The Power of Focusing Themes
The advantage of having focusing theme when beginning a creative project is amazing.
Try this: Sit down and write a story. No limits, you can write about anything.
Then try: Sit down and write a story that in some way has to do with “Restraint.” You can take it any way you want, it just has to be about the theme of Restraint in some way.
Powerful difference right? (Tell me if its not.)
My brain starts working on a whole different level with this technique. I don’t have to get caught up thinking about the infinite possibilities, instead I can focus on creating something in the context of the theme.
So if this works for you, use it often, but note, not all themes are created equal.
For a theme to work, I find it must have a metaphorical quality to it, it must present the territory of the creative work, rather than being merely a detail within the story.
For example, “obsession” is a great focusing theme, and it can be used to create many different creative works, where as “a salt shaker” is not. Yes I can put a salt shaker in a story, but it is unlikely a story could be defined by this theme. It would merely be an included detail and therefore not very helpful in focusing the creative process.
More examples:
- Monster is a detail. Monstrous is a focusing theme.
- Heart surgery is a detail. Death is a focusing theme.
- A penny is a detail. Luck is a focusing theme.
A good theme contains the context of a story within it, where a bad theme is just an included detail to a story.
Note that a good theme can become a bad theme if used incorrectly. For example, the color blue could be powerful if the creative work is centered around the emotion of sadness, but if blue is just the color of a coffee cup in the story, the effect is less useful.
I feel like I’ve talked disparagingly about Theme before, because they can encourage empty retelling of similar stories over and over, however, I think if you pick a good theme (as noted above) and then strive to express it in a unique and personal way, the results can be remarkably positive.
If you find yourself straying into generic territory, pick a theme that is difficult to link to cliched material. Instead of Envy, try “Tactile.”
Give it a shot, and post the results!

