World Building: Theme & Image Systems (Part 2)

Screenwriting Tricks for Authors

Last week we were talking about THEME and thinking of theme as not just one sentence, but a whole SYSTEM of symbols, images and meanings.

• What is Theme? Part 1

CREATING A VISUAL/THEMATIC IMAGE SYSTEM

So how do you create an image system in your books?

Start by becoming more conscious of what image systems authors are working with in books and films that you love, as we discussed in Part 1.

Some readers/writers don’t care at all about visual image systems. That’s fine —whatever floats your boat. Me, with rare exceptions, I’ll toss a book within twenty pages if I don’t think the author knows what they’re doing visually.

I highly recommend reading my breakdowns of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (there are whole college classes on the intricate symbolism and image systems of the Harry Potter books!) and The Hunger Games —for truly great examples of this technique in action.

• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone breakdown in Part III of Stealing Hollywood

• Hunger Games breakdown

There are several exercises I’ve developed that I’ve always done in my writing workshops, and detail in the workbooks:

—THE MASTER LIST

—BRAINSTORMING INDEX CARDS ON A STORY GRID

—COLLAGE BOOK