Theme is a big problem for a lot of writers. Many of them even say their stories don’t have a theme at all.
Theme is the main idea of your story, the overall basic message that you want your readers to come away with. Every story has a theme, even if you don’t consciously set out to write one.
Sometimes it helps to find the theme in your work. Especially if you’re having trouble with the story, try coming up with your own theme. Or, as Robert McKee (the creative writing instructor) puts it, your controlling idea
- A controlling idea must be boiled down to the fewest possible words — it can’t be longer than a one-sentence statement.
- A controlling idea must describe the climactic value charge* of the entire story, either positively or negatively.
- A controlling idea must be as specific as possible about the cause of the change in value charge.
*Value charge is how McKee describes the emotional content of a scene or story. What value is at stake in your character’s life in that scene, or in the whole story? How is that value charged at the climax? This can be either positive or negative, based on the character’s viewpoint.
So basically, you just ask yourself: If I had to boil down all of the events in my story to one sentence what would that sentence be? That’s your theme.