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Hey Ereki!

So, last week, we focused on how the backstories for our characters should tie into and effect our character voices. And I think it was a very beneficial discussion, all things considered. We had a lot more involvement than in some of the past weeks, so that made me really excited. I love to see everyone’s thoughts, and if possible, answer questions as well. 🙂

This week, we’re going to be moving on to a different way that we can make use of backstory. And that is…

Backstory and Theme

When we tell stories, we are trying to do two things:

1. We are trying to create an internally-consistent secondary world that readers can enter into as immersively as possible. It should be as true-to-life as possible, so that there are not outright contradictions or mistakes that kick the reader into think-mode and make them lose the thread of the story. And that’s why we focus on things like character voice, backstory effecting them realistically, and many other things. Because we’re trying to be realistic, and internally consistent. Our stories should ‘smell’ real enough to our readers that they don’t put the book down and sigh in frustration. But we’re also trying to do something else.

2. We are trying to help our readers experience a truth (or truths). The whole point of creating a secondary world that our readers can enter and enjoy is to craft an experience (through the story and characters) of a particular element of truth. Typically, people call this “weaving a theme into your story”, and the conversation revolves around how to do this well. And it’s a necessary conversation, and we’re going to (hopefully) add to that conversation this week in a small way.

But before having that conversation, I wanted to step back first and get at the heart of why we write stories with themes, and why it’s so important. To me, anyway, it gets at the heart of storytelling.

I am not trying to create for the sake of creation (although the world-building crazy-man inside my head can get a little excited at times).

I am also not creating for the sake of instruction/teaching (although the influencer in me is excited at the thought of people’s lives being changed).

I am storytelling, that unique combination of creating and teaching that has as it’s ultimate goal the experience and magnification of Truth. We’re neither creators or teachers. We’re storytellers.

In my view, then, theme is what makes stories stories: worthwhile, meaningful, impactful, beautiful, and truth-telling. Without theme, stories are pretty pebbles on a beach.

All of that to say, in a very roundabout way – point two means we’re not trying to make a secondary reality. We are creating art, and while art reflects and imitates reality in order to be understood coherently, it does so in intentional and sometimes unrealistic ways.

It is unrealistic that someone’s life will demonstrate a particular theme to a tee, and that every trial and villain they come up against will develop different questions that all relate back to the same theme. That’s not realism. And yet, with the magic touch of artistry, it makes for excellent storytelling.

So, to recap. Point one: we’re trying to be realistic. Point two: we’re also crafting the events of the story to point to a specific theme or to ask a specific question; and this means we cannot stick only to realism.

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Coming back to where we started, we come at the question of the significance of backstory for developing theme. I think backstory is often overlooked when we think about developing themes, but they are (in my opinion) a perfect and even necessary place for us to sow the seeds of our themes. Perhaps the parents of your MC can die in such a way that implicitly asks the main question your theme seeks to answer through the character arc and plot of the story itself. Perhaps the MC comes from a background that is completely opposite to the conclusion your theme will come to at the end of the story. Whatever it is, I think it’s very important that we build our backstories with the theme in mind.

If we put last week and this week together, our backstories will be doing several things at once (which is always our goal; no element does just one thing). Backstory serves as a logical background for the character’s voice and motivations. Backstory serves as a logical backdrop or starting point for the theme being explored. (And then on top of that, because of how closely theme and plot are aligned, backstory could even function as foreshadowing.)

I would love to hear how you guys have created backstories for your characters that tie into and develop some of the themes (major or minor) of your books.

(If you haven’t thought about theme much and are not sure if you’ve got any, look your stories over further and I’m sure you’ll be able to find something! Very often, if we’re writing well, we’re writing with themes implicitly woven into our stories.)

Remember, this is a discussion, not an assignment, so if you have something to say and it kind of takes us in a different direction, feel free to post away. The real purpose of this annual theme discussion is to get us talking together deeply and seriously about how we can better craft excellent stories. Anything that helps us do that is highly encouraged. 😀

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