In nonfiction, essays are one of the trickiest to master. Even if you write only fiction or poetry or memoir, knowing your theme can help you stay on track.
Writing Tip for Today: Here are some tips for discovering and adhering to a theme:
Only One Thing
One of the first rules of essay writing is that an essay should be about one thing. As we discovered with the Gabrielle Rico method, the center word or concept (which is usually pretty abstract) is illuminated with specific examples. The spokes radiating from that center become more and more specific, culminating in the AHA! moment.
For instance, you might want to write about love (abstract). Love means different things to different people. Look for events in your own life or those of others that best bring YOUR SLANT on love to life. That’s right—your abstract theme must have a specific angle or point. You could be saying that love always wins or that love is nothing but heartbreak. Use specific events to show (not tell!) readers what your angle on the topic must be.
If you’ve been honest and authentic about these specifics—a particular scene, event or moment in time—you can use your AHA! to hook the reader. Many drafts start out with a broad statement that sounds very generic. Blah, even. By showing your reader a great tidbit of a scene at your opening, you can create tension and engagement.
Cherry-pick Scenes
When you bring a particular example to your readers, avoid dumping too much information all at once. Edit out minutiae in a scene that doesn’t matter or doesn’t pertain to the topic you want to bring out. Practice writing scenes that omit all chit-chat, nattering and needless details.
Watch out for over-long descriptions. Readers prefer action to explanations, so concentrate on making your scenes or anecdotes as tension-filled and active as possible. One way to do this is to streamline the way a scene unfolds: by starting as the action begins, rather than trying to explain all the set-up.
Practice breaking up a scene to insert into a narrative. You could tease the reader with a set-up and the problem at the opening, then switch to narrative and back to the scene, withholding certain developments that resolve the scene’s goal. You’ll be able to build suspense and entice readers to keep reading.
Use specific events to show (not tell!) readers what your angle on the topic must be.
Prioritize Persuasion
Your goal—whether it be with essay, memoir or fiction—must be to persuade readers of your theme. Whatever you “promise” the reader will learn, you must deliver on that promise. For instance, if you say readers will learn your thoughts on love, don’t veer away to a theme about money unless it directly affects the theme.
You’ll be able to persuade more readers to agree with your take on a theme if you avoid ranting or airing out all your grievances. Most readers don’t enjoy being yelled at in life or in print. Make your arguments for or against with particular scenes and allow readers to come to their own conclusions.
If your theme is streamlined with specific scenes or anecdotes, readers may agree or disagree with your conclusions. Yet if you master using specific scenes to illustrate your angle, readers will be able to clearly understand your point. As E. B. White supposedly said, “Don’t write about man. Write about a man.” Work on bringing your theme to life with scenes that showcase, build tension and you hope, persuade your readers to come back for more.
