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Today I’m looking at an aspect of the craft which can elevate stories from mere sequences of events to something which moves readers on an emotional level: theme.

Theme takes a hard look at the meaning of things, examines deep-rooted ideas.[i] A story with a theme is a story with a point.[ii]

It’s only when the writer considers the theme of a story “does he achieve not just an alternative reality, or loosely, an imitation of nature, but true, firm art—fiction as serious thought.”[iii]