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hello, I am trying to learn how to write better, and I have a quick question. Does a story need to have some kind of hidden message behind it? it sounds like that's what you mean when you say theme. I like Tolkien for example, and he didn't really write messages or themes into his stories, and I've really just been trying to emulate that, writing a story for the sake of telling a story without a message or allegory behind it. would you be willing to elaborate on what you mean by theme and if I'm misunderstanding what a theme is?
I have a question (no pun intended). Is it necessary for me to use this? I'm writing a screenplay that I'm planning to direct, and there are themes, infact multiple themes but they're not questions, they're simply exploration of those themes through the characters. Please tell me what I'm doing right or wrong and how can I fix that.
This is why when I teach students about theme, I tell them it needs to be stated on a complete sentence, not a single word. A theme can’t just be “love,” it needs to be something more like, “Love is the capacity to desire the greatest possible good for another person, including those you find distasteful.”
That's a good way to put it. I'll definitely be using that. I'm a middle childhood education major who'll be teaching English, so I'd definitely find a way to use that.
Yeah it’s tough because most themes are listed as a single word, BUT I tell people you’ll notice that most criticisms get quite a bit deeper than just the single word
When I'm teaching theme, I always make my students answer "what about it?" with the topic. Love is a fine topic, but what does the story say about love?
To me, Romeo and Juliet is about how feuds, grudges, and rivalries are more than just personal decisions; they take hold and infect generation after generation, poisoning everything.
Further, the conflict can easily spread beyond all control in unexpected ways. Because of the feud, a single whirlwind romance managed to nearly wipe out two noble familes. How high did the bodycount get again?
As someone who is the second generation of a family feud, it's really sad because my cousins (the other side of the second generation) will likely never meet my kids, and an entire library of stories and experiences have been (in some cases) permanently cut off. A bit of advice to people getting married: you are marrying the family almost as much are you are marrying your spouse. If they don't like you now, it's going to be a difficult uphill battle to try to change their minds.
That would be a good theme. I don’t respect Romeo and Juliet (as written, not all the adaptations) enough for that. I think the theme of the play is much closer to “breaking social roles for love leads to disaster.” Which is not as timeless and hopeful as one would wish it to be.
That seems to go against what the video is saying. He mentions that a proper theme gives both sides it's due. But if "feuds are bad" is one side of the theme then what would be the other side?
When I was a senior in high school over eleven or twelve years ago, our AP Lit teacher used to hammer home during our analysis essays, that she never wanted to hear the phrase "the theme of this story is" or "the theme of," followed by a single word. The way she used to explain it was basically theme as a thesis: it is a complete statement, an idea that is well-thought out and developed that the author then spends the rest of the story exploring and extrapolating on. To badly paraphrase her words, a theme must be expressed as one (or, ideally more) complete sentence(s), or as you put it, a question to be answered, and never as one single word. If our essays ever tried to express a theme as a singular word it was a good way to take a significant hit to the paper's grade right out of the gate. I've held that lesson close to my heart in my personal fiction writing ever since.
I think Romeo and Juliet became such a famous love story because most people got out of it the message "love is so powerful it persists beyond death" rather than seeing it as a cautionary tale against loving too far
Hmm, I've got the totally different view. As much as I like the death of the author philosophy, there is quite a bit in the text showing how Romeo is a terribly emotional, illogical person who routinely makes poorly thought out decisions, many fuelled by love. While both interpretations work, there seems to be more credence to the one about love not being able to conquer all.
@@TheCloserLook The prologue has the line "from forth the fatal loins of these two foes, a pair of star cross'd lovers take their live", which seems to indicate that Romeo and Juliet were fated to die anyway due to their circumstances.
@@TheCloserLook I've had a teacher suggest an interpretation of "Our laws (England's laws in Shakespeare's time) that would not allow this secret marriage are better because Juliet would not be faced with the conflict of obedience to parents vs comitting bigamy". That was an interesting lecture.
I just finished a semester of a personally difficult 200 level college class called "Storytelling:Genre/Theme." Not a single lesson in the entire course was as helpful and insightful as this 20 minute video. Creators like you are why im minoring in creative writing, not these shitty classes.
Yep. When literal Harvard classes are on yt for free, it really takes the wind out of the sails of supposed "advanced university-level" courses. I treat university as purchasing a piece of paper or buying a certification. It also sucks for non-STEM students because grading is usually so subjective, especially for something like creative writing.
@@tticusFinchBut that’s the thing, you need that piece of paper to get a good job. Your skills aren’t enough anymore, you need that extra “credibility”. It sucks, but sadly that’s the world. Of course you can be successful and have a good life without ever going to uni or college, but its becoming more and more difficult to do so.
A lot of these comments underestimate the power of good teaching. Even if you cam find university level content online, there js still a big difference between trying to learn it yourself, and learning it in a structured way woth expert feedback and teaching. That's not to say that university is always better, but there absolutely is a place for it, and acting like its a "scam" or a waste of time is just as silly as acting like it's the only thing that matters.
I will challenge this a little. Firstly, it is fine to have a complex series of themes bled into one another, Tolkien has themes (very simplified) around things like the dangers of technology, the importance of myth, the value of the little people, how one man of humble origin can make such a change, the importance of fulfilling lineage, etc. The distinction is that each is full sentence with specific goals and is tied into each other cohesively. Everything in a story should also play into concepts and ideas you want to portray. There are three things you can generally do in a story: instill an emotion, state something, or ask something of the audience. You can also do things to set presentation but those are a bit more superfluous. Your central conflict needs to be pretty singular as a focused theme in a rule of thumb, but every character and sentence has a through idea and thus a theme behind it. You can have quite the variety bled into your story. It is incredibly rare any story is purely one thematic idea. Theme is another way of saying an idea and it is the genesis of story. *The more accurate problem from your description seems to be that you muddled your central conflict and created a bunch of disparate themes that are only superficially tied together rather than integrated in a single narrative (a central conflict/theme). You could get away with such things in something like Pulp Fiction or by making it episodic, but you need ways to intertwine them and properly develop each. You can develop ideas quite densely with efficient use of language implementation extensive subtext and meaning. **Also the claim that we must explore all directions on a question is incredibly false. A flat villain has many uses, objective evil is a useful tool & there are topics that just have a straight "this is the wrong answer." Set in 1930 Russia or Germany there's not a lot of room for ambiguity on certain topics there for example. That doesn't make them bad. These things are still complex because people, the world, everything is complex. This is just wrong. There are many morally questionable instances in the dog question even.
Yeah, I get a bit dramatic here, but there are absolutely other viable ways to write themes. At 14:33 I explicitly say you don't need to think of it as a question, just that it's a very effective way to perceive it.
what if you want to tell a story that has no actual meaning to it? Like, sure you can extract stuff from it as a reader but the writer never intended to write about anything specifically?
@@neededaname I didn't say be just like Tolkien. He's just an immediate example everyone knows. I can also point to the original Star Wars. Boy farmer hero comes from unexpected places. Faith (the Force) vs technology (Death Star), hope vs terror. Themes of friendship and finding meaning there with Han Solo, ideas of maturing and growing up. You can go at the vast majority of stories and find quite the multitude of themes at play even if not consciously considered when writing them. Even Aesop's Fables have a few themes each, Tortise & the Hare has themes not just of slow & steady but pride cometh before the fall & a few other concepts. Is your story more simple & undefined than the Tortise & the Hare? The claim we're past that is wrong, is your story going to last a thousand years? The easy route rarely gives you the best thing you could have produced. If it's more efficient and reaches the same goal that's one thing but if it loses something by forgoing the attention to detail that's another. You will always have more than one theme in pretty much anything more complex than the simplest action revenge story and even then most have a few ideas in there. Just don't make it a competition for the central conflict and muddle that in the process, blend them into one narrative. My goal is an aspiration to reach beyond Tolkien. Doubt I ever will but you'll never get anywhere without aspiring to reach a quality above yourself.
@@johnynoway9127 That's a boring as hell story. It's not even a story, just a series of events. Drier than hundred year old paper. History books still have themes tying them together, narratives, especially the good ones. You can't write a story without connective ideas. Themes are the genesis and connective tissue of stories. *adendum: you could potentially do this with video games where the interaction itself forms the story. That's the limit. Interactive mediums, though those too will almost universally have some idea and meaning in them. The smallest forms of storytelling, like short poems, often are solely explorations on a theme without plot or character. If there is one element necessary to story it is theme, meaning.
Before, my story's theme was simply "Religion." Now it's "What role does God really serve in the grand scheme of the universe?" The good guys believe that the universe was created by God, but it is the actions of the mortals that determine its fate. The bad guys, on the other hand, believe that the universe is controlled by God, and their objective is to conquer the universe and "usurp the throne" in a way.
Words cannot express how this video has changed my mindset. I've been worldbuilding for over a decade, only because every story I tried to write would become so broad and unfocused. Until this video, I didn't understand why. After finishing this, I was able to hone in on what story I wanted to tell. After all of these years of having cool moments or cool ideas with dozens of unfinished/unpublished works piling up, I found that one of the biggest themes I've been sort of circling around was "Is freedom worth fighting for?" Once that came to mind, EVERYTHING began to fall into place like you said in the video. Thank you so much.
This is really similar to LocalScriptMan's approach to writing. He has a lot of great videos about theme-focused writing and using different characters to express different attitudes towards a story's theme. It's a slightly different approach of course, but it's changed how I think about writing and story structure A LOT and I think ties well into the ideas of this video.
LocalScriptMan's every video gives a particular kind of insight into a particular part of screenwriting. Even if you feel you haven't learnt anything from one video another video might open your 3rd eye.
For me personally, a story is like a tree. You can have multiple themes but you need an underlying theme (that's part of the central story) to tie them all into. If your themes are disjointed and disconnected from one another, then it's not going to be as good as when there's a main theme to glue them together.
The theme I have for the first book I’m trying to get published is “can you save everyone?” And I agree fully with making your theme a question. I didn’t even realize how concise and focused the story was. It just naturally moved around that question. I already wrote out the sequel to the book as well and the theme was “when does life get easier?” Which also helped keep my story focused.
Can you have multiple thematic questions you intend to explore in your narrative? I have 4 thematic questions, all themed around the subject of corruption The first, and most prominent question being: 'Do traumatic experiences justify morally questionable actions, or do they challenge the notion of right and wrong?' My protagonist is on the side of yes to that question, wherea my supporting character (the childhood friend and love interest) takes the opposite stance
@@unicorntomboy9736 plz keep in mind that I am working to publish one of ky books for the first time so what I am about to say has helped me make books that close friends think are good, but I am not at all a professional. But to answer ur question, I’d say the only way to involve four different “themes” would be to evolve the theme from its starting position. In the sequel book my theme kind of evolves from “when does life get easier?” To “life doesn’t get easier, so what will you do with it?” But that is if your thematic questions are all big enough to be themes themselves. If they are legit just questions then you could easily incorporate them as each being a lesson for your characters to go through. They first answer one question and they become a bit better, then another, and so on. But idk how your book is structured, what it’s truly about, what the plot is, or rlly anything about your book. I hope this helps but at the same time if it doesn’t, I wouldn’t be surprised and sorry if it doesn’t help
i love that question. I've been thinking about this a lot latetly. And its a really tough question to answer for yourself. You can't save everyone. But, where is the line when you have to decide who to help and who not ? Its a question i've been struggling with. Could you post a Link to your Book once you get it published ? I would love to read it :D
Okay, Your big secret at the 5 minute mark completely blew my mind. It's so obvious. I'm writing a story centered around a character who struggles with self-discipline and how their lack of it almost rules her life. Honestly, it never occurred to me to ask how do they gain self-discipline, and it immediately becomes a different story. That... I never would have thought of that myself. There's a like and subscribe for you
Yeah, I noticed this too while currently writing my first book/comic script. But I had to opposite: I already had the proper theme, but I was trying to force it into one singular word. Yeah, I could get it into "perseverance", but I already had a perfect "no matter of how dire the circumstance, no matter how hopeless it seems; one should never give up and keep fighting through it." while I contrast it with "sometimes only way to move on is to give up."
Constraints are why I've always loved stories where rules and boundaries are very clearly established especially in fantasy setting, as it makes bending those rules or skirting around them in unique ways VERY satisfying. It's part of why I still love Death Note so much. It asks questions like "how do you find an anonymous person who kills from a distance entirely discretely" and vice versa "how do you stay anonymous and continue your process consistently while under surveillance". They're so dead specific and this cat and mouse makes for some of the most intense tension while the characters are nowhere near each other a good chunk of the time. It's probably better to think of a theme as more of a thesis statement that may not be explicitly stated but is more than clear when reading.
Thanx for the idea.’ Rules’ of the game is what makes it fun and exciting as it relates to the externals - the plot most noticibly. Now I can apply it systematically to the characters- more internal, now. And the theme, stacked themes.
*PANSTER HERE* Firstly, thanks for addressing us. it's so good to feel appreciated. Honestly, I feel like prioritizing theme doesn't make a story. It just makes a list of events. I find things go better if I write the story I want first and then focus on the more emotional element. Basically theme is a great tool for editing and revising my story once i know my characters better.
I follow the same method too, I like getting to know my characters first and connecting the dots on what they have in common, and letting their shared theme unfold from there.
@Scrofar Precisely!!! All these methods and what not are great, but at the end of the day, storytelling is psychological. Moving stories come from being raw and a little vulnerable with your thoughts. Great stories come from honest and brutal editing later.
Great method! It makessure all the emotions hit, and there's cohesion because of the theme the audience now cares about, because those emotional beats hit well.
For me, when I write, I don't focus on a theme. I have a concept, and I then make a story of that concept, build around it, then at the end, have a look at my work and go "Ah yeah this seems to have X theme!"
I also do that. I feel like if you start with a theme it boxes you in a bit. It makes the story move from a piece of fiction towards an argumentative essay.
I develop a concept, and find topics that fall under that concept and then use those topics to create a theme or multiple themes that connect to the main theme, which is the philosophical concept I developed.
Theme as an emergent property. That’s how I found my theme. I know one is supposed to have one so I saw it there almost from the start and then used it to enhance the plot, and the characters. Everything really cus it’s all interconnected anyway, wouldn’t you agree?
@@forgotrealname9124” philosophical concept “. The intellectual meat in the bone I find the most interesting. Similar but distinct, it deserves its own category, the theme. That’s why I love Woody Allen films. I only wish he’d do a western. Blazing Nuerosis!
I strongly agree that themes are a question and an answer. To take the original story premise and edit it a bit, I'd just edit the third point to instead be about a police officer committing murder and then trying to get away with it. Thus the question is asked, "What is the commonality of injustice in the system?", and the answer is "The system protects its own, and cares not for what the actual just answer may be". Suddenly you can have these 3 vignettes all tie together into one thematically cohesive picture, with a singular point and central thesis.
I just finished Station Eleven, which somewhat breaks a few of the rules here: it’s actually kind of ambiguous about what it’s saying, and covers quite a few topics: art, survival, the modern world and the apocalypse’s potential for connecting people and sapping them of their potential, memory, identity, performance and privacy, interconnectedness-however, all the themes sort of build upon one another and intersect in interesting ways, and it never feels like it’s “saying too much” since it keeps a lot of these themes subtle, intertwines most of them, and gives a broad sense of potential views without settling on one. Also helps that Emily St John Mandel was already a published author at this point and could be given more free reign, but it goes to show that while very difficult and tenuous, you can juggle thematic topics and questions (even those with no clear answer) as long as it still feels cohesive
Nah, I just write cool shit happening and enjoy myself. /j Really good video on themes and you bring up a lot of great points. Handling of themes is honestly what separates amateur from expert fiction. That being said, I’ve learned that I myself can still enjoy stories that aren’t thematically whole or rich. I read a web novel with nothing but mechs and lesbians fighting alien bugs and enjoyed every moment of it. I’ve also enjoyed critically acclaimed and thematically rich stories as well. I believe thematic richness is an indicator of quality, but not necessarily enjoyment. If you wanna write, having an underlying theme can really help glue everything together like starch in baking. But definitely get comfortable and write what you like. Because if you don’t like it, it’ll probably never get done.
If you're writing a novel theming is paramount. When you leave that media - for whatever s Weird reason - theming is totally optional and only discussed by the hardcore fans of the property
Thank you so much for this video! I'm currently a senior in High School, and after all these years of english classes telling me to write a theme, this is the first time I've understood how. A 20 minute video just covered what 12 years of English classes has failed to teach me. School taught me the "theme is topic" thing and I've never been able to come up with a good theme for anything i've written since. Just during the runtime of this video, I know how to rewrite multiple stories from the last few years with a better theme. I'm sharing this video with all my friends who like to write. Please, keep up the astounding work you've done in all your videos! You may have just given me my motivation to write back.
My man, this vid has already had a major impact on my WIP. On your advice, I stated my theme as a question, realized how limiting and uninteresting that question was, and asked a more interesting poignant question. This made me see that my current conflict is between factions that disagree as to HOW the past must dictate the future-when a more engaging conflict would over WHETHER the past must dictate the future. So the CORE conflict of my story needs to be between [the few people who want to forget the past and move on] and [the huge factions wrecking the world with their conflict about the past]. So now, the spectacular guns-blazing war being fought between the factions might be the visible conflict, but it’s not the core conflict at the heart of my revised-yesterday story! Thank you!
12:10 Ideological clashes are one of my favorite things to write about, as well as to read/write. It's the reason the Japanese writer Gen Urobuchi is one of my favorites writers, because fascinating ideological clashes oozes in every part of all of his stories.
Thank you so much for this! I was once told that within an epic fantasy novel with multiple character POV's, I was told that each character should have it's own "minor theme" while having an overarching "major" theme to tie them together. It sounds ideal, but it also sounds very complicated. Maybe too complicated.
I think whoever gave that advice was going about it wrong. That's a viable way to write an epic story, but it's one of many ways. You can absolutely have separate characters have separate themes, and there isn't that much binding them, yet it will still be a great story. The Way of Kings is like that. If you wanted to go for that approach though, you've just got to come up with the right theme for your grand plot, one that lends itself to multiple perspectives and arcs. It's up to your process how you arrive to it. Perhaps look at your characters and ask what is an issue they all struggle with in their own unique ways. If there isn't one, you'll need to tweak your characters so there is. Remember that a character's arc and the theme are practically synonymous. It's useful to remember that when refining this stuff.
I haven’t ever published a book yet so take what I say with a grain of salt but I did this with a book (I shared it with 6 ppl and they all loved it and three of them were acquaintances so it can’t be that bad but I’m still nonprofessional) and what I did is I thought of how my theme could be interpreted in different ways and incorporated that in my characters. The theme was “when does life get easier” and one of the characters learned that lesson that it doesn’t and that’s okay while another character learned that life may be difficult, but it is no excuse to not do what needs to be done. Then another character learned that you aren’t defined by the difficulty in your life, you’re defined by how you react to it and that is how you make your life quite on quote “easier” it’s three interpretations of the same themes and this worked for me bc my characters are all so different from each other mainly but again, I am NOT a professional. I am just now trying to get a book published for the first time. I am no genius, I am just sharing what has worked for me.
A useful way to deal with theme in a large cast is to present it as a question, and then every major character represents a different answer. That way you can build diverse personalities and backgrounds while maintaining cohesion of narrative. In fact once you flesh out the individual characters, they will each in turn present new questions or challenges, which easily turn into subplots. Suddenly you've got a layered plot and themes all at once
Just some extra advice since I am also a writer. If you are writing a story that has multiple themes, make sure not only to give an in-depth exploration to those themes but to connect those themes as well. To give example, I think Naruto does a fantastic job at this. One of the central themes of Naruto is the question of is it possible to change one's own destiny. Another one is how do we end the Cycle of Hatred? Now the story weaves these two themes together in many ways but for the sake of time, I'm just going to talk about Naruto and Sasuke. Spoilers alert for those who haven't watch Naruto but Naruto and Sasuke are the reincarnations of The Sage of the Six paths sons. Every time these brothers reincarnated , they would end fighting and killing each other, creating an endless cycle of violence and hatred. As such, Naruto and Sasuke were destined to fight and die at the hands of the other being apart of this cycle but because Naruto never gave up, understood, and showed compassion and empathy to Sasuke, he was able to break the cycle of violence and ultimately overcome the destiny laid for them. Now I am very much simplifying something that is way more complex but the point is I think the reason why the relationship between Naruto and Sasuke is one of the most iconic dichotomy is because it ties in all of the stories themes and ideas together. In short, if you can weave your themes and messages together, you are on the cusp of telling truely brilliant stories.
I would not use Naruto as an example as many of the characters end up following their destiny the exception being Sasuke as being an enemy against Naruto. But everything is pretty much set up for the characters from the beginning and this the destiny theme is barely explored outside of base Naruto. The hatred cycle is also shallow but for a different reason. The only character that presents a good argument for it is Pain and he doesn’t state ulterior motives for his revenge. All the other villains though just want an excuse to murder people sasuke included. Overall the manga is a lot like Harold’s story exploring subjects like destiny and the cycle of hatred but never truly grasping what those mean
@@Varre922 my favorite example of that is the fight between Gaara and Lee. We're so interested in the question "can hard work beat pure talent?" That we don't consider the morality of training child soldiers untill it ends.
Regarding that hope thingy… I’m currently exploring the boundary between hope and irrational optimism. Currently trying to publish a theater play about Cassandra who has hope until the end to just be heard with her warnings about the Greeks and that wooden horse (but she fails and Troy falls). While I’m waiting for the answer from publishers, I’m musing about writing about the Miracle of house Brandenburg with an irrationally optimistic Frederick the Great who maneuvered himself into a quagmire at Kunersdorf, and after a bunch of flashbacks to other misadventures, a prayer actually causes the director to talk as a deus ex machina to the Austrian and Russian troops so that they do not attack Berlin and Frederick’s ass is saved, leaving behind a totally befuddled general who just a moment ago wanted to make the kind abdicate to save Prussia.
I assume that you learned story writing in college then? I'm curious if what you're saying is that channels like this are a substitute for college. I have my degree in physics and computer science, and while I'll watch math and science channels and sometimes get intuitive insight into certain concepts (3blue1brown's channel being a perfect example for this) I never thought it could replace a physics or math education. On the other hand, I do think there are certain computer science channels and online resources that could teach everything I learned in college for computer science, except perhaps learning to develop software with other people. Where does story writing fall in that regard in your opinion?
I have read quite few books on writing and there are very different approaches to the Theme. However I distilled 4 basic concepts of Theme from them: 1. Theme The theme is the underlying message, central idea, or insight about life that the writer wishes to convey through the story. It is the deeper meaning that gives the story significance beyond the surface events of the plot. Themes often explore universal human experiences and truths, and they are expressed through the actions, decisions, and growth of the characters, particularly the protagonist. The theme is what the writer wants the audience to take away and reflect upon after reading the story. 2. Thematic Question A thematic question is an open-ended query that the story raises about its central theme. It invites readers to explore and contemplate the deeper implications of the theme by challenging them to consider broader philosophical or moral issues related to the story’s narrative. Thematic questions often address the core concerns or conflicts presented in the story and prompt readers to reflect on their own beliefs and values in relation to these issues. They serve as a tool for engaging the audience in a deeper analysis of the theme, encouraging critical thinking and personal connection to the story's underlying message. 3. Thematic Principle The thematic principle is the foundational idea or concept that underlies the theme of the story. It’s a statement or question that encapsulates the story's thematic essence and guides the development of the plot and character arcs. This principle is the core truth or the main philosophical point the story is trying to make. It serves as a beacon for the narrative, ensuring that all elements of the story are aligned with the intended message or insight the author wishes to convey. 4. Thematic Metaphor A thematic metaphor is a symbolic representation that conveys the theme of the story in a more abstract and visual manner. It is an image, object, or scenario within the story that stands for a larger, often more complex, thematic idea. This metaphor helps to illustrate and reinforce the theme through symbolism and can be woven into various elements of the plot, setting, or character actions. Thematic metaphors provide a concrete way to explore and express abstract thematic concepts, making the theme more accessible and resonant for the audience.
10:54 and actually that explains why a lot of hallmark style movies are so boring. they either don't ask a question, or ask such an obvious one it can be answered in a sentence. which is a shame because there is a something that could be asked about relationships and keep with their tone (like can a long abandon relationship be revived?), but they clearly refuse to go that route.
I dont know, but at 4:20 if you remove "justifiable murder" you have the pretty good theme of police incompetency and malice, rather realistic one too. There are plenty of "questions" you could have as the theme, "is the police a necessary evil", "is there such a thing as a good cop, if the institution ...", etc
I've been working on a book series that covers themes like virture and vice, nature and nurture, freedom and what we do with it, and failure and how to move on and grow from it. But I never thought about theme as a question. So this has been a big help and given me a lot to think about for when I start writing each book and finding focus. Especially since I'm about to start writing the first one soon. Hopefully it goes well
I have a lil thing that might spice your stuff up if you want it: mixed dichotomies Vice and nurture Vice and nature Virtue and nurture Virtue and nature I feel those 4 mixed dichotomies ask some really interesting things, thought I'd share this random thought i had, might be interesting to explore those too
@@orbismworldbuilding8428 I do have the themes of virtue/vice and nature/nurture interact and mingle with each other, but I never thought about mixing them like that. That's interesting food for thought
I disagree that theme is always necessary. For example, mystery/detective stories don't always have a theme. Forgive me, but I really can't find a theme in Murder on the Orient Express. At best, it'd be "good triumphs over evil", because I think "past misdeeds come back to haunt you" is really too far of a stretch to call it a core part of the story; in which case then at the very least, simple themes can still do wonders (but I really don't think that should be considered a theme. Man, it would've been nice if TheCloserLook defined "theme") Personally, I think that theme is just a really convenient way to make the ending feel impactful and for the story to feel complete; but there are still other ways in my opinion, such as the mystery stories' trope of The Big Reveal. I'm sure there are more ways that I'm not currently able to think of.
I'd love to see you speak further on more unconventional stories or genre specific stories like horror and how to write within that genre. Most of what you've covered is perfect for epics and straightforward films but I think you'd make a very compelling essay about why The Shining or more recently Beau is Afraid are compelling/interesting. *I'm aware of your How to Terrify your audience video btw and it's great* but just more about writing out of the norm stories. Love your channel and am always happy to see new posts from you, this new one is one of my favorites you've ever posted
I loved Asteroid City, I wonder is it fits this criteria? There are a ton of different themes in that film, but somehow all of them fit together to make a very visceral feeling. I’m wondering how that works so well.
To be clear, I don’t think the video was saying you can’t deal with multiple themes. They just all need to be fully fleshed out questions so that it doesn’t just become a big sludge of topics arbitrarily vying for attention. Having an overarching theme that subthemes work toward answering is also a good idea, since it gives you a reason for multiple themes (not necessarily the only way to do that, though).
I'm honestly shocked to hear you went with Identity as your 'theme' originally because its such a broad topic with all too much to say - the same can be said for the conceptual 'justice' theme, too. Its humbling to be reminded that even those I put on pedestals make mistakes, and I'm glad you found a way to learn from it and shared it with us all! Theme has always been about specifics, at least for me. You can put a broad umbrella word as a catch-all term, but good media and stories with great themes have a way of being more than just a buzzword topic, you know? It should always illicit an idea that provokes thought, as well as an answer to that idea, that 'question' if you will. Even if you don't agree with the way a theme is discussed by the media's narrative, at least it speaks for itself and doesn't require you to answer the question for it. Granted, this can work in certain scenarios, but thats a difficult thing to do.
Dude... had to pause your video as soon as I saw your face. Just wanted to tell you that you look amazing!!! You changed your look and it suits you! And now I will return to watching your video.
I've seen this video twice now a few months apart while ruminating on a story idea. Before my first watch, my theme was: "Class, gender and power." Just vague topics with a guiding influence from The Ship of Theseus and The King in Yellow. After my first watch, the theme grew into: "What is the value of a human life." Still broad but with more shape. Now with this most recent listen, I have a much more refined and finalized theme that people can actually take sides on: "Can anyone escape the corrupting influence of power?" The answer is obviously no but I think it can make for a good exploration into horror and I'm far more excited to write THIS iteration of the story. Thank you so much!
I have a question: What if your story has multiple genres in one? For example, you wanted to write a story with a lot of action and fantasy that explored the theme of "Can there truly be a person who is powerful enough to conquer all?" That theme would be the main, overarching theme throughout the series and there would be characters who disagree (protagonist) and do agree (antagonist). However, as the characters begin on their journey to try and stop the villain, there is a some romance involved and you wanted to explore the theme of "Can love be a manipulation?" or "Can you tell the difference between true love and fake love?" or "Can fake love turn to true love?" You would only be exploring one of these of course. (These questions would also make sense considering the world that this takes place in.) But is there a way to have smaller hidden themes while still looking at the big main theme? Is there a way that I can do it that it wouldn't be too much? Could I take those smaller themes that are part of the story plot, but is technically a part of a different topic than the main theme, and still explore that smaller theme in my story while at the same time explore the overarching main theme? I would probably explore the smaller theme very subtly and not have a whole "yes or no" side, but more of a thought-provoking question that leaves the characters in confusion. It would maybe even change their perception of the world a bit. More character-arc kind of things. I don't know, it's hard to explain without giving context or tell you my entire story, but I just had that thought.
an interesting piece of advice i found is that a theme can also just be a topic that the text interacts with. it's not necessarily a question but more so a dissection or observation of the themes presence in the story
I normally watch this channel for help with my scripts but this one really helped with my schoolwork. I’m meant to be comparing two novels on how they present a theme and I picked the creation of evil. It was so vague and overwhelming that it really sent me. Expanding on one of the sub-themes of evil however has helped a hell of a lot so thanks!
I disagree that Harold should have to get rid of two of his main ideas, when he could find a way to tie them all together. For example, one of Genshin Impact’s story quests talks about events from a long time ago, with these humanoid creatures called Melusines being integrated into the nation of Fontaine. However, most humans were fearful of Melusines and despised that many of them were part of Fontaine’s detective agencies. One of these Melusines, Carole, had a human cop partner named Vautrin, who was supportive of Melusines but skeptical that they could integrate with human society. One day, a group of humans had the idea to commit a murder and frame Carole for the crime. This caused massive riots throughout the city, and the police couldn’t restore order. The only thing that quelled the riot was when Carole committed suicide to make the rioters believe that justice was served. Vautrin was heartbroken by this. Using his contacts in the police force, he gathered a list of known extremists who likely caused the framing of Carole, and killed them all. Vautrin was sentenced to life in prison despite the crowd thinking that he was justified in his actions. Vautrin pretended to be furious at his friend sentencing him, but he actually accepted what would happen and knew that it was the best course of action. That questline in Genshin is amazing, and it handles all three of those main points Harold had amazingly, without having to exclude any of them. In addition, it asks the question: What good is a system of justice if it ignores corruption of those in power, while punishing those who fight back against them?
i agree it can work in something like that but if you have a single standalone work i think it’s often better to zoom in on a smaller perspective so it has more impact
@@princessyasmin94 that's completely bullshit. You don't need to explore only a single topic for any story, you just need to write it well. Harold's story, as an example, could involve a man being tried for the murder of someone that set up someone else for a horrible crime, say r*pe, and exploring the consequences of that. The falsely accused can't prove they didn't do it now, the bad guy is dead and has thus received justice, and now the question is if the main character should be punished for his actions. See? It's easy.
The point is not that “all movies have to be a single theme.” The point is you should be able to distill your story into a central theme that drives the story. Harold’s story from the sound of it equally paid attention to all 3 themes that are quite distinct. The writing process will be easier and the story will be stronger if he chooses one theme to focus on, but use those other themes as supporting elements. Shawshank has themes of injustice, friendship, etc. but all of them relate back to the central theme of can hope survive in a dire situation. It’s the same as how your protagonist can have various character flaws but there has to be one central flaw that drives the story, the lie that they cling to so that the world makes sense
@@vyor8837even in that, the best story is one that focuses on one idea. In To Kill A Mockingbird, Atticus believes that good usually wins out in the end. There’s themes of innocent people being framed, guilty people getting away with crimes, etc. but you can boil down almost every aspect of the story as an answer to “does good really triumph over evil?” and its much stronger
As a pantser, this video was beyond helpful! it Gave me a new scope to analyze all of my current work to help trim the fat and refine what my characters SHOULD want within my world building and plot. I kept basing wants off of the happenings of the story, yet the take of "beliefs + thematic question = wants" really helps solidify what each character should be focusing on.
Thank you. This really helps with the story I'm writing. It revolves around the theme of obligation, and asked the questions "What do we owe to society, what do we owe to our family, and what do we owe to ourselves?" Essentially, my protagonist is a man whose son has become a serial killer, and bcuse he loves him, and needs to keep him secret, he's burning himself out to try and help his son get away with his crimes. I've done a lot with this premise, and I love the outline, but this video has helped me a lot.
You should absolutely study the Greek play Antigone. It deals with a very similar theme. You've picked a great theme, though perhaps you can refine it ever so slightly. Duty to society and duty to family are two diametrically opposed things. Often we must choose which of the two we want to side with. Perhaps frame your story as the question "Is it better to be loyal to your family, or be loyal to your society?" Antigone asks such a question, and it's honestly a brilliant story.
@TheCloserLook if I'm not mistaken, that's the story of the daughter of Oedipus? I have read Oedipus Rex and found it fascinating, but I'll have to have a little look at Antigone. Thank you for helping me frame it properly as a question. Your videos have been incredibly useful to me because, on one hand, I enjoy the rantings of cynical Englishmen, and on the other hand, because I've grown so much as a writer since. I used to be a pantser, and I'd just scribble out one draft of abominable fanfiction which looked impressive thanks to the right powers of eloquence, but had no real arcs for the characters. Now I spend weeks, even months plotting out my stories beforehand to try and make them as well fleshed out as possible. My writing has been exponentially better for it, and I have you in a great part to thank for that! Also, now that you've reached 1Million subscribers (congratulations on that milestone, well deserved), will you still be releasing that old film you foreshadowed in your review of Blunder Woman 1984?
Lovely video, and a really simple but effective way to narrow down on theme. I like to write character arcs by pinpointing how honestly each one answers different aspects of the theme question, and then whether they are able to accept the lies they tell themself to let go of that aspect of the belief or go deeper into their own self-deception.
The way I learned theme from another TH-camr I wish I could remember their name but this has helped me actually like my writing for example; The Truth? You matter(the secret truth your MC ignores or is ignorant to) The Misbelief/Lie? You DONT matter (this is what your MC believes) The Origin of the Lie? What is the moment that leads the character to believe this lie? Maybe they were abandoned. The Patterns? Your MC acting on the lie rather than being vulnerable to the truth. They may not allow themselves to be loved or love another in return? They often leave people before they have a chance to hurt them. The truth? The big moment. This is what you have waited for, your character no longer fears and is unable to escape this truth. Whether it's an action they have made or an action of another. I think there's other steps but that's about it. I've done it for my story and I find it very useful and helpful, simple yet impactful.
discovered this account like 2 days ago, watched a few videos, and damn, they really are helpful. not that i've worked on it very much but the comic i would love to publish is super weak on account of the fact that its simply just missing so many things but i already got several ideas on how to improve the worldbuilding and just the story in general lol
This makes me think about the vanderhoven starship troopers movie He had a theme of dictatorship but he failed because what he portrayed was ultimately easily justified by interspecies war of existence and an apparently high standard of living among other things It created a mess that made the society depicted look mostly free, and allowed for an unending debate til this day where people argue that a variant of the SST govt is their preferred state
If the theme was dictatorship, vanderhoven failed more completely than I thought. I’m not sure I ever caught a theme from the movie, but I was a fan of the book and it had themes of “what does citizenship require “ and “why should a person fight in war”. Vanderhoven was using the trappings of the book to talk about American militarism and propaganda.
All those huge fleets and space stations covered in guns, and yet it all gets conveniently defeated by a rock and Buenos Aires destroyed (to motivate war support).
I like to picture this central thematic argument/sentence as an affirmation in the case of a short story, and as a question with multiple answers for a long story. For example: "Power corrupts absolutely, even when placed in the hands of a wise, compassionate person surrounded by good people." => It suits a short fiction as it is not about exploring the multiple facets and implications of the central argument, but to depict it clearly, not wasting time and space by limiting your writing to this self-contained, clear-cut framework, and to deliver on core thematic impact all the way through in a condensed manner. "When given enough power, does a person always turn out wrong no matter the circumstances, forsaking his values in the pursuit of maintaining his position and gaining more power?" => Here, it's all about exploring in detail the different facets, implications and details of the argument. The one thing to keep in mind is to structure your work in order for it to progress towards some sort of thematic resolution: basically, it's installing one major affirmation (one major answer to the big thematic question) for each arc/book/movie while laying out details, nuances and contradictions to that statement along the way (for instance, answering some minor questions related to different terms or parts of the main argument through short story beats or secondary/tertiary characters). We can structure it like an essay using the dialectical thesis-antithesis-synthesis (yes-no-maybe/yes-no-yes&no)(regarding the argument I put as an example, the "yes" would be: "Power corrupts absolutely, even when placed in the hands of a wise, compassionate person"), but you can do it in a more blended and intersectional way although it requires more skill to do that with clarity and efficiency. Edit: typo
I truly appreciate not only your intense attention to detail, but also your humility in using yourself as an example. Too many writers these days lack humility which is evident in the garbage churned out these days and lends you the authenticity that compels me to really pay attention and, yes, take notes on your videos. Thank you very much and please keep up the excellent work! ❤
You say that but there's also a very clear air of authority throughout the entire video afterwards, making definitive statement upon definitive statement, you MUST write like this or you WILL fail, only stick to this ONE method or you're doing it wrong in a highly creative field where I think it's reasonable to say it's fairly understood there's almost never a single standardized method of doing things
I'd like to see a youtuber discussing scenarios where popular stories arguably don't have any central theme at all. What happens if it's a "plot oriented" story focused on pacing and intrigue? Where it wants to explore a cool idea, rather than challenge a belief?
Those stories aren’t real and don’t exist. Even if a story isn’t written with a blatant theme, the theme will come out of what is made. Theme is the most important part of a story
@@dope8878 What makes me nervous if I've been in the position where no obvious themes have popped out, and I've had to wrack my brains to think of an arc to give my lead. I typically focus on short stories that're written with a "What's gonna happen next?" sort of intrigue, and I'm usually completely for specific things this would change about my protagonist.
If you don't intentionally include a theme all that means is that you unintentionally did. You think you're just falling back to the default not realizing there is no universally accepted 'default.' That interpretation will then say a lot about who you are and the assumptions that guide you.
@@josephmatthews7698 this one million percent. It’s sort of impossible to not have some sort of theme come out of your work if you have a finished product. It’s just if you don’t agree with your theme, then the work will suffer for it, and others reading it will notice as well.
There is always a theme. If you don’t have a theme, you don’t have a conflict and vice versa. There is no story out there with conflict that doesn’t have a theme. It’s not always very prominent but it exists bc conflict is spawned by theme
I love the way you explained this. Back in my high school English class, we were told that themes were much more specific than topics, but we weren't given much guidance in trying to identify them. I remember struggling a bit in that regard as a result, even though I did well in English as a subject. This taught me more about working with themes in 23 minutes than that class did in a semester.
This is one of the best essays about theme I've ever seen. GREAT job! And thanks to you, I now understand that subconsciously I've been doing all you've said, like giving different characters opposing beliefs and testing their ideologies. I'm currently writing a YA book with the themes of should evil be given a second chance and is is based on your upbringing or is part of you. I'll definitely use your tips to tighten it up.
You said you outline all your stories. I think it could be great if you would describe how you go about this before you start writing. This is the main thing I struggle with, I want to write but I feel like I need an outline before I can properly start but then I get overwhelmed because there is so much to take into account.
It's like feature creep. Learn to trim back. I write my grand statement on a giant pieceo of paper. One sentence max. Like: An impoverished father's anxieties of raising a daughter in the modern world explored through the zombie apocalypse. I write each story beat in three sentences on the blank side of a note card (set up/pay off/take away) On the lined side I list tidbits the reader may or may not know, twists, lore etc. Example: "While trying to give her a joyful experience similar to his own childhood at a playground they are ambushed by the dead. 2. He teaches her how to kill the dead instead, if she can't survive - does anything else matter? To his surprise she enjoys this and they bond. 3. Is he raising a monster? (On back) Find wounded bunny, she takes out her knife to kill, skin and clean it. Father is shocked and suggests they nurse it back to health instead. Daughter is annoyed, food is more important. They reach a compromise by nursing the bunny back and treating it as a lesson in first aid. Father hopes she will learn compassion and grow attached. Daughter intends to fatten it for better eating later. (In a world so cruel is survival even worthwhile ?) Then order them while lasering in on whether or not I can tie each card back to the grand mission statement. Any I cannot are throw away. The writing begins Feel free to stral this but youll almost certainly develop your own methods eventually.
There is a possibility that you are one of those writers who doesn’t benefit from outlines. It’s not that weird and many great writers don’t use outlines for example, Stephen King. I also don’t use outlines HOWEVER I always am planning out stories in my head as I am writing. I don’t use outlines, but I know exactly where I want to go and that stops me from blabbering on bc I have everything set in my head. It lets me improvise where I think I write best but it also keeps me on the path of the story. Although I am no professional and apparently, this thing I do is rlly weird. Ppl usually either improvise completely or write an outline FROM WHAT I’VE HEARD and it makes sense I guess I mean idk how I am able to remember all the stories I am writing without writing them like I have 25+ books in my head that have yet to get put on paper but I know exactly where all of them will go so take what I say with a grain of salt
This is my favourite way to plan out a story. It would not only focus on the central theme I wanted, but also introduce other themes and their relationship with the core theme. For example, I could start at the topic of identity, focus it down into a topic of nature vs nurture, and then break it down even further. However, it is a waste of time and in the end you'll either be way too focused in the theme you wanted to do, or you'll not do enough breaking down and end up being way too broad. With the question-answer approach, a question I can ask would be "How much does your childhood upbringing affect the way you act in the present". Now we can get many answers that can be manifested into characters and worldbuilding. Even at its very simplest, we can get 4 perspectives: Good upbringing and nature, Good upbringing but bad nature, Bad upbringing but good nature, and Bad upbringing and nature. There are loads of stories that do very similar questions with similar answers; so to be more unique you can add onto this core question either with an addenum or answering an entirely new but related question. For example, "How does upbringing affect people's perception of their gender?"
This was a useful video since im currently working on my themes and this does fit in nicely as a step to my process. For me its really important to look for theme "halfway down" like, if im startj g with "i wanna write about x" i tend to limit myself- but you cant really not do theme, as mentioned. So i tend to focus on worldbuilding and characterization, get a few key scenes in mind. Then take a step back and look for the common thread. Or with this mindset look for the question that keeps being asked. Then figure out how many ways you can answer the question. I also write with a lot of symbolism though, so my themes are layered on like coatings of semitransparent paint. They all build to a bigger picture.
I think another way to think of theme is as a 'VS' between two conflicting ideas. For example 'Hope VS Despair' in Shawshank Redemption, 'Law & Order VS Chaos' in TDK.
Yes, but I feel like that’s more of an incidental analytical tool rather than how the story was written. It’s good analyzing advice, but not writing advice (at least not as the primary method). That kind of vs statement is still general enough to fall into the trap of creating a patchwork story of events that evoke different aspects of a topic. The conflict more likely arises from the fleshed out themes being explored naturally like the video explained (the story “writing itself” based on a question).
Not every story is a concept piece. I think you're getting tunnel vision about the purpose of narrative. Some have more in common with a painting or a song. They convey what cannot be stated, otherwise it might have been better to just write an essay.
Thank you so much for this video!! I was struggling with whether I was writing my stories right or not (and currently struggling with applying a theme to a new idea I have), and writing down a main question for each story and what answer each character represents made a lot of things so much clearer!
I have a question: While watching this video, I applied the "theme in the form of a question" method to a few of my ideas, and a few times a question beginning with "What happens when..." came up. Is this also a valid type of question to use?
It can be, but you've got to be absolutely sure you've refined your theme down into it's purest form. If you have a theme such as "What happens when an average joe is made king of a nation?" that is a question that can be refined even further into the question "Is power inherently corrupting?" Being as precise and refined as possible with your theme is pretty important as if you fail to do it, it'll be like building a machine with an incorrect blueprint, and you're ideas won't resonate as well.
You have saved me big time I was spending ages trying to start up a story which involved magic and superpowers but it lacked any depth but this video has really helped me give it more of a purpose and underlying plot
What would a fun story look like to you? Even children's books have lessons. And people will always have their inturpertation from authors' intentions.
Every story has a purpose, even if you haven’t noticed. It’s really difficult topic because there’s a lot of media when theme is too forced or executed bad but on the other side of spectrum, if you don’t think about themes story could be messy and not interesting (like explained in this video)
A fun story without "theme" still has one, just not one that the writer noticed. At least if it's one grabbing attention. Even if that theme is a simple exploration of *this* human.
This inspires me to start working on the novel I haven't been able to start. I've got a really cool world in my head but I've never seriously written anything. Now I feel like I can get started with some short stories within the world testing different thematic cohesions and build from there. I really appreciate how concise and helpful your advice is!
Loved this video a lot as not an aspiring writer, but a visual arts student dabbling in creative writing with a few original characters and worldbuilding. Decided to finally get a Nebula account to see more of this =) Your content might be on the niche side but it's reached the right audience for sure - thanks for your work!
John Truby poses the thematic statement but I like your idea of the question more. It' much more active and inspires thought and debate. Great work. Helped me a lot.
I wish more creators, particularity writers, were as open about their experiences, especially their mistakes as you are, Henry. As you told “Howard’s” story it occurred to me that I went through almost the exact same journey with my book and I now believe wholeheartedly that if you learn how to approach theme the right way, the rest of the story(to a certain degree) writes itself. A brilliant lesson with a brilliant execution. I think this may be your greatest, certainly your most important video of all.
this is absolutely the best writing “tip” i have ever encountered. I was becoming wildly overwhelmed with my current story will so many subjects to tackle while treating my theme as a wide topic I now have a much more focused idea on what I want this to be about. thank you for posting
I'm not kidding when I say that I was just wondering about the themes of a story I'm working on when BAM! This video shows up. This video not only was extremely helpful, but it helped me with improvising my story. I had trouble deciding on what "topics" to focus on, but by seeing my stories' theme as questions, mine being about trust as freedom, it made my planning a whole lot easier, and I'm gonna continue working on it! Thanks so much, The Closer Look! (Oh, this is unrelated, but I wanted you ask this: I was watching your Wonder Woman video, and around halfway through, you mentioned that you were planning to release a first screenplay that you wrote and filmed when you hit 1 million subs, and I was wondering if this was put on any of the streaming platforms you've mentioned before or not. Again, this is unrelated, it's just something I'm definitely interested in. Either way, both this and that video are great!)
Yeah, I'll release that one day. The issues is partly because of cringe, but mostly because all I ever really talk about in videos of my writing is failures, as they are where I learn the most useful lessons. If I carry on only talking about the bad things I've done, I fear it might impact my image. I will release it one day, but probably after I publish my debut novel.
@@TheCloserLook Totally understand. With how much effort you put into the analysis of writing, I bet your novel will be great! Keep up the great content man!
"Where Love can lead?" Could easily be a theme for my first book im working on because most main events have a similar showing of Love either being gained, lost, or ignored and what consequences follow. Most are not very pretty situations but the protag uses his Love for several characters that he cherishes and/or lost lead him to a better path. "Justice and/or Vengeance" Could also be a theme due to a love lost leading to a desperate arc of vengeance with no clear target and consequently leads to horrible betrayal due to a blind sense of justice fed to several people by a cruel and corrupt group. The Mc is hurt the worst by this group as he discovers the lies behind this groups words and pays for it as he tries to take them on alone.
Currently I'm GMing a Cities Without Number cyberpunk dystopia, and the book recommends picking a theme for your world. So I picked "Escapism" thinking I could have gangs with aesthetics based on old films, many people addicted to drugs and simulations to escape the despair of the real world, and making the starting district an entertainment district where movies and pop stars are made. All this came quite naturally, but when I went to make missions within this world, I have found it quite difficult to create missions that aren't just parades of set pieces that help one Corp or another. This video made it click that each chain of missions could have a question like this, and that opposing parties should have different answers to this question rather than just different wants!
I don't know if anyone knows John Truby but he wrote two books called The Anatomy of Story and The Anatomy of Genre. In the genre book, he talks about how each of the twelve major Genres give their own basic themes of how these world works and how a writer can interpret them. They all have their own associated goals and themes a writer can use to build off of. However, the conflict is unique to the writer. An example would be the Shawshank Redemeption as it is a crime story so its theme is about justice but the conflict and eventually resolution that gets us to that theme line is hope versus despair. Horror: Desire Line: To escape a monster Theme Line: Something about confronting death Ex. Jaws Action: Desire Line: To win a battle/competition Theme Line: Something about the good versus the great Ex. Indiana Jones Myth: Desire Line: To search for something/someone Theme Line: Something about finding purpose Ex. Lord of the Rings Coming-of-age: Desire Line: To become something Theme Line: Something about creating the self Ex. Macbeth Science Ficiton: Desire Line: To create a new world Theme Line: Something about evolving society Ex. Interstellar Crime: Desire Line: To catch a wrongdoer Theme Line: Something about the fight for justice Ex. Se7en Comedy: Desire Line: To lie to others Theme Line: Something about how to treat others Ex. Seinfeld Western: Desire Line: To find a home Theme Line: Something about creating a home for others Ex. The Mandolorian Gangster: Desire Line: To create an enterprise Theme Line: Something about being enslaved by power Ex. The Godfather Fantasy: Desire Line: To explore a world Theme Line: Something about the art of living Ex. Pleasantville Thriller: Desire Line: To uncover the truth Theme Line: Something about who are true enemies are Ex. Memenoto Love: Desire Line: To fall in love Theme Line: Something about achieving happiness Ex. Romeo and Juliet I apologize if this is a lot I just thought it could be a helpful tool if anyone comes across this.
Great video and good advice. I was struggling with a story idea, but flustered by just too many things I wanted to cover. I had a lot of ideas of theme (as a statement), but rethinking it as a specific question has given me a clearer idea of what, and how, to focus on. thanks.
In my stories, novels and writings, I always make my theme the driving force behind what I want to do with what I'm writing. Without any interesting and complex themes I cannot write, just like with interesting characters and such. Without any of it I'm just writing vaguely interesting ideas and fun concepts down on a page to make a cohesive story that just kinda sorta makes sense, however a story that has no reason to exist and says nothing with its time. I always like to have layers of themes, either two or three, getting vaguer and less specific yet no less intentional and driven as you go down. the most concrete is the first layer, like in a novel I've been writing, the first layer would be "The human capacity to survive pain and trauma, to find peace amidst a world of disorder and chaos", while the second layer would be uncontrolled religious leadership and how they thwart the ideals of the original religion itself, the cost of rebellion, the deep feeling of being lost and lonely, and the moral debate of what's right or wrong in the disestablishment of a corrupt figure or in any such just cause.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! This was incredibly eye-opening for me. "Theme" itself was such a loose, vague term before I watched it, something public school killed my interest in because it sounded too abstract. I've always enjoyed coming up with characters and worlds, but none of my stories held up to my own scrutiny to the point I would want to share them. This new lens to see your own and others' stories through - "what is it asking?" instead of "what is it saying?" or, God forbid, "what is it about?" - really rekindled my interest in trying again.
When I write, I often discover the theme as I’m writing. Then I go back and rearrange everything to focus everything on to that theme. For me, it is so fulfilling to DISCOVER my theme as I write, since it causes me to learn the lessons my stories portray as I write them.
14:02 “If your protagonist undergoes change, look there for the fragments of your theme.” *Yes!!* I don’t know what my theme is but I have a very clear idea for my protagonist’s character development! I’ll use this! Thank you!
Wow thank you so much, you opened my eyes with the "theme as a question" bit! I teach a research methods course and this corresponds to formulating research questions which guide your research - from literature review to data collection and analysis. But I never transferred this idea to creative writing!! It makes so much sense!
![[LIVE] : ONE ลุมพินี 87 วันนี้!! คู่เอก "ก้องชัย vs โชคปรีชา"](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YN6e7HVnekw/mqdefault.jpg)
I hope you found this one useful!
If you'd like to join my Discord server where we chat about our writing projects, workshop ideas, and generally discuss the movies/shows we love, here's a link you can use to join.
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Keep writing!
- Henry
Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeello to everyone to all the ladys, Gentelbros, and everyone in between. Here to wish everyone a good day.
hello, I am trying to learn how to write better, and I have a quick question. Does a story need to have some kind of hidden message behind it? it sounds like that's what you mean when you say theme. I like Tolkien for example, and he didn't really write messages or themes into his stories, and I've really just been trying to emulate that, writing a story for the sake of telling a story without a message or allegory behind it. would you be willing to elaborate on what you mean by theme and if I'm misunderstanding what a theme is?
I found it very useful, very good video
Love your videos man!
I have a question (no pun intended). Is it necessary for me to use this? I'm writing a screenplay that I'm planning to direct, and there are themes, infact multiple themes but they're not questions, they're simply exploration of those themes through the characters. Please tell me what I'm doing right or wrong and how can I fix that.
This is why when I teach students about theme, I tell them it needs to be stated on a complete sentence, not a single word. A theme can’t just be “love,” it needs to be something more like, “Love is the capacity to desire the greatest possible good for another person, including those you find distasteful.”
That's a good way to put it. I'll definitely be using that. I'm a middle childhood education major who'll be teaching English, so I'd definitely find a way to use that.
That's what I tell my students too!
Yeah it’s tough because most themes are listed as a single word, BUT I tell people you’ll notice that most criticisms get quite a bit deeper than just the single word
When I'm teaching theme, I always make my students answer "what about it?" with the topic. Love is a fine topic, but what does the story say about love?
Oh thank you!
To me, Romeo and Juliet is about how feuds, grudges, and rivalries are more than just personal decisions; they take hold and infect generation after generation, poisoning everything.
Further, the conflict can easily spread beyond all control in unexpected ways.
Because of the feud, a single whirlwind romance managed to nearly wipe out two noble familes. How high did the bodycount get again?
As someone who is the second generation of a family feud, it's really sad because my cousins (the other side of the second generation) will likely never meet my kids, and an entire library of stories and experiences have been (in some cases) permanently cut off.
A bit of advice to people getting married: you are marrying the family almost as much are you are marrying your spouse. If they don't like you now, it's going to be a difficult uphill battle to try to change their minds.
That would be a good theme. I don’t respect Romeo and Juliet (as written, not all the adaptations) enough for that. I think the theme of the play is much closer to “breaking social roles for love leads to disaster.” Which is not as timeless and hopeful as one would wish it to be.
Yeah the play literally tells you it's about the destructiveness of the feud. Directly.
That seems to go against what the video is saying. He mentions that a proper theme gives both sides it's due. But if "feuds are bad" is one side of the theme then what would be the other side?
When I was a senior in high school over eleven or twelve years ago, our AP Lit teacher used to hammer home during our analysis essays, that she never wanted to hear the phrase "the theme of this story is" or "the theme of," followed by a single word. The way she used to explain it was basically theme as a thesis: it is a complete statement, an idea that is well-thought out and developed that the author then spends the rest of the story exploring and extrapolating on. To badly paraphrase her words, a theme must be expressed as one (or, ideally more) complete sentence(s), or as you put it, a question to be answered, and never as one single word. If our essays ever tried to express a theme as a singular word it was a good way to take a significant hit to the paper's grade right out of the gate. I've held that lesson close to my heart in my personal fiction writing ever since.
I think Romeo and Juliet became such a famous love story because most people got out of it the message "love is so powerful it persists beyond death" rather than seeing it as a cautionary tale against loving too far
Hmm, I've got the totally different view. As much as I like the death of the author philosophy, there is quite a bit in the text showing how Romeo is a terribly emotional, illogical person who routinely makes poorly thought out decisions, many fuelled by love.
While both interpretations work, there seems to be more credence to the one about love not being able to conquer all.
@@TheCloserLook"Romeo is a terribly emotional, illogical person who routinely makes poorly thought out decisions"
Me irl
@@Orange_Swirl damn Romeo just like me frfr
@@TheCloserLook The prologue has the line "from forth the fatal loins of these two foes, a pair of star cross'd lovers take their live", which seems to indicate that Romeo and Juliet were fated to die anyway due to their circumstances.
@@TheCloserLook I've had a teacher suggest an interpretation of "Our laws (England's laws in Shakespeare's time) that would not allow this secret marriage are better because Juliet would not be faced with the conflict of obedience to parents vs comitting bigamy". That was an interesting lecture.
This is the closest look yet
I will endeavour to look even closer next time.
Closer!!!
Nice seeing u here
@@legowinnertoy sup man
@@TheCloserLook*CSI voice* ENHANCE
I just finished a semester of a personally difficult 200 level college class called "Storytelling:Genre/Theme." Not a single lesson in the entire course was as helpful and insightful as this 20 minute video. Creators like you are why im minoring in creative writing, not these shitty classes.
minoring means university level right? tf you wasting money for if you know this lmao
@@sm42941 well you don't know for sure if a class is good or not until you try it
Yep. When literal Harvard classes are on yt for free, it really takes the wind out of the sails of supposed "advanced university-level" courses. I treat university as purchasing a piece of paper or buying a certification.
It also sucks for non-STEM students because grading is usually so subjective, especially for something like creative writing.
@@tticusFinchBut that’s the thing, you need that piece of paper to get a good job. Your skills aren’t enough anymore, you need that extra “credibility”. It sucks, but sadly that’s the world. Of course you can be successful and have a good life without ever going to uni or college, but its becoming more and more difficult to do so.
A lot of these comments underestimate the power of good teaching. Even if you cam find university level content online, there js still a big difference between trying to learn it yourself, and learning it in a structured way woth expert feedback and teaching. That's not to say that university is always better, but there absolutely is a place for it, and acting like its a "scam" or a waste of time is just as silly as acting like it's the only thing that matters.
I will challenge this a little.
Firstly, it is fine to have a complex series of themes bled into one another, Tolkien has themes (very simplified) around things like the dangers of technology, the importance of myth, the value of the little people, how one man of humble origin can make such a change, the importance of fulfilling lineage, etc. The distinction is that each is full sentence with specific goals and is tied into each other cohesively.
Everything in a story should also play into concepts and ideas you want to portray. There are three things you can generally do in a story: instill an emotion, state something, or ask something of the audience. You can also do things to set presentation but those are a bit more superfluous.
Your central conflict needs to be pretty singular as a focused theme in a rule of thumb, but every character and sentence has a through idea and thus a theme behind it. You can have quite the variety bled into your story. It is incredibly rare any story is purely one thematic idea. Theme is another way of saying an idea and it is the genesis of story.
*The more accurate problem from your description seems to be that you muddled your central conflict and created a bunch of disparate themes that are only superficially tied together rather than integrated in a single narrative (a central conflict/theme). You could get away with such things in something like Pulp Fiction or by making it episodic, but you need ways to intertwine them and properly develop each. You can develop ideas quite densely with efficient use of language implementation extensive subtext and meaning.
**Also the claim that we must explore all directions on a question is incredibly false. A flat villain has many uses, objective evil is a useful tool & there are topics that just have a straight "this is the wrong answer." Set in 1930 Russia or Germany there's not a lot of room for ambiguity on certain topics there for example. That doesn't make them bad. These things are still complex because people, the world, everything is complex. This is just wrong. There are many morally questionable instances in the dog question even.
Yeah, I get a bit dramatic here, but there are absolutely other viable ways to write themes.
At 14:33 I explicitly say you don't need to think of it as a question, just that it's a very effective way to perceive it.
Your not wrong, but if the answers are “word your theme like a question and have one of them” and “just be Tolkien” I know which one I’m aiming for.
what if you want to tell a story that has no actual meaning to it?
Like, sure you can extract stuff from it as a reader
but the writer never intended to write about anything specifically?
@@neededaname I didn't say be just like Tolkien. He's just an immediate example everyone knows. I can also point to the original Star Wars. Boy farmer hero comes from unexpected places. Faith (the Force) vs technology (Death Star), hope vs terror. Themes of friendship and finding meaning there with Han Solo, ideas of maturing and growing up. You can go at the vast majority of stories and find quite the multitude of themes at play even if not consciously considered when writing them. Even Aesop's Fables have a few themes each, Tortise & the Hare has themes not just of slow & steady but pride cometh before the fall & a few other concepts. Is your story more simple & undefined than the Tortise & the Hare? The claim we're past that is wrong, is your story going to last a thousand years?
The easy route rarely gives you the best thing you could have produced. If it's more efficient and reaches the same goal that's one thing but if it loses something by forgoing the attention to detail that's another.
You will always have more than one theme in pretty much anything more complex than the simplest action revenge story and even then most have a few ideas in there. Just don't make it a competition for the central conflict and muddle that in the process, blend them into one narrative.
My goal is an aspiration to reach beyond Tolkien. Doubt I ever will but you'll never get anywhere without aspiring to reach a quality above yourself.
@@johnynoway9127 That's a boring as hell story. It's not even a story, just a series of events. Drier than hundred year old paper.
History books still have themes tying them together, narratives, especially the good ones. You can't write a story without connective ideas. Themes are the genesis and connective tissue of stories.
*adendum: you could potentially do this with video games where the interaction itself forms the story. That's the limit. Interactive mediums, though those too will almost universally have some idea and meaning in them.
The smallest forms of storytelling, like short poems, often are solely explorations on a theme without plot or character. If there is one element necessary to story it is theme, meaning.
Before, my story's theme was simply "Religion." Now it's "What role does God really serve in the grand scheme of the universe?" The good guys believe that the universe was created by God, but it is the actions of the mortals that determine its fate. The bad guys, on the other hand, believe that the universe is controlled by God, and their objective is to conquer the universe and "usurp the throne" in a way.
Hey, same!
Words cannot express how this video has changed my mindset. I've been worldbuilding for over a decade, only because every story I tried to write would become so broad and unfocused. Until this video, I didn't understand why. After finishing this, I was able to hone in on what story I wanted to tell. After all of these years of having cool moments or cool ideas with dozens of unfinished/unpublished works piling up, I found that one of the biggest themes I've been sort of circling around was "Is freedom worth fighting for?" Once that came to mind, EVERYTHING began to fall into place like you said in the video. Thank you so much.
But! Mah’ themes!
This is really similar to LocalScriptMan's approach to writing. He has a lot of great videos about theme-focused writing and using different characters to express different attitudes towards a story's theme. It's a slightly different approach of course, but it's changed how I think about writing and story structure A LOT and I think ties well into the ideas of this video.
LocalScriptMan's every video gives a particular kind of insight into a particular part of screenwriting. Even if you feel you haven't learnt anything from one video another video might open your 3rd eye.
Also came from his channel
Came from that channel
For me personally, a story is like a tree. You can have multiple themes but you need an underlying theme (that's part of the central story) to tie them all into. If your themes are disjointed and disconnected from one another, then it's not going to be as good as when there's a main theme to glue them together.
The theme I have for the first book I’m trying to get published is “can you save everyone?” And I agree fully with making your theme a question. I didn’t even realize how concise and focused the story was. It just naturally moved around that question. I already wrote out the sequel to the book as well and the theme was “when does life get easier?” Which also helped keep my story focused.
Can you have multiple thematic questions you intend to explore in your narrative? I have 4 thematic questions, all themed around the subject of corruption
The first, and most prominent question being: 'Do traumatic experiences justify morally questionable actions, or do they challenge the notion of right and wrong?' My protagonist is on the side of yes to that question, wherea my supporting character (the childhood friend and love interest) takes the opposite stance
@@unicorntomboy9736 i feel like it depends on how related the questions are
@@friedfish6870 They are all very closely related, that explore different facets of the theme
@@unicorntomboy9736 plz keep in mind that I am working to publish one of ky books for the first time so what I am about to say has helped me make books that close friends think are good, but I am not at all a professional. But to answer ur question, I’d say the only way to involve four different “themes” would be to evolve the theme from its starting position. In the sequel book my theme kind of evolves from “when does life get easier?” To “life doesn’t get easier, so what will you do with it?” But that is if your thematic questions are all big enough to be themes themselves. If they are legit just questions then you could easily incorporate them as each being a lesson for your characters to go through. They first answer one question and they become a bit better, then another, and so on. But idk how your book is structured, what it’s truly about, what the plot is, or rlly anything about your book. I hope this helps but at the same time if it doesn’t, I wouldn’t be surprised and sorry if it doesn’t help
i love that question. I've been thinking about this a lot latetly. And its a really tough question to answer for yourself.
You can't save everyone. But, where is the line when you have to decide who to help and who not ?
Its a question i've been struggling with.
Could you post a Link to your Book once you get it published ? I would love to read it :D
Okay, Your big secret at the 5 minute mark completely blew my mind. It's so obvious. I'm writing a story centered around a character who struggles with self-discipline and how their lack of it almost rules her life. Honestly, it never occurred to me to ask how do they gain self-discipline, and it immediately becomes a different story. That... I never would have thought of that myself. There's a like and subscribe for you
Question, did you end up liking the story it became, more? What was your characters tipping point?
@@schoo9256 i looking forward for this answer
The scenario featuring Harold the writer is cartoonishly unrealistic.
Penguin house would never send actual feedback along with their rejections.
😥
@@TheCloserLook On the bright side, you won't get feedback from your crush so it's good practice for that flavor of rejection.
@@ineednochannelyoutube2651you would like getting feedback from a crush?
@@TheCloserLookWhy is “Harold” the Internet Historian?
@@davemccage7918 What?
Yeah, I noticed this too while currently writing my first book/comic script. But I had to opposite: I already had the proper theme, but I was trying to force it into one singular word. Yeah, I could get it into "perseverance", but I already had a perfect "no matter of how dire the circumstance, no matter how hopeless it seems; one should never give up and keep fighting through it." while I contrast it with "sometimes only way to move on is to give up."
Constraints are why I've always loved stories where rules and boundaries are very clearly established especially in fantasy setting, as it makes bending those rules or skirting around them in unique ways VERY satisfying. It's part of why I still love Death Note so much. It asks questions like "how do you find an anonymous person who kills from a distance entirely discretely" and vice versa "how do you stay anonymous and continue your process consistently while under surveillance". They're so dead specific and this cat and mouse makes for some of the most intense tension while the characters are nowhere near each other a good chunk of the time.
It's probably better to think of a theme as more of a thesis statement that may not be explicitly stated but is more than clear when reading.
Thanx for the idea.’ Rules’ of the game is what makes it fun and exciting as it relates to the externals - the plot most noticibly. Now I can apply it systematically to the characters- more internal, now. And the theme, stacked themes.
*PANSTER HERE* Firstly, thanks for addressing us. it's so good to feel appreciated. Honestly, I feel like prioritizing theme doesn't make a story. It just makes a list of events. I find things go better if I write the story I want first and then focus on the more emotional element. Basically theme is a great tool for editing and revising my story once i know my characters better.
I follow the same method too, I like getting to know my characters first and connecting the dots on what they have in common, and letting their shared theme unfold from there.
@Scrofar Precisely!!! All these methods and what not are great, but at the end of the day, storytelling is psychological. Moving stories come from being raw and a little vulnerable with your thoughts. Great stories come from honest and brutal editing later.
Great method! It makessure all the emotions hit, and there's cohesion because of the theme the audience now cares about, because those emotional beats hit well.
For me, when I write, I don't focus on a theme. I have a concept, and I then make a story of that concept, build around it, then at the end, have a look at my work and go "Ah yeah this seems to have X theme!"
I also do that. I feel like if you start with a theme it boxes you in a bit. It makes the story move from a piece of fiction towards an argumentative essay.
I develop a concept, and find topics that fall under that concept and then use those topics to create a theme or multiple themes that connect to the main theme, which is the philosophical concept I developed.
Theme as an emergent property. That’s how I found my theme. I know one is supposed to have one so I saw it there almost from the start and then used it to enhance the plot, and the characters. Everything really cus it’s all interconnected anyway, wouldn’t you agree?
@@mayacollins3447Like an Ayn Rand novel
@@forgotrealname9124” philosophical concept “. The intellectual meat in the bone I find the most interesting. Similar but distinct, it deserves its own category, the theme. That’s why I love Woody Allen films. I only wish he’d do a western. Blazing Nuerosis!
I strongly agree that themes are a question and an answer. To take the original story premise and edit it a bit, I'd just edit the third point to instead be about a police officer committing murder and then trying to get away with it. Thus the question is asked, "What is the commonality of injustice in the system?", and the answer is "The system protects its own, and cares not for what the actual just answer may be". Suddenly you can have these 3 vignettes all tie together into one thematically cohesive picture, with a singular point and central thesis.
I just finished Station Eleven, which somewhat breaks a few of the rules here: it’s actually kind of ambiguous about what it’s saying, and covers quite a few topics: art, survival, the modern world and the apocalypse’s potential for connecting people and sapping them of their potential, memory, identity, performance and privacy, interconnectedness-however, all the themes sort of build upon one another and intersect in interesting ways, and it never feels like it’s “saying too much” since it keeps a lot of these themes subtle, intertwines most of them, and gives a broad sense of potential views without settling on one.
Also helps that Emily St John Mandel was already a published author at this point and could be given more free reign, but it goes to show that while very difficult and tenuous, you can juggle thematic topics and questions (even those with no clear answer) as long as it still feels cohesive
Really have to have mastered something before you can start breaking the rules and making it work
Was St Eleven her debut novel though? I totally agree with you, it's a forceful story
Lord of the Rings breaks rules similarly, there isn't a central theme.
Nah, I just write cool shit happening and enjoy myself. /j
Really good video on themes and you bring up a lot of great points. Handling of themes is honestly what separates amateur from expert fiction.
That being said, I’ve learned that I myself can still enjoy stories that aren’t thematically whole or rich. I read a web novel with nothing but mechs and lesbians fighting alien bugs and enjoyed every moment of it. I’ve also enjoyed critically acclaimed and thematically rich stories as well.
I believe thematic richness is an indicator of quality, but not necessarily enjoyment.
If you wanna write, having an underlying theme can really help glue everything together like starch in baking. But definitely get comfortable and write what you like. Because if you don’t like it, it’ll probably never get done.
If you're writing a novel theming is paramount. When you leave that media - for whatever s
Weird reason - theming is totally optional and only discussed by the hardcore fans of the property
Thank you so much for this video! I'm currently a senior in High School, and after all these years of english classes telling me to write a theme, this is the first time I've understood how. A 20 minute video just covered what 12 years of English classes has failed to teach me. School taught me the "theme is topic" thing and I've never been able to come up with a good theme for anything i've written since. Just during the runtime of this video, I know how to rewrite multiple stories from the last few years with a better theme.
I'm sharing this video with all my friends who like to write. Please, keep up the astounding work you've done in all your videos! You may have just given me my motivation to write back.
My man, this vid has already had a major impact on my WIP. On your advice, I stated my theme as a question, realized how limiting and uninteresting that question was, and asked a more interesting poignant question. This made me see that my current conflict is between factions that disagree as to HOW the past must dictate the future-when a more engaging conflict would over WHETHER the past must dictate the future. So the CORE conflict of my story needs to be between [the few people who want to forget the past and move on] and [the huge factions wrecking the world with their conflict about the past]. So now, the spectacular guns-blazing war being fought between the factions might be the visible conflict, but it’s not the core conflict at the heart of my revised-yesterday story! Thank you!
12:10 Ideological clashes are one of my favorite things to write about, as well as to read/write. It's the reason the Japanese writer Gen Urobuchi is one of my favorites writers, because fascinating ideological clashes oozes in every part of all of his stories.
I went to look him up and realised he created Madoka Magicka. Time to binge everything he's ever done.
@@schoo9256 Watch Kamen Rider Gaim, actually... throw in Kamen Rider Ryuki in there too, it's Madoka Magicka's main inspiration.
Another certified hood classic
Thank you so much for this!
I was once told that within an epic fantasy novel with multiple character POV's, I was told that each character should have it's own "minor theme" while having an overarching "major" theme to tie them together. It sounds ideal, but it also sounds very complicated. Maybe too complicated.
I think whoever gave that advice was going about it wrong. That's a viable way to write an epic story, but it's one of many ways. You can absolutely have separate characters have separate themes, and there isn't that much binding them, yet it will still be a great story. The Way of Kings is like that.
If you wanted to go for that approach though, you've just got to come up with the right theme for your grand plot, one that lends itself to multiple perspectives and arcs. It's up to your process how you arrive to it. Perhaps look at your characters and ask what is an issue they all struggle with in their own unique ways. If there isn't one, you'll need to tweak your characters so there is.
Remember that a character's arc and the theme are practically synonymous. It's useful to remember that when refining this stuff.
I haven’t ever published a book yet so take what I say with a grain of salt but I did this with a book (I shared it with 6 ppl and they all loved it and three of them were acquaintances so it can’t be that bad but I’m still nonprofessional) and what I did is I thought of how my theme could be interpreted in different ways and incorporated that in my characters. The theme was “when does life get easier” and one of the characters learned that lesson that it doesn’t and that’s okay while another character learned that life may be difficult, but it is no excuse to not do what needs to be done. Then another character learned that you aren’t defined by the difficulty in your life, you’re defined by how you react to it and that is how you make your life quite on quote “easier” it’s three interpretations of the same themes and this worked for me bc my characters are all so different from each other mainly but again, I am NOT a professional. I am just now trying to get a book published for the first time. I am no genius, I am just sharing what has worked for me.
A useful way to deal with theme in a large cast is to present it as a question, and then every major character represents a different answer. That way you can build diverse personalities and backgrounds while maintaining cohesion of narrative. In fact once you flesh out the individual characters, they will each in turn present new questions or challenges, which easily turn into subplots. Suddenly you've got a layered plot and themes all at once
I absolutely adore this channel. It’s one of the better writing-based ones I’ve come across.
Just some extra advice since I am also a writer.
If you are writing a story that has multiple themes, make sure not only to give an in-depth exploration to those themes but to connect those themes as well.
To give example, I think Naruto does a fantastic job at this. One of the central themes of Naruto is the question of is it possible to change one's own destiny. Another one is how do we end the Cycle of Hatred? Now the story weaves these two themes together in many ways but for the sake of time, I'm just going to talk about Naruto and Sasuke.
Spoilers alert for those who haven't watch Naruto but Naruto and Sasuke are the reincarnations of The Sage of the Six paths sons. Every time these brothers reincarnated , they would end fighting and killing each other, creating an endless cycle of violence and hatred. As such, Naruto and Sasuke were destined to fight and die at the hands of the other being apart of this cycle but because Naruto never gave up, understood, and showed compassion and empathy to Sasuke, he was able to break the cycle of violence and ultimately overcome the destiny laid for them.
Now I am very much simplifying something that is way more complex but the point is I think the reason why the relationship between Naruto and Sasuke is one of the most iconic dichotomy is because it ties in all of the stories themes and ideas together.
In short, if you can weave your themes and messages together, you are on the cusp of telling truely brilliant stories.
I would not use Naruto as an example as many of the characters end up following their destiny the exception being Sasuke as being an enemy against Naruto. But everything is pretty much set up for the characters from the beginning and this the destiny theme is barely explored outside of base Naruto. The hatred cycle is also shallow but for a different reason. The only character that presents a good argument for it is Pain and he doesn’t state ulterior motives for his revenge. All the other villains though just want an excuse to murder people sasuke included. Overall the manga is a lot like Harold’s story exploring subjects like destiny and the cycle of hatred but never truly grasping what those mean
@@ethanspicer3471 I strongly disagree actually
Naruto does a damn fine job but I don't feel like arguing.
@@Varre922 my favorite example of that is the fight between Gaara and Lee. We're so interested in the question "can hard work beat pure talent?" That we don't consider the morality of training child soldiers untill it ends.
If vsauce was a writer
Huh, now I can see the resemblance
...I think vsauce may write. I could be mistaken, but many video content producers do that.
Regarding that hope thingy… I’m currently exploring the boundary between hope and irrational optimism. Currently trying to publish a theater play about Cassandra who has hope until the end to just be heard with her warnings about the Greeks and that wooden horse (but she fails and Troy falls). While I’m waiting for the answer from publishers, I’m musing about writing about the Miracle of house Brandenburg with an irrationally optimistic Frederick the Great who maneuvered himself into a quagmire at Kunersdorf, and after a bunch of flashbacks to other misadventures, a prayer actually causes the director to talk as a deus ex machina to the Austrian and Russian troops so that they do not attack Berlin and Frederick’s ass is saved, leaving behind a totally befuddled general who just a moment ago wanted to make the kind abdicate to save Prussia.
Both of these sound very interesting.
Feel like this channel gives me more helpful information than college ever gave me
Thanks!
I assume that you learned story writing in college then? I'm curious if what you're saying is that channels like this are a substitute for college. I have my degree in physics and computer science, and while I'll watch math and science channels and sometimes get intuitive insight into certain concepts (3blue1brown's channel being a perfect example for this) I never thought it could replace a physics or math education. On the other hand, I do think there are certain computer science channels and online resources that could teach everything I learned in college for computer science, except perhaps learning to develop software with other people. Where does story writing fall in that regard in your opinion?
I learned a shitload in college and got on fantastic with my English professor but I adore this channel. I ALWAYS learn something new from it.
@@Alexander_Grant I'm sure he is talking about this particular channel
@@issacclarke4194 Well, yeah, I just mean does a channel like this give the same information as a formal degree in the subject.
I have read quite few books on writing and there are very different approaches to the Theme. However I distilled 4 basic concepts of Theme from them:
1. Theme
The theme is the underlying message, central idea, or insight about life that the writer wishes to convey through the story. It is the deeper meaning that gives the story significance beyond the surface events of the plot. Themes often explore universal human experiences and truths, and they are expressed through the actions, decisions, and growth of the characters, particularly the protagonist. The theme is what the writer wants the audience to take away and reflect upon after reading the story.
2. Thematic Question
A thematic question is an open-ended query that the story raises about its central theme. It invites readers to explore and contemplate the deeper implications of the theme by challenging them to consider broader philosophical or moral issues related to the story’s narrative. Thematic questions often address the core concerns or conflicts presented in the story and prompt readers to reflect on their own beliefs and values in relation to these issues. They serve as a tool for engaging the audience in a deeper analysis of the theme, encouraging critical thinking and personal connection to the story's underlying message.
3. Thematic Principle
The thematic principle is the foundational idea or concept that underlies the theme of the story. It’s a statement or question that encapsulates the story's thematic essence and guides the development of the plot and character arcs. This principle is the core truth or the main philosophical point the story is trying to make. It serves as a beacon for the narrative, ensuring that all elements of the story are aligned with the intended message or insight the author wishes to convey.
4. Thematic Metaphor
A thematic metaphor is a symbolic representation that conveys the theme of the story in a more abstract and visual manner. It is an image, object, or scenario within the story that stands for a larger, often more complex, thematic idea. This metaphor helps to illustrate and reinforce the theme through symbolism and can be woven into various elements of the plot, setting, or character actions. Thematic metaphors provide a concrete way to explore and express abstract thematic concepts, making the theme more accessible and resonant for the audience.
0:40 I can feel the blandness already.
10:54 and actually that explains why a lot of hallmark style movies are so boring. they either don't ask a question, or ask such an obvious one it can be answered in a sentence.
which is a shame because there is a something that could be asked about relationships and keep with their tone (like can a long abandon relationship be revived?), but they clearly refuse to go that route.
I dont know, but at 4:20 if you remove "justifiable murder" you have the pretty good theme of police incompetency and malice, rather realistic one too.
There are plenty of "questions" you could have as the theme, "is the police a necessary evil", "is there such a thing as a good cop, if the institution ...", etc
1:50 I wish publishers offered advice and critique beyond "you should self-publish"
I've been working on a book series that covers themes like virture and vice, nature and nurture, freedom and what we do with it, and failure and how to move on and grow from it. But I never thought about theme as a question. So this has been a big help and given me a lot to think about for when I start writing each book and finding focus. Especially since I'm about to start writing the first one soon. Hopefully it goes well
I have a lil thing that might spice your stuff up if you want it: mixed dichotomies
Vice and nurture
Vice and nature
Virtue and nurture
Virtue and nature
I feel those 4 mixed dichotomies ask some really interesting things, thought I'd share this random thought i had, might be interesting to explore those too
@@orbismworldbuilding8428 I do have the themes of virtue/vice and nature/nurture interact and mingle with each other, but I never thought about mixing them like that. That's interesting food for thought
I disagree that theme is always necessary. For example, mystery/detective stories don't always have a theme. Forgive me, but I really can't find a theme in Murder on the Orient Express. At best, it'd be "good triumphs over evil", because I think "past misdeeds come back to haunt you" is really too far of a stretch to call it a core part of the story; in which case then at the very least, simple themes can still do wonders (but I really don't think that should be considered a theme. Man, it would've been nice if TheCloserLook defined "theme")
Personally, I think that theme is just a really convenient way to make the ending feel impactful and for the story to feel complete; but there are still other ways in my opinion, such as the mystery stories' trope of The Big Reveal. I'm sure there are more ways that I'm not currently able to think of.
I'd love to see you speak further on more unconventional stories or genre specific stories like horror and how to write within that genre. Most of what you've covered is perfect for epics and straightforward films but I think you'd make a very compelling essay about why The Shining or more recently Beau is Afraid are compelling/interesting. *I'm aware of your How to Terrify your audience video btw and it's great* but just more about writing out of the norm stories. Love your channel and am always happy to see new posts from you, this new one is one of my favorites you've ever posted
I loved Asteroid City, I wonder is it fits this criteria? There are a ton of different themes in that film, but somehow all of them fit together to make a very visceral feeling. I’m wondering how that works so well.
To be clear, I don’t think the video was saying you can’t deal with multiple themes. They just all need to be fully fleshed out questions so that it doesn’t just become a big sludge of topics arbitrarily vying for attention. Having an overarching theme that subthemes work toward answering is also a good idea, since it gives you a reason for multiple themes (not necessarily the only way to do that, though).
now i'm scared of taking a pen
Same here..!
Just do whatever you want, there’s no rules just guiding thoughts. It’s okay to break the rules. What matters is producing work.
I'm honestly shocked to hear you went with Identity as your 'theme' originally because its such a broad topic with all too much to say - the same can be said for the conceptual 'justice' theme, too. Its humbling to be reminded that even those I put on pedestals make mistakes, and I'm glad you found a way to learn from it and shared it with us all!
Theme has always been about specifics, at least for me. You can put a broad umbrella word as a catch-all term, but good media and stories with great themes have a way of being more than just a buzzword topic, you know? It should always illicit an idea that provokes thought, as well as an answer to that idea, that 'question' if you will. Even if you don't agree with the way a theme is discussed by the media's narrative, at least it speaks for itself and doesn't require you to answer the question for it. Granted, this can work in certain scenarios, but thats a difficult thing to do.
Dude... had to pause your video as soon as I saw your face. Just wanted to tell you that you look amazing!!! You changed your look and it suits you!
And now I will return to watching your video.
I've seen this video twice now a few months apart while ruminating on a story idea. Before my first watch, my theme was:
"Class, gender and power."
Just vague topics with a guiding influence from The Ship of Theseus and The King in Yellow.
After my first watch, the theme grew into:
"What is the value of a human life."
Still broad but with more shape.
Now with this most recent listen, I have a much more refined and finalized theme that people can actually take sides on:
"Can anyone escape the corrupting influence of power?"
The answer is obviously no but I think it can make for a good exploration into horror and I'm far more excited to write THIS iteration of the story.
Thank you so much!
I have a question: What if your story has multiple genres in one?
For example, you wanted to write a story with a lot of action and fantasy that explored the theme of "Can there truly be a person who is powerful enough to conquer all?" That theme would be the main, overarching theme throughout the series and there would be characters who disagree (protagonist) and do agree (antagonist).
However, as the characters begin on their journey to try and stop the villain, there is a some romance involved and you wanted to explore the theme of "Can love be a manipulation?" or "Can you tell the difference between true love and fake love?" or "Can fake love turn to true love?" You would only be exploring one of these of course. (These questions would also make sense considering the world that this takes place in.)
But is there a way to have smaller hidden themes while still looking at the big main theme? Is there a way that I can do it that it wouldn't be too much?
Could I take those smaller themes that are part of the story plot, but is technically a part of a different topic than the main theme, and still explore that smaller theme in my story while at the same time explore the overarching main theme? I would probably explore the smaller theme very subtly and not have a whole "yes or no" side, but more of a thought-provoking question that leaves the characters in confusion. It would maybe even change their perception of the world a bit. More character-arc kind of things.
I don't know, it's hard to explain without giving context or tell you my entire story, but I just had that thought.
an interesting piece of advice i found is that a theme can also just be a topic that the text interacts with. it's not necessarily a question but more so a dissection or observation of the themes presence in the story
2:03 This was the most Thomas the Tank Engine vibes I've ever felt outside of the actual show
💀💀💀💀💀
I can't unhear it!
You have saved my story and helped me finally understand what i was doing wrong for a long time, my gratitude is immeasurable.
Just noticed the Mathmos lava space rocket lamp in the background, good stuff
Yeah, it's lovely!
I normally watch this channel for help with my scripts but this one really helped with my schoolwork. I’m meant to be comparing two novels on how they present a theme and I picked the creation of evil. It was so vague and overwhelming that it really sent me. Expanding on one of the sub-themes of evil however has helped a hell of a lot so thanks!
I disagree that Harold should have to get rid of two of his main ideas, when he could find a way to tie them all together. For example, one of Genshin Impact’s story quests talks about events from a long time ago, with these humanoid creatures called Melusines being integrated into the nation of Fontaine. However, most humans were fearful of Melusines and despised that many of them were part of Fontaine’s detective agencies.
One of these Melusines, Carole, had a human cop partner named Vautrin, who was supportive of Melusines but skeptical that they could integrate with human society.
One day, a group of humans had the idea to commit a murder and frame Carole for the crime. This caused massive riots throughout the city, and the police couldn’t restore order. The only thing that quelled the riot was when Carole committed suicide to make the rioters believe that justice was served.
Vautrin was heartbroken by this. Using his contacts in the police force, he gathered a list of known extremists who likely caused the framing of Carole, and killed them all. Vautrin was sentenced to life in prison despite the crowd thinking that he was justified in his actions. Vautrin pretended to be furious at his friend sentencing him, but he actually accepted what would happen and knew that it was the best course of action.
That questline in Genshin is amazing, and it handles all three of those main points Harold had amazingly, without having to exclude any of them. In addition, it asks the question: What good is a system of justice if it ignores corruption of those in power, while punishing those who fight back against them?
i agree it can work in something like that but if you have a single standalone work i think it’s often better to zoom in on a smaller perspective so it has more impact
@@princessyasmin94 that's completely bullshit. You don't need to explore only a single topic for any story, you just need to write it well.
Harold's story, as an example, could involve a man being tried for the murder of someone that set up someone else for a horrible crime, say r*pe, and exploring the consequences of that.
The falsely accused can't prove they didn't do it now, the bad guy is dead and has thus received justice, and now the question is if the main character should be punished for his actions.
See? It's easy.
The point is not that “all movies have to be a single theme.” The point is you should be able to distill your story into a central theme that drives the story. Harold’s story from the sound of it equally paid attention to all 3 themes that are quite distinct. The writing process will be easier and the story will be stronger if he chooses one theme to focus on, but use those other themes as supporting elements. Shawshank has themes of injustice, friendship, etc. but all of them relate back to the central theme of can hope survive in a dire situation. It’s the same as how your protagonist can have various character flaws but there has to be one central flaw that drives the story, the lie that they cling to so that the world makes sense
@@vyor8837even in that, the best story is one that focuses on one idea. In To Kill A Mockingbird, Atticus believes that good usually wins out in the end. There’s themes of innocent people being framed, guilty people getting away with crimes, etc. but you can boil down almost every aspect of the story as an answer to “does good really triumph over evil?” and its much stronger
@@mario98730 so what single idea does Lord of the Rings focus on?
As a pantser, this video was beyond helpful! it Gave me a new scope to analyze all of my current work to help trim the fat and refine what my characters SHOULD want within my world building and plot. I kept basing wants off of the happenings of the story, yet the take of "beliefs + thematic question = wants" really helps solidify what each character should be focusing on.
Thank you. This really helps with the story I'm writing. It revolves around the theme of obligation, and asked the questions "What do we owe to society, what do we owe to our family, and what do we owe to ourselves?" Essentially, my protagonist is a man whose son has become a serial killer, and bcuse he loves him, and needs to keep him secret, he's burning himself out to try and help his son get away with his crimes. I've done a lot with this premise, and I love the outline, but this video has helped me a lot.
I'd like to read that story.
You should absolutely study the Greek play Antigone. It deals with a very similar theme.
You've picked a great theme, though perhaps you can refine it ever so slightly.
Duty to society and duty to family are two diametrically opposed things. Often we must choose which of the two we want to side with. Perhaps frame your story as the question "Is it better to be loyal to your family, or be loyal to your society?"
Antigone asks such a question, and it's honestly a brilliant story.
That sounds incredible ! I hope to see you in my local book shop someday!
@@vulkanofnocturne maybe I'll send you a copy ;)
@TheCloserLook if I'm not mistaken, that's the story of the daughter of Oedipus? I have read Oedipus Rex and found it fascinating, but I'll have to have a little look at Antigone.
Thank you for helping me frame it properly as a question. Your videos have been incredibly useful to me because, on one hand, I enjoy the rantings of cynical Englishmen, and on the other hand, because I've grown so much as a writer since.
I used to be a pantser, and I'd just scribble out one draft of abominable fanfiction which looked impressive thanks to the right powers of eloquence, but had no real arcs for the characters. Now I spend weeks, even months plotting out my stories beforehand to try and make them as well fleshed out as possible.
My writing has been exponentially better for it, and I have you in a great part to thank for that!
Also, now that you've reached 1Million subscribers (congratulations on that milestone, well deserved), will you still be releasing that old film you foreshadowed in your review of Blunder Woman 1984?
Lovely video, and a really simple but effective way to narrow down on theme. I like to write character arcs by pinpointing how honestly each one answers different aspects of the theme question, and then whether they are able to accept the lies they tell themself to let go of that aspect of the belief or go deeper into their own self-deception.
You can't fool me, I know the internet historian when I see him.
Nah, that fraud could never be as peak as Harold
Here's hoping he doesn't plagiarise this video 🥶
@@TheCloserLook damn cold moves🥶
The way I learned theme from another TH-camr I wish I could remember their name but this has helped me actually like my writing for example;
The Truth?
You matter(the secret truth your MC ignores or is ignorant to)
The Misbelief/Lie?
You DONT matter (this is what your MC believes)
The Origin of the Lie?
What is the moment that leads the character to believe this lie? Maybe they were abandoned.
The Patterns?
Your MC acting on the lie rather than being vulnerable to the truth. They may not allow themselves to be loved or love another in return? They often leave people before they have a chance to hurt them.
The truth?
The big moment. This is what you have waited for, your character no longer fears and is unable to escape this truth. Whether it's an action they have made or an action of another.
I think there's other steps but that's about it. I've done it for my story and I find it very useful and helpful, simple yet impactful.
goddamn it's like someone took something i've been telling anyone who'll listen for years and turned it into a concise video essay, very nice!
discovered this account like 2 days ago, watched a few videos, and damn, they really are helpful. not that i've worked on it very much but the comic i would love to publish is super weak on account of the fact that its simply just missing so many things but i already got several ideas on how to improve the worldbuilding and just the story in general lol
This makes me think about the vanderhoven starship troopers movie
He had a theme of dictatorship but he failed because what he portrayed was ultimately easily justified by interspecies war of existence and an apparently high standard of living among other things
It created a mess that made the society depicted look mostly free, and allowed for an unending debate til this day where people argue that a variant of the SST govt is their preferred state
If the theme was dictatorship, vanderhoven failed more completely than I thought. I’m not sure I ever caught a theme from the movie, but I was a fan of the book and it had themes of “what does citizenship require “ and “why should a person fight in war”. Vanderhoven was using the trappings of the book to talk about American militarism and propaganda.
All those huge fleets and space stations covered in guns, and yet it all gets conveniently defeated by a rock and Buenos Aires destroyed (to motivate war support).
B.A was an inside job!
@@Edax_Royeaux
I like to picture this central thematic argument/sentence as an affirmation in the case of a short story, and as a question with multiple answers for a long story.
For example: "Power corrupts absolutely, even when placed in the hands of a wise, compassionate person surrounded by good people." => It suits a short fiction as it is not about exploring the multiple facets and implications of the central argument, but to depict it clearly, not wasting time and space by limiting your writing to this self-contained, clear-cut framework, and to deliver on core thematic impact all the way through in a condensed manner.
"When given enough power, does a person always turn out wrong no matter the circumstances, forsaking his values in the pursuit of maintaining his position and gaining more power?" => Here, it's all about exploring in detail the different facets, implications and details of the argument. The one thing to keep in mind is to structure your work in order for it to progress towards some sort of thematic resolution: basically, it's installing one major affirmation (one major answer to the big thematic question) for each arc/book/movie while laying out details, nuances and contradictions to that statement along the way (for instance, answering some minor questions related to different terms or parts of the main argument through short story beats or secondary/tertiary characters). We can structure it like an essay using the dialectical thesis-antithesis-synthesis (yes-no-maybe/yes-no-yes&no)(regarding the argument I put as an example, the "yes" would be: "Power corrupts absolutely, even when placed in the hands of a wise, compassionate person"), but you can do it in a more blended and intersectional way although it requires more skill to do that with clarity and efficiency.
Edit: typo
my guy I just realized you sound like the narrator of Peppa Pig!
I truly appreciate not only your intense attention to detail, but also your humility in using yourself as an example. Too many writers these days lack humility which is evident in the garbage churned out these days and lends you the authenticity that compels me to really pay attention and, yes, take notes on your videos. Thank you very much and please keep up the excellent work! ❤
You say that but there's also a very clear air of authority throughout the entire video afterwards, making definitive statement upon definitive statement, you MUST write like this or you WILL fail, only stick to this ONE method or you're doing it wrong in a highly creative field where I think it's reasonable to say it's fairly understood there's almost never a single standardized method of doing things
I'd like to see a youtuber discussing scenarios where popular stories arguably don't have any central theme at all.
What happens if it's a "plot oriented" story focused on pacing and intrigue? Where it wants to explore a cool idea, rather than challenge a belief?
Those stories aren’t real and don’t exist. Even if a story isn’t written with a blatant theme, the theme will come out of what is made. Theme is the most important part of a story
@@dope8878 What makes me nervous if I've been in the position where no obvious themes have popped out, and I've had to wrack my brains to think of an arc to give my lead.
I typically focus on short stories that're written with a "What's gonna happen next?" sort of intrigue, and I'm usually completely for specific things this would change about my protagonist.
If you don't intentionally include a theme all that means is that you unintentionally did.
You think you're just falling back to the default not realizing there is no universally accepted 'default.' That interpretation will then say a lot about who you are and the assumptions that guide you.
@@josephmatthews7698 this one million percent. It’s sort of impossible to not have some sort of theme come out of your work if you have a finished product. It’s just if you don’t agree with your theme, then the work will suffer for it, and others reading it will notice as well.
There is always a theme. If you don’t have a theme, you don’t have a conflict and vice versa. There is no story out there with conflict that doesn’t have a theme. It’s not always very prominent but it exists bc conflict is spawned by theme
I love the way you explained this. Back in my high school English class, we were told that themes were much more specific than topics, but we weren't given much guidance in trying to identify them. I remember struggling a bit in that regard as a result, even though I did well in English as a subject. This taught me more about working with themes in 23 minutes than that class did in a semester.
So theme POSES an idea in the form of a QUESTION, then ANSWERS it in the form of an ARGUMENT.
Good tip thanks
This is one of the best essays about theme I've ever seen. GREAT job! And thanks to you, I now understand that subconsciously I've been doing all you've said, like giving different characters opposing beliefs and testing their ideologies. I'm currently writing a YA book with the themes of should evil be given a second chance and is is based on your upbringing or is part of you. I'll definitely use your tips to tighten it up.
This is perfect, I was just trying to nail down my themes lol
Best of luck with it!
I’ve been mulling over a story in my head for many months now and this is the video that cracks the case wide open for me. Thank you for sharing this.
19:00 why no spoiler warning :(
i’m literally gonna try creative writing this new year and i wanted to know how to explore themes when writing… literally perfect timing
You said you outline all your stories. I think it could be great if you would describe how you go about this before you start writing.
This is the main thing I struggle with, I want to write but I feel like I need an outline before I can properly start but then I get overwhelmed because there is so much to take into account.
Have you read any books on story structure? That really helped me
Some people are discovery writers, you find the plot as you write.
It's like feature creep. Learn to trim back.
I write my grand statement on a giant pieceo of paper. One sentence max.
Like: An impoverished father's anxieties of raising a daughter in the modern world explored through the zombie apocalypse.
I write each story beat in three sentences on the blank side of a note card (set up/pay off/take away) On the lined side I list tidbits the reader may or may not know, twists, lore etc.
Example: "While trying to give her a joyful experience similar to his own childhood at a playground they are ambushed by the dead.
2. He teaches her how to kill the dead instead, if she can't survive - does anything else matter? To his surprise she enjoys this and they bond.
3. Is he raising a monster?
(On back)
Find wounded bunny, she takes out her knife to kill, skin and clean it. Father is shocked and suggests they nurse it back to health instead. Daughter is annoyed, food is more important.
They reach a compromise by nursing the bunny back and treating it as a lesson in first aid. Father hopes she will learn compassion and grow attached. Daughter intends to fatten it for better eating later.
(In a world so cruel is survival even worthwhile
?)
Then order them while lasering in on whether or not I can tie each card back to the grand mission statement.
Any I cannot are throw away.
The writing begins
Feel free to stral this but youll almost certainly develop your own methods eventually.
Key take away?
*Limit yourself!*
It is through limitation your blathering can be distilled into genius.
There is a possibility that you are one of those writers who doesn’t benefit from outlines. It’s not that weird and many great writers don’t use outlines for example, Stephen King. I also don’t use outlines HOWEVER I always am planning out stories in my head as I am writing. I don’t use outlines, but I know exactly where I want to go and that stops me from blabbering on bc I have everything set in my head. It lets me improvise where I think I write best but it also keeps me on the path of the story. Although I am no professional and apparently, this thing I do is rlly weird. Ppl usually either improvise completely or write an outline FROM WHAT I’VE HEARD and it makes sense I guess I mean idk how I am able to remember all the stories I am writing without writing them like I have 25+ books in my head that have yet to get put on paper but I know exactly where all of them will go so take what I say with a grain of salt
This is my favourite way to plan out a story. It would not only focus on the central theme I wanted, but also introduce other themes and their relationship with the core theme.
For example, I could start at the topic of identity, focus it down into a topic of nature vs nurture, and then break it down even further. However, it is a waste of time and in the end you'll either be way too focused in the theme you wanted to do, or you'll not do enough breaking down and end up being way too broad.
With the question-answer approach, a question I can ask would be "How much does your childhood upbringing affect the way you act in the present". Now we can get many answers that can be manifested into characters and worldbuilding. Even at its very simplest, we can get 4 perspectives: Good upbringing and nature, Good upbringing but bad nature, Bad upbringing but good nature, and Bad upbringing and nature. There are loads of stories that do very similar questions with similar answers; so to be more unique you can add onto this core question either with an addenum or answering an entirely new but related question.
For example, "How does upbringing affect people's perception of their gender?"
Was this a commercial for nebula? lol
This was a useful video since im currently working on my themes and this does fit in nicely as a step to my process.
For me its really important to look for theme "halfway down" like, if im startj g with "i wanna write about x" i tend to limit myself- but you cant really not do theme, as mentioned. So i tend to focus on worldbuilding and characterization, get a few key scenes in mind. Then take a step back and look for the common thread. Or with this mindset look for the question that keeps being asked. Then figure out how many ways you can answer the question.
I also write with a lot of symbolism though, so my themes are layered on like coatings of semitransparent paint. They all build to a bigger picture.
My favorite russian writer - Frodo Dostoevsky
I think another way to think of theme is as a 'VS' between two conflicting ideas. For example 'Hope VS Despair' in Shawshank Redemption, 'Law & Order VS Chaos' in TDK.
Yes, but I feel like that’s more of an incidental analytical tool rather than how the story was written. It’s good analyzing advice, but not writing advice (at least not as the primary method). That kind of vs statement is still general enough to fall into the trap of creating a patchwork story of events that evoke different aspects of a topic. The conflict more likely arises from the fleshed out themes being explored naturally like the video explained (the story “writing itself” based on a question).
Not every story is a concept piece. I think you're getting tunnel vision about the purpose of narrative. Some have more in common with a painting or a song. They convey what cannot be stated, otherwise it might have been better to just write an essay.
Romeo and Juliet as an essay? You wanna see them masturbate in their own room? While their parents pretended to not know it?
Thank you so much for this video!! I was struggling with whether I was writing my stories right or not (and currently struggling with applying a theme to a new idea I have), and writing down a main question for each story and what answer each character represents made a lot of things so much clearer!
I have a question:
While watching this video, I applied the "theme in the form of a question" method to a few of my ideas, and a few times a question beginning with "What happens when..." came up. Is this also a valid type of question to use?
It can be, but you've got to be absolutely sure you've refined your theme down into it's purest form.
If you have a theme such as "What happens when an average joe is made king of a nation?" that is a question that can be refined even further into the question "Is power inherently corrupting?"
Being as precise and refined as possible with your theme is pretty important as if you fail to do it, it'll be like building a machine with an incorrect blueprint, and you're ideas won't resonate as well.
@@TheCloserLook That helps a lot, thank you!
You have saved me big time I was spending ages trying to start up a story which involved magic and superpowers but it lacked any depth but this video has really helped me give it more of a purpose and underlying plot
Weird take: Do you NEED to say something with your media? Can't you just tell a fun story?
Real
What would a fun story look like to you? Even children's books have lessons. And people will always have their inturpertation from authors' intentions.
Every story has a purpose, even if you haven’t noticed. It’s really difficult topic because there’s a lot of media when theme is too forced or executed bad but on the other side of spectrum, if you don’t think about themes story could be messy and not interesting (like explained in this video)
A fun story without "theme" still has one, just not one that the writer noticed. At least if it's one grabbing attention.
Even if that theme is a simple exploration of *this* human.
@@strixfiremind I meant it like, "Can art be purely for entertainment; not trying to teach a lesson?"
This inspires me to start working on the novel I haven't been able to start. I've got a really cool world in my head but I've never seriously written anything. Now I feel like I can get started with some short stories within the world testing different thematic cohesions and build from there.
I really appreciate how concise and helpful your advice is!
Loved this video a lot as not an aspiring writer, but a visual arts student dabbling in creative writing with a few original characters and worldbuilding. Decided to finally get a Nebula account to see more of this =) Your content might be on the niche side but it's reached the right audience for sure - thanks for your work!
John Truby poses the thematic statement but I like your idea of the question more. It' much more active and inspires thought and debate. Great work. Helped me a lot.
I wish more creators, particularity writers, were as open about their experiences, especially their mistakes as you are, Henry. As you told “Howard’s” story it occurred to me that I went through almost the exact same journey with my book and I now believe wholeheartedly that if you learn how to approach theme the right way, the rest of the story(to a certain degree) writes itself. A brilliant lesson with a brilliant execution. I think this may be your greatest, certainly your most important video of all.
this is absolutely the best writing “tip” i have ever encountered. I was becoming wildly overwhelmed with my current story will so many subjects to tackle while treating my theme as a wide topic I now have a much more focused idea on what I want this to be about. thank you for posting
this video encouraged me to continue with the story i was trying to write a few months ago, i finally have my theme
I'm not kidding when I say that I was just wondering about the themes of a story I'm working on when BAM! This video shows up. This video not only was extremely helpful, but it helped me with improvising my story. I had trouble deciding on what "topics" to focus on, but by seeing my stories' theme as questions, mine being about trust as freedom, it made my planning a whole lot easier, and I'm gonna continue working on it! Thanks so much, The Closer Look!
(Oh, this is unrelated, but I wanted you ask this: I was watching your Wonder Woman video, and around halfway through, you mentioned that you were planning to release a first screenplay that you wrote and filmed when you hit 1 million subs, and I was wondering if this was put on any of the streaming platforms you've mentioned before or not. Again, this is unrelated, it's just something I'm definitely interested in. Either way, both this and that video are great!)
Yeah, I'll release that one day. The issues is partly because of cringe, but mostly because all I ever really talk about in videos of my writing is failures, as they are where I learn the most useful lessons. If I carry on only talking about the bad things I've done, I fear it might impact my image.
I will release it one day, but probably after I publish my debut novel.
@@TheCloserLook Totally understand. With how much effort you put into the analysis of writing, I bet your novel will be great! Keep up the great content man!
"Where Love can lead?" Could easily be a theme for my first book im working on because most main events have a similar showing of Love either being gained, lost, or ignored and what consequences follow. Most are not very pretty situations but the protag uses his Love for several characters that he cherishes and/or lost lead him to a better path.
"Justice and/or Vengeance" Could also be a theme due to a love lost leading to a desperate arc of vengeance with no clear target and consequently leads to horrible betrayal due to a blind sense of justice fed to several people by a cruel and corrupt group. The Mc is hurt the worst by this group as he discovers the lies behind this groups words and pays for it as he tries to take them on alone.
The theme of the movie you put in the thumbnail was strong too.
Currently I'm GMing a Cities Without Number cyberpunk dystopia, and the book recommends picking a theme for your world. So I picked "Escapism" thinking I could have gangs with aesthetics based on old films, many people addicted to drugs and simulations to escape the despair of the real world, and making the starting district an entertainment district where movies and pop stars are made.
All this came quite naturally, but when I went to make missions within this world, I have found it quite difficult to create missions that aren't just parades of set pieces that help one Corp or another.
This video made it click that each chain of missions could have a question like this, and that opposing parties should have different answers to this question rather than just different wants!
I don't know if anyone knows John Truby but he wrote two books called The Anatomy of Story and The Anatomy of Genre. In the genre book, he talks about how each of the twelve major Genres give their own basic themes of how these world works and how a writer can interpret them. They all have their own associated goals and themes a writer can use to build off of. However, the conflict is unique to the writer. An example would be the Shawshank Redemeption as it is a crime story so its theme is about justice but the conflict and eventually resolution that gets us to that theme line is hope versus despair.
Horror:
Desire Line: To escape a monster
Theme Line: Something about confronting death
Ex. Jaws
Action:
Desire Line: To win a battle/competition
Theme Line: Something about the good versus the great
Ex. Indiana Jones
Myth:
Desire Line: To search for something/someone
Theme Line: Something about finding purpose
Ex. Lord of the Rings
Coming-of-age:
Desire Line: To become something
Theme Line: Something about creating the self
Ex. Macbeth
Science Ficiton:
Desire Line: To create a new world
Theme Line: Something about evolving society
Ex. Interstellar
Crime:
Desire Line: To catch a wrongdoer
Theme Line: Something about the fight for justice
Ex. Se7en
Comedy:
Desire Line: To lie to others
Theme Line: Something about how to treat others
Ex. Seinfeld
Western:
Desire Line: To find a home
Theme Line: Something about creating a home for others
Ex. The Mandolorian
Gangster:
Desire Line: To create an enterprise
Theme Line: Something about being enslaved by power
Ex. The Godfather
Fantasy:
Desire Line: To explore a world
Theme Line: Something about the art of living
Ex. Pleasantville
Thriller:
Desire Line: To uncover the truth
Theme Line: Something about who are true enemies are
Ex. Memenoto
Love:
Desire Line: To fall in love
Theme Line: Something about achieving happiness
Ex. Romeo and Juliet
I apologize if this is a lot I just thought it could be a helpful tool if anyone comes across this.
Great video and good advice. I was struggling with a story idea, but flustered by just too many things I wanted to cover. I had a lot of ideas of theme (as a statement), but rethinking it as a specific question has given me a clearer idea of what, and how, to focus on. thanks.
In my stories, novels and writings, I always make my theme the driving force behind what I want to do with what I'm writing. Without any interesting and complex themes I cannot write, just like with interesting characters and such. Without any of it I'm just writing vaguely interesting ideas and fun concepts down on a page to make a cohesive story that just kinda sorta makes sense, however a story that has no reason to exist and says nothing with its time.
I always like to have layers of themes, either two or three, getting vaguer and less specific yet no less intentional and driven as you go down. the most concrete is the first layer, like in a novel I've been writing, the first layer would be "The human capacity to survive pain and trauma, to find peace amidst a world of disorder and chaos", while the second layer would be uncontrolled religious leadership and how they thwart the ideals of the original religion itself, the cost of rebellion, the deep feeling of being lost and lonely, and the moral debate of what's right or wrong in the disestablishment of a corrupt figure or in any such just cause.
I saw “To Sleep in a Sea of Stars” on your shelf. Glad to see your a Paolini enjoyer
Thank you, thank you, thank you! This was incredibly eye-opening for me. "Theme" itself was such a loose, vague term before I watched it, something public school killed my interest in because it sounded too abstract. I've always enjoyed coming up with characters and worlds, but none of my stories held up to my own scrutiny to the point I would want to share them. This new lens to see your own and others' stories through - "what is it asking?" instead of "what is it saying?" or, God forbid, "what is it about?" - really rekindled my interest in trying again.
When I write, I often discover the theme as I’m writing. Then I go back and rearrange everything to focus everything on to that theme. For me, it is so fulfilling to DISCOVER my theme as I write, since it causes me to learn the lessons my stories portray as I write them.
14:02 “If your protagonist undergoes change, look there for the fragments of your theme.” *Yes!!* I don’t know what my theme is but I have a very clear idea for my protagonist’s character development! I’ll use this! Thank you!
Would you look at that just found your channel today digging the advice, and 9 days until that Dark Knight video gets uploaded. Lucky me!
Wow thank you so much, you opened my eyes with the "theme as a question" bit! I teach a research methods course and this corresponds to formulating research questions which guide your research - from literature review to data collection and analysis. But I never transferred this idea to creative writing!! It makes so much sense!