@dinndinn's post on Artfol
How do you decide on the topics you want to highlight for a story?
I’m having trouble with storytelling. It seems to me that good stories are told focusing on a few topics which are very important for the cast.
Examples like:
•Hamilton-> time and legacy
•His Dark Materials-> bonds and souls
•Hadestown-> loneliness and how time deforms feelings
I want to tell a good story but can’t settle on a finite set of topics.
So how do you do it?May 6, 2021
I’m having trouble with storytelling. It seems to me that good stories are told focusing on a few topics which are very important for the cast.
Examples like:
•Hamilton-> time and legacy
•His Dark Materials-> bonds and souls
•Hadestown-> loneliness and how time deforms feelings
I want to tell a good story but can’t settle on a finite set of topics.
So how do you do it?May 6, 2021
#storytelling
#story
#question
#help
#tips
Comments
I let the story itself decide tbh. The characters are people in their own right and they will decide how to handle a given situation. Their decissions will then lead to the theme.
Cassandra will always try and face her fears and will always stand up for her friends. Delorian is going to change the narrative of the war happening in her world and prove that the old ways arent always the right ways. Adelaide, Adrien, and Zander work together to discover that happiness and respect triumphs over evil. Like they all decided the path they take and from that path I can then find what the values the story is aiming to teach and thus the theme.
Cassandra will always try and face her fears and will always stand up for her friends. Delorian is going to change the narrative of the war happening in her world and prove that the old ways arent always the right ways. Adelaide, Adrien, and Zander work together to discover that happiness and respect triumphs over evil. Like they all decided the path they take and from that path I can then find what the values the story is aiming to teach and thus the theme.
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•Uh 
that’s funny, to me hadestown is a story about revolution and believing. How I interpreted the conclusion is “even if it fails, we keep working for a better world, and maybe it would improve a tiny bit”.
Also to me Hamilton was, yes obviously about legacy and ambition. But I feel like it was also about immigration and the American dream. I guess there’s a bit of personal interpretation seeing what a story is about.
Anyway what I’ve seen people say is, basically you write your story once. And then you know your theme, you see what your story is about, what is the conclusion you’re getting. And you strengthen those theme.
that’s funny, to me hadestown is a story about revolution and believing. How I interpreted the conclusion is “even if it fails, we keep working for a better world, and maybe it would improve a tiny bit”. Also to me Hamilton was, yes obviously about legacy and ambition. But I feel like it was also about immigration and the American dream. I guess there’s a bit of personal interpretation seeing what a story is about.
Anyway what I’ve seen people say is, basically you write your story once. And then you know your theme, you see what your story is about, what is the conclusion you’re getting. And you strengthen those theme.
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•I think you could have a main topic for your story, but then if your story is divided in a way you can have a particular topic for each part
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•You can have a lot of topics in your story, you just have to figure out how will you gonna tell them yourself. For example my story Angelic Love tells a story about three best friends that have powers and that are lost princessess as well and they have to fight the bad guys. Normal big plot for the whole story. But as you go in further in the story (this is something I like to call) you will find small plots that are within the big plot. These small plots talk about a lot of things: why are the characters the way they are, how they ended up that way, the mini adventures that hold big meanings and so on. Kinda ask yourself the question Why? Why is this character always scared? Why is this person always quiet? And so on. I hope it helps in some way, this is how I create my stories. Or if you want just want one topic, write about sonething you're passionate about. Than inform yourself enough about that topic and let your creative side do it's thing. It dosen't always have to be this huge plot and huge impact that can change the course of action, it can be normal and sweet and just peaceful too.
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•For me, I usually think of a main conflict-- like, even the most basic one (betrayal, or revenge, or despair, etc.) and then, I just... try to make it complicated. Give it more depth, try to describe the reason behind it, the scenes that followed before and after that big moment, the characters involved and how they were affected. It's like a web that gradually increases more and more as you add into it. Quite tedious and difficult for some, but I think it's also fun (especially since I tend to write tragic or dramatic stories hahaha... which also tend to go on hiatus...) 
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•Idk I just had the main topic/idea first, and then create a story? Like first thought was "corruption of the main hero and the government", and then I do next things pushing of the main idea
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