How to Write THEME Into Your Story 

I said the exact same thing. I too was racing for my notebook.

@@crlake I use Google Keep as my online notebook.

I love technology. Abbie says something in a video that sounds like it applies to me....PAUSE! Go to wherever you keep notes; I use MS Word and Scrivener. Do what Abbie suggests...maybe it's write what protagonist believes is a lie or something like that. May take a few minutes or more. Save and back to video. Gotta love technology. Notebook? I don't need no stinki' notebook...I got the pause button! Rock on Abbie. Love your videos.

THIS ACTUALLY IS SO UNDERRATED 😂❤️

Can't be more on point

That relates to one of my themes in a novel I'm writing - but it's important how you become what you desire to become. It might have a higher price than you know: normdoer.weebly.com/

@@normandoering1619: I took a look. You didn't ask, but I hope this feedback is useful: 1. Interesting world and characters. 2. Many sentences should be broken up into 2 or 3. Look for the "ands." 3. Lots of telling rather than showing. (Abbie has a video on this) 4. POV jumps into different people's heads. (She also has one on POV) 5. I think you meant "fondling" rather than "foundling."

Thanks for your input, KutWrite. Will re-read the chapter with your notes in mind. Not sure how I can show rather than tell something like "While Veluria is heir to the throne, because she is pure royal blood, it will be her future husband who will become the king, the real ruler. The Tyranuzians do not believe in female rulers." As for POV jumps the jump should only be from third person omniscient to third person limited (Tristan's view, his mother's view is all her dialog).

@@normandoering1619: Some suggestions of showing: 1. Through dialog... but use sparingly. 2. Be careful not to do too much exposition. It's best to reveal facts bit by bit & let the reader guess about some of it. 3. The POV jump I recall is inferring some third person's motive, I forget which one. 4. It's possible not all the facts you flow through the first page(s) are necessary at that time, e.g. the "heir to the throne" concept. Please don't take my thoughts too hard. It's my reaction. Maybe others would disagree. If you look at more of Abbie's videos, and some of KM Weiland, too, there are some good ones on POV and exposition. I did get a kick out of Veluria's "deformity." Maybe she could marry that character in Monty Python... "Bigus Dickus!" :D I love irony. One more thought. If you can find a writers' group in your town, maybe they have critique groups. They'll give you a range of reactions to your pages. I've found my group valuable.

that’s kind of what mine is too!

i really like this. how's it going?

Ah, you mean like Shrek? Well sort of

that's a great theme

I like this

Idk how to word my like god damn that's a theme as multiple emotions and memories hit me when I read that that's a rly nice theme u got there

thank you for this! This video would have been a waste if I hadn't stumbled across your comment. I am so grateful!!

Oh my God you saved me. I was seriously struggling with figuring out my theme because I had everything in plan except for my theme. I seriously didn't understand why it was blurry for me. I saw your comment, asked the question after over looking my notes, and laughed at myself because I felt like an idiot that the whole answer was right in front of me.

@@sadhairlineboiking4587 it was the SAME for me omg. Literally my savior!

When your MC dies so this wont work lol

You literally just saved my story. Thank you so much! This has been bothering me for months.

Same! Misbelief: “The only way to achieve absolute safety is to be the most powerful.” Theme: “Life happens regardless of power. If you live in the moment, you’ll have nothing to fear losing.”

*Chef’s Kiss

Love it! 👀😍

For one of my stories it has that same theme!

I love it ❤❤❤

Maybe the problem is that he needs other people’s approval to feel that he is valuable. And the solution that he takes (to leave/ or to run away from the problem) is only a momentary solution. Because, what would happen if the “right” people rejected him ? (even for a moment because they got mad at him for example). He would probably run away again. Maybe the lesson he has to learn is that his self love is what makes him complete, that he will always have a home within him. IDK 🤷‍♀️ haha Maybe I misunderstood your character or your theme, but I hope this will help you 😀

Good,GOOD GOOD

that's my life

Nope. Thats just flat out bad. Man, everyone thinks they can write these days

The place means the people in the beginning because the people make the place, so I say it's not a good one

so does that mean that your complete theme is "no one is beyond redemption" ? literally my teachers have given me a thousand different meanings for the word theme, and they keep saying theme is also tone, tone is also message, message is also a single word. im like are all those the same things? is it just one word? i have no idea.

@@KreativeHogwartsLegacyGUIDES They are interconnected but to answer your question, they're not the same. If you look at Theme, and Tone, and Message, they will usually be the answers to the 'who, what, where, when, why' in a story. Which story-element the Question&A represent will depend on the story, but usually Theme is 'Why', Tone is 'Who, When, and Where', and Message is 'What'. Both as in 'what happened' and 'what did that happening mean'? Message is the most complicated. What it means in literature critique seems to strongly depends on how a person is using the term. It's connects to both how tone is used and how themes are used, but imo it's more connected to theme. Then too, the message can be wildly different depending on how vast the story is (if it has a lot of variations in tone or theme because it's long af), or how subversive the text is. If a text is satirical (example: Johnathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal") then the actual message won't necessarily be obvious just looking at the story at given, instead it will be non-diegetic and only apparent when looked at in comparison to our world. (Basically diegetic Stuff is Within the story, and non-diegetic is Breaking the 4th wall. A video on it: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-FT_E9Jm_Lk8.html ) Message sometimes only is discovered by taking all the themes, and the tone, together. For instance, Anne of Green Gables has themes many themes, like friendship, hardship, change, learning to find joy after loss, and the tone ranges from light hearted to extremely bleak, but it's Message is probably 'Resilience'. As that is what the story shows, how people can be resilient. Also note, I think your teacher is oversimplifying by suggesting Message can always be boiled down to one word. Since not all concepts fit neatly into a single word, unless one is invented for that concept specifically, it can be more confusing to strip off nuance and try to stuff a complicated text into one single box. I mean I guess do what they need you to for assignments, but imo it's useful to remember that teachers are fallible, and that the academics who study literature argue about how to critique and contextualize it. Studying stories is complicated, it turns out. -- Just realized, I should probably give an example for the Questions = Tone, Theme, and Message. How about Harry Potter. So themes are 'why' the stories is being told. Growing up is hard and sometimes it hurts, why tell a story about enduring pain? "Pain teaches lessons" which is a recurring theme. Some other themes are 'flourishing despite adversity', 'Friendship helps', and 'mysteries have answers'. Each is an answer to a 'why is this story being told?' question. The Tone is very directly the Who the main characters are, Where and When is the story set, the wizarding world, and the sentence structure for pacing. It also has to do with what emotions the characters experience, and all of these are affected by the word choices JKR uses, the diction. The message of Harry Potter is debatable af, but What it is, is a coming of age story, and it's intended to show that growth from childhood to adulthood (+magic) so 'Transitions' could fit the story shows how everything shifts as the characters grow, and shifts when they learn new things. I think it's a case where a single word does not cut it. Unless there were a single word for 'Learn from pain and change' but afaik there isn't such a word. This was a long answer, but I hope it helps! ^_^

I have to act on what you have taught.

My theme: Don't scam because you have mastered technology.Scams come back to bite you like a snake. (Do not pardon a scam.Expose the scam as soon as you spot it.)

Ok I love this

Can I read the story if it's done?

Add me to this list of people with expectations for you & your story OP.

I know I'm one year late to this comment but hell yeah tell us all about it when you're done!

ME FOUR!!!

same with mine! :)

Just wanna comment here, (please ignore if you don't like) your theme is not actually correct, emotions are stupid, it only blinds us and leads us to mistakes - and when you start suppressing your emotions, such as anger, for e.g, our anger actually disappears by time - and we become calm - so rethink your theme if you may, or don't - just a suggestion

@@adisuyash Wrong. Her theme might have been incomplete but it isn't incorrect. Depending on the circumstances and personality of her character it may very well be correct anyway. Emotions are very important and essentials. They teach us a lot about ourselves. And repressing them can be very harmful to self-destructive. I know by experience. There is a middle point between allowing yourself to not be okay sometimes and feel bad, angry or whatever negative emotions you are experiencing right now and bottling up everything and denying yourself until you break down. Not letting your negative emotions lead you to make mistakes (wrong decisions making, lashing out at the people you care about, ...) is as important as allowing yourself to feel them. That's actually one of my truths.

@@adisuyash emotions might be stupid - mine are, they really dumb me down - BUT that is the way we are made: with emotions, the good, bad, and ugly. Suppressing anything is not the way. Attempts to suppress never ever attain good calm. Buddhists have the answer: take care of those emotions, as a mother cares for a child. Then you suffer less, you rise above the pain inflicted by emotions. Essential.

I like all these opinions on emotions. I've gotta chime in as I think I have it down. Emotion are natural. We live through emotions. Don't suppress them to the extent at which you're not processing them as you should. But all the while as you feel them it's also good to learn to control them. In other words don't be too emotional more than need be. Emotions are to be felt in a social setting. Reason is to be had in a setting in which you need to regulate.

I was wondering is the theme the first step before you develop anything else and then once you’ve done that, what is the next step to develop?

​@@robynevershed9292 I think, there isn't a certain order for that🤔. It's more like, if you have a theme, then you can create characters to represent that theme. If you got the characters first, next thing is finding a suitable theme. My opinion though..🤷

@@mshsmshs97 how do I make my theme in my story to not sound preachy, can you please give me some advice?

I was wondering, how do I make my theme in my story to not sound preachy, could I please have some advice and what does the story matter to you mean?

If I published a book I would do the same thing lmao

She probably got a discount :D

@@maxyperson I would do something similar, but I'd use them as gifts. Plus I'd send some out to people that I might think are influential to my target audience.

Sorry I am line editing my novel now (!!!) So this is kinda driving me insane. So Imma just do it, GRAMMAR NAZI ALERT: there is, not their are*

But what if talent works just as hard?...Then, it's just depressing 😂

@@anjikins6793 People have diferent talents , maybe you're less gifted in 'that' but have better social (or other) skills and get the price. It's about knowing yourself and work on your flaws.

As a violin teacher, I spend so much time trying to explain this to parents of students haha

@@anjikins6793 if talent works just as hard, then talent will probably win out. But then it's not your problem, it's the talents problem. I'm saying this a talented person who does not work as hard as she could so

i love that

So refreshing from the "lOvE yOuRsElF" theme 😌

Absolutely!

This comment prompted me to look up Abbie's book and read the premise. Wow it sounds so good!

Abbie is The Source. She’s so inspirational and her passion for writing is so genuinely conveyed in her videos. It’s contagious!

This sounds awesome!

Awesome one

Where's the lie though?

@@bonbonpony The lie is war IS good vs. evil?

That's an interesting theme. Kinda cool.

@@Swiftninjatrev Who's the "good" side then? They both are killing and destroying :q

Mine's kind of similar. It's "Don't let people pressure you into things you don't believe in."

I allowed "fate" to control my life. Not good.

@@janedoe5229 literally not what it said. "My protagonist had accepted that, based on her differences from those around her, the inverse is true", meaning that she finds you can reach fulfillment if your fate isn't decided for you by others

Same bro

eyyyy samee

@@kimchik6825 You have an Instagram?

Wait, don't say your theme is trust, it's about trust. Trust is one word while your theme should be explained in a sentence at least: 3 stories about trust: Theme 1: Nobody can be trusted, don't bother putting your trust in people. Theme 2: Always trust yourself. Theme 3: Trust your partner, or the relationship will crumble.

@@paroles8551 fair point. Theme is trust in those who cares about u. Not the ones who say it , but from action. So far, im still working on it.

Scotty Dunn cs lewis did it. And very well too!

I am a Christian too, and a book is a great place to show his truth - I would read it 😊

You should really read The Chronicles of Narnia, it reads like mainstream high fantasy but has blatantly obvious Christian themes

I have a writer friend in Santa Fe, New Mexico, who is also a Christian author. James Asparro just started writing and just published his second book, titled 'Turnaround,' in a series of love stories exploring faith informing men and women's choices. He felt there is a desert in popular fiction, especially Romance, focusing on the Christian perspective in modern society. I wish you success in your storytelling and believe there is an underserved audience waiting to read your book. 😉👍

I was wondering, how can I write a theme for a story without making it sound preachy. Do you have some advice?

this is so true.

I watched this on 6/23/23. Don’t be subject to someone else’s blame. Believe in yourself

Same! I've written a book and I'm starting my new one (but planning properly this time) and oh my, there's a lot to it XD

You are doing a great job! :)

i think its good .some people think being emotional is bad, but it could be a part of their nature , their personality. but Just because they believe its bad , end up acting like someone else (sorry for my bad english, i dont know will this help. Just feel like telling)

Dude, I love this so much. Its awesome

It's less about the theme and more about what you'll make of it through your story.

It's a good theme. :)

Lol, lovebirds

Would love to hear the themes you chose :)

Well, being passionate about fictional characters & worlds might be a theme in itself as well. "The Neverending Story" comes to my mind.

Me too… ._. Hmm… but you know what? This might actually be a good idea to try… :> But if this is supposed to work, we can't just go and write roles for other people, because they'd most likely just disregard them entirely and totally not follow them. Instead, we would have to write a story AROUND them, so that the circumstances forced them into a particular direction towards the "aha" moment.

It's really good actually the cause is really strong to make the mc believe the lie

You should

@@Diamondah what i should

I think this is a very strong theme and you have articulated it very well so yes! Write it!

She has on on The Kate and Abbie Show episode 11 😁😁😁

I thought I was the only one, haha. Screenshot Squad.

Me too!

Great idea! If you don't mind, I'll steal this XD

Emma Wright Oh, of course! 🙂 It’s not even my original Idea - it’s based on the Save the Cat Method ☺️

I did the same! Because the character's journey comes to my mind first. And then I decide what I want to convey through that particular character, based on their "aha moment"

The last one is especially interesting. :)

Nice theme, I've read a couple stories I really like before that tried to view that same concept. I'm sure your book will turn out great!!

@@zemmie01 thanks 😊 i think mines gonna turn out pretty good. At least its looking that way at the moment 😉

What about the lie?

Interesting :)

Thank you so much for your kind words! They mean so much to me, and I am thrilled that the content I make encourages you to chase your dreams and make your story MATTER!

That is an EXCELLENT way to put it! I like that visual.

@@msjoysplace and it's been real nice for me so far, cause now I've gotten to the point where a side character's story is gonna intersect with the main character's, but I'm not ready to dive into the side character yet, so I can do the little that's relevant right now, maybe bookmark it with an asterisk that I can do a search of the document for, and then come back to it later when I'm ready to focus my attention on it