#5: 3 Ways to Figure Out the Theme of Your Story

In today's episode, I'll walk you through three different ways to figure out the theme of your story. Here's a preview of what we'll cover:

• [00:50] What is a story's theme? And why do you need one?
• [01:30] How identifying your story's theme upfront can help you write a stronger draft.
• [02:40] 3 different questions to help you uncover the theme of your story.
• [03:00] Question 1: What do you have to say about life? What do you care about?
• [05:00] Question 2: How will your protagonist change from the beginning of the story to the end of the story? (+ an example from Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone).
• [07:30] Question 3: What's your story's content genre?
• [10:00] How to create a 1-2 sentence theme statement that describes what changes in your story as well as specifically why and how things have changed (+ an example from Pride and Prejudice). 
• [10:45] What should you do if your theme sounds generic or cliche?
• [12:00] Key points and episode recap.

Subscribe & Review in Apple Podcasts

Are you subscribed to my podcast? If you’re not, I want to encourage you to do that today. I don’t want you to miss an episode! Especially because I’m adding a bunch of bonus episodes to the mix and if you’re not subscribed there’s a good chance you’ll miss out on those. So, click here to subscribe to the show in Apple Podcasts!

If you're already a subscriber, and if you enjoy the show, I would be really grateful if you left a review over on Apple Podcasts, too. Those reviews help other writers find my podcast and they’re also super fun for me to go in and read. Just click here to review, select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” and let me know what your favorite part of the show is. Thanks in advance!

Links mentioned in this episode:

• Episode Freebie: 3 Ways to Uncover Your Story's Theme PDF

Support the show

👉 Looking for a transcript? If you’re listening on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, scroll down below the episode player until you see the transcript.