Questions tagged [theme]

'Theme' refers to a message being conveyed to the reader by the author, through a piece of creative writing, usually a novel.

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Is thematic character naming off putting?

Is naming a character to go with a theme or setting of a novel off-putting for the reader? Does this pull them out of the story? For example: A character named digit in a cyberpunk future or one named ...
Lindsey Bee's user avatar
10 votes
6 answers
8k views

Does a story necessarily need a theme?

I'm writing a short story From what I understand, the theme is the message that I want to send across. Akin to Beauty and the Beast's "Don't judge a book by its cover" theme, or "Opposites attract." ...
Dylan Beck's user avatar
14 votes
10 answers
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How can I have my characters do bad things, without sending the wrong message?

I am writing a novel in which characters do bad things to one another. For example, I have recently been struggling over a scene of domestic violence. Essentially, a husband hits his wife, after the ...
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14 votes
6 answers
3k views

Should I focus on ideas which the market enjoys, or ideas which I enjoy?

Two approaches to writing: Writing about ideas that are currently 'hot' in the market (a bit like when the Hunger Games came out, many authors quickly released books which incorporated the same set ...
Adi219's user avatar
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9 votes
4 answers
986 views

Struggling with the number of themes in my work

So, I'm a big picture person. What I like best, in life, and when I write, is bringing a lot of very different elements together. But as a result, both my fiction and non-fiction tend to be ...
Chris Sunami's user avatar
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7 votes
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6k views

How do I include a powerful theme in my story without making it blatantly obvious? [duplicate]

I want to have an underlying message in my writing but I really don't want it to come across as annoying or too preachy. Thanks!
Nahan 's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
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Is BDSM becoming mainstream?

Seems that in the last decade there is more and more stories with a BDSM arc. For instance: The Fifty Shades series The Sword of Truth series The Black Dagger Brotherhood series I remember when I ...
Reed -SE is a Fish on Dry Land's user avatar