on Writers Helping Writers:

While shallow stories can be enjoyable, we often strive to add depth to our storytelling. Deeper stories can “say” more to readers, evoking more emotions and leaving a bigger impression.

We have many options for how we can deepen our stories, from creating layered characters or heartrending emotional journeys to exploring complex dilemmas. But a primary way of adding depth to our story is by using and expanding our story’s themes.

Themes are meant to communicate to readers by provoking them to consider a certain view of the world (such as what to value, believe, hope for, aim for, etc.), so themes inherently provide plenty of opportunities for us to say more to readers. Themes that interact on some level create even more depth, as they take a simplistic belief (“love is powerful”) and turn it into a more purposeful idea (“love is powerful when we learn to trust others”).

Today, let’s look at how we can set up themes that resonate with each other, and thus add up to a deeper story than possible with just a standalone theme.