Is it a sign of a lesser work, if you can easily spot why you wrote it at the time?
Even when I go back to revise Episodic Life Of Nadine Melville (the current version of Voreth's Promise Saga), it feels like the theme is a bit heavy handed but didn't really notice it to much when I had wrote the first draft.
Before my venture into magic realism. Way before.
It certainly doesn't have to be about some grand theme, you can have a very entertaining story of interconnected yet random vignettes. However, by writing it all out you begin to see that some elements run throughout the story and you can tease them out so to say. Highlighting these elements so they form a theme (friendship, loss, sacrifice etc) is like an extra cool decoration on the house you built.
I'm not exactly an authority on the subject, but no, I don't think so? Any flaws in older works that you spot are because you've improved and grown as a storyteller.
Also, clumy mistakes, heavy-handedness and bad stuff is what first drafts are for. You clean that up in editing.
I feel like more important than "your story should have a theme" is "it's good for your story to have a point," ...which mean kinda the same thing, theme is just more Official Sounding. It's good for characters to grow or reveal themselves in some way -- a naive character who must learn to be more discerning vs. a naive character who succeeds because they never lose hope say very different things about the world. I think it can be helpful to think about the point of your story, in the back of your mind, so you don't contradict yourself, but I don't think you Have To Know Your Theme And Write Intentionally Towards It Or Else Your Story Won't Work.
Nah, I don't think so. For example, Chronicles of Narnia is beloved, but it's also a very obvious allegory. Some people don't like it for that reason, but that's a preference rather than a sign of a lesser work. I think there are ways this can be a problem, if characters feel like mouthpieces rather than real people, or if the world contorts itself unbelievably to reward your ideology and punish its opponents, but those things are separate problems - being able to easily see the point that the story is trying to make isn't by definition a bad thing, imo. ;u;
I think that's part of what made revising so weird, like I was trying to write hardcore cyberpunk back then. But I've coming at it with a slightly older perspective whose writing is more like P.L. Travers, Milne, or Barrie.
And so I'm like, the hell, what was I thinking giving teens lost childhoods.
And so rather than it being purely an action piece, it becomes more a story about the contrast between the childhood of the early 20th century and slow decline of the concept of childhood in the future.
I can definitely tell I wrote it in my late teens and early twenties.
Does everyone have a reason to create a story? I don't really have a strong drive to make a certain story. This is how I come up with a story idea
1. Find vague concept that's interesting. For example people living under water.
2. Give reason for living under water. Create conflict.
3. Think of resolution, based on main characters evolution through the story.
There is no why. Should j have a reason? It's not that I love this topic, I just think it would make a good story so I write jt
I mean, I would see "I think this would be interesting and a cool story" as your reason to create a story. I don't see anything wrong with that reason, tbh! "This idea is interesting to me and I want to explore it" is the reason I invent most of my story ideas.
I don't look at it as a "should." Do you have any interest in looking for themes in your work? Then, like, go for it! If you don't have interest in looking for themes in your work, then, don't! Are you enjoying writing stories that you just think would make a good story? Then by all means, keep doing that!!
If you're looking for how to make a story better, I really think most of the time it'll be more effective to look into more tangible aspects of storytelling -- things like character arcs, and whether the resolution rings true, whether the conflict is believable, etc -- than to despair over whether there's a GOOD REASON or a DEEP THEME behind it.
Theme rises out of every other element working together -- like ingredients in cooking. You're basically asking "do I have to make a specific flavour?" and the truth is that whether you're working with a recipe, or throwing ingredients together as you go and seeing what tastes good, in the end, you WILL have a specific flavour. If it tastes good, you win! Now, knowing ahead of time that you're making a sweet dish, or a tangy dish, may help make sure that you choose ingredients that don't conflict or compete with each other. But if you find your flavour isn't working, it's less helpful to say "make a better flavour" and more helpful to look at what ingredients are conflicting with each other.
I too start off with an idea or concept which may potentially be an interesting story. When I first begin writing a story, sometimes themes are the least of my worries. However, I notice themes sneakily slip into stories the more you write them, which is the case for me anyway. Well, using your underwater idea as an example:
Find vague concept that's interesting. For example people living under water.
What kind of people live under water? How is life and culture differed from living there as opposed to on land. Themes may include learning different cultures/lifestyle, racism, and even environment maybe.
Give reason for living under water. Create conflict.
Is there a stigma between living underwater or on land? Themes can be home, migration, war, piracy, love and loss.
Think of resolution, based on main characters evolution through the story.
The resolution will probably be reflective of the overall themes introduced, and ties them together into one big blob of meaningful. Granted, they don't have to be overly meaningful or essential to the plot. It starts to get a bit preferential.
Now I'm just touching on very basic and broad themes with the above examples. The rest depends on your content and characters' storyline. I'm not saying you have to include themes, or come up with one before you start the story... But I believe our stories are bound to have recurring themes whether you like it or not.
I guess a theme can draw new readers to something that otherwise has zero connection to what they're interested in 
Without a theme, it's just another "X happens to Y and then Z happens" scenario as far as a stranger is concerned, which sounds about as interesting as watching the news 
Reading about "truth" or "love", on the other hand, seems more meaningful 
I don't advocate shoehorning a theme in just for the sake of a theme though; if you have no idea and interest about the theme, it shows You can definitely write a good story without a theme in mind, it's just a bit harder to describe it in a way that appears interesting to new readers 
After thinking about it I don't think theme is that important, especially when I don't hear people talking about themes when they read a story. If you asked me what the theme was for the book "And Then There Were None"(My favorite book) I wouldn't be able to tell you. Nor do I care that I don't. Thank you all for your input.
Sorry I'm late, I had a busy day yesterday.
Theme is VERY important to your story, but it's also something that you don't need to spend a lot of time on originally. Sounds contrary, but let me explain.
The theme is the underlying sense of what the story is ABOUT. It's the skeleton that the whole story hangs on. The plot of Spider-Man is a high-school nerd that gets bit by a radioactive spider. The theme is "with great power, comes great responsibility". I'm stealing that example from Peter David, by the way. Note that all of the best Spider-Man stories follow that theme. Showing the problems with Peter's life, and the bad things that happen when he tries to shirk his responsibilities. Either to himself, Mary Jane, Aunt May, or even Uncle Ben. The plots, conflicts, characters, and such all vary, but the theme remains constant throughout all of the best stories told about Spider-man.
A theme is not about a moral (though it can be) or a political message (though it can be) or something deep (though it can be) but rather what the story is about.
As a writer/storyteller this means that you need to be able to identify your theme and write to it. Once the initial draft is done, it's time to do several things. You have to figure out what your conflict is, what your theme is, and what your plot is, and eliminate the dead weight from your script that does not advance one or more of those items. This is the hard part of writing, and just about every professional writer does this, in one way or another as part of the editing process.
I am a planner, so most of the time, I have my theme figured out before I start the actual script, but there's no requirement to do it that way.
In the end, though, knowing what the theme of the work is becomes essential in producing the best story that you can write. It's as important to the writing as the Gesture Line is to drawing. It's the single word, phrase, or sentence that your entire work hangs on.
Eagle
(Art references....Neat!)
Thème just seems like a reason why you are writing the book or some aspect of a message. Which I don't really have or care for. Even though a story may unconsciously have a theme, that is up to reader interpretation. That's what I want. I always hated English class's because when we were asked about meanings there was one right answer. I have no interest in putting stuff into my story just to fit a theme. If I was trying to share a thought with the world then I'd have a theme, but I don't so I don't see the point.
As a writer, I'd rather include a mix of several themes that interest me or that I would like to convey through my story. But I don't sit down to write a story with the intent to pigeon hole it into a theme, I'd rather come up with the general idea/plot/characters first and then the themes will develop themselves the further I flesh out the story and build the world...themes should be organic imo, unless you are hellbent on writing a story about a particular theme then by all means.
To me, the story comes first, any "themes" or commentary about something is secondary. Like if I'm developing character A's personality and that character is say...a nihilist, once its all said and done, I may want to explore aspects of nihilism and include it in the story regarding that character's arc, but not in a heavy handed way either. I believe that the mantra "keep it simple, stupid" has merit, especially in the medium of comics. I tend to write with the agenda of having a story that can be followed easily by most readers, while having stuff for readers that tend dive deeper into a story's themes.
Good example, that theme itself is the core of the character, and it's apart of what humanizes him and makes him the character that anyone could identify with, because he was not a god among men, or a rich billionaire, but an everyman with common problems that had to balance that with suddenly having incredible powers.
I'd tend to think though as Lee/Ditko began shaping the character, that theme presented itself once they took a step back and looked at how the story was unfolding.
No, theme has nothing to do with why you are writing the story. It can be a message, but theme is the glue that holds everything together. It's one of the 5 basic elements of fiction for a reason, and it's not difficult at all.
To be honest, if a story does not have a theme that the writer has worked on, then it's going to eventually show. Most readers are not astute enough to pick it up, since they think it's hard, but they will be able to tell that the story does not hang together for some reason.
I do writing and art. When I see a message like your's, I tend to just replace the word theme (or plot, or conflict, or whatever essential element of fiction someone is saying is not important) with an element of art, such as perspective, composition, or anatomy. All things that artists know are important, but people just learning to draw tend to think they can ignore and the work will still be good.
And you don't put things in a story to fit a theme, as much as you take things out that don't fit. A theme can be as simple as a word, or a pair of words. It should never be more complicated than a single thought.
Let us say, for sake of argument, that you decide that the story you are telling is about childhood friends facing a huge challenge in the form of a quest, and eventually realising their romantic feelings about each other. That's your theme. Boil it down to "Love is under your nose". Then when you are doing the second draft of the script, look for places to work with that theme, such as having a secondary character point it out before the two mains have ever realised it. There is even a rule amongst certain screenwriters that a character must state the theme of the movie by the end of the first act.
I don't tend to follow that, but on The Law of the Jungle, I did it, just because it was fun. It's on this page1.
For the most part, what having the theme identified does, is allows you, as the writer, to focus your story more. It is just as essential to good writing (and don't get me wrong, there are tons of professional (and that means making a living at it) writers who are NOT doing themes, and frankly, their writing suffers for it). As a reader, lack of a theme becomes obvious to me once I get to the 20 page or so mark, and I will stop reading. Writers that have a theme are obvious because their writing has more depth, focus, and direction.
Remember, theme is not something arcane, it's just what the story is actually about.
Aliens: A mother's love (though some of the scenes that drove that home were cut)
The Batman movie Trilogy: What is a hero?
Batman Comics: Avenging murdered parents
Gotham TV Series: Descent into madness/moral ambiguity
Iron Man Trilogy: Redemption
There's nothing difficult about it, and it will help focus your stories.
Eagle
(But in the end, it is your choice)
So in other words theme is just used to focus and is a result of the entire story? I don't know still seems unnecessary, because if I move the story in a logical and sensible manner based on the characters and plot, would that be theme? if so that seems unimportant. As an element, when you could just tell people to focus on their keeping their characters consistent along with plot. You'd end up creating a unifying experience without thinking of plot. But oh well I've had enough of this discussion.
