How to Write Activist Literature – One – Choose a Theme
By Andy Heath
This post is part one of how to write activist literature, and the first step is to choose a theme. Let me explain what I mean by a theme. For many years I have been mistrustful of Christianity, and often Christians will ask me why. They tell me that not all Christians hate gays and that Christ died for everyone. They tell me that God loves me. They tell me that they love the sinner and hate the sin. So in choosing a theme for Preston, I decided that I would answer that question. Here is the theme to Preston, formed as a question:
“Why would a religious, gay teenager renounce his faith in God?”
A theme can also be written in the form of a statement that can be proven or disproven. For example, “A religious, gay teenager should renounce his faith in God.” Perhaps you could write a similar theme as, “Christianity fails gays.” Or you could write it as, “Christianity has a lot to offer gays.” The goal of a theme, in my humble opinion, is to give the reader something to think about when he or she finishes reading the book. It needs to make an impact on the reader and it needs to be something that your audience cares about.
If you’re writing literature about animal rights, your theme might be, “The meat industry cares about money to the detriment of animals.” Perhaps that is a simple theme, but you might want to choose something broader and write on many different levels. The classic theme I think of in this regard is, “Love conquers all,” something that Holly Lisle writes about on her excellent site for writers.
Now many of you will argue that theme is a matter of fluff and that I am just trying to fill this blog with a meaningless post. That is not true. If your goal is to write a piece of activist literature, the theme of that literature is perhaps the most important decision you can make. The theme will drive the entire story. When you have a doubt about where the story is going, you will return to the theme for guidance. That is why it is so critical that you write the theme down and commit it to memory.
So now, you ask, what is the best way to go about writing a theme or even coming up with a theme? There are basically two ways to go about coming up with a theme.
The first is to consider something you care very much about. When writing activist literature, chances are you have something in mind already that you want to write about. If you’re like me and want to write about a gay teenager, then you would start with the preoccupations of gay teenagers. You could think about problems in school, drug abuse, coming of age, new relationships, relationships with older men, sexual abuse, etc. There are some subtler things that go along with all of these – the emotional aspects of each of these problems. If it’s a relationship with an older man, for example, then you might consider all the emotional problems associated with being so insignificant in the eyes of someone you truly love, as if often the case when a married man pursues a teenager. From there you could write a theme based on these problems. For example, “Gay teenagers cannot find true love in a married man.” Or you might try, “No one really cares about gay teenagers.” If you want to be more positive about it, you could try something like, “Gay teenagers can find true love regardless of their circumstances.”
Start with the problem, and go from there. I cannot reiterate enough, though, that a well written theme is critical to the success (or failure) of a book’s salability.
The second way to go about a theme is to go from your plot you already have. I have met countless people who have said, “Oh, I want to write a book, and I already know what it’s going to be about, but I just haven’t written it yet.” Now I started my book Preston by coming up with the theme, but let’s say I had started with the plot. Let’s say I had been mulling over the idea of writing a book about a gay teenager that is very religious but chooses to give up his religion. The theme would come naturally from that: “Why would a religious, gay teenager renounce his faith in God?”
Please note that this theme does not have to be earth shattering. You don’t have to write the next earth shattering novel, and most people never do – for that matter, most people never write a novel at all, so you’ll be well ahead of the game just by writing one. When you write a theme, please just write one. Give yourself the opportunity to be creative and do something fantastic, even if you have to improve over time.
The next step is to write a one sentence summary, and you can find that on this blog in two days’ time.
