Martin Cavannagh of Reedsy has sent me a link to a wonderful post about theme. Naturally, I have to stick my two cents’ worth in.
I’ve been known to commit the occasional act of literary fiction, but I generally write genre. In general, commercial or genre fiction tends to be less concerned with theme and literary fiction tends to be more concerned with theme.
See, character is who and why, setting is when and where, plot is what and how, and theme is so what.
But, for a longer, more entertaining, and well-illustrated post on the subject, as well as a quiz WHICH I TOTALLY ACED, go to Martin’s Infographic On Theme. You can thank me later.
A WRITING PROMPT FOR YOU: Pick five of your favorite books, stories, or movies. List the plot, story, and theme(s) of each and why you think so. Or four. Or three. Whatevs.
MA