: Re: Picking a theme as a discovery writer When I write I often don't have any great meaningful moral to share. I don't have a message that I want to convey to the reader. I often don't write

@Jamie945

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However, if I just pick a random arbitrary theme by spinning the great
wheel of themes, then I find myself struggling to develop it because
there is nothing behind it. Then I fizzle out and abandon the project.

In my experience (another discovery writer reporting in) the themes don't move the plot forward. It's either the characters or the plot. From that quote in your questions, it seems almost like you're expecting your theme to push your project, but that's ... well, unpractical to say the least.

While it's true that a lot of novels (the old classics in particular) can be read as showcases of some big themes, if you are interested in explaining a theme and a theme only you'd be better off in writing an essay or a paper.

It's true, as you note, that adding a theme can make your story more complex, more tridimensional. Yet again, I'd argue that a good story deserves to be narrated per se, regardless of its themes.

I often have a point where I know that if I just had a greater purpose
for the work than just a series of events, things would go better.

So, the real question here is: are you really dissatisfied with your themes, or with your plot and characters?

Is there any process to come up with a theme to use in these situations when I don't have any clear direction? Or is this a sign that the project is flat and I should let it die?

In my humble opinion, you shouldn't need to come up with themes. Themes should stem naturally from your view of the world and from who you are as a person. For example, I'm interested in AIs and I'm writing a science fiction, so a lot of my knowledge of the matter naturally flows into my writing. So you could say I'm exploring a lot of themes:

What does it mean to be human?
Since AIs are so advanced, should them govern us? Or should we stick to human leaders, no matter how biased they may be?
What's the nature of intelligence? What's a human-like intelligence? What's a inhuman-like one?

At the same time, it's a coming of age story, where my character is going through the usual steps of finding who she is, what her roots are, and how to stand up for herself in the harsh world she lives in. Yet, none of this is driving the story forward. Themes are mostly in the subtexts, behind the stage and working in an implicit way. There are points in the story where I explicitly state them out (e.g., a character giving his opinion on something, or the main character thinking about certain arguments) but those are exceptions.

So, check your characters and your plot. If they are allright, you should be able to write. Of course, your desire to include strong themes in your work is totally legitimate. To this end, try to identify a central question (as DPT mentioned) and then research it further.

For example, everyone here is familiar with the concept of "good vs evil", since it's a theme as old as the written world (and older, maybe). Yet if you wanted to get a better grasp of the theme (and go beyond the typical hollywood movie) you could research the various philosophical implications of the theme. A lot of thinkers have come to wrestle with the concepts of good and evil after all, and there's a lot to read about it.

Doing further research will deepen your comprehension of a theme. Your opinion on the matter shouldn't change, at least not necessarily. But by having a deeper, wider view of what a certain theme implies, you'll be better armed to talk about it. And hopefully that knowledge will seep almost effortlessy into your novels, because now (as a certain youtuber uses to say) you know better.

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