Thematic Concepts

Sometimes your story is driven by a force that is irresistible. Love, hate, power lust, money, or any of the seven deadly sins can create great, though sometimes tragic, stories. What drives you?

  • love, fear, hate, longing,
  • duty, honor, allegiance, law, order, pride, blind ambition
  • envy, jealousy, covetousness,
  • gluttony, avarice, greed, rapacity, acquisitiveness,
  • materialism, cupidity, money-lust
  • ambition, power, control, dominion, superiority, supremacy
  • lust, passion, desire
  • angst, depression, melancholy,
  • self-loathing, self doubt,
  • impotence, hopelessness, sloth, carelessness,
  • anxiety, fear, nervousness,
  • promises, atonement,
  • loss, regret, remorse
  • vice, compulsion, addiction, obsession,
  • truth, justification, righteousness,
  • anger, wrath, hatred, chaos,
  • vengeance, revenge, pay back, eye for an eye,
  • making up, restitution, correction,
  • rebirth, renewal, wash away sins,
  • destruction, annihilation, eradication
  • get rich, fame, fortune, make a name for oneself,
  • bad memories, tortured past, lost years,

Notes:

  • Whatever your theme, make sure that someone learns a lesson from it. The lesson can be conveyed subtly (laying a flower at a father’s grave after finally reconciling with the past) or can be blunt (“Wow,” said Bob, “I’ll never do that again.”) or anywhere in between. The lesson is important because it makes a point; in other words, your story won’t be pointless.