Theme and Structure

When I was younger, I had a very fraught relationship with theme. I resented it. I didn’t like the idea that a story needed to teach a lesson in order to be valuable. I thought stories were inherently valuable on their own. I didn’t understand that a theme isn’t something that’s painted on at the end, it isn’t something that is tacked on to appease the snobs and English teachers and snobby English teachers. Theme is absolutely essential to a story. It is a component of every story just the same way that characters or plot are.

So, I understood the importance of theme, but I still didn’t understand how to actually incorporate it into a story, how to make sure it was baked in from the very beginning and not just slathered over the top.

I finally figured out a method that worked for me while I was thinking about character and story structure, because--of course--all these things are connected. I found a method that allowed me to incorporate theme into a story and use the theme to create an ending that feels satisfying and earned.

All of this may have been very obvious to other people, but if you’re having trouble wrapping your head around theme and want a concrete way to work it into your story, then this might help.

The theme and the emotional throughline are the same thing. The theme is something--some concept--that the character needs to understand, some part of them that is missing, and the story is a world that has been specially constructed to teach our character that concept and deliver them some wisdom that will help them in the end. Whether the character actually uses this wisdom is up to the writer (and the character).

Structurally, it can play out like this:

I. The Beginning--We don’t know the character at all. The character either doesn’t know what they are missing, or they know exactly what is missing but they don’t want to acknowledge it.

II. Holding Back-We progress through the story and we see the ways that whatever the character is missing is holding them back. Characters focus on what they want instead of what they need, they obfuscate, they focus on things that they prefer were their problem because they are easier to deal with than their actual problem.

III. Midpoint-Both the audience and the character understand what the character is missing, but the character either doesn’t know how to get it or has to undergo a struggle in order to get it.

IV. Attempts and Frustrations-The character finally understands what they need to do, but things get in their way. There are setbacks and losses and the character's resolve is either strengthened or weakened.

V. Moment of Truth-This is the moment before the climax, when the hero finally understands the wisdom that has long been eluding them, they see what they have to do. This is the second major realization. The first was the midpoint when they saw what was wrong, this is the realization where they understand what they must do to fix it. This is the moment where they either decide to use their hard-won wisdom and become whole, or ignore what they have learned and remain incomplete.

VI. The Climax-The character either uses their new wisdom and succeeds or ignores it and fails, even if they win in whatever the actual plot is, if they ignore their wisdom it will be a pyrrhic victory.

VII. The Come Down-We see how the characters' lives were improved by using their new wisdom or how their life is empty because they chose to ignore it.



In my book, Eldest Son of an Eldest Son, we can examine how this works in practice.

***Spoilers for Eldest Son of an Eldest Son***

I. The Beginning-We don’t know Allard at all. Allard starts as a child. We learn that he was assigned female at birth but that he is actually a man. We learn that his father does not approve of this and that this has made life difficult for Allard. We learn that Allard feels insecure about his gender due to these difficulties.

II. Holding Back-Allard does not reveal his face at tournaments because he fears that people will be angry when they discover they have lost to him. Even though he feels that he should rightfully be king--as his father’s eldest son--he is unwilling to challenge his brother or father for it. Then, he becomes fixated on the idea of proving that he is a man by slaying a dragon. He is certain that this will prove his manhood to his father--and himself. Allard hides parts of himself from the people he meets for fear that they will stop seeing him as a man if he reveals who he truly is.

III. The Midpoint-While traveling through the Tunnel of Interminable Suffering, Allard is confronted by a vision of his father. He understands that slaying the dragon will not prove that he is a man to his father, that there will be no external validation. This realization is very painful for him and it weakens his resolve, he plans to give up on his goal of slaying the dragon and instead run away. We as the audience understand that Allard does not need to look to external factors to prove he is a man, because we as the audience see very clearly that Allard is indeed a man.

IV. Attempts and Frustrations-Allard has given up on the idea of external validation for his masculinity and has decided to run away, but then he finds out that a young woman has been captured by the dragon and needs to be rescued. Allard’s conscience would not allow him to abandon someone in need and so he resolves to rescue the young woman before the dragon sees them and never confront the dragon at all. The dragon shows up in the middle of Allard’s rescue attempt. Allard is nearly killed by the dragon, but the young woman he rescued, Evaine, manages to save him and take him away.

V. The Moment of Truth-Allard is safe. Evaine is safe. If Allard wanted to, he could just ride off into the sunset and live as a man for the rest of his life, leaving the kingdom to be terrorized by Allard’s evil brother and the dragon. He could have what he wanted, to live as a man, but not what he needed, to live as a man of honor and bravery. He no longer cares if he has the external validation of his father, in fact he has reason to expect that successfully slaying the dragon will do nothing to change his father’s mind, but he will slay the dragon anyway. He knows he is a man and the question is simply: what kind of man does he want to be?

VI. The Climax-Because of Allard’s realization, he decides to go back to the dragon’s cave and fight the dragon, because he could not live with himself if he didn't. He has to use all of his wit and strength in order to finally defeat the dragon.

VII. The Come Down-Allard is reunited with Evaine and he is confident enough to return to the castle in order to gain his rightful place as king. He knows that things might not work out, but he truly believes he would be the better king and so he tries anyway. His father respects the change Allard has gone through and agrees that Allard will be king. Allard had a very long rule in which he was widely recognized as kind and just. He figured out what kind of man he wanted to be, and then he proceeded to be that man.

This is an example of how you can work your theme into the very structure of the story and use it to craft an emotionally satisfying ending.