In one of several interviews with author Ridley Pearson (“Killer Summer” among others) on bookreporter.com, he said this about themes:
“For the past four or five novels I've focused on an emotional theme... I've always worked on outlining my character arcs --- so each character has someplace to start, emotionally, and someplace he/she is headed. Adopting a theme for the novel has been good for me; it keeps me rooted and reminds me that the overarching emotions of these characters are focused on a particular quality, a human quality that is sometimes desired, sometimes not, sometimes achievable, sometimes not.”
Sometimes I have a theme in mind when I start a script or other project, sometimes I only realize afterward what it was.
I think knowing it can be useful, especially in the middle of a longer work when there is the danger of getting lost.
The danger is that the work will become heavy-handed or preachy but if you let the characters give you direction usually that won’t happen.
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