Writing Exercise #3: Hero to Hero, Finding Theme

Shannon Dittemore is the author of the Angel Eyes trilogy. She has an overactive imagination and a passion for truth. Her lifelong journey to combine the two is responsible for a stint at Portland Bible College, performances with local theater companies, and a love of all things literary. When she isn’t writing, she spends her days with her husband, Matt, imagining things unseen and chasing their two children around their home in Northern California. To connect with Shan, check out her website, FB, Twitter, Instagram, or Pinterest.

Before we get started today, I would love to pass out doughnuts and high fives. If I was closer to you all, I would. You’ve been doing such a fantastic job on these Friday Writing Exercises. I’m a little behind reading through last week’s, so bear with me.

At Go Teen Writers, we’re getting ready to film our first panel. Jill, Steph and I will be answering a couple of questions provided by you guys. The teen writers who have earned the right to ask us ALMOST any question, have been randomly selected from among all those who participated in the first two writing exercises of the year. Are you ready to find out who they are?

Hadley Grace

Congrats you two! We are working to contact you, but if either of you are reading, could you drop me a line at admin@shannondittemore.com and I’ll get you the details. I didn’t think through the whole contact thing, so please accept my apologies.

In any case, I hope you’re all enjoying the writing exercises. Today I thought we’d follow up Stephanie’s Monday post on theme.

Theme shows up all over your novel and it shows up in different ways. Sometimes it’s bold and sometimes it’s subtle. If it’s done well, it’s woven into your story from beginning to end–which makes it a little tough to address in a writing exercise that can easily be shared in the comments section of a site like this.

But I had a thought. And after chewing on it for a bit, I think perhaps this little exercise might help you unearth at least one of the themes struggling to break free from the depths of your story.

Off you go, friends! Write, write, write! I’ll be back to check in on you and I hope you return as well. Take a look at what everyone else is writing and see if you can help them spot THEME.