Themes, Ideas, and Objects

While we don’t necessarily want to preach to our readers, we do generally try to get across certain ideas, explore certain themes, and use particular props (objects) to do so.  The repetition and strengthening of these add depth and strength to your story.

For example, Harry Potter is well-known as a coming-of-age novel focusing on the power of love, friendship, family, memory, and death. These are ideas and themes that are repeated throughout each novel, adding more and more layers each time. We see the use of the mirror that Sirius gives Harry multiple times, Riddle’s diary, the photo album of Harry’s parents given to him by Hagrid, and so on.

What themes and ideas do you want your reader to think on throughout your story? What about the human experience do you wish to explore?

Picking one or two of the above that you’ve identified, explain a few scenarios that exemplify these themes or ideas.