theme of a story in creative writing

What is Theme? A Look at 20 Common Themes in Literature

Sean Glatch  |  May 7, 2024  |  18 Comments

When someone asks you “What is this book about?” , there are a few ways you can answer. There’s “ plot ,” which refers to the literal events in the book, and there’s “character,” which refers to the people in the book and the struggles they overcome. Finally, there are themes in literature that correspond with the work’s topic and message. But what is theme in literature?

The theme of a story or poem refers to the deeper meaning of that story or poem. All works of literature contend with certain complex ideas, and theme is how a story or poem approaches these ideas.

There are countless ways to approach the theme of a story or poem, so let’s take a look at some theme examples and a list of themes in literature. We’ll discuss the differences between theme and other devices, like theme vs moral and theme vs topic. Finally, we’ll examine why theme is so essential to any work of literature, including to your own writing.

But first, what is theme? Let’s explore what theme is—and what theme isn’t.

Common Themes in Literature: Contents

• Theme Definition

20 Common Themes in Literature

• Theme Examples

Themes in Literature: A Hierarchy of Ideas

Why themes in literature matter.

• Should I Decide the Themes of a Story in Advance?

Theme Definition: What is Theme?

Theme describes the central idea(s) that a piece of writing explores. Rather than stating this theme directly, the author will look at theme using the set of literary tools at their disposal. The theme of a story or poem will be explored through elements like characters , plot, settings , conflict, and even word choice and literary devices .

Theme definition: the central idea(s) that a piece of writing explores.

That said, theme is more than just an idea. It is also the work’s specific vantage point on that idea. In other words, a theme is an idea plus an opinion: it is the author’s specific views regarding the central ideas of the work. 

All works of literature have these central ideas and opinions, even if those ideas and opinions aren’t immediate to the reader.

Justice, for example, is a literary theme that shows up in a lot of classical works. To Kill a Mockingbird contends with racial justice, especially at a time when the U.S. justice system was exceedingly stacked against African Americans. How can a nation call itself just when justice is used as a weapon?

By contrast, the play Hamlet is about the son of a recently-executed king. Hamlet seeks justice for his father and vows to kill Claudius—his father’s killer—but routinely encounters the paradox of revenge. Can justice really be found through more bloodshed?

What is theme? An idea + an opinion.

Clearly, these two works contend with justice in unrelated ways. All themes in literature are broad and open-ended, allowing writers to explore their own ideas about these complex topics.

Let’s look at some common themes in literature. The ideas presented within this list of themes in literature show up in novels, memoirs, poems, and stories throughout history.

Theme Examples in Literature

Let’s take a closer look at how writers approach and execute theme. Themes in literature are conveyed throughout the work, so while you might not have read the books in the following theme examples, we’ve provided plot synopses and other relevant details where necessary. We analyze the following:

• Power and Corruption in the novel Animal Farm
• Loneliness in the short story “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place”
• Love in the poem “How Do I Love Thee”

Theme Examples: Power and Corruption in the Novel Animal Farm

At its simplest, the novel Animal Farm by George Orwell is an allegory that represents the rise and moral decline of Communism in Russia. Specifically, the novel uncovers how power corrupts the leaders of populist uprisings, turning philosophical ideals into authoritarian regimes.

Most of the characters in Animal Farm represent key figures during and after the Russian Revolution. On an ailing farm that’s run by the negligent farmer Mr. Jones (Tsar Nicholas II), the livestock are ready to seize control of the land. The livestock’s discontent is ripened by Old Major (Karl Marx/Lenin), who advocates for the overthrow of the ruling elite and the seizure of private land for public benefit.

After Old Major dies, the pigs Napoleon (Joseph Stalin) and Snowball (Leon Trotsky) stage a revolt. Mr. Jones is chased off the land, which parallels the Russian Revolution in 1917. The pigs then instill “Animalism”—a system of government that advocates for the rights of the common animal. At the core of this philosophy is the idea that “all animals are equal”—an ideal that, briefly, every animal upholds.

Initially, the Animalist Revolution brings peace and prosperity to the farm. Every animal is well-fed, learns how to read, and works for the betterment of the community. However, when Snowball starts implementing a plan to build a windmill, Napoleon drives Snowball off of the farm, effectively assuming leadership over the whole farm. (In real life, Stalin forced Trotsky into exile, and Trotsky spent the rest of his life critiquing the Stalin regime until he was assassinated in 1940.)

Napoleon’s leadership quickly devolves into demagoguery, demonstrating the corrupting influence of power and the ways that ideology can breed authoritarianism. Napoleon uses Snowball as a scapegoat for whenever the farm has a setback, while using Squealer (Vyacheslav Molotov) as his private informant and public orator.

Eventually, Napoleon changes the tenets of Animalism, starts walking on two legs, and acquires other traits and characteristics of humans. At the end of the novel, and after several more conflicts , purges, and rule changes, the livestock can no longer tell the difference between the pigs and humans.

Themes in Literature: Power and Corruption in Animal Farm

So, how does Animal Farm explore the theme of “Power and Corruption”? Let’s analyze a few key elements of the novel.

Plot: The novel’s major plot points each relate to power struggles among the livestock. First, the livestock wrest control of the farm from Mr. Jones; then, Napoleon ostracizes Snowball and turns him into a scapegoat. By seizing leadership of the farm for himself, Napoleon grants himself massive power over the land, abusing this power for his own benefit. His leadership brings about purges, rule changes, and the return of inequality among the livestock, while Napoleon himself starts to look more and more like a human—in other words, he resembles the demagoguery of Mr. Jones and the abuse that preceded the Animalist revolution.

Thus, each plot point revolves around power and how power is wielded by corrupt leadership. At its center, the novel warns the reader of unchecked power, and how corrupt leaders will create echo chambers and private militaries in order to preserve that power.

Characters: The novel’s characters reinforce this message of power by resembling real life events. Most of these characters represent real life figures from the Russian Revolution, including the ideologies behind that revolution. By creating an allegory around Lenin, Trotsky, Stalin, and the other leading figures of Communist Russia’s rise and fall, the novel reminds us that unchecked power foments disaster in the real world.

Literary Devices: There are a few key literary devices that support the theme of Power and Corruption. First, the novel itself is a “satirical allegory.” “ Satire ” means that the novel is ridiculing the behaviors of certain people—namely Stalin, who instilled far-more-dangerous laws and abuses that created further inequality in Russia/the U.S.S.R. While Lenin and Trotsky had admirable goals for the Russian nation, Stalin is, quite literally, a pig.

Meanwhile, “allegory” means that the story bears symbolic resemblance to real life, often to teach a moral. The characters and events in this story resemble the Russian Revolution and its aftermath, with the purpose of warning the reader about unchecked power.

Finally, an important literary device in Animal Farm is symbolism . When Napoleon (Stalin) begins to resemble a human, the novel suggests that he has become as evil and negligent as Mr. Jones (Tsar Nicholas II). Since the Russian Revolution was a rejection of the Russian monarchy, equating Stalin to the monarchy reinforces the corrupting influence of power, and the need to elect moral individuals to posts of national leadership.

Theme Examples: Loneliness in “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place”

Ernest Hemingway’s short story “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” is concerned with the theme of loneliness. You can read this short story here . Content warning for mentions of suicide.

There are very few plot points in Hemingway’s story, so most of the story’s theme is expressed through dialogue and description. In the story, an old man stays up late drinking at a cafe. The old man has no wife—only a niece that stays with him—and he attempted suicide the previous week. Two waiters observe him: a younger waiter wants the old man to leave so they can close the cafe, while an older waiter sympathizes with the old man. None of these characters have names.

The younger waiter kicks out the old man and closes the cafe. The older waiter walks to a different cafe and ruminates on the importance of “a clean, well-lighted place” like the cafe he works at.

Themes in Literature: Loneliness in “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place”

Hemingway doesn’t tell us what to think about the old man’s loneliness, but he does provide two opposing viewpoints through the dialogue of the waiters.

The younger waiter has the hallmarks of a happy life: youth, confidence, and a wife to come home to. While he acknowledges that the old man is unhappy, he also admits “I don’t want to look at him,” complaining that the old man has “no regard for those who must work.” The younger waiter “did not wish to be unjust,” he simply wanted to return home.

The older waiter doesn’t have the privilege of turning away: like the old man, he has a house but not a home to return to, and he knows that someone may need the comfort of “a clean and pleasant cafe.”

The older waiter, like Hemingway, empathizes with the plight of the old man. When your place of rest isn’t a home, the world can feel like a prison, so having access to a space that counteracts this feeling is crucial. What kind of a place is that? The older waiter surmises that “the light of course” matters, but the place must be “clean and pleasant” too. Additionally, the place should not have music or be a bar: it must let you preserve the quiet dignity of yourself.

Lastly, the older waiter’s musings about God clue the reader into his shared loneliness with the old man. In a stream of consciousness, the older waiter recites traditional Christian prayers with “nada” in place of “God,” “Father,” “Heaven,” and other symbols of divinity. A bartender describes the waiter as “otro locos mas” (translation: another crazy), and the waiter concludes that his plight must be insomnia.

This belies the irony of loneliness: only the lonely recognize it. The older waiter lacks confidence, youth, and belief in a greater good. He recognizes these traits in the old man, as they both share a need for a clean, well-lighted place long after most people fall asleep. Yet, the younger waiter and the bartender don’t recognize these traits as loneliness, just the ramblings and shortcomings of crazy people.

Does loneliness beget craziness? Perhaps. But to call the waiter and old man crazy would dismiss their feelings and experiences, further deepening their loneliness.

Loneliness is only mentioned once in the story, when the young waiter says “He’s [the old man] lonely. I’m not lonely. I have a wife waiting in bed for me.” Nonetheless, loneliness consumes this short story and its older characters, revealing a plight that, ironically, only the lonely understand.

Theme Examples: Love in the Poem “How Do I Love Thee”

Let’s turn towards brighter themes in literature: namely, love in poetry . Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poem “ How Do I Love Thee ” is all about the theme of love.

Themes in Literature: Love in “How Do I Love Thee”

Browning’s poem is a sonnet , which is a 14-line poem that often centers around love and relationships. Sonnets have different requirements depending on their form, but between lines 6-8, they all have a volta —a surprising line that twists and expands the poem’s meaning.

Let’s analyze three things related to the poem’s theme: its word choice, its use of simile and metaphor , and its volta.

Word Choice: Take a look at the words used to describe love. What do those words mean? What are their connotations? Here’s a brief list: “soul,” “ideal grace,” “quiet need,” “sun and candle-light,” “strive for right,” “passion,” “childhood’s faith,” “the breath, smiles, tears, of all my life,” “God,” “love thee better after death.”

These words and phrases all bear positive connotations, and many of them evoke images of warmth, safety, and the hearth. Even phrases that are morose, such as “lost saints” and “death,” are used as contrasts to further highlight the speaker’s wholehearted rejoicing of love. This word choice suggests an endless, benevolent, holistic, all-consuming love.

Simile and Metaphor: Similes and metaphors are comparison statements, and the poem routinely compares love to different objects and ideas. Here’s a list of those comparisons:

The speaker loves thee:

• To the depths of her soul.
• By sun and candle light—by day and night.
• As men strive to do the right thing (freely).
• As men turn from praise (purely).
• With the passion of both grief and faith.
• With the breath, smiles, and tears of her entire life.
• Now in life, and perhaps even more after death.

The speaker’s love seems to have infinite reach, flooding every aspect of her life. It consumes her soul, her everyday activities, her every emotion, her sense of justice and humility, and perhaps her afterlife, too. For the speaker, this love is not just an emotion, an activity, or an ideology: it’s her existence.

Volta: The volta of a sonnet occurs in the poem’s center. In this case, the volta is the lines “I love thee freely, as men strive for right. / I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.”

What surprising, unexpected comparisons! To the speaker, love is freedom and the search for a greater good; it is also as pure as humility. By comparing love to other concepts, the speaker reinforces the fact that love isn’t just an ideology, it’s an ideal that she strives for in every word, thought, and action.

“Theme” is part of a broader hierarchy of ideas. While the theme of a story encompasses its central ideas, the writer also expresses these ideas through different devices.

You may have heard of some of these devices: motif, moral, topic, etc. What is motif vs theme? What is theme vs moral? These ideas interact with each other in different ways, which we’ve mapped out below.

Theme vs Topic

The “topic” of a piece of literature answers the question: What is this piece about? In other words, “topic” is what actually happens in the story or poem.

You’ll find a lot of overlap between topic and theme examples. Love, for instance, is both the topic and the theme of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poem “How Do I Love Thee.”

The difference between theme vs topic is: topic describes the surface level content matter of the piece, whereas theme encompasses the work’s apparent argument about the topic.

Topic describes the surface level content matter of the piece, whereas theme encompasses the work’s apparent argument about the topic.

So, the topic of Browning’s poem is love, while the theme is the speaker’s belief that her love is endless, pure, and all-consuming.

Additionally, the topic of a piece of literature is definitive, whereas the theme of a story or poem is interpretive. Every reader can agree on the topic, but many readers will have different interpretations of the theme. If the theme weren’t open-ended, it would simply be a topic.

Theme vs Motif

A motif is an idea that occurs throughout a literary work. Think of the motif as a facet of the theme: it explains, expands, and contributes to themes in literature. Motif develops a central idea without being the central idea itself .

Motif develops a central idea without being the central idea itself.

In Animal Farm , for example, we encounter motif when Napoleon the pig starts walking like a human. This represents the corrupting force of power, because Napoleon has become as much of a despot as Mr. Jones, the previous owner of the farm. Napoleon’s anthropomorphization is not the only example of power and corruption, but it is a compelling motif about the dangers of unchecked power.

Theme vs Moral

The moral of a story refers to the story’s message or takeaway. What can we learn from thinking about a specific piece of literature?

The moral is interpreted from the theme of a story or poem. Like theme, there is no single correct interpretation of a story’s moral: the reader is left to decide how to interpret the story’s meaning and message.

For example, in Hemingway’s “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place,” the theme is loneliness, but the moral isn’t quite so clear—that’s for the reader to decide. My interpretation is that we should be much more sympathetic towards the lonely, since loneliness is a quiet affliction that many lonely people cannot express.

Great literature does not tell us what to think, it gives us stories to think about.

However, my interpretation could be miles away from yours, and that’s wonderful! Great literature does not tell us what to think, it gives us stories to think about, and the more we discuss our thoughts and interpretations, the more we learn from each other.

The theme of a story affects everything else: the decisions that characters make, the mood that words and images build, the moral that readers interpret, etc. Recognizing how writers utilize various themes in literature will help you craft stronger, more nuanced works of prose and poetry .

“To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme.” —Herman Melville

Whether a writer consciously or unconsciously decides the themes of their work, theme in literature acts as an organizing principle for the work as a whole. For writers, theme is especially useful to think about in the process of revision: if some element of your poem or story doesn’t point towards a central idea, it’s a sign that the work is not yet finished. 

Moreover, literary themes give the work  stakes . They make the work stand for something. Remember that our theme definition is an idea plus an opinion. Without that opinion element, a work of literature simply won’t stand for anything, because it is presenting ideas in the abstract without giving you something to react to. The theme of a story or poem is never just “love” or “justice,” it’s the author’s particular spin and insight on those themes. This is what makes a work of literature compelling or evocative. Without theme, literature has no center of gravity, and all the words and characters and plot points are just floating in the ether. 

Should I Decide the Theme of a Story or Poem in Advance?

You can, though of course it depends on the actual story you want to tell. Some writers certainly start with a theme. You might decide you want to write a story about themes like love, family, justice, gender roles, the environment, or the pursuit of revenge.

From there, you can build everything else: plot points, characters, conflicts, etc. Examining themes in literature can help you generate some strong story ideas !

Nonetheless, theme is not the only way to approach a creative writing project. Some writers start with plot, others with character, others with conflicts, and still others with just a vague notion of what the story might be about. You might not even realize the themes in your work until after you finish writing it.

You certainly want your work to have a message, but deciding what that message is in advance might actually hinder your writing process. Many writers use their poems and stories as opportunities to explore tough questions, or to arrive at a deeper insight on a topic. In other words, you can start your work with ideas, and even opinions on those ideas, but don’t try to shoehorn a story or poem into your literary themes. Let the work explore those themes. If you can surprise yourself or learn something new from the writing process, your readers will certainly be moved as well. 

So, experiment with ideas and try different ways of writing. You don’t have think about the theme of a story right away—but definitely give it some thought when you start revising your work!

Develop Great Themes at Writers.com

As writers, it’s hard to know how our work will be viewed and interpreted. Writing in a community can help. Whether you join our Facebook group or enroll in one of our upcoming courses , we have the tools and resources to sharpen your writing.

Sean Glatch

18 comments.

Sean Glatch,Thank you very much for your discussion on themes. It was enlightening and brought clarity to an abstract and sometimes difficult concept to explain and illustrate. The sample stories and poem were appreciated too as they are familiar to me. High School Language Arts Teacher

Hi Stephanie, I’m so glad this was helpful! Happy teaching 🙂

Wow!!! This is the best resource on the subject of themes that I have ever encountered and read on the internet. I just bookmarked it and plan to use it as a resource for my teaching. Thank you very much for publishing this valuable resource.

Hi Marisol,

Thank you for the kind words! I’m glad to hear this article will be a useful resource. Happy teaching!

Warmest, Sean

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What is Theme? A Look at 20 Common Themes in Literature | writers.com

Hello! This is a very informative resource. Thank you for sharing.

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This presentation is excellent and of great educational value. I will employ it already in my thesis research studies.

John Never before communicated with you!

Brilliant! Thank you.

[…] THE MOST COMMON THEMES IN LITERATURE […]

marvellous. thumbs up

Thank you. Very useful information.

found everything in themes. thanks. so much

In college I avoided writing classes and even quit a class that would focus on ‘Huck Finn’ for the entire semester. My idea of hell. However, I’ve been reading and learning from the writers.com articles, and I want to especially thank Sean Glatch who writes in a way that is useful to aspiring writers like myself.

You are very welcome, Anne! I’m glad that these resources have been useful on your writing journey.

Thank you very much for this clear and very easy to understand teaching resources.

Hello there. I have a particular question.

Can you describe the exact difference of theme, issue and subject?

I get confused about these.

I love how helpful this is i will tell my class about it!

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200 Common Themes in Literature

Sarah Oakley

Table of Contents

What is the theme of a story, common themes in literature, universal themes in literature, full list of themes in literature, theme examples in popular novels.

The theme of a novel is the main point of the story and what it’s really about. As a writer, it’s important to identify the theme of your story before you write it.

Themes are not unique to each novel because a theme addresses a common feeling or experience your readers can relate to. If you’re aware of what the common themes are, you’ll have a good idea of what your readers are expecting from your novel .

In this article, we’ll explain what a theme is, and we’ll explore common themes in literature.

The theme of a story is the underlying message or central idea the writer is trying to show through the actions of the main characters. A theme is usually something the reader can relate to, such as love, death, and power.

Your story can have more than one theme, as it might have core themes and minor themes that become more apparent later in the story. A romance novel can have the central theme of love, but the protagonist might have to overcome some self-esteem issues, which present the theme of identity.

Themes are great for adding conflict to your story because each theme presents different issues you could use to develop your characters. For example, a novel with the theme of survival will show the main character facing tough decisions about their own will to survive, potentially at the detriment of someone else they care about.

Sometimes a secondary character will represent the theme in the way they are characterized and the actions they take. Their role is to challenge the protagonist to learn what the story is trying to say about the theme. For example, in a novel about the fear of failure, the antagonist might be a rival in a competition who challenges the protagonist to overcome their fear so they can succeed against them.  

It’s important to remember that a theme is not the same as a story’s moral message. A moral is a specific lesson you can teach your readers, whereas a story’s theme is an idea or concept your readers interpret in a way that relates to them.

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Common literary themes are concepts and central ideas that are relatable to most readers. Therefore, it’s a good idea to use a common theme if you want your novel to appeal to a wide range of readers.  

Here’s our list of common themes in literature:

Love : the theme of love appears in novels within many genres, as it can discuss the love of people, pets, objects, and life. Love is a complex concept, so there are still unique takes on this theme being published every day.

Death/Grief : the theme of death can focus on the concept of mortality or how death affects people and how everyone processes grief in their own way.

Power : there are many books in the speculative fiction genres that focus on the theme of power. For example, a fantasy story could center on a ruling family and their internal problems and external pressures, which makes it difficult for them to stay in power. 

Faith : the common theme of faith appears in stories where the events test a character’s resolve or beliefs. The character could be religious or the story could be about a character’s faith in their own ability to succeed.

Beauty : the theme of beauty is good for highlighting places where beauty is mostly overlooked by society, such as inner beauty or hard work that goes unnoticed. Some novels also use the theme of beauty to show how much we take beauty for granted.

Survival : we can see the theme of survival in many genres, such as horror, thriller, and dystopian, where the book is about characters who have to survive life-threatening situations.

Identity : there are so many novels that focus on the common theme of identity because it’s something that matters to a lot of readers. Everyone wants to know who they are and where they fit in the world.

Family : the theme of family is popular because families are ripe with opportunities for conflict. The theme of family affects everyone, whether they have one or not, so it’s a relatable theme to use in your story.

Universal themes are simply concepts and ideas that almost all cultures and countries can understand and interpret. Therefore, a universal theme is great for books that are published in several languages.

If you want to write a story you can export to readers all over the world, aim to use a universal theme. The common themes mentioned previously are all universal literary themes, but there are several more you could choose for your story.

Here are some more universal literary themes:

Human nature

Self-awareness

Coming of age

Not all themes are universal or common, but that shouldn’t put you off from using them. If you believe there is something to be said about a particular theme, your book could be the one to say it.

Your book could become popular if the theme of your book addresses a current issue. For example, a theme of art is not as common as love, but in a time when AI developments are making people talk about how AI affects art, it’s a theme people will probably appreciate.

Here’s a full list of themes you can use in your writing:

Abuse of power

American dream

Celebration

Change versus tradition

Chaos and order

Circle of life

Climate change

Colonialism

Common sense

Communication

Companionship

Conservation

Convention and rebellion

Darkness and light

Disappointment

Disillusionment

Displacement

Empowerment

Everlasting love

Forbidden love

Forgiveness

Fulfillment

Gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender rights

Good vs evil

Imagination

Immortality

Imperialism

Impossibility

Individuality

Inspiration

Manipulation

Materialism

Nationalism

Not giving up

Opportunity

Peer pressure

Perseverance

Personal development

Relationship

Self-discipline

Self-reliance

Self-preservation

Subjectivity

Surveillance

Totalitarianism

Unconditional love

Unrequited love

Unselfishness

Winning and losing

Working class struggles

If you’ve decided on a literary theme but you’re not sure how to present it in your novel, it’s a good idea to check out how other writers have incorporated it into their novels. We’ve found some examples of themes within popular novels that could help you get started.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Great Gatsby is famous for the theme of the American dream, but it also includes themes of gender, race, social class, and identity. We experience the themes of the novel through the eyes of the narrator, Nick Carraway, who gradually loses his optimism for the American dream as the narrative progresses.

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

It’s well known that Shakespeare was a connoisseur of the theme of tragedy in his plays, and Romeo and Juliet certainly features tragedy. However, forbidden love and family are the main themes.

Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White

Charlotte’s Web is a classic children’s book that features the themes of death and mortality. From the beginning of the book, the main characters have to come to terms with their own mortality. Charlotte, the spider, does what she can to prevent the slaughter of Wilbur, the pig.

Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell

George Orwell’s novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four , focuses on themes of totalitarianism, repression, censorship, and surveillance. The novel is famous for introducing the concept of Big Brother, which has become synonymous with the themes of surveillance and abuse of power.

A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin

The fantasy novel, A Game of Thrones , is popular for its complex storylines that present themes of family, power, love, and death. The novel has multiple points of view, which give an insight into how each main character experiences the multiple themes of the story.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games is a popular teen novel that focuses on themes of poverty, rebellion, survival, friendship, power, and social class. The novel highlights the horrifying consequences of rebellion, as the teenage competitors have to survive the Hunger Games pageant.

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

Wolf Hall features themes of power, family, faith, and a sense of duty. It’s a historical novel about the life of Oliver Cromwell and how he became the most powerful minister in King Henry VIII’s council.

As you can see, the literary theme of a novel is one of the most important parts, as it gives the reader an instant understanding of what the story is about. Your readers will connect with your novel if you have a theme that is relatable to them.

Some themes are more popular than others, but some gain popularity based on events that are happening in the world. It’s important to consider how relevant your literary theme is to your readers at the time you intend to publish your book.

We hope this list of common themes in literature will help you with your novel writing.

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Writing Theme: The Simple Way to Weave a Thematic Message into Your Story

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Does the concept of “theme” confuse you? Do you have trouble writing a strong theme, or weaving a theme into your story? How do you write a theme in literature? 

If theme confuses you, you’re not alone. Lots of writers struggle to identify a theme in their book—and many don't even know what thematic message the are communicating through their story until a second or later draft.

The good news is, there are writing tips you can use when weaving a thematic message (or two) into your story. I'd like to share three simple ways to do this.

Why Writing Theme Was Difficult for Me (And How I Overcame This)

I remember the days back in high school English class when I dreaded writing essays on the common themes of books and stories.

There was one particular book that always lingers on my mind, Cold Mountain. I did not understand this book in the least, and when asked about theme, I picked a random sentence that sounded nice and called it a thematic statement. It wasn't one. It was about rocks—not the human condition.

As I grew and developed my skills as a writer, the concept of inserting a theme into a story eluded me.

A theme, after all, is an important story element when writing a novel .

It’s often abstract and vague, and yet it’s supposed to fit every part of your story and tie it all together.

How can you fit this big, confounding idea into your story and keep it consistent throughout, especially when writing a book?

Believe it or not, there is a way!

It wasn’t until the last few years that I finally began to understand how exactly a theme should fit into a story, and that—as it turns out—writing theme isn’t that complicated at all.

When Writing Theme, First Ask Yourself: “What is a Theme?”

A central theme is the main idea or underlying meaning that an author explores in a novel. There can be multiple themes in a story, but each of them says something big about the story's lesson, and what readers can take away from the book.

Does this seem confusing, or ambiguous? Let’s make it simpler:

A theme is an idea that recurs in a story.

That makes a little more sense. But let’s break it down even further.

A theme is a message you keep reminding your reader because it's what the story is really about.

That means a theme is a message that says, “Hey, by the way, just so you remember, this is what I’m trying to tell you. I want you to read this story and remember this .”

You sprinkle this message throughout your story like seasoning on a dish, through description, through dialogue, and through choices made by your characters.

But when writing theme, how do you choose your story's theme(s)? And even after you choose them, how do you weave them into your story's scenes ?

How to Choose Your Story's Theme

Your theme doesn’t have to be complicated. It can be one sentence, a simple phrase, or just one word. In fact, the simpler and more straightforward the theme, the better.

Think of your theme as the one idea you want your readers to keep in the back of their minds during and after reading the story.

For an example, let’s pretend we are going to write a story about an old woman recounting the long life she’s lived.

The theme we want to convey is “passage of time.”

But what does this mean? What will this say about your character experiencing your story, and how can you make this clear to the reader without being overly obvious? What will my story say about the passage of time?

Weaving Theme in Your Story

When writing theme, and then weaving it into your story, begin by identifying words relevant to your theme.

In the example we’ve selected, many words tie to the concept of time, such as:

• Clocks/watches
• Ahead/behind
• Birth/death

Once you identify these words, weave them into your story. This is something that may feel difficult when you first draft your story, but can be done fairly easily in future drafts or during editing.

Let’s take a look at how we can weave this theme of passing time into our story. Imagine this scene:

Doris sat on the creaky bench at the bus stop. The shops down by Main Street had changed from what she remembered. Old McLaren’s barbershop had become a trendy boutique, and the high school where her children attended had been knocked down and rebuilt twice since they graduated. A bike lane had been added to accommodate the increase in cyclers. Biking seemed to have made a comeback. The city bus pulled up with a groan. The tired-looking driver popped the door and gestured to her. “Come on now, I got a schedule to keep.” Doris rose, wincing at her aching bones, and dragged herself onto the bus, where she chose a seat near the back window and watched the city she no longer recognized scroll by outside.

This passage conveys what the story wants to say about time, but something feels weak about it.

It’s loose, like a series of thoughts and descriptions that has a central idea but not quite. To change that, let’s review our theme-relevant words above and take another crack at it.

Here we go:

The ancient bench creaked under Doris as she put her weight on it. It needed a coat of paint badly, but the fast-paced city couldn’t be bothered to pause and refurbish every run-down bus stop. It certainly had time though, Doris thought, to take down and replace all her old haunts. Old McLaren’s barbershop had become a trendy boutique last fall, and the high school where her children attended had been knocked down and rebuilt twice since they graduated at the turn of the century. A bike lane had been added to accommodate the increase in cyclers. Biking was big in the ‘80s, and now the hipsters have brought it back. The city bus pulled up with an exhausted groan. Compared to the bus stop, the old machine looked even worse for wear. The driver with deep lines over his brows popped the door and gestured to her. “Tick-tock, lady. Got a schedule to keep.” Doris rose, wincing at her aching bones. Perhaps she ought to lose weight, she thought to herself, but it was more a flight of fancy than anything – the days when she could still hit the treadmill in between busy work days and long nights partying were far behind her. She dragged herself onto the bus, started to sit in the first available seat, then changed her mind and moved to a quieter spot near the back window, where she settled down heavily and watched the city she no longer recognized scroll by outside.

Does this passage feel more interesting? More emotive? Paints a clearer picture?

The reason is because the theme of time comes through, not only for Doris, but in the poorly maintained bus stop (ancient; contrast against the fast-paced city), the passing of seasons and time (fall, turn of the century), and word choices (tick-tock).

The bus is an old machine, the driver has lines over his brows, the old trend of biking comes full circle, and Doris is no longer the young buck she once was.

Then, instead of sitting in the most convenient seat, she chooses one in the back, a quiet spot that contrasts against her former busy, noisy life of working, gym, and parties.

Every part of this passage now emphasizes time, using words that call to mind clocks, seasons, fast and slow, old and young. Not only does it bring forth the theme and message more strongly, it also makes the story more vivid, tight, and emotional.

Writing theme—specifically the passage of time—in this example takes on new meaning because the context of the story's character, perspective, setting, and conflict all points back to the character's relationship with time itself.

The theme becomes more purposeful because the theme, the passage of time, has a purpose in how the character experiences her surroundings.

Writing With a Theme Makes a Difference

Fitting a theme to your story doesn’t have to be complicated.

By breaking it down to relevant words wrapped around a central idea, you can sprinkle it all throughout your book and reiterate your message to your readers in a subtle, consistent manner.

Writing with a theme can seem daunting, because it feels like everything you write has to fit this one central idea. But the truth is, deciding on a theme can actually help making the writing process easier.

There are a million ways to describe a particular tree your character encounters on their walk. Is it tall? Beautiful? Ugly? Majestic? Inconvenient? Knobbly? But with a theme in mind, you can quickly narrow down the appropriate words to use.

A theme of time, as mentioned above, might lead you to describe the tree as “ancient”, or “a young sapling,” or “bent like grandmother's back.” A different theme, such as young love, might lead you to describe it as “a meeting place of lovers,” or “swaying gently like a lady's hips.”

Instead of being a burden or extra consideration, a theme can work with you and serve as your guide.

And remember, you shouldn't overthink (or overdo) a theme. Plenty of writers don't even know their story's theme until after they've written their first draft.

Still, you need a theme to make a story resonate with your reader after they finish your book. And using the simple tip for writing theme (and weaving it into your scenes) discussed in this post will strengthen your revisions—and the messages making your story memorable and meaningful.

Have you come across themes in your past readings that really resonated with you? Share in the comments below.

First, pick a theme and list out five to ten words relevant to it. Really think about what it would take to integrate these words into a story. Take five minutes to choose your theme and list your words.

Now, take ten minutes to write a blurb that communicates the theme above using the words you listed to inject your message into the story.

When you're done, share your theme and your blurb in the Pro Practice Workshop here . And be sure to support your fellow writers by commenting on what they share, too!

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J. D. Edwin

J. D. Edwin is a daydreamer and writer of fiction both long and short, usually in soft sci-fi or urban fantasy. Sign up for her newsletter for free articles on the writer life and updates on her novel, find her on Facebook and Twitter ( @JDEdwinAuthor ), or read one of her many short stories on Short Fiction Break literary magazine .

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Story themes list: 100+ ideas to explore in your novel

Not sure what your story is about? Try this list of themes.

Themes are the universal ideas or topics your story explores.

And there are a lot of them. So many, in fact, the novel or story you’re working on probably already has a few, whether you realize it or not.

But that doesn’t mean your work is done.

Even though your story already has themes, you still need to identify and nurture them into something that resonates with your readers. Otherwise they’ll just sit there beneath the surface — stale, inert, unrealized.

That’s why I put together this story themes list, to help you:

• See and identify themes that might already be in your story, and
• Get a taste of just how many different kinds of themes are out there (because even this long list only scratches the surface).

How to use the list

Before you jump in, there’s something I want to point out.

The themes I included below are subjects and not messages . I explain the difference in my post that answered what is the theme of a story , but to quickly summarize, a subject is the broad topic you explore, while the message is what you’re trying to say about that subject. (Some call this the “thematic concept” and “thematic statement,” respectively.)

For example, “love” might be the subject of your story, but “love is difficult yet worthwhile” might be the message you want to share about the subject.

I didn’t provide messages, because I want you to feel empowered to use your own beliefs to fuel your handling of these themes.

That being said, your story doesn’t need a message if you don’t want it to. Stories can thrive on subjects alone. But as you look through this list and identify the themes that might be in your writing, you should also think about whether there’s anything you want to say about those topics.

All right, that’s all I have to say. Jump on in!

List of 100+ themes worth exploring

Experiences.

• Coming of Age
• Disillusionment
• Loss of Innocence
• Overcoming Adversity
• Self-discovery

Gender & Sexuality

• Gender Identity
• Masculinity

Human Perception

• Perception vs. Reality
• Subjectivity

Mental Health & Neurodiversity

• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Natural Forces

• Passage of Time

Politics & Economics

• Conservation
• Nationalism

Religion & Philosophy

• Determinism
• Good vs. Evil
• Metaphysics
• Nature vs. Nurture
• Soul / Consciousness

Social Issues

• Abuse of Power
• Immigration
• Progress & Regress
• Rights of the Oppressed
• Transphobia
• Working Class Struggles

Society & Culture

• Familial Obligations
• Individualism
• Responsibility

Technology & Science

• Artificial Intelligence
• Augmented Reality
• Genetic Engineering
• Human Integration with Technology
• Information Privacy
• Weapons of Mass Destruction

Virtues & Vices

• Forgiveness

Want help identifying themes?

If you’re struggling with the concept of theme or how to identify and highlight them in your story, feel free to reach out in the comments below! I’m happy to help.

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2 thoughts on “ story themes list: 100+ ideas to explore in your novel ”.

This is a nice list to get inspired! There are so many stories to write about all of these ideas!

Thanks! The crazy thing is this list still only scratches the surface of all the different themes out there. It’s both daunting and liberating to know!

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How To Create A Theme For A Story

Knowing how to create a theme for a story can be a difficult task. Literary themes are a little vague at the best of times and guidance on making and developing them in a story or novel isn’t always clear.

But fear not for help is at hand. In this in-depth guide, we’re going to cover everything you need to know about theme in writing. 

We’ll first take a look at the definition of a literary theme. We’ll discuss some examples of popular themes and go over ways of coming up with our own. We’ll also look at useful ways to evoke the theme from an existing story, which can save you a lot of headaches.

Let’s dive in. 

What Is A Theme?

A theme takes a hard look at the meaning of things and examines deep-rooted ideas . A story with a theme is a story with a point. It’s only when the writer considers this element, according to master editor Sol Stein, “does he achieve not just an alternative reality, or loosely, an imitation of nature, but true, firm art—fiction as serious thought.”

People take different approaches to creating a theme for a story. 

American novelist John Gardner (who had the interesting middle name ‘Champlin’) argued that theme is not imposed on a story, but rather evoked from within it. Initially, it’s intuitive, but finally becomes an intellectual consideration on the part of the writer.

While other writers agree with this approach, it’s not the only one to take when considering the theme. It can be engineered into your story, considered beforehand to give it focus, to help you make out your argument.

A contrasting approach to literary themes comes from one of my favorite creative writing teachers, Lajos Egri. The Hungarian playwright believed that a story couldn’t be written without a premise or theme.

Egri argued that the creative writing theme provides the framework, the structure, the direction. If the writer begins to stray off track, the theme keeps them focused.

But a theme should not consume your story. It’s just one component. Writer and blogger Chuck Wendig describes it as “a drop of poison: subtle, unseen.”

Don’t make it too subtle though, otherwise, it may bypass your readers. Let’s take a look at why a theme in a story is important.

Further Reading – How To Create A Premise

Is A Theme Important To A Story?

As eluded to above, the theme of a story is what it’s about, what it means . It should not be confused with the plot —the two are separate elements, yet linked.

For example, if we look at the classic romance story of Romeo and Juliet , the plot is about two individuals from rival families falling in love and dying as a result of a series of tragic events. But that’s not what the story is about . The themes, in simple terms, look at love, fate, and family, amongst others.

The theme provides the platform for the writer to leave their mark, to put forward their views on a particular topic or idea. It’s the job of the writer to “dig out the fundamental meaning of events by organising the imitation of reality [the story] around some primary question or theme suggested by the character’s concern.”

As we’ll see below, a theme doesn’t have to be based on morality. It can be a more general idea, a topic that reappears throughout a story.

Examples Of Themes

When you seek out examples of literary themes you’ll invariably find lists of single-word suggestions. It’s important to remember that while it’s helpful to summarise themes in this way, they should not be limited to just that one word.

Instead, think of it as an essay question you’d find in school or university. You’re asked to explore or criticise a concept, and in essence, you’re doing the same with your theme .

“Theme can be a broad topical arena, or it can be a specific stance on anything human beings experience in life.”

A theme is not a question, it’s the answer. The process of exploring the theme in your story is the journey your characters go on to come to realise this answer.  

Here are a few literary theme examples:

• Alienation – the effects of it, how to fight it.
• Betrayal – how the pain feels, attitude changes to friends and loved ones.
• Coming of Age – the loss of childhood innocence, the shift from childhood to adulthood, or a significant step in personal growth.
• Courage – courage to face adversity, to deal with conflict, the development of it, or the loss of it.
• Discovery – discovering new places, revealing information, inner meaning, inner strength, treasures.
• Death – how to escape it, facing it, dealing with the effects of it.
• Fear – conquering it, coping with it, the crippling effects of it.
• Freedom – losing it, longing for it, striving to achieve it, fighting for it.
• Good Versus Evil – the struggle between the two opposing forces, the triumph of one over the other.
• Justice – the fight for it, injustices, seeking the truth.
• Loss – of life, innocence, possessions, freedoms.
• Love conquers all – love provides the motivation to overcome an obstacle.
• Religion – the effect religion has on individuals, how beliefs shape their lives, extremists such as cults, sin, the afterlife.
• Power – gaining it, handling it, losing it, fighting for it.

So, let’s take a look at how to create a theme for a story. 

As we’ve seen above, there’s no right way to go about developing themes. Some writers begin with it and build the story around it while others look to uncover it as the story develops. Here are some essential tips for creating a theme:

• Start with your message – Your story’s theme is essentially the message you want to convey to your readers. Therefore, it’s important to have a clear idea of the central message you want to communicate before you begin writing. This will help you stay focused and ensure that your story has a clear purpose.
• Choose a universal theme – A universal theme is one that resonates with a wide range of readers, regardless of their background or experiences. Examples of universal themes include love, loss, betrayal, redemption, and coming-of-age. Choosing a universal theme will help ensure that your story is relatable and emotionally impactful.
• Use symbolism and imagery – Symbolism and imagery can be powerful tools for reinforcing your story’s theme. Think about objects or images that are associated with your theme and incorporate them into your story. For example, if your theme is about the passage of time, you might use a clock or an hourglass as a symbol.
• Show, don’t tell –  Instead of simply stating your theme outright, try to weave it into the story through the actions and experiences of your characters. This will make your theme more engaging and help your readers connect with it on a deeper level.
• Explore multiple perspectives – Your story’s theme can be explored from multiple perspectives, and doing so can add depth and complexity to your narrative. Consider how different characters might experience and interpret your theme, and incorporate these perspectives into your story.
• Tie it all together – Your story’s theme should be present throughout the entire narrative, from beginning to end. Make sure that every element of your story, from the plot to the characters to the setting, ties back to your theme in some way. This will help create a cohesive and satisfying reading experience for your audience.

How To Evoke A Theme From An Existing Story

We’ve covered ways of creating a theme from the beginning, but we’ve not spent much time looking at how to reveal a theme that may already be there in our novel or story.

There are two simple questions you can ask yourself to help evoke the theme of your story. You can ask yourself these questions at any stage of the writing process—beginning, middle, or end, and it’s always helpful to keep them in mind to help you maintain focus.

• What is the point I’m looking to prove?
• What deep-rooted idea is being examined?

Keeping these two simple questions in mind when you’re writing scenes can really help to maintain that focus on what the story is actually about. So easily we can find ourselves distracted by worldbuilding or characterization that we simply lose sight of the point of the story. This writing tip can help.

The Secret Snapshot Approach

This writing technique is one of my favourites. It’s particularly useful for giving your story an emotional edge, an edge so sharp it cuts through to your theme and moves the reader. The theory is simple, the practice is a little trickier.

Master editor Sol Stein utilised this approach when teaching his writing students. He first asked them to think of a snapshot of a memory so private that if that snapshot was a tangible image they wouldn’t carry it in their wallet or purse in case anyone found it, family included.

“Some writers squirm through the process, shifting uncomfortably in their seats. That’s a good sign.”

You can also look to conjure the secret snapshots of other people, ones that you wouldn’t be allowed to see under any circumstance. The bravest writing someone can do is to explore the recesses in which the secret snapshots of their friends, enemies, and themselves are stored.

Writing Exercise: Create A Theme

As an exercise, write down what you see in your most secret snapshot. Be brutally honest. To help, I’ll give my own example. I have a vivid recollection of the day my mum and dad told me they were splitting up. I was about thirteen. I remember crying about not being able to go to football training anymore, which my dad took me to each day after school. Looking back, what I was really upset about was the fact that my life was never going to be the same again, that the image of the life I knew was being shattered before my eyes.

When you’ve come up with your example, ask yourself whether you’d carry your snapshot in your purse or wallet. If yes, think of another. You want to reach deep into your emotional memories and find the most personal. “The best fiction reveals the hidden things we usually don’t want to talk about.”

Once you’ve had some practice uncovering your own, it’s time to apply that process to your characters.

How To Reveal A Theme In Writing

I referred to Chuck Wendig above and how he says that a theme should be subtle. It’s widely agreed that a theme shouldn’t be shoved down the reader’s throat, but one that is apparent should their mind turn to consider it. Yet how do you achieve this subtlety?

Let’s take the theme of nakedness as an example. You could consider adding details to suggest nakedness, for instance, the chipping paint of a wall, characters who show a lot of skin, or the psychological nakedness of a character.

There are instances where it’s fine to be direct with your theme, such as showing instead of telling . For example, how Forrest Gump tells us that ‘life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna’ get’, just like the film itself.

Another method you can utilise to reveal a literary theme is to feature ‘counters.’ These are things that contrast with your theme, so for example, with nakedness, you could have a character who always wears two jumpers regardless of the weather.

Learn More About Creative Writing

If you’d like to learn more how creative writing, check out some of these guides below:

• A guide by Oregon State University on themes in literature

If you’d like any more help and support with learning how to create a theme for a story, please contact me .

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Definition of Theme

As a literary device, theme refers to the central, deeper meaning of a written work. Writers typically will convey the theme of their work, and allow the reader to perceive and interpret it, rather than overtly or directly state the theme. As readers infer, reflect, and analyze a literary theme, they develop a greater understanding of the work itself and can apply this understanding beyond the literary work as a means of grasping a better sense of the world. Theme is often what creates a memorable and significant experience of a literary work for the reader.

Themes are often subject to the reader’s perception and interpretation. This means that readers may find primary and/or secondary themes in a work of literature that the author didn’t intend to convey. Therefore, theme allows for literature to remain meaningful, “living” works that can be revisited and analyzed in perpetuity by many readers at once or by a single reader across time.

For example, William Shakespeare ’s well-known tragedy ,  Romeo and Juliet , has been performed and read countless times and by countless people since its publication in 1597:

Come, gentle night ; come, loving, black-browed night; Give me my Romeo; and, when I shall die, Take him and cut him out in little stars, And he will make the face of heaven so fine That all the world will be in love with night

Even those who have not directly heard or read the lines of this play are familiar with its theme of the power of romantic love and its potentially devastating effects.

Common Examples of Literary Themes

Many works of literature share common themes and central ideas. As a literary device, theme allows the author to present and reveal all aspects of human nature and the human condition. This enhances the enjoyment and significance of a literary work for readers by encouraging thought, interpretation, and analysis. Discovery and analysis of theme is also one of the primary reasons that readers return to “classic” literary works that are centuries old. There is no end or expiration to the significance and impact theme can have on readers of literature.

Here are some common examples of literary themes:

• Human versus nature
• Good versus evil
• Coming of age
• Courage and perseverance
• Individual versus society
• Faith versus doubt
• Chaos versus order
• Gender roles

Famous Examples of Disney Movies and Their Themes

Of course, theme is an essential literary device in terms of written works. However, nearly all works of art feature theme as an underlying meaning to be understood and interpreted by the audience . Here are some famous examples of Disney movies and their related themes:

• Peter Pan : out-growing the world of childhood
• Mulan : girls/women can do battle as honorably as boys/men
• The Sword in the Stone : education and courage are stronger than brawn and force
• Cinderella : kindness and inner beauty are rewarded
• Pinocchio : dishonesty leads to trouble
• Aladdin : the best course of action is to be who you are
• The Rescuers : it doesn’t take great size to make a difference
• Snow White : jealousy can lead to cruelty
• The Fox and the Hound : the importance of friendship
• The Little Mermaid : love often requires choices and sacrifices

Difference Between Theme and Subject Matter

Sometimes it can be difficult to determine the difference between the theme and subject matter of a literary work. They are both closely related to each other; however, the subject matter is the topic that is overtly addressed and presented by the writer whereas the theme is the meaning or underlying message that is imparted through the writing.

The subject matter of a written work is what the text is about and is, typically, clearly indicated by the writer. The theme of a literary work reflects why it was written and what the author hopes to convey on a deeper level to the reader without direct statements. A reader may infer and a writer may imply a theme within a literary work. However, the subject matter of a literary work is not inferred by the reader or implied by the writer; it is overtly stated and understood.

For example, in Shakespeare’s  Romeo and Juliet , the subject matter is two young people from feuding families who fall deeply in love with each other. One theme of this play, and Romeo and Juliet certainly features several themes, is the power of romantic love and the futility of others to stop it. The subject matter is almost exclusively related to the foundational elements of the story , such as what happens and to which characters. The theme, in contrast , is the lingering meaning and thought left to the reader as a means of reaching a greater understanding of the play itself and the larger concept of love.

Examples of Theme in Literature

As a literary device, the purpose of theme is the main idea or underlying meaning that is explored by a writer in a work of literature. Writers can utilize a combination of elements in order to convey a story’s theme, including setting , plot , characters, dialogue , and more. For certain works of literature, such as fables , the theme is typically a “ moral ” or lesson for the reader. However, more complex works of literature tend to have a central theme that is open to interpretation and reflects a basic aspect of society or trait of humanity. Many longer works of literature, such as novels, convey several themes in order to explore the universality of human nature.

Here are some examples of theme in well-known works of literature:

Example 1:  The Yellow Wall-Paper  (Charlotte Perkins Gilman)

If a physician of high standing, and one’s own husband, assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression – a slight hysterical tendency – what is one to do? My brother is also a physician, and also of high standing, and he says the same thing. • So I take phosphates or phosphites whichever it is, and tonics, and journeys, and air, and exercise, and am absolutely forbidden to “work” until I am well again. Personally, I disagree with their ideas. Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good.

In her short story , Charlotte Perkins Gilman holds forth a revolutionary theme for the time period. The protagonist of the story is kept in a room with sickly yellow wall-paper as a means of “curing” her emotional and mental difficulties. Her husband, brother, and others are committed to keeping her idle. She is even separated from her baby. Rather than allow the narrator any agency over her daily life, they disregard her words and requests for the fact that she is a woman and considered incompetent.

Gilman conveys a theme of rebellion and feminism to the reader as the narrator begins to embrace the “trapped” woman she has become. Therefore, this allows the reader to perceive the narrator as an empowered figure in many ways, as opposed to one that is oppressed or incompetent.

Example 2:  Harlem  (Langston Hughes)

What happens to a dream deferred?       Does it dry up       like a raisin in the sun ?       Or fester like a sore—       And then run?       Does it stink like rotten meat?       Or crust and sugar over—       like a syrupy sweet?       Maybe it just sags       like a heavy load.        Or does it explode?

Hughes’s well-known poem explores the universality of hope and dreams among humans and the devastating legacy of oppression in deferring such hope and dreams. Hughes structures the poem in the form of questions and responses addressing what happens to a dream deferred. This calls on the reader to consider their own dreams as well those of others, which underscores the theme that dreams, and the hope associated with them, is universal–regardless of race, faith, etc.

Tied to this theme is the deferment of dreams, reflecting the devastating consequences of racism and oppression on the hopes of those who are persecuted. Therefore, the underlying theme of the poem that Hughes conveys to the reader is that, though dreams and hopes are universal, the dreams and hopes of certain members of society are put off and postponed due to the oppression of their race.

Example 3:  A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man  (James Joyce)

I will tell you what I will do and what I will not do. I will not serve that in which I no longer believe, whether it calls itself my home, my fatherland, or my church: and I will try to express myself in some mode of life or art as freely as I can and as wholly as I can, using for my defense the only arms I allow myself to use — silence , exile , and cunning.

Joyce incorporates several themes in his novel . However, as this passage indicates, the central theme of this literary work is the tension between individual artistic expression the demands of society for conformity. The novel’s main character , Stephen Dedalus, faces conflicting loyalties on one side to his family, church, and country, and on the other side to his life as an artist and dedication to artistic expression.

Through the experiences and conflicts facing the novel’s protagonist, Joyce is able to convey his exploration of the theme of the artist’s role in society. This includes freedom of individual expression versus the constraints of societal conventions. As a result, this theme is imparted to the reader who is able to interpret and analyze aspects of the novel’s central meaning. By the end of Joyce’s novel, the theme culminates in Stephen Dedalus’s decision to isolate himself from family, church, and country, to pursue his art. Therefore, the reader’s inference of the novel’s theme impacts their perception and understanding of the story’s resolution as well as the broader concept of the artist’s role in society.

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• Romeo and Juliet Themes
• Lord of the Flies Themes
• Jane Eyre Themes

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Theme Definition

What is theme? Here’s a quick and simple definition:

A theme is a universal idea, lesson, or message explored throughout a work of literature. One key characteristic of literary themes is their universality, which is to say that themes are ideas that not only apply to the specific characters and events of a book or play, but also express broader truths about human experience that readers can apply to their own lives. For instance, John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath (about a family of tenant farmers who are displaced from their land in Oklahoma) is a book whose themes might be said to include the inhumanity of capitalism, as well as the vitality and necessity of family and friendship.

Some additional key details about theme:

• All works of literature have themes. The same work can have multiple themes, and many different works explore the same or similar themes.
• Themes are sometimes divided into thematic concepts and thematic statements . A work's thematic concept is the broader topic it touches upon (love, forgiveness, pain, etc.) while its thematic statement is what the work says about that topic. For example, the thematic concept of a romance novel might be love, and, depending on what happens in the story, its thematic statement might be that "Love is blind," or that "You can't buy love . "
• Themes are almost never stated explicitly. Oftentimes you can identify a work's themes by looking for a repeating symbol , motif , or phrase that appears again and again throughout a story, since it often signals a recurring concept or idea.

Theme Pronunciation

Here's how to pronounce theme: theem

Identifying Themes

Every work of literature—whether it's an essay, a novel, a poem, or something else—has at least one theme. Therefore, when analyzing a given work, it's always possible to discuss what the work is "about" on two separate levels: the more concrete level of the plot (i.e., what literally happens in the work), as well as the more abstract level of the theme (i.e., the concepts that the work deals with). Understanding the themes of a work is vital to understanding the work's significance—which is why, for example, every LitCharts Literature Guide uses a specific set of themes to help analyze the text.

Although some writers set out to explore certain themes in their work before they've even begun writing, many writers begin to write without a preconceived idea of the themes they want to explore—they simply allow the themes to emerge naturally through the writing process. But even when writers do set out to investigate a particular theme, they usually don't identify that theme explicitly in the work itself. Instead, each reader must come to their own conclusions about what themes are at play in a given work, and each reader will likely come away with a unique thematic interpretation or understanding of the work.

Symbol, Motif, and Leitwortstil

Writers often use three literary devices in particular—known as symbol , motif , and leitwortstil —to emphasize or hint at a work's underlying themes. Spotting these elements at work in a text can help you know where to look for its main themes.

• Near the beginning of Romeo and Juliet , Benvolio promises to make Romeo feel better about Rosaline's rejection of him by introducing him to more beautiful women, saying "Compare [Rosaline's] face with some that I shall show….and I will make thee think thy swan a crow." Here, the swan is a symbol for how Rosaline appears to the adoring Romeo, while the crow is a symbol for how she will soon appear to him, after he has seen other, more beautiful women.
• Symbols might occur once or twice in a book or play to represent an emotion, and in that case aren't necessarily related to a theme. However, if you start to see clusters of similar symbols appearing in a story, this may mean that the symbols are part of an overarching motif, in which case they very likely are related to a theme.
• For example, Shakespeare uses the motif of "dark vs. light" in Romeo and Juliet to emphasize one of the play's main themes: the contradictory nature of love. To develop this theme, Shakespeare describes the experience of love by pairing contradictory, opposite symbols next to each other throughout the play: not only crows and swans, but also night and day, moon and sun. These paired symbols all fall into the overall pattern of "dark vs. light," and that overall pattern is called a motif.
• A famous example is Kurt Vonnegut's repetition of the phrase "So it goes" throughout his novel Slaughterhouse Five , a novel which centers around the events of World War II. Vonnegut's narrator repeats the phrase each time he recounts a tragic story from the war, an effective demonstration of how the horrors of war have become normalized for the narrator. The constant repetition of the phrase emphasizes the novel's primary themes: the death and destruction of war, and the futility of trying to prevent or escape such destruction, and both of those things coupled with the author's skepticism that any of the destruction is necessary and that war-time tragedies "can't be helped."

Symbol, motif and leitwortstil are simply techniques that authors use to emphasize themes, and should not be confused with the actual thematic content at which they hint. That said, spotting these tools and patterns can give you valuable clues as to what might be the underlying themes of a work.

Thematic Concepts vs. Thematic Statements

A work's thematic concept is the broader topic it touches upon—for instance:

• Forgiveness

while its thematic statement is the particular argument the writer makes about that topic through his or her work, such as:

• Human judgement is imperfect.
• Love cannot be bought.
• Getting revenge on someone else will not fix your problems.
• Learning to forgive is part of becoming an adult.

Should You Use Thematic Concepts or Thematic Statements?

Some people argue that when describing a theme in a work that simply writing a thematic concept is insufficient, and that instead the theme must be described in a full sentence as a thematic statement. Other people argue that a thematic statement, being a single sentence, usually creates an artificially simplistic description of a theme in a work and is therefore can actually be more misleading than helpful. There isn't really a right answer in this debate.

In our LitCharts literature study guides , we usually identify themes in headings as thematic concepts, and then explain the theme more fully in a few paragraphs. We find thematic statements limiting in fully exploring or explaining a the theme, and so we don't use them. Please note that this doesn't mean we only rely on thematic concepts—we spend paragraphs explaining a theme after we first identify a thematic concept. If you are asked to describe a theme in a text, you probably should usually try to at least develop a thematic statement about the text if you're not given the time or space to describe it more fully. For example, a statement that a book is about "the senselessness of violence" is a lot stronger and more compelling than just saying that the book is about "violence."

Identifying Thematic Statements

One way to try to to identify or describe the thematic statement within a particular work is to think through the following aspects of the text:

• Plot: What are the main plot elements in the work, including the arc of the story, setting, and characters. What are the most important moments in the story? How does it end? How is the central conflict resolved?
• Protagonist: Who is the main character, and what happens to him or her? How does he or she develop as a person over the course of the story?
• Prominent symbols and motifs: Are there any motifs or symbols that are featured prominently in the work—for example, in the title, or recurring at important moments in the story—that might mirror some of the main themes?

After you've thought through these different parts of the text, consider what their answers might tell you about the thematic statement the text might be trying to make about any given thematic concept. The checklist above shouldn't be thought of as a precise formula for theme-finding, but rather as a set of guidelines, which will help you ask the right questions and arrive at an interesting thematic interpretation.

Theme Examples

The following examples not only illustrate how themes develop over the course of a work of literature, but they also demonstrate how paying careful attention to detail as you read will enable you to come to more compelling conclusions about those themes.

Themes in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby

Fitzgerald explores many themes in The Great Gatsby , among them the corruption of the American Dream .

• The story's narrator is Minnesota-born Nick Caraway, a New York bonds salesman. Nick befriends Jay Gatsby, the protagonist, who is a wealthy man who throws extravagant parties at his mansion.
• The central conflict of the novel is Gatsby's pursuit of Daisy, whom he met and fell in love with as a young man, but parted from during World War I.
• He makes a fortune illegally by bootlegging alcohol, to become the sort of wealthy man he believes Daisy is attracted to, then buys a house near her home, where she lives with her husband.
• While he does manage to re-enter Daisy's life, she ultimately abandons him and he dies as a result of her reckless, selfish behavior.
• Gatsby's house is on the water, and he stares longingly across the water at a green light that hangs at the edge of a dock at Daisy's house which sits across a the bay. The symbol of the light appears multiple times in the novel—during the early stages of Gatsby's longing for Daisy, during his pursuit of her, and after he dies without winning her love. It symbolizes both his longing for daisy and the distance between them (the distance of space and time) that he believes (incorrectly) that he can bridge. 
• In addition to the green light, the color green appears regularly in the novel. This motif of green broadens and shapes the symbolism of the green light and also influences the novel's themes. While green always remains associated with Gatsby's yearning for Daisy and the past, and also his ambitious striving to regain Daisy, it also through the motif of repeated green becomes associated with money, hypocrisy, and destruction. Gatsby's yearning for Daisy, which is idealistic in some ways, also becomes clearly corrupt in others, which more generally impacts what the novel is saying about dreams more generally and the American Dream in particular. 

Gatsby pursues the American Dream, driven by the idea that hard work can lead anyone from poverty to wealth, and he does so for a single reason: he's in love with Daisy. However, he pursues the dream dishonestly, making a fortune by illegal means, and ultimately fails to achieve his goal of winning Daisy's heart. Furthermore, when he actually gets close to winning Daisy's heart, she brings about his downfall. Through the story of Gatsby and Daisy, Fitzgerald expresses the point of view that the American Dream carries at its core an inherent corruption. You can read more about the theme of The American Dream in The Great Gatsby here .

Themes in Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

In Things Fall Apart , Chinua Achebe explores the theme of the dangers of rigidly following tradition .

• Okonkwo is obsessed with embodying the masculine ideals of traditional Igbo warrior culture.
• Okonkwo's dedication to his clan's traditions is so extreme that it even alienates members of his own family, one of whom joins the Christians.
• The central conflict: Okonkwo's community adapts to colonization in order to survive, becoming less warlike and allowing the minor injustices that the colonists inflict upon them to go unchallenged. Okonkwo, however, refuses to adapt.
• At the end of the novel, Okonkwo impulsively kills a Christian out of anger. Recognizing that his community does not support his crime, Okonkwo kills himself in despair.
• Clanswomen who give birth to twins abandon the babies in the forest to die, according to traditional beliefs that twins are evil.
• Okonkwo kills his beloved adopted son, a prisoner of war, according to the clan's traditions.
• Okonkwo sacrifices a goat in repentence, after severely beating his wife during the clan's holy week.

Through the tragic story of Okonkwo, Achebe is clearly dealing with the theme of tradition, but a close examination of the text reveals that he's also making a clear thematic statement that following traditions too rigidly leads people to the greatest sacrifice of all: that of personal agency . You can read more about this theme in Things Fall Apart   here .

Themes in Robert Frost's The Road Not Taken

Poem's have themes just as plot-driven narratives do. One theme that Robert Frost explores in this famous poem,  The Road Not Taken ,  is the illusory nature of free will .

• The poem's speaker stands at a fork in the road, in a "yellow wood."
• He (or she) looks down one path as far as possible, then takes the other, which seems less worn.
• The speaker then admits that the paths are about equally worn—there's really no way to tell the difference—and that a layer of leaves covers both of the paths, indicating that neither has been traveled recently.
• After taking the second path, the speaker finds comfort in the idea of taking the first path sometime in the future, but acknowledges that he or she is unlikely to ever return to that particular fork in the woods.
• The speaker imagines how, "with a sigh" she will tell someone in the future, "I took the road less travelled—and that has made all the difference."
• By wryly predicting his or her own need to romanticize, and retroactively justify, the chosen path, the speaker injects the poem with an unmistakeable hint of irony .
• The speaker's journey is a symbol for life, and the two paths symbolize different life paths, with the road "less-travelled" representing the path of an individualist or lone-wolf. The fork where the two roads diverge represents an important life choice. The road "not taken" represents the life path that the speaker would have pursued had he or she had made different choices.

Frost's speaker has reached a fork in the road, which—according to the symbolic language of the poem—means that he or she must make an important life decision. However, the speaker doesn't really know anything about the choice at hand: the paths appear to be the same from the speaker's vantage point, and there's no way he or she can know where the path will lead in the long term. By showing that the only truly informed choice the speaker makes is how he or she explains their decision after they have already made it , Frost suggests that although we pretend to make our own choices, our lives are actually governed by chance.

What's the Function of Theme in Literature?

Themes are a huge part of what readers ultimately take away from a work of literature when they're done reading it. They're the universal lessons and ideas that we draw from our experiences of works of art: in other words, they're part of the whole reason anyone would want to pick up a book in the first place!

It would be difficult to write any sort of narrative that did not include any kind of theme. The narrative itself would have to be almost completely incoherent in order to seem theme-less, and even then readers would discern a theme about incoherence and meaninglessness. So themes are in that sense an intrinsic part of nearly all writing. At the same time, the themes that a writer is interested in exploring will significantly impact nearly all aspects of how a writer chooses to write a text. Some writers might know the themes they want to explore from the beginning of their writing process, and proceed from there. Others might have only a glimmer of an idea, or have new ideas as they write, and so the themes they address might shift and change as they write. In either case, though, the writer's ideas about his or her themes will influence how they write. 

One additional key detail about themes and how they work is that the process of identifying and interpreting them is often very personal and subjective. The subjective experience that readers bring to interpreting a work's themes is part of what makes literature so powerful: reading a book isn't simply a one-directional experience, in which the writer imparts their thoughts on life to the reader, already distilled into clear thematic statements. Rather, the process of reading and interpreting a work to discover its themes is an exchange in which readers parse the text to tease out the themes they find most relevant to their personal experience and interests.

Other Helpful Theme Resources

• The Wikipedia Page on Theme: An in-depth explanation of theme that also breaks down the difference between thematic concepts and thematic statements.
• The Dictionary Definition of Theme: A basic definition and etymology of the term.
• In this instructional video , a teacher explains her process for helping students identify themes.

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What is a Theme?

Theme is personal.

What is a theme is a question I am asked frequently. Particularly by younger visitors to this site.

The whole area of theme can be confusing, with some people mixing up the idea of theme with plot.

Many people read books that explore specific themes over and over again, sometimes without realizing it.

They do this because the themes mean something to them on a personal and emotional level.

In other words, they are fully engaged in following the characters as they progress through the story.

This is why it is so important that writers understand how theme affects their work.

People tend to choose books and films based on themes – whether they are conscious of it or not.

LOVE OR REVENGE?

You might hear someone saying they enjoy love stories and revenge stories etc.

Experienced writers can build a large fan-base of readers who relate to the particular themes they explore in their stories.

WHAT IS A THEME?

One of the biggest areas of confusion is the difference between theme and plot.

For example, the plot of a novel about marital breakdown may concern secret affairs between neighbours, but the theme may be betrayal, love, loneliness etc.

Another story might describe the actions of passengers in a plane crash but the theme could be loss, survival etc.

Stories can have more than one theme. The story about a plane crash could involve many themes. Was the plane sabotaged by the pilot’s friend? Then betrayal would be a theme here.

If the pilot survives and returns to deal with his friend then you could be dealing with the theme of revenge.

In the same example, there could be two newlyweds who find their love tested during their ordeal? Then the theme could be love.

There are more examples of theme here.

The plot is what the story is about, and the theme is how the meaning of a story is defined.

In the above example, the story remains the same but the themes have infinite and varied possibilities.

As an author, or writer, you do not explicitly tell the reader what the themes are in your story – this would detract from the reading experience.

SHOW DON’T TELL

You don’t want to tell your readers what the story is you want to show them.

However, you would mention the themes in your synopsis, tag-line, or on the blurb on the back of your book.

Theme can be an important selling point as readers choose themes which appeal to them.

Instead of being told what the story is the reader, or viewer will learn almost subconsciously from following the character’s experience.

Sometimes readers relate to a particular theme without actually identifying why that is.

The theme could be related to something from their childhood years. 

It could be an incident or even a trauma.

Often it is something they have never consciously thought about.

CAN YOUR AUDIENCE RELATE TO YOUR THEME?

If nobody can relate to the experiences of the characters in your story, then frankly, nobody will care.

This applies to film and television too.

Caring about what happens to your characters is what engages your reader or viewer.

This is what makes them keep reading, or watching.

CHOOSE YOUR STORY THEMES WISELY

No matter how cleverly plotted the events in your story are, they must relate to a widely understood or universal theme.

The reason theme is so important is because this is how a story relates to real human experience. There is more information about choosing your theme here.

HUMAN EXPERIENCE IS WHAT MATTERS

Without a theme, a story is just a list of events. In a successful work, theme and story influence each other and overlap.

In my own work, I am aware that I have returned to explore certain themes several times.

Survival, love, friendship and freedom are among the themes explored in my book Piggy Monk Square.

The best stories are the ones we remember long after reading.

The stories we remember longest tend to be ones that explore the grey and complex areas in the thematic landscape.

Good stories explore questions where there can seem to be many answers – they engage us and make us think.

Stories like this allow your audience to explore the trials and tribulations of your characters while simultaneously absorbing the various consequences for the human condition.

These stories make your readers think.

If you have succeeded in making your readers think, then your story has succeeded on a very important level.

Best of luck with your writing .

P.S. All the information, exercises and tips on this site are free to you and that liking, sharing or commenting help to support this site.

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  get ebook from amazon.com ,  get ebook from amazon.co.uk, get paperback from amazon.com, get paperback from amazon.co.uk, share this:, 5 responses to what is a theme.

Hmm it looks like your site ate myy first comment (it wwas super long) so I guess I’ll just sum it up whwt I wrote and say, I’m thoroughly enjoying your blog. I too am an aspiring blog writer but I’m still new to tthe whole thing.

Do you have any helpful hintrs for rookie blog writers? I’d redally appreciate it.

Hi Kindrea, Thanks for your comments and I am so glad you like the site. I would advise you to make appointments in your diary and write as much as you can. Best wishes, Grace

It is eye-opening to me as to what a theme is. Thank you.

thnx a lot after reading your Article i have made changes in my site and keep doing hard work

I’m thoroughly enjoying your blog. I too am an aspiring blog writer but I’m still new to tthe whole thing.

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What is the Theme of a Story?

by Melissa Donovan | Oct 13, 2022 | Story Writing | 2 comments

What is the theme of a story?

Today’s post includes excerpts from What’s the Story? Building Blocks for Fiction Writing , which is packed with fun lessons and engaging activities for anyone who wants to learn the basics of storytelling. This is from chapter four: “Theme.” Enjoy!

Theme is one of the most difficult story elements to understand. Often confused with plot, theme is actually a worldview, philosophy, message, moral, ethical question, or lesson. However, these labels, taken alone or together, don’t quite explain theme in fiction.

We can think of a theme as an underlying principle or concept, the topic at the center of the story.

Themes are often universal in nature. Some common universal themes are based on motifs of redemption, freedom, equality, sacrifice, betrayal, loyalty, greed, justice, oppression, revenge, and love. Themes can also be personal and part of the human condition. Such themes could explore issues surrounding loneliness, trust, commitment, or family.

Themes in Storytelling

Most stories contain multiple themes and motifs; The Hunger Games trilogy explores motifs of power, class, sacrifice, and honor, to name a few. In the Harry Potter books, the most significant themes are good versus evil and the power of love. However, there are also motifs of friendship and loyalty. One theme might stretch across an entire series, while other themes appear at the novel or even chapter level. A story’s main plot might explore one theme while its subplots explore other themes.

The strongest stories tend to use themes that are interconnected and complement or contrast with one another. The 1997 film Titanic is rich with themes that swirl around class (wealth versus poverty). These themes are echoed in the main characters: the protagonist is an aristocrat; she falls in love with a poor artist. The ship itself is segregated with the wealthy residing on the luxurious upper decks and the poor relegated to the cramped and crowded accommodations in the lower decks. And at the center of the story, the protagonist, Rose, is struggling with whether she should give up her financial security in order to liberate herself from the wealthy fiancé she loathes.

Theme can be obvious, but often it’s nuanced. In the 2009 film Avatar , the theme is in your face: preservation of the environment and respect for native cultures. In the 2005 film Batman Begins , theme is harder to put your finger on: one man’s struggle with his own identity and duality.

Choosing the Theme of a Story

Themes are so closely tied to human nature that it’s almost impossible to tell a story without a theme of some kind. Themes will almost always manifest, even if an author doesn’t put any special effort into theme development.

Some experts have suggested that authors shouldn’t think too much about theme until they’ve produced a draft, while others believe that theme is so integral that it should be present throughout story development. The approach you choose will depend on your writing process, storytelling style, and personal preference.

Theme could be considered the glue that holds a story together, the binding principle of the narrative. It is the deeper meaning, the truth that underscores the plot and characters.

Tips for Developing Theme

• Learn to identify themes. When watching movies and reading novels, identify the themes. When you become proficient at identifying themes in other works, you’ll get better at bringing themes into your own work.
• Don’t stress yet. If you’re not sure what your story’s theme is, don’t put too much pressure on yourself. A theme will usually emerge as you work through your first draft.
• Theme development. Once you’ve completed a draft, the theme should be apparent. Take some time to think about how you can strengthen the theme in future drafts.
• Multiple themes. Once you identify your theme, make a list of related themes that you could thread into subplots. For example, if your theme is related to redemption, then forgiveness could be a secondary theme.
• Theme and motif. Check your work by making a list of all motifs and themes in your story. This is a map of your thematic pattern.

To get more tips on developing themes in your storytelling, pick up a copy of What’s the Story? Building Blocks for Fiction Writing .

Hello, i am a teenager who loves to write stories that has a lesson that i think the reader should learn. As a experienced writer, do you have any tips to help me excel in story writing?

The two most important practices for any writer are reading and writing. Try to read and write every day — even if you can only invest twenty minutes. Good luck!

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Alice Munro, Nobel Laureate and Master of the Short Story, Dies at 92

Her stories were widely considered to be without equal, a mixture of ordinary people and extraordinary themes.

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By Anthony DePalma

Alice Munro, the revered Canadian author who started writing short stories because she did not think she had the time or the talent to master novels, then stubbornly dedicated her long career to churning out psychologically dense stories that dazzled the literary world and earned her the Nobel Prize in Literature, died on Monday night in Port Hope, Ontario, east of Toronto. She was 92.

A spokesman for her publisher, Penguin Random House Canada, confirmed the death, at a nursing home. Ms. Munro’s health had declined since at least 2009, when she said she’d had heart bypass surgery and had been treated for cancer, though she continued to write.

Ms. Munro was a member of the rare breed of writer, like Katherine Anne Porter and Raymond Carver, who made their reputations in the notoriously difficult literary arena of the short story, and did so with great success. Her tales — many of them focused on women at different stages of their lives coping with complex desires — were so eagerly received and gratefully read that she attracted a whole new generation of readers.

Ms. Munro’s stories were widely considered to be without equal, a mixture of ordinary people and extraordinary themes. She portrayed small-town folks, often in rural southwestern Ontario, facing situations that made the fantastic seem an everyday occurrence. Some of her characters were fleshed out so completely through generations and across continents that readers reached a level of intimacy with them that usually comes only with a full-length novel.

She achieved such compactness through exquisite craftsmanship and a degree of precision that did not waste words. Other writers declared some of her stories to be near-perfect — a heavy burden for a writer of modest personal character who had struggled to overcome a lack of self-confidence at the beginning of her career, when she left the protective embrace of her quiet hometown and ventured into the competitive literary scene.

Her insecurity, however powerfully she felt it, was never noticed by her fellow writers, who celebrated her craftsmanship and freely lent her their highest praise.

The Irish novelist Edna O’Brien ranked Ms. Munro with William Faulkner and James Joyce as writers who had influenced her work. Joyce Carol Oates said Munro stories “have the density — moral, emotional, sometimes historical — of other writers’ novels.” And the novelist Richard Ford once made it clear that questioning Ms. Munro’s mastery over the short story would be akin to doubting the hardness of a diamond or the bouquet of a ripened peach.

“With Alice it’s like a shorthand,” Mr. Ford said. “You’ll just mention her, and everybody just kind of generally nods that she’s just sort of as good as it gets.”

In awarding her the Nobel in 2013 , when she was 82, the Swedish Academy cited her 14 collections of stories and referred to her as “a master of the contemporary short story,” praising her ability to “accommodate the entire epic complexity of the novel in just a few short pages.”

As famous for the refined exuberance of her prose as for the modesty of her personal life, Ms. Munro declined to travel to Sweden to accept her Nobel, saying she was too frail. In place of the formal lecture that winners traditionally give, she taped a long interview in Victoria, British Columbia, where she had been visiting when her award was announced. When asked if the process of writing her stories had consumed her entirely, she responded that it did, then added, “But you know, I always got lunch for my children.”

During the presentation of the taped interview at the Swedish Academy, the Swedish actress Pernilla August read an excerpt from Ms. Munro’s story “Carried Away,” a multi-decade tale of dashed expectations that typified the complicated, often disappointing, world of her stories.

“She had a picture taken. She knew how she wanted it to be,” the excerpt read. “She would have liked to wear a simple white blouse, a peasant girl’s smock with the string open at the neck. She did not own a blouse of that description and in fact had only seen them in pictures. And she would have liked to let her hair down. Or if it had to be up, she would have liked it piled very loosely and bound with strings of pearls.

“Instead she wore her blue silk shirtwaist and bound her hair as usual. She thought the picture made her look rather pale, hollow-eyed. Her expression was sterner and more foreboding than she had intended. She sent it anyway.”

‘Our Chekhov’

Ms. Munro’s early success in Canada, where her first collection of stories, “Dance of the Happy Shades” (1968), won the Governor General’s Literary Award, the equivalent of a Pulitzer Prize for fiction, spread to the United States after her stories began to be published in The New Yorker in 1977. She was an important member of a generation of Canadian writers, along with Margaret Atwood and Michael Ondaatje, whose celebrity reached far beyond the country’s borders.

Ms. Munro went on to win the Governor General’s award twice more, along with two Giller Prizes, another important national award in Canada, and many other honors. In 2009, she withdrew her collection “Too Much Happiness” from consideration for yet another Giller because she believed that a younger writer should have a chance to win it.

That same year she was awarded the Man Booker International Prize for her lifelong body of work, which the judges claimed was “practically perfect.” The awards committee commented that although she was known mostly as a short-story writer, “she brings as much depth, wisdom and precision to every story as most novelists bring to a lifetime of novels.”

“To read Alice Munro is to learn something every time that you never thought of before,” the judges said.

As her many-layered style developed, her short stories came to be neither short nor simply stories — she included 15 stories in her first book, but only eight or nine longer ones in some of her most recent collections. The greater length of each story gave her room to explore the psychological profiles of her characters more fully, and the resulting works are tightly woven tapestries of great tension, lasting resonance and stunning breadth that combine the emotional thrust of a novel with the pinpoint power of a masterful poem.

Over the years, her stories seemed to grow darker and more paradoxical, even though she often described her own life as ordinary and generally upbeat. Often her characters were simple people confronting unusual circumstances. But those situations could be odd, even bizarre, such as an accident in which a soldier who returned from war is decapitated after his sleeve is caught in a factory machine, or the actions of an unattractive girl who steals so much money from her parents’ store to pay boys for sex that her parents are forced to declare bankruptcy. The women in her stories tended to be emotionally pierced — divorced women, adulteresses and noble victims of life’s vicissitudes.

Like Faulkner, Eudora Welty and the other Southern writers she admired, Ms. Munro was capable of breathing life into an entire world — for her, the importunate countryside of southwestern Ontario and the placid, occasionally threatening presence of Lake Huron.

Cynthia Ozick called her “our Chekhov,” and the description stuck.

In a 2009 review of “Too Much Happiness,” Michiko Kakutani of The New York Times described the collection’s title story as “a brilliant distillation of her Chekhovian art.”

Never a Novel

Ms. Munro was able to live a life remarkable for its normalcy. Her days, like her characters’, were filled with quotidian routines punctuated by the explosive mystery of happenstance and accident.

Outside of a decade spent on the west coast of Canada during her first marriage, she lived with a great deal of satisfaction in the Ontario bramble she celebrated in her stories, quietly composing them in the house where her second husband was raised, not far from the place where she was born.

Perhaps the question that most dogged her throughout her long career was why, with her abundant talents and perceptive eye, she restricted herself to what is generally seen as the limited world of the short story rather than launch into the glittery universe of the novel.

“I don’t really understand a novel,” Ms. Munro confessed to Mervyn Rothstein of The Times in a 1986 interview. “I don’t understand where the excitement is supposed to come in a novel, and I do in a story. There’s a kind of tension that if I’m getting a story right I can feel right away.”

While one of her early collections, “Lives of Girls and Women,” is sometimes called a novel, Ms. Munro and her longtime editor at Alfred A. Knopf, Ann Close, considered it a collection of linked stories.

“Once I started to write that, I was off,” she told The Paris Review. “Then I made a big mistake. I tried to make it a regular novel, an ordinary sort of childhood adolescence novel. About March I saw it wasn’t working. It didn’t feel right to me, and I thought I would have to abandon it. I was very depressed. Then it came to me that what I had to do was pull it apart and put it in the story form. Then I could handle it.”

At times she swore she would never write a novel — almost dismissing the challenge as too great for her to even attempt. But at other times she seemed to wistfully wonder, as one of her characters might, how different her life might have been had she written a blockbuster novel.

“I’m thinking of something now, how it might be a novel, but I bet you it won’t be,” she said in a 1998 interview, just after publication of her widely acclaimed collection “The Love of a Good Woman.” She confessed that on occasion she had experimented with stretching her stories into novels but said she found that the stories “start to sag” when she did so, as though being taken beyond their natural limits. Still, the lure never completely evaporated. “My ambition is to write a novel before I die,” she said, also in 1998.

She never did.

Shortly before receiving her Nobel in 2013, Ms. Munro told several interviewers that she had decided to stop writing. As far back as 2009, she had disclosed her cancer diagnosis and that she’d undergone heart bypass surgery. Her declining health had robbed her of strength, but she also remarked that she’d been writing since she was 20 and had grown weary of what Del, a character in “Lives of Girls and Women” who is generally taken to be Ms. Munro’s proxy, says is a writer’s only duty, which is “to produce a masterpiece.”

“That’s a long time to be working,” Ms. Munro said, “and I thought maybe it’s time to take it easy.”

Rural Beginnings

Alice Ann Laidlaw was born on July 10, 1931, in the village of Wingham, Ontario, hard by the banks of Lake Huron. She was the first of three children of Robert Eric Laidlaw and Anne Clarke (Chamney) Laidlaw. Her father had tried his luck at the rather exotic undertaking of raising silver foxes and mink, but when that failed he went through a number of professions, including stints as foundry watchman and turkey farmer.

When Anne Laidlaw developed Parkinson’s disease, it fell to Alice, not yet a teenager but the oldest of the three children, to care for her mother, an experience that she wove through her writing. She was able to attend college after winning a two-year scholarship to the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, about 65 miles south of Wingham.

She majored in English but initially kept her ambition to write fiction to herself. She dropped out before completing her studies and married a fellow student, James Munro. She sold her first short work of fiction, a story, to the radio service of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

The Munros settled in Vancouver and had two children; a third died at birth. Ms. Munro said the domestic demands of those years — balancing parenthood with her dream of writing, “getting apple juice, answering the phone and letting the cat in” — left her no time or energy for ambitious projects like writing novels. Instead, she dedicated herself to mastering the short story, a form that she felt she could manage in between raising her children and taking care of her house.

In 1963, Ms. Munro and her husband moved to Victoria, where she helped him found a bookstore, Munro’s, and gave birth to another daughter. The marriage ended in 1973, and she moved back to Ontario.

By then, her literary reputation in Canada was established. In 1968, her first book, “Dance of the Happy Shades,” a collection of short stories compiled over a dozen years, introduced readers to what would later be widely recognized as “Alice Munro Country” — the rigidly introspective landscape of solitary country roads and stolid houses of yellow brick within which shy lives and solemn secrets unfolded.

“Everybody knows what a house does, how it encloses space and makes connections between one enclosed space and another and presents what is outside in a new way,” she wrote in a 1982 essay. “That is the nearest I can come to explaining what a story is for me.”

Her stories are blanketed with countless small but sharp observations that animate Munro Country. For instance, in “Spaceships Have Landed,” a story in the collection “Open Secrets” (1994), the main character drunkenly flirts with her boyfriend’s friend, only to be grossly insulted by him. The next day, she calls him to the porch of her house and confronts him while using a piece of steel wool to clean freshly laid eggs.

Such details evoke a sense of the semirural Canadian backcountry, a quiet land where people never deliberately call attention to themselves and the ordinariness of life can be suddenly disrupted by accidents, arrivals and unanticipated departures.

Although Ms. Munro was most often described as a Canadian writer, her stories evoked not Canada itself but the bittersweet triumphs, mishaps and humiliations of small town life. And in the end, every landscape served as backdrop for her central themes, which were the unpredictability of life and the betrayals that women suffer or commit — scenes redolent with autobiography.

In “The Albanian Virgin,” a celebrated story featuring a rare exotic setting as well as the familiar Canadian landscape, the female protagonist runs a bookstore in Victoria and dreamily contemplates the errant directions taken by her life: “But I was not despondent. I had made a desperate change in my life, and in spite of the regrets that I suffered every day, I was proud of that. I felt as if I had finally come out into the world in a new, true, skin.”

A Publicity-Shy ‘Plodder’

Ms. Munro shunned much of the publicity usually associated with literary success and limited her book tour appearances and readings. She often referred to herself in a self-deprecating way; she said she had not “come out of the closet” as a professional writer until she was 40, and she called herself a “plodder” because of the slow and deliberate way she worked, often writing in her nightclothes for several hours in the morning and then extensively revising her stories before sending them off.

But to critics, there was nothing plodding about her stories, which were put together so seamlessly that the many flashbacks, flash-forwards and shifts in time and place that she employed happened without notice. She often started her stories at a point where other authors might end theirs, and continued them well past the climax or denouement that would have satisfied others less driven by the twists of fate. Inevitably, this left readers to work out who exactly the narrator was and how one character was related to another.

Eventually, though, every piece would fit together. “It’s like a child’s puzzle,” the novelist Anne Tyler once said of Ms. Munro’s work. “In the most successful of the stories, the end result is a satisfying click as everything settles precisely into place.”

After the turbulence and dislocation she went through before Ms. Munro turned 40, her life and career clicked satisfyingly into place when she returned to southern Ontario. She started seeing Gerald Fremlin, a geographer, and after a brief romance married him and moved into the house in Clinton, Ontario, where he was raised.

She is survived by her daughters, Sheila, Jenny and Andrea. Sheila Munro is the author of the 2001 memoir “Lives of Mothers and Daughters: Growing Up With Alice Munro.”

She embarked on an ambitious schedule of publishing a collection of short stories every three or four years, winning praise and admiration across Canada, where she comes close to being a household literary saint. After receiving her first Governor General’s award, she won it twice more, for “Who Do You Think You Are?” in 1978 and for “The Progress of Love” in 1986.

In 1998, she received the Giller Prize for “The Love of a Good Woman,” and in 2004 she picked up another for “Runaway.” After the National Book Critics Circle agreed for the first time to consider authors from outside the United States for its award, Ms. Munro won in 1998 for “The Love of a Good Woman.”

As if she were a character in one of her stories, plagued by bad timing and unlucky happenstance, Ms. Munro was not at home when the Swedish Academy called to tell her that she had won; it had to leave a telephone message. She was in Victoria visiting her daughter, who heard the news and woke her mother at 4 a.m. Still groggy when interviewed by the CBC, Ms. Munro admitted that she’d forgotten that the prize was to be awarded that day, calling it “a splendid thing to happen,” adding, “more than I can say.”

Struggling to control her emotions, she reflected on her success and what it might mean for literature. “My stories have gotten around quite remarkably for short stories,” she told the interviewer. “I would really hope that this would make people see the short story as an important art, not something you play around with until you got a novel written.”

Lisa D. Awano and Sofia Poznansky contributed reporting.

An earlier version of this obituary misspelled the given name of an author who praised Ms. Munro’s writing. She is Anne Tyler, not Ann.

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Creative Writing Prompts

When the idea to start a weekly newsletter with writing inspiration first came to us, we decided that we wanted to do more than provide people with topics to write about. We wanted to try and help authors form a regular writing habit and also give them a place to proudly display their work. So we started the weekly Creative Writing Prompts newsletter. Since then, Prompts has grown to a community of more than 450,000 authors, complete with its own literary magazine, Prompted .  

Here's how our contest works: every Friday, we send out a newsletter containing five creative writing prompts. Each week, the story ideas center around a different theme. Authors then have one week — until the following Friday — to submit a short story based on one of our prompts. A winner is picked each week to win $250 and is highlighted on our Reedsy Prompts page.

Interested in participating in our short story contest? Sign up here for more information! Or you can check out our full Terms of Use and our FAQ page .

Why we love creative writing prompts

If you've ever sat in front of a computer or notebook and felt the urge to start creating worlds, characters, and storylines — all the while finding yourself unable to do so — then you've met the author's age-old foe: writer's block. There's nothing more frustrating than finding the time but not the words to be creative. Enter our directory! If you're ready to kick writer's block to the curb and finally get started on your short story or novel, these unique story ideas might just be your ticket.

This list of 1800+ creative writing prompts has been created by the Reedsy team to help you develop a rock-solid writing routine. As all aspiring authors know, this is the #1 challenge — and solution! — for reaching your literary goals. Feel free to filter through different genres, which include...

Dramatic — If you want to make people laugh and cry within the same story, this might be your genre.

Funny — Whether satire or slapstick, this is an opportunity to write with your funny bone.

Romance — One of the most popular commercial genres out there. Check out these story ideas out if you love writing about love.

Fantasy — The beauty of this genre is that the possibilities are as endless as your imagination.

Dystopian – Explore the shadowy side of human nature and contemporary technology in dark speculative fiction.

Mystery — From whodunnits to cozy mysteries, it's time to bring out your inner detective.

Thriller and Suspense — There's nothing like a page-turner that elicits a gasp of surprise at the end.

High School — Encourage teens to let their imaginations run free.

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Finding inspiration is just one piece of the puzzle. Next, you need to refine your craft skills — and then display them to the world. We've worked hard to create resources that help you do just that! Check them out:

• How to Write a Short Story That Gets Published — a free, ten-day course by Laura Mae Isaacman, a full-time editor who runs a book editing company in Brooklyn.
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Beyond creative writing prompts: how to build a writing routine

While writing prompts are a great tactic to spark your creative sessions, a writer generally needs a couple more tools in their toolbelt when it comes to developing a rock-solid writing routine . To that end, here are a few more additional tips for incorporating your craft into your everyday life.

• NNWT. Or, as book coach Kevin Johns calls it , “Non-Negotiable Writing Time.” This time should be scheduled into your routine, whether that’s once a day or once a week. Treat it as a serious commitment, and don’t schedule anything else during your NNWT unless it’s absolutely necessary.
• Set word count goals. And make them realistic! Don’t start out with lofty goals you’re unlikely to achieve. Give some thought to how many words you think you can write a week, and start there. If you find you’re hitting your weekly or daily goals easily, keep upping the stakes as your craft time becomes more ingrained in your routine.
• Talk to friends and family about the project you’re working on. Doing so means that those close to you are likely to check in about the status of your piece — which in turn keeps you more accountable.

Arm yourself against writer’s block. Writer’s block will inevitably come, no matter how much story ideas initially inspire you. So it’s best to be prepared with tips and tricks you can use to keep yourself on track before the block hits. You can find 20 solid tips here — including how to establish a relationship with your inner critic and apps that can help you defeat procrastination or lack of motivation.

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Met Gala 2024 Red Carpet: See All the Fashion, Outfits & Looks

By Maggie Coughlan , Kia D. Goosby , and Miles Pope

There are countless reasons why the Met Gala 2024 , the annual invitation-only fundraiser for The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, is an unparalleled showcase of red-carpet fashion . Perhaps it’s because on the first Monday in May, the Met Gala 2024, which is famously referred to as fashion’s biggest night, begins on the museum’s storied staircase, its red carpet stretching across the stone stairs, transforming the landmark location into a photo opportunity unlike any other.

On Monday, before guests were guided through a sea of photographers to the inside of the beloved New York City institution for the ultraexclusive event, they were instructed to adhere to a dress code, giving attendees and their stylists the opportunity to bring their creative visions to life on the Met Gala red carpet. In celebration of the Costume Institute’s spring exhibition, “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion,” the Met Gala 2024’s theme was “The Garden of Time.” Borrowed from a 1962 short story of the same name by English writer J.G. Ballard , it's clear from the variety of red carpet looks that the concept inspired Met Gala 2024 guests and onlookers alike, conjuring thoughts of lush nature scenes, the passing of time and colorful florals in full bloom.

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Among the first to arrive on the Met Gala 2024 red carpet were the event’s hosts and co-chairs. Zendaya , Jennifer Lopez, Chris Hemsworth, and Bad Bunny, all joined Anna Wintour as co-chairs of the Met Gala 2024, while Shou Chew, chief executive officer of TikTok, and Jonathan Anderson, creative director of Loewe, served as honorary chairs.

Zendaya turned heads in not one, but look very different Met Gala looks, which were both designed by John Galliano, albeit at different points in his career. During her first appearance on the Met stairs , the Challengers star wore a blue custom haute couture gown created by Maison Margiela Artisanal by John Galliano. It featured bands of hand-painted metallic crin, iridescent organza, an aluminum drape and bow, and hand-embroidered corsage. Later in the evening, she reappeared at the base of the stairs, this time, with her longtime stylist and collaborator Law Roach by her side before heading back toward the museum's entrance in a dramatic Victorian-inspired Givenchy dress by John Galliano with a lengthy train.

Below, see all of the fashion, outfits, and looks that make the Met Gala 2024 red carpet the place to make fashion history. For more from the Met Gala 2024 red carpet, see who made our best-dressed list and who did the “Garden of Time” theme best .

Zendaya in Maison Margiela Artisanal by John Galliano

Bad Bunny in Maison Margiela Artisanal by John Galliano

Taylor Russell in Loewe and Fred Leighton jewelry

Ayo Edebiri in Loewe and De Beers jewelry

By Brian Stelter

By Erin Vanderhoof

By Bess Levin

Gigi Hadid in Thom Browne and Chopard jewelry

Dwyane Wade in Versace and Cartier jewelry

Mike Faist in Loewe

Elle Fanning in Balmain and Cartier jewelry

Nicole Kidman in Balenciaga and Harry Winston jewelry and Keith Urban in Balenciaga

Chloë Sevigny in Dilara Findikoglu and Ana Khouri jewelry

Usher in Alexander McQueen by Sean McGirr and Jacob & Co. watch

Harris Dickinson in Prada

Ashley Graham in custom Ludovic de Saint Sernin and Jared jewelry

Josh O'Connor in Loewe

Cardi B in Windosen and A.Jaffe jewelry

Jon Batiste in custom Dunhill and Cartier jewelry

Greta Lee in Loewe and De Beers jewelry

Keke Palmer in Marc Jacobs and Almasika jewelry

Tom Ford in Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello

Gwendoline Christie in Maison Margiela Artisanal by John Galliano

Kerry Washington in Oscar de la Renta and Yeprem jewelry

Rebecca Ferguson in Thom Browne

Donald Glover in Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello and Cartier jewelry

Barry Keoghan in Burberry, David Yurman jewelry and Omega watch

Lily James in Erdem and Boucheron jewelry

Lily Gladstone in custom Gabriela Hearst

Colman Domingo in Willy Chavarria, David Yurman jewelry, and IWC Schaffhausen watch

Penélope Cruz in Chanel

Steven Yeun in Thom Browne and Cartier jewelry

Cole Escola in Thom Browne

Uma Thurman in Prada and Fred Leighton jewelry

Serena Williams in Balenciaga and Messika jewelry

Jennifer Lopez in Oscar de la Renta and Tiffany & Co. jewelry

Brie Larson in Prada and Fred Leighton jewelry

Demi Moore in custom Harris Reed and Cartier jewelry

Mindy Kaling in Gauav Gupta

Amy Fine Collins in Thom Browne

Amanda Seyfried in Prada

Sarah Jessica Parker in Richard Quinn, Briony Raymond and Marlo Laz jewelry

Jeff Goldblum in Prada, Tiffany & Co. jewelry and Jacques Marie Mage sunglasses

Da'Vine Joy Randolph in custom Gap and Chopard jewelry

Kim Kardashian in Maison Margiela Artisanal by John Galliano

Sebastian Stan in AMI and Cartier jewelry

Madelyn Cline

Lena Waithe in custom Etro

Emma Chamberlain in Cartier jewelry

Sofia Coppola in Chanel and Cartier jewelry

Kendall Jenner in archive Givenchy

Rebecca Hall in Danielle Frankel

Emily Ratajkowski archive Atelier Versace, Chopard and Briony Raymond jewelry

Elsa Pataky in Tom Ford and Chris Hemsworth in Tom Ford and Chopard jewelry

Alia Bhatt in Sabyasachi

Taika Waititi in Marni and Jacob & Co. watch and Rita Ora in Marni

Lil Nas X in custom Luar, David Yurman jewelry, and Jennifer Behr accessories

Zoe Saldaña in Chloe and Boucheron jewelry

Karol G in Marc Jacobs and Messika jewelry

Doja Cat in Vetements

Jessica Biel in Tamara Ralph and Cartier jewelry

Greta Gerwig in Chloe

Ben Simmons in Thom Browne

Isabelle Huppert in Balenciaga and Cartier jewelry

Rachel Smith in Johanna Ortiz

Lea Michele in Rodarte

Phoebe Dynevor in custom Victoria Beckham

Naomi Campbell in Burberry, Briony Raymond and Material Good

Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin both in Miu Miu

Tyla in custom Balmain, Alexis Bittar and John Hardy jewelry

Alexandra Daddario in Dior Haute Couture and EFFY jewelry

Rachel Zegler in Michael Kors and Chopard jewelry

Queen Latifah in Thom Browne and Wempe jewelry

Elizabeth Debicki in Dior Haute Couture

Riley Keough in Chanel

Jordan Roth in custom Valentino

Ariana Grande in Loewe

Cynthia Erivo in Thom Browne, Roberto Coin, Wempe and Jennifer Behr jewelry

Huma Abedin

Eddie Redmayne in Omega watch

Jonathan Groff in Simone Rocha

Kris Jenner in Oscar de la Renta and Manolo Blahnik shoes

Morgan Spector in Willy Chavarria

Alexander Skarsgård in Calvin Klein and Hublot watch

Sarah Paulson in Prada

Pamela Anderson in Oscar de la Renta, Pandora jewelry and Manolo Blahnik shoes

Charli XCX in Marni

Dan Levy in Loewe

Damson Idris in Prada and Chopard jewelry

Kylie Minogue in Diesel and Cartier jewelry

Raye in custom Fendi

Odell Beckham Jr. in Bode and Manolo Blahnik shoes

Tommy Hilfiger and Dee Ocleppo Hilfiger

Deborah Robertss

Shakira in Carolina Herrera and Cartier jewelry

Matthew Macfadyen and Keeley Hawes

Nicholas Galitzine in Fendi Men and TAG Heuer watch

Meg Ryan in Michael Kors and Cartier jewelry

Olivier Rousteing in Balmain

Kaia Gerber in Prada and Tiffany & Co. jewelry

Michelle Williams

Jeremy Strong in custom Loro Piana

Radhika Jones in Prabal Gurung

Camila Cabello in Jane Wade and Ring Concierge jewelry

Dove Cameron in Diesel

Hari Nef in H&M

Lana Del Rey in Alexander McQueen by Seán McGirr

Naomi Watts in Balenciaga

Nnamdi Asomugha

Andrew Scott in custom Atelier Versace, Boucheron and David Yurman jewelry

Camila Morrone in Chanel

Lizzo in Weinsanto

Sabrina Carpenter in Oscar de la Renta and Brandon Blackwood shoes

Lauren Sánchez in Oscar de la Renta

Matt Damon in Dior Men and Piaget watch and Luciana Damon

Rachel Sennott in Balenciaga

Irina Shayk in Swarovski couture

Maleah Joi Moon in Collina Strada and Briony Raymond jewelry

La La Anthony in Alexander McQueen

Linda Evangelista in custom Khaite and Ana Khouri jewelry

Anna Wintour in Loewe

By Maggie Coughlan

By Kase Wickman

ImagineFX Art Challenge has an exciting new theme

T he ImagineFX Art Challenge is back! Every month, we plan to set you a new theme to spur your artistic skills, starting off with the Challenge: character redesign.

The brief, which you can read below, gives you the flavour for the Challenge, but all the details and tools are left up to you, as the we want to encourage everyone to get involved, no matter your style. We can't wait to see what you create!

A selection of artworks will be chosen from the entries to be featured in the magazine. But remember, there are no winners or losers in this Challenge – it’s all about participation and enjoying the creative journey.

ImagineFX Art Challenge 3 starts today!

After tallying up the votes, the theme you chose is Character Redesign !

Redesign or reimagine a character from a video game in your artistic style. Put a unique spin on a familiar character, exploring new interpretations and visual concepts. This will be classified as fan art.

A selection of artworks will be chosen from the entries to be featured in the magazine. But remember, there are no winners or losers in this Challenge – it’s all about participation and enjoying the creative journey!

How to enter

To submit your entry, simply hashtag your artwork with #IFXCharacterRedesign on Facebook , Instagram , X or Threads by 10 June, 2024, at 11:59 pm (GMT + 0:00) .

AI is not permitted in our Art Challenge. It should not be used at any stage of the artwork process. You will need to provide three process images so that when we contact those being featured in the magazine, we can verify that AI has not been used. Artists that have used AI will not be picked to be featured in the magazine.

TERMS & CONDITIONS

A. RELEASE FROM LIABILITY

ImagineFX Art Challenge is being organised and managed by ImagineFX magazine. The Art Challenge is in no way sponsored, endorsed, administered by, or associated with Facebook, Instagram, Threads or [X]. By taking part in this contest, you agree to a complete release of Facebook, Instagram, Threads or [X] from any or all liability in connection with the contest.

B. ENTRY PROCEDURE

Each month, ImagineFX will present an Art Challenge featuring a specific theme and criteria, which can be found via Creative Bloq . Entry is open worldwide to artists of all skill levels and styles. ImagineFX will validate all entries and will determine, at its sole discretion, whether each artwork meets the entry criteria detailed herein for acceptance as an entry into the contest. Entries that are offensive, overly sexualised, mutilated, incomplete, illegible, inaccurate, forged, irregular in any way, or otherwise not in compliance with the official rules will also not be considered for the contest. AI should not be used in creating the artwork. The opening and closing date and time for entries will be indicated on Creative Bloq . Any entries posted using the monthly theme hashtag after the monthly deadline will be disregarded and will not be considered for the contest.

C. ARTWORK SELECTION PROCEDURE

Once the monthly deadline has passed, the ImagineFX team will pick a selection of artworks to be featured in the magazine. This will be based on creativity, technical skills, originality, and painting skills, plus how the monthly brief has been interpreted. We (ImagineFX) have the final say if entries have met the criteria of the brief associated with the monthly contest. The selected artists will be contacted to gain permission to use their artwork to be printed in the magazine, we cannot pay for the use of the artwork. Artists in question will need to agree to the ImagineFX/Future plc non-exclusive licence terms below before we can print any artwork.

In consideration for Future promoting you and/or the Material as agreed, you grant Future and its licensees a non-exclusive, irrevocable licence to use the Material in print and digital publications and on all Future websites (including related, branded social media pages). Any reuse of the Material in the formats set out above shall be in the same context for which the Material was originally supplied. You warrant that you own or have the right to license the Material to Future and that Future’s use of it in accordance with this email does not infringe any intellectual property or proprietary rights of any third party. You agree to indemnify Future against all and any loss, damage, or costs sustained by Future arising out of any third party claim that the Material when used in accordance with this email infringes the Intellectual Property of a third party.

D. DATA PROTECTION

The data (real name, email) that is provided by the selected artists when they submit their work will be held by ImagineFX magazine. Submitted artists’ data will not be shared with or sold to any external parties or commercial entities.

E. COPYRIGHT

ImagineFX magazine bears no responsibility for any copyright infringement committed by individual artists. The competition’s aim is solely to inspire participants to produce original works centred around a shared theme. Inquiries concerning specific pieces created for the contest should be addressed directly to the respective artists. Artists retain full copyright ownership of the artwork submitted to the Art Challenge or ImagineFX at all times.

F. AI USAGE

AI will not be allowed in our Art Challenge. It should not be used at any stage of the artwork process. We will ask artists to provide process images so that when we contact those being featured in the magazine, we can verify that AI has not been used. Artists that have used AI will not be picked to be featured in the magazine.

Any art entered into the challenge must be newly created, for the challenge. Old and existing art is prohibited. The idea is to push yourself and your skills within the brief, so any existing art will not be accepted.

ImagineFX magazine reserves the right to modify the Terms & Conditions/Rules of the contest at any time, including during and after the Art Challenge has been launched each month. By taking part in this competition you agree to be bound by these terms and conditions, the competition rules at: www.futureplc.com/competition-rules/ and collection of personal data in accordance with Future’s privacy policy at: www.futureplc.com/privacy-policy/ .

Tennessee mayor channels Tom Cruise for State of the City address, says 'Mission Possible'

Franklin showed its creative side during its annual state of the city address earlier this month.

The event began with a video presentation that involved Mayor Ken Moore running through town, watching a self-destructing "mission" tape and rappelling from a ceiling Tom Cruise-style while on his way to deliver the address, which included several city accomplishments from 2023 and plans for the future.

“Over the past year, Franklin sent the world a message. We said that we like what’s going on and we are a community that builds, not tears down,” Moore said during his remarks. He reiterated the city's theme of “Mission Possible," and told a large crowd of over 80 residents that Franklin was on track to either complete or start a number of projects in the coming months.

Here are the main takeaways from the presentation:

The City Hall project

Since 2020, there have been plans to expand Franklin's current city hall building, Moore said, adding that the hope is to make it one of the jewels of Franklin.

Four years later, funding has been approved and plans are coming along. The new building will feature a variety of new additions to ease traffic and draw more people into downtown.

“We want to create a one-acre park on the corner of Third Avenue and Church Street to serve as a meeting space for the community,” said Anna Ruth Kimbrough, of Studio Eight Design.

“The new city hall will also feature shops for local business, various community amenities and underground parking to alleviate the structure on Second Avenue.”  

The $100 million project is set to be three stories and 96,000 gross square feet upon its completion, city leaders noted. If everything goes according to plan, the new city hall should be ready by 2027.

A budget overview

Franklin City Administrator Eric Stuckey released his recommended budget for fiscal year 2024-2025 on May 6.

“We have added a competitive pay adjustment for city teams along with keeping our property rate the same, at $0.3261 per $100 of assessed value, which is the lowest in Tennessee for a population of 50,000 or greater,” he said.

New business update

Construction at The Factory at Franklin has been a huge priority with the addition of several new businesses relocating to the area.

“In the (coming) months, visitors will see new restaurants, a bubble tea shop and even a yoga studio open in this space,” said Alderman Matt Brown and Allen Arender, of Holladay Properties. “Another batch of restaurants, like Slim + Husky, is set to open in the fall.”

Details on specific businesses were not immediately available.

The Factory will also restart its history tours this summer along with an Art Crawl, which has been expanded, adding more cultural options for visitors and residents. Specific details were not immediately shared.

Infrastructure gets a boost

The McEwen Phase 4 project is waiting on confirmation from the Tennessee Department of Transportation to move into the construction phase. The project was originally announced in 2020 when funding was secured. The city is receiving up to$22.4 million in Federal Surface Transportation Block Grant (STBG) funds to help pay for the project, leaders said.

Upon its completion, the project is set to connect the east side Franklin to Cool Springs, add additional streetlights along with ADA-compliant sidewalks and a multi-use path. Once construction starts, it is scheduled to take about three years from start to finish, according to City Engineer Paul Holzen.  

City officials have also noted that the water reclamation facility project, which got underway in 2018 with the goal of upgrading the city's current capacity of 12 million gallons per day to 16 million gallons per day, has been completed. A ribbon cutting was held May 8 for the $132.8 million dollar project.

For more information about Franklin and other upcoming projects, visit www.franklintn.gov/our-city.