Creative Writers Weave Themes, Arcs, And Resolutions

Creative writing calls for all the talent you can muster. If you don't have very much talent, that's just dandy. No one will notice it for a while anyway. Meanwhile, just lope along with the herd and fake it. And while you're at it, think up a good story theme. What is a theme? It is what the story is about, generally speaking.

The climactic scene in the center is called the plot. Gone With the Wind is a love story from cover to cover. Moby Dick is a tale of revenge. Pinnocchio is a story of morals. The Ten Commandments is about righteousness and judgment. What will your story be about?

Whatever your theme is, every sentence in the story should point to it somehow. If it is imagery or scenery, the intent should be to weave it into the theme. For example, if you are writing a romance story and your opening scene is filled with snow and Christmas lights, it should be building up to something that connects with the theme. It should be introducing a character, or a situation that will tie into the story. If it has no purpose in the story, delete it.

Everything points to the theme, and all of it builds to the center plot that will be unfolded in one huge climactic scene. Everything that the characters say should be necessary to the story. Yes, some of the dialog may seemingly relate to something else, but in the scheme of things, every word must be part of the gluten that glues the whole story together.

Using the romance theme mentioned a moment ago, let's suppose you have a scene where two neighbors are gossiping over the back fence. How could the gossiping scene relate to the romance theme?

· It could be introducing a new character
· It could be building the characterization of an existing personality
· It could be shifting the scene to a closer part of the theme
· It could be the first reference to a new piece of the puzzle.

One piece of the puzzle builds on the other until all the pieces mesh together to form the intended picture. A writer is an artist painting words on a canvas, just waiting for someone to open the cover and see the picture waiting for them. As with all paintings, develop it slowly and meticulously.

As you weave the theme, you will see natural questions emerging, and they must be answered. These questions are like little roads that lead to an unnamed destination. The plot builds on these roads until it finally bursts into the central climax. This process is called arcing. The first part of the story is "flat", the middle of the story arcs, and the last part of the story resolves to a "flat" stage once again.

It resolves with answers to all the questions that have been raised. The end of the theme ties up all the loose ends until you have a nice, neat package with nothing left undone.