Is The Theme Running Throughout The Story?
by:
Nick Vernon
Creative Writing Tips –
It’s no use coming up with a theme and not victimisation it. Short stories are just about a character or characters and just about one situation or happening in those characters’ lives.
By concentrating on that one thing, our stories are focused. You wish need to focus to maintain a level of intensity and projecting to the theme enables us to do that.
Let me give you an example…
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Scenario One
Let’s say your story is just about a young man (main character) who is being pestered (one situation) by the school bully (secondary character.) Let’s place the setting in grade school.
Now if we focus on that single happening and in our story say….
What started the bullying
What the main character felt, confronted with this problem
What the main character did to overcome this problem
If the main character won or lost against the bully…
Then we’ll be focusing only on that incident which is what our story is about.
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Scenario Two
Now if we took that situation further and in our story same
that this character grew up and was cowed in high school and then later by a colleague…
That wish be listing three incidences, which wish weaken our story because we are not focusing.
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Remember a short story is short.
We don’t have too more leeway to develop too many an things so we have to be selective with what we choose to concentrate on. Short stories activity better once
they span over a short period of time.
Like in scenario one, this incident strength
span over a couple of days or a week, wherever
in the second scenario, it spans over a number of years. The shorter the time span the more intense the story.
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Your theme should begin at the beginning, run through the middle and conclude in the end. So let’s put a theme to the 1st scenario…
‘Strength Comes From Inside
And In The End Prevails.’
How can I have this theme running throughout my story?
Initially I wish portray my main character as a weak individual. But I wish excuse his weakness, by locution mayhap that…
“He comes from a closely knit, affectionate family and at the start
doesn’t cognize how to deal with such a conflict.”
As my story progresses, I wish bit by bit show his inner strength and I wish do this through incidences, which wish show his maturity, like…
• He helps out by caring for his younger siblings and contributes with the housework.
And
• I can show him cutting the neighbours’ lawns or delivering newspapers before school to show that he contributes economically too.
If I do this, my ending (when he wins against the bully) wish be plausible because I have developed his inner strength. My theme would-be have run its course.
Is your theme running throughout the story?
About The Author
Besides his passion for writing, Nick Vernon runs an online gift site wherever
you wish find gift information, articles and readers’ funny stories. Visit http://www.we-recommend.com
mail@we-recommend.com
This article was announce on August 24, 2004
