Theme in the Short Story

Theme is something I've thought a lot about this past year. When I had a discussion in my writing group on the subject, not only did opinions vary widely, but there was also great division on what the term even meant... in relation to writing and writing short stories in particular. Having said that, please forgive the narrow definition here, but the following is the subject I wanted to deal with this time. So here we go... THEME:

My stories have always been very (VERY!) plot-oriented. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that. But for me, I felt I needed to move into a different stage in my writing process. I started to hear more and more about theme. Sure, I heard about "character-oriented" stories, too, but to me theme seemed like a more important missing factor in my writing. I wasn't very clear at all regarding the themes of my stories. And if I'm not clear, how will the reader be clear on what I'm trying to say?

I guess theme would kind of be the "why" of the story. Why are you telling this story?

I'll refer to a couple of passages from a book I like and maybe we can discuss the issue at tomorrow's chat.

In Theme & Strategy by Ronald B. Tobias, they talk about theme in terms of: "What's the point? The question of why separates the physical act of construction from the philosophical reason for doing it. Theme = the pattern of thought in your work. Theme is the place where your "aesthetic side of the work must express itself". "Theme is the central concern around which a story is structured. Sometimes you hear the theme is the 'message' of the story, the point, the central idea, or the statement of the story, but that's too confining and doesn't always work. Theme is your inertial guidance system. It directs your decisions about which path to take, which choice is right for the story and which choice isn't. As we write, we only start to understand the actual meaning of the work, but with theme we actually structure the work on a concept that guides us from the start. Theme shouldn't be some fuzzy, in -the-back-of-your-mind idea, but a viable, working pattern. Choosing the theme that best suits the story you want to tell will help you express your idea clearly."

I'm not yet incorporating theme as much in my recent writing as I'd like to, but it IS a subject I'm giving a lot more thought to and I believe my works are improving because of it.

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