How to Add Depth and Meaning to Your Action Adventure Story with Themes and Motifs

How to Add Depth and Meaning to Your Action Adventure Story with Themes and Motifs

We have been focused on action & adventure writing a lot the past few weeks. My goal is that you come out of this having been bitten by the action adventure bug.

Adventure fiction is a genre that is characterized by its emphasis on action, danger, and exploration. It typically involves a protagonist who embarks on a journey, often in pursuit of a goal, and encounters various obstacles and challenges along the way.

This genre has long been popular with readers (and writers) who seek excitement and thrills.

However, while adventure stories are often associated with action-packed sequences and daring escapades, they can also offer much more than just surface-level entertainment.

This is done by incorporating themes and motifs into your action adventure story.

Themes and motifs add an extra level of oomph to any story—making it cohesive, strengthening its impression on the reader, heightening its emotional resonance, and giving it meaning and purpose.

So today we are going to get into the weeds by exploring the importance of themes and motifs to add depth and meaning to your action adventure stories.

By the end of this article, you will be able to see how they can elevate your adventure story to a whole new level by making sure that every twist and turn serves a purpose.

Why Focus on Themes in Action Adventure?

Themes give your story a grand purpose. They’re the underlying threads that tie everything together, infusing meaning and depth in every single scene.

Now, action-adventure stories are often wild roller coaster rides full of twists and turns, blood-pumping action and vivid, unique characters. But without a strong theme, it’ll be just that, a roller coaster ride. Fun while you’re riding but forgotten as soon as you see the corn dog stand.

Whether it is the timeless battle between good and evil or the unyielding power of the courageous underdog, themes are the underlying elements that bring all the plot points and characters together into a whole.

And they are what keeps you on track as a writer, rather than veering off into digression land. Well…themes and a good outline.

As a developmental editor, I've seen how themes can breathe life into characters' choices and influence their growth. I have seen the difference a theme can have on taking a bleh story and making it an amazing story.

Jack Tuesday by F. Nelson Smith

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Types of Themes in Action and Adventure Stories

Action & adventure stories cover a wide range of themes, but these ones pop up again and again. You may call them “tropes,” but there is a reason these themes have endured so long—because they resonate with readers on a deeper level.

It’s up to you to decide whether this is a list of overdone themes to avoid or a list of classic themes that have proven themselves to be impactful:

• Battles between good and evil

• Quest for redemption

• Triumph of courage

• Sacrifice for the greater good

• Pursuit of justice

• Confronting your fears

• Confronting your demons

• Nature vs. Civilization

• Legacy

• Destiny

Notice that all of these themes are big. They are not small issues and have the potential for epic storytelling. That is perhaps the key here.

With action and adventure fiction, the bigger the theme the better. Action adventure stories are often complex or gritty with wide, all-encompassing large settings and large casts of characters. Though not always together.

Image made with Leonardo ai

Choosing Themes for Your Story

So how do you choose a theme for your own action adventure story? With so many different ideas to choose from, and especially if you are writing an epic of some sort, you might not be able to land on just six let alone only one.

But I urge you to choose only one main theme. That theme can be complex and wide-ranging, but I’m telling you from plenty of experience so listen carefully: One theme will keep your story cohesive and impactful, many themes will make it feel disjointed.

If you are determined to incorporate more than one theme, make sure you follow these tips:

• Make a thematic hierarchy. One main theme and subordinate sub themes

• All themes need to be able to connect back to a single idea

• Don’t allow one character to encompass all themes, focus their arcs on a single one

But I digress.

I’m supposed to be telling you how to choose a theme.

First off, you are going to have to take some time to reflect on your story’s message. I’m not talking about glove-slapping your reader with a moral. I mean what question are you ultimately asking of your reader and yourself?

Splainy time. A theme is really an exploration of a topic that interests you. But rather than writing a boring essay about it or screaming about it in CAPS on Twitter, you explore it through the interactions of fictional characters.

Because of this, the most important consideration when choosing a theme is what interests you? What do you want to know, what do you want to understand, or what moves you etc.

Related Post:

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Research this thing that interests you—research it to death. This will inspire you as to the theme and probably also plot points and characters to add along with it.

Next to personal interest and research, my final word of advice is to make sure that whatever it ends up being it is based on emotion at the core of it. Consider the emotional impact you want to achieve with your story. Themes that evoke strong emotions will leave a lasting impression on readers.

And whatever you do, do not allow it to feel forced into the narrative. Inserting a theme at the end of a story is going to be hard work, just ask any one of my clients who I'd suggested needed to add a theme to their story.

Prepare to write a whole new book.

Themes that Fuel the Quest

The theme of your story is the driving force behind everything that happens within it. I’m sorta repeating myself, but what this implies, and what you may have missed, is that a theme cannot be a “side piece.”

You must make the chosen theme an integral part of the story’s core, it must be involved in every aspect of it such as driving the protagonist’s motivations and action throughout their quest.

Connect the theme to the stakes and consequences involved in the main plot. Likewise, make it integral to the antagonist’s motivations and beliefs to create a compelling contrast between them and the protagonist.

Related Post:

How to Use Juxtaposition: The Art of Crafting Contrast for Captivating Fiction

The Eye of Verishten by K.E. Barron

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Challenges and obstacles should reflect the theme. Relationships and character arcs should also reflect the theme. Symbolism and imagery too.

Everything.

I talk a lot about something similar to this in my Show, Don’t Tell series, but I call it the “single impression” of your story. Your theme allows that to happen. Please check out that series for a full explanation of this concept. It’ll teach you how to take all of the things we talk about in this post and really put it into practice on all levels of your story.

Building Character Arcs Around Strong Themes

Ok, so I’ve told you to connect your character arc to the theme but I should probably get into how to actually go about that.

Here is a list of tips to help you incorporate themes into all your characters' journeys:

• Theme-driven traits: Create characters whose traits and personalities align with your chosen theme. Their strengths, weaknesses, and beliefs should reflect the theme.

• Themes in the arc: Design character arcs so they encapsulate the exploration of your theme. Show how their growth throughout leads to a deeper understanding of the theme’s significance.

• Conflicts: Introduce internal and external conflicts that stem from their relationship with the theme. You’ll add depth to their struggles and make characters/plot points more relatable to readers.

• Motivations and goals: Establish clear motivations and goals for your characters that are directly tied to the theme. Let their desires emphasize the theme’s importance in the story.

• Parallel themes: Like we said above with the theme hierarchy. For multiple characters, explore how their personal themes intersect with the head-honcho central theme, creating a web of interconnected narratives that add depth and complexity while creating a oneness.

• Foils and contrasts: Use foil characters to highlight different aspects of the theme. Contrasting characters can show multiple perspectives of your theme exploration at the same time.

• Dialogue and action: Infuse dialogue and behaviors with elements that relate to the theme. Allow characters to express their thoughts and beliefs throughout the story in a way that strengthens and reveals aspects of the theme.

• Relationships: Show how the theme impacts the dynamics between characters. Develop relationships that challenge or reinforce the characters’ beliefs and growth.

By building characters around a strong theme, you create a story that feels like it has aim and purpose and the reader will innately sit up and take notice. It makes everything seem more important.

Because people want to listen to people who are confident in what they have to say. The stronger the theme, the more confident your book appears.

The Power of Motifs in the Action Adventure Genre

Themes are overarching concepts or messages that explore universal "truths" in a story, while motifs are recurring symbols or elements that reinforce themes and add depth to the story.

Motifs in stories carry symbolic meaning and represent key elements, themes, or emotions that recur throughout the narrative.

Effective ones leave a lasting impression; they appeal to people’s sense and evoke emotions that enhance the reading experience. Motifs provide a sense of coherence just like themes and should be tied to the themes directly (because the theme must connect to everything, remember?).

Motifs can be used in lots of different ways and have many purposes. They can be associated with specific characters, contribute to the tone and atmosphere of the setting, foreshadow future events, amplify the intensity of action scenes, allude to real-life events and culture, and so much more I can’t be bothered to continue.

Image made with Leonardo ai

Common Motifs in Action Adventure

In case this topic is still a little vague to you, here are some examples of popular motifs used in the action and adventure genre:

The Missing Artifact: The protagonist embarks on a quest to recover a valuable artifact.

This motif can represent the search for knowledge, truth, or power. The artifact often holds secrets or historical significance that can change the course of history or unlock hidden mysteries.

Example: The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

The Treasure Hunt: Characters set out on an adventure to find a legendary treasure.

This motif often symbolizes the pursuit of wealth, discovery, or personal growth. The treasure may represent not only the material riches but also wisdom, self-awareness, or a deeper understanding of life.

Example: Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

The Forbidden Island or Land: Characters venture into a mysterious and dangerous territory that is off-limits to most.

This motif can signify the exploration of the unknown and the consequences that come with tampering with the forces of nature. Characters may face dangers and ethical dilemmas as they uncover hidden or disturbing truths.

Example: Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

Selecting Motifs

There is a trick to selecting motifs for your story. Unlike the theme you can have as many of these as you can believably incorporate into your narrative. But there are a few things to consider.

First, you must make sure they are all relevant to the theme (you got this idea now, i think). Choose motifs that align with the central theme and are not so varied from each other that they create wildly different moods or change the atmosphere of the whole story.

Select motifs with symbolic meaning that can represent deeper concepts and emotions, but make sure they are something that you can add recurrently throughout your story without feeling tired and annoying.

A great way to choose a motif is to pick a moment in history that closely matches the tone and emotion you are going for in your book. What aspects of it can you add to your own story to call to mind those feelings in your reader?

Finally, make sure motifs feel natural, not forced and integrate them into the plot organically. Allow them to subtlety or not so subtlety influence the events, character decisions and the overall story progression.

Utilizing Settings to Reinforce Themes and Motifs

Settings play a crucial role in action and adventure stories. They can be powerful tools for reinforcing your themes and motifs.

Dense jungles can represent the unknown, crumbling ancient temples might represent the passage of time, or a desolate wasteland may mirror the protagonist’s internal struggles. Whatever you choose, each setting can evoke emotions and convey deeper meanings.

By carefully selecting and describing settings with thematic intent, you can create an environment perfectly integrated to your story’s core messages.

Subtlety and Impact

Subtlety can be hard for some action adventure writers. They want everything to be big or epic. Which is good, but some things just need a subtle touch to be impactful.

While overtly presenting themes and motifs can be compelling, leaving room for readers to decipher the underlying meanings is almost always a better move.

Themes and motifs should seep through the narrative in drips, enhancing the narrative without overshadowing it. You have integrated the theme everywhere so its presence will always be felt but in a god-like way.

Like a know its there but….is it though?

Sorry. Only my sister will find that funny.

Onward.

Clever symbolism, subtle character interactions, and foreshadowing can keep readers engaged and wanting to uncover hidden layers without hitting them in the head with a club caveman style.

At the crucial moments, bringing themes and motifs to the forefront will make them more impactful than if you're too heavy handed throughout. In the last post, I wrote a whole thing about the science of boiling frogs.

How could you have forgotten that integral lesson already?!

Shame.

Final Words

I’m getting tired and silly so that’s my cue to end today’s lesson.

To sum up, incorporating themes and motifs in action and adventure novels will elevate your story from a mere thrill ride to unforgettable classic odyssey.

The subtle interplay of carefully selected themes and motifs, well-developed characters, purposeful settings and plots weaves together a story fabric that is multi-layered and strong (and probably warm).

You're ensuring that your stories are immersive and resonate on a deeper emotional level.

Just keep writing, and you’ll get there.

Have more burning questions about writing great action & adventure?

I scoured the Internet for as many questions as I could find that writers like you were asking about writing action adventure. From "what makes a great adventure story?" to "how do you write a great action scene," I've got all the answers to the most common action and adventure writing questions, here on The Writer's Cabin.

Next: Action Adventure Q&A