How'd you find the themes for your story?

[akitsukino]

I guess some people refer to the theme of your sorry as what it's really about. Like, its's not just a story about a thief out to steal everything, its a story about a man who's hoarding possessions to fill the void his absent father left when he abandoned him as a child.

How did you find your themes? How did you find out what you really wanted your story to be about? Did you start out with one, or did it reveal itself to you as you developed the story?

[IM17MI]

Ok, this is gonna sound strange but I was supposed to enter a manga contest with a happy theme but I kept imagining bad scenarios so I went from there...i decided to make a complex murder love story...it's complicated. most of my ideas come to me while I am trying to sleep and my brain is like "no".

[joannekwan]

I don't really seek out themes, they come naturally when I think about what the character desires and what they need and then they just weave themselves into the story.

Like I find setting out to make a story about specific themes more limiting to my creative process.

[VibrantFox]

I don't the I started with the theme of my stories but finding them came from figuring out what I wanted my stories to be about at the core.

It definitely came from continually developing the story and for the most part a lot of them have the theme of discovering your own identity in a world that's constantly tying to mold you into very specific identities as well as just figuring out life and purpose as you grow up.

[HGohwell]

I'm sure some people start with a theme, a lot like writing prompts, but I've never been able to get a theme I've pre-planned to work for more than a short story. It feels a lot like forcing characters in stereotypes and tropes when trying to fit a theme and sometimes you can feel when a theme has been picked and the story crafted to fit it because it doesn't feel natural or authentic.

I've got to agree with the others, it's usually something I find by exploring the characters and world. I think in the end the difference is whether you have a character driven and plot driven story.

[Zhengo]

I don't really start out with any themes. I usually start with a premise I find cool, and then as I'm developing the story and world and characters the themes just come to me. Most of the time they come when I think of the implications of living in the kind of world I built.

[shazzbaa]

Whenever there's a story I really want to tell, there's obviously a reason I want to tell it, but I usually don't know what that is until I've figured out a bunch of the story.

I think that's probably the themes? The reason why this story is important to me, or the things that I'm trying to share in the telling of it, or the ideas that I keep going back to. I think it can help to figure out what it is eventually, since it's easier to realise "ohhh this development I was pondering doesn't really fit with the theme of my story" rather than "this development would make sense from a narrative perspective and yet it???? doesn't feel right for some reason???? I don't know why I just don't like it.........."

but I almost never think "What's the best way to get across This Theme?" -- it's more like Theme or The Elements That Are Important To Me are something I can check story developments against if I'm not sure about them.

[Stardust-clearwater]

I think the thing with themes is that they tend to pop up mid way through the writing stage. Your story should be perfectly understandable even if the reader doesnt pick up on the theme. Most of the time its because the problems caused by your protagonist will likely be recurring in some way, shape or form. Given that your main character(s) will probably change as they deal with the consequences. In that sense I suppose the themes of a story will depend heavily on the lead characters, their actions, and their flaws.

The one im working on now, It started off as a simple adventure story turned out to have themes revolving around dealing with trauma and personal demons. I didn't notice until I had planned out the outline and a bunch of character interactions.

Another story I wrote started out as a self insert in a fanfic turned out to have themes of acceptance, and the power of mass media.

[kyurenai]

I got my story’s theme as I developed it a little more. I don’t think I can find a theme on the get go.

[SilverLugia456]

most of my ideas and themes comes from my inspirations as I see both animes and play video games. So it's really fun to come up with my themes as I enjoy playing video games and watching anime.

[Kamikaze]

For me themes come from a creators core beliefs. A lot of folks I run into mistake theme for character motivation. A THEME is made up of multiple solitary words. A character's motivation is a sentence.

For example:
In Toy Story Woody wants to be Andy's favorite toy.

That's not a theme. That's a motivation.

In Toy Story, the actual story is about friendship. Here FRIENDSHIP is your theme.

More complex stories can have multiple theme's where one is the lead singer and the others are the backup harmonizers. Like in Coco the theme is Family, but it's backed up with Remembrance, Tradition and Love.

A good way to find your theme? Think on what your story is about. Now sum it up in one or two words. For my comic, if someone asks "What is the story of Kamikaze ABOUT?" I'd say: Sacrifice and Perseverance.

Theme's are large, big ideas that can be just about anything that IS NOT A NOUN.
Loyalty.
Faith.
Temperance.
Charity.
Suffering.
Understanding
Cooperation.
Family.
Responsibility.
Love.
Trust.
Imagination.

And that's just a short list. Think about the things you feel really deeply about. Core ideas that get you excited and passionately talking to others on. Good stories SAY something about the world. I know it's really easy to brush that away with, "I mean sometimes it's just a dumb book," but usually if you ask the creator about it? That's not their thoughts at all.

Figure out what you believe in life. Find your theme. Then get to work.

[mariusthered]

for my story all the themes are base on children's stories and fairy-tales , the trick is twisting the tales to either something before the original story or after, but they dont remain children's stories either way.

[LittleMissDevil]

I stumbled backwards into the themes of my comic. Before I started the story it was just a character backstory, nothing with worked out details. However with starting my story I also started thinking about how I could make a thematically consistent story and how I could use side characters to mirror or contrast my main characters to make the themes stronger. I see the themes as a general trend that every character or their journey represents in a different way. I don't expect these themes to pay off now, but they helped to shape the direction of the comic greatly. As I said: it was just a character backstory before, not even two pages long. If I was to expand on that I needed the themes as a general direction. ^^

I think if I needed to sum up he themes of my comic in very little words, I would choose Alienation, Extremism and Deterioration (my comic is for happy people).

And I try to let characters contribute to that, while also presenting a strong narrative for the main cast. Not an easy balance, as I tend to hyper focus on the themes a little. But I try and I am very glad that some readers already picked up on what I am trying to do

[droidmonkey1]

I started both of my comics form the middle, I had an image in my head that I liked and I tried to "retrace my steps" how it got there.

[Raven_C]

As you mentioned, theme is really what your story is about. It's the "heart" of your story. For me personally, I don't think about themes until I've got the plot figured out. That doesn't mean the plot has to be completely polished. l'll just have a general idea of the key events, then I think about my character's wants/needs/actions & how they can grow from said events (their character arc). Sometimes, it's the opposite: I think of my character's wants & needs first, then create a plot around that.

Usually (in my case), a theme will naturally blossom out of this process. After that, I'll just polish my plot points even more (adding more or subtracting if necessary), in order to drive the theme home more effectively.

[lil-sea-salt]

I think my themes are mainly my own issues in my life. Things that I wish were different and the themes I enjoy in other stories that drew me to them. I never really thought about it until it someone who was reading or viewing my work pointed it out to me.

I like libraries, mazes, confusing people with puzzles, children doing dangerous things (or in my brain having adventures, but I guess that does mean they are in trouble) and adults having fatal flaws that lead to their downfall, strange characters, simple names. low tech.