The summary of ‘You're Writing Themes Wrong’

The video discusses the importance of developing a theme in storytelling and the pitfalls of equating themes with simple topics. It emphasizes the need for specificity when crafting themes, suggesting the approach of framing themes as questions to create engaging narratives. By exploring nuanced issues and presenting different perspectives on a thematic question, writers can create compelling conflicts and thought-provoking stories. Examples from popular culture, such as "The Shawshank Redemption," are used to illustrate how themes can resonate with audiences and provide catharsis. The importance of well-developed themes in storytelling is highlighted, with a critique of movies like "The Dark Knight Rises" for lacking a cohesive theme. The video concludes by promoting further exploration of storytelling techniques on Nebula, a platform offering exclusive content from various creators.

00:00:00

In this part of the video, Harold, a writer, falls into the trap of equating themes with neat topics like Revenge or Honor. He chooses Justice as the theme for his novel but struggles with coherence in portraying it. His story gets rejected by publishers for lacking cohesion and neglecting the exploration of ideas due to trying to juggle too much. The video reveals a plot twist where it is disclosed that Harold is actually the narrator’s fictional character, highlighting the common mistake of new writers in handling themes.

00:03:00

In this segment of the video, it is emphasized that when developing a theme in writing, specificity is crucial. The speaker explains that perceiving theme as a topic can lead to vagueness and lack of precision in storytelling. Using the example of a story about justice, the speaker suggests focusing on a specific question rather than a broad topic, which can result in a stronger and more focused narrative. By narrowing down the main ideas to one central question, such as the ethical dilemma of justifiable murder in a story, the narrative becomes more compelling and engaging to the audience. The key idea presented is to view theme as writing a question rather than a topic, which not only solves the issue of vagueness but also helps guide the storytelling process effectively.

00:06:00

In this segment of the video, the speaker discusses how to build a story around a central question, using the example of exploring the theme of justice. The speaker outlines the thought process of creating characters, setting (courtroom), and opposing viewpoints on justifiability of murder. The process involves prosecution and defense presenting arguments, a pivotal event, the jury’s verdict, and the judge’s punishment providing the answer to the thematic question. By framing the theme as a question, the speaker highlights how specificity in theme helps in shaping the story, creating characters, and narrowing down the focus, making the writing process more structured and efficient.

00:09:00

In this segment of the video, the speaker discusses the technique of framing themes as questions to create thought-provoking narratives for adult audiences. They emphasize the importance of exploring nuanced issues by presenting different perspectives on a thematic question. The difficulty of answering the thematic question correlates with the story’s level of thought-provocation. The advice is to assign each character a stance on the theme, with the protagonist and antagonist having opposing views to drive conflict. Conflicts in the story should tie back to the themes and ideologies the characters represent for compelling storytelling.

00:12:00

In this segment of the video, the speaker emphasizes the importance of having characters with differing beliefs and ideologies in order to create conflict and engage the audience. By assigning distinct stances on a theme to side characters, each scene becomes dynamic and filled with conflict. Using the example of “The Matrix,” where characters have varying beliefs on accepting reality, the speaker explains how this ideological diversity can enhance the story. Additionally, the importance of identifying a thematic question during the writing process, even for pantsers (those who write without detailed planning), is highlighted. The speaker stresses that every story should have a theme, and writers should revise their work to align with and explore that central theme effectively.

00:15:00

In this segment of the video, the importance of theme in storytelling is highlighted using examples from popular culture, focusing on “The Shawshank Redemption.” The film explores the theme of hope surviving in dark situations through Andy’s journey in prison. Various moments of hope are discussed, contrasting dark outcomes with instances of resilience. The film ultimately conveys a message of hope prevailing against all odds, providing catharsis for viewers. The segment emphasizes the power of themes in storytelling to resonate with audiences dealing with struggles like depression, using examples from other films like “Juno,” “Blade Runner,” and “Finding Nemo” to illustrate the impact of thematic exploration.

00:18:00

In this segment of the video, the speaker discusses how themes can impact storytelling in movies like Toy Story and Romeo and Juliet. They analyze the concept that love may not conquer all, using Romeo and Juliet as an example. The speaker also examines Christopher Nolan’s movie “The Dark Knight Rises” stating that the film fell flat due to a disconnected theme. They emphasize the importance of a well-developed theme for a story to be satisfying. The speaker plans to further analyze why “The Dark Knight Rises” failed to resonate with audiences in another video.

00:21:00

In this segment of the video, the speaker discusses the basic theme of their philosophy and suggests that viewers can explore the technique in more depth on Nebula, a sponsor of the video. Exclusive content is available on Nebula, with videos from various creators like Hello Future Me and Terrible Writing Advice. The presenter also mentions a special offer for Nebula membership at $30 a year or a lifetime option, with projects funded by the platform. The offer expires at the end of December. Viewers are encouraged to click the link in the description to access this content and gain a deeper understanding of the philosophy discussed.