe listen to a podcast or some music. I’ve linked to a great episode of the scriptnotes podcast about how to write a screenplay. This episode helped me develop my current process of creative writing for everything I write, not just screenplays.

Then come back, and let’s get things going.

Developing a Theme

Now that you’ve had time to let these ideas marinate in your mind, let’s come back to our list and see what we can do with them.

Of course, if you’re writing a novel, you’ll be able to tackle more than one theme when you get down to writing. But for now, while we’re trying to start brainstorming how we’re going to write our novel, let’s think about one central driving theme.

Look back at your list, keeping in mind all the things you have thought through while you were away. Are any of your themes something that you could A) make a story around and B) do something that you would like to write about?

For my example, I’m going to pick the last topic I wrote down – fighting through doubt to do something. Now, I’m going to think about what kind of story I can wrap around that.

For my story, I’m envisioning a kid that wants to be a writer – I know, a little on the nose here – but he doubts that he can do it.

Another idea might be about a Dad working a full-time job, coming home and trying to be there for his kids, and wanting to do something for himself. Maybe he wants to be a writer or musician or something.

Don’t let yourself get caught up in all the thoughts of doubt that could come with writing. Don’t think that your idea isn’t good enough. Many people think that all the stories have been done before, and that could be true, but they haven’t experienced your version of it yet!

Whatever you come up with for right now, let’s right it down. If something jumps out, take it and run with it. For now, think about stories you can come up with around a theme or two and see which is the strongest. Which one can we write a solid story around?

Wrap up

We haven’t done much yet, but we are getting all the legwork set up. Without writing a theme, sometimes my stories can meander around. In the next exercise, we’ll start digging more into things that will open up our story just a little more.

Check out my other writing exercises to see what’s next and help you get that novel written!

For now, in the spirit of getting your theme on paper, leave me a comment with what you came up with, or post what you came up with on my FaceBook group. I would love to build a community of writers that can share ideas and help each other advance their careers.

Also, if you found something useful here, I would love it if you would share it and tag me on Social! You can find me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok (although I haven’t gotten enough done on TikTok yet). And check sign up for alerts for when I post the next article – how to create characters that your readers will love.