Before I start, here are three possible definitions for ‘theme’. Freshly scraped off the internet for you.

“Theme is, essentially, the main idea for the story.”

“A theme is a central topic, subject, or message within a narrative.”

“Theme is an idea, plus an opinion.”

Three starting points for you there.

Three answers to the question ‘What is theme?’

There are lots of other definitions out there, but they usually coalesce around the concept of ‘someone’s take on an idea.’

Theme breathes life into writing. It turns a novel from a sequence of events into something readers can’t put down. 

Theme invites your readers to immerse themselves in your novel and its characters.

Did your main character sacrifice their life for another?

Or were they betrayed after making a deep commitment to their partner?

Riff on themes like these and you’ll engage your readers more.

Give them more than a chain of events, and they’ll search out your other books.

But what if your novel is bigger than a single theme?

Can you have two or more themes?

Absolutely.

You could have a primary theme. 

Perhaps your novel covers a society stuck on a small world with limited resources, and your protagonist seeks to escape.

Here your major theme might be ‘Life always finds a way to grow.’

A secondary theme could cover your protagonist.

They face fearful odds, but win through.

Their struggle could form your secondary theme. ‘Struggle makes us stronger.’

A third theme might consider your novel’s antagonist.

Do they win power by lying to people?

Is their deceitful nature revealed at the novel’s end?

Do they lose influence and lose control of the hero?

The theme here would be ‘liars don’t win.’

These three themes complement each other, and help your readers find parallels between your story and their lives.

Look for links between your themes.

Show they’re related.

For instance, in the example above, your protagonist might consider copying the antagonist’s lies to get the influence they need.

They decide not to lie, and later it’s revealed that untruth would have been uncovered, and they’d have lost credibility.

They’ve won the battle to stay truthful and shown liars don’t prosper. 

You can clarify your themes by housing them in distinct sub-plots or show them from different viewpoints.

We mentioned a world of dwindling resources above. Write a scene to show a household struggling after a cut in rations.

A sequence of scenes could show growing hunger, and link to another plot thread covering the antagonist’s manipulations.

Do his lies leave children hungry? Show concrete examples of the damage lies cause.

So yes, you’re welcome to use more than one theme.

But resist any temptation to go overboard.

Themes should complement each other, and each must contribute to your novel to make your work cohesive. 

For instance, adding a fourth theme of ‘Do just what you like and don’t care about others.’ would conflict with your ‘liars don’t win’ theme.

Do this and you’ll dilute your message.

So that’s handling multiple themes.

Themes can support each other.

They let you explore new areas, in the same way side-lights add depth to actors on the stage.

They make your writing distinctive and give it greater impact.

Best of all, they let you stamp your personality on your work.


Thoughts? Questions? Let me know in the comments below.