There’s one major thing that’s stopping a lot of stories, books and scripts from truly living up to their potential, and that’s a lack of understanding or emphasis on theme.

Theme is so important but it often gets forgotten in favour of things like plot and character.

And yes, without plot and character, you have no story, so it’s understandable why these things get most of our focus.

The truth is, without theme, you can still have a story. But it won’t be a great story.

Here’s how to start thinking about theme and implementing it into your writing to make your stories compelling, satisfying, and unforgettable.

Now, theme needs to be handled delicately. Readers don’t like to be force-fed the theme. Ideally, the theme is something that exists in the subtext of the story, which means it’s not stated directly but implied.

The reason having a theme is so powerful is that it helps to connect all the different parts of your story together. Plot, subplot, characters, dialogue, world-building… without a theme bringing it all together, your story is at risk of feeling disjointed, flat, or worse, pointless.

Have you ever had the experience of finishing a book or movie and wondering, What was the point of that? Chances are, the story either didn’t have a theme, or didn’t do a good job of communicating the theme.

So what is a theme? To put it simply, theme is the idea you wish to explore in your story. It can be a question, like what would happen in a world where gender dynamics were flipped? It can be an emotional or psychological state, like jealousy or ambition. It can be something like the quest for belonging, or the effect that money has on people, or the lengths to which people will go to find love.

To better understand theme, get in the habit of looking for it in books you read and movies you watch. When you’ve finished reading or watching something, take a few moments to reflect. Maybe you even want to write your thoughts down in your writing journal.

Questions to ask: Was there anything the different parts of the story had in common? Were they all focused on a certain topic? What’s the overall feeling you’re left with? If you had to summarise the story’s message, what would it be? If you had to say what the story is about, what would it be? Did the main character learn any lessons, and what are they?

And these are equally good questions to ask about your own writing, especially if you’re getting ready for a second or third draft.