Themes in Writing Fantasy: Are You Original or Derivative?

Bella Rose Emmorey

book editor, rogue behaviorist, digital marketer, writer, brand builder, plant aunt, and cheese enthusiast.

It’s not fair to ask, really. All themes in writing fantasy end up derivative in some way simply because most hit the core of a human experience we can mostly all relate to.
That said, there are certainly some themes are borrowed and overused to the point that we’re sick of seeing them played over and over again. But how do you pull out your own themes when writing in the $ fantasy genre$  so they’re original, or at least feel original?
That’s what we’ll cover in this article, folks.
But first…
What is the theme, anyway?Some people seem to think the theme is just…what the book is about. Which isn’t exactly wrong, but they point to events—the plot–instead of the actual theme.
The theme is beyond the events. It’s what the events, characters, and dynamics tell us about our own life outside the book. If you strip away all of the settings, characters, details, what is the book about?
That’s the theme.
Therefore, Harry Potter isn’t about how orphaned children can rise up the ranks, despite the plot suggesting it. The theme in those books are about 
And A Game of Thrones isn’t about the perils of evil, but rather the consequence of thirsting for power at any cost.
Lord of the Rings isn’t necessarily about the corruption of power (though that is present), either, and has more to do with the power of friendship and loyalty over that power.
But the truth is, most themes in writing fantasy are expansive. Stories aren’t often built off a single theme, and have a few woven in.
Tip: to figure out the theme of a fantasy story, describe the story to someone without using any elements of the story itself, never mentioning any specific characters, setting, plot points, or those sorts of details.
Classic (& Possibly Overused) Themes in Writing FantasyWhile many readers like fantasy for its themes, some are sick of the same old thing, over and over again.
This $ Reddit post$  is full of comments about themes in writing fantasy, specifically what they want to see more of (instead of the same ones).
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If you want a list of what not to write about when $ planning a fantasy novel$ , these are classic fantasy themes that are on their last leg, at least for a while:
Good vs. Evil
The Chosen One
The Hero’s Journey
Power Corrupts
Prophecies and Destinies
Forbidden Love
Rebellion Against Tyranny
Lost Royalty
Found Family
World on the Brink
Rags to Riches
Clash of Cultures
Revenge and Redemption
The Balance of Nature
By no means does this bar you from using these themes. However, if you do want to come up with themes in writing fantasy and land on one of these, take care to make it more original.
Otherwise, just come up with your own! Here’s how:
How to Conjure Your Own, Original Themes in Writing FantasyComing up with your own themes in writing fantasy will actually make the book itself more impactful for both you and the reader. Because themes that come from within always carry more oomph than simply writing about something you’ve never truly experienced.
This is how you can figure out how to theme a fantasy book based on your own life.
Step 1: Look insideThe first step to originality is introspection. Time for a little self-awareness, yes? Reflect on your emotions, experiences, and worldview as a whole. 
What ideas resonate with you? What questions or dilemmas keep you up at night? What soapboxes will you never get off of?
Ask yourself:
What do I feel strongly about—either positively or negatively?
What personal challenges have shaped me?
What would be the theme/s of my life story?
What do I wish more people understood about the world?
By tapping into your inner world, you’ll uncover the seeds of compelling, authentic themes you can weave into your work. And while the themes themselves might not be "original," the source—what you draw from to write the story—are, and will feel that way.
If you really can’t come up with these answers on your own, send them to a friend and ask that they answer them about you. Sometimes other people in our lives can see us better than we can see ourselves.
Step 2: List common themes in your lifeOnce you’ve reflected, identify recurring ideas or patterns in your life. These are often fertile ground for themes, and most of the answers from above can be bucketed into certain themes.
Examples of common life themes:
Overcoming adversity
Finding your identity
The complexity of human relationships
Learning to let go of control
Changing generational patterns
Healing from loss
And hey, if you can’t figure out the common threads between your life experiences, take all the answers to your questions above in addition to a few short instances from your life and drop it in ChatGPT with the prompt: tell me the common themes in my life based on this information.
This is how AI can actually be helpful for fiction authors.
Here’s an example of what it came up with for mine:
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Step 3: List your valuesYour values often determine the heart of your storytelling, and when combined with the themes of your life will give your story a more unique shape. What matters most to you will naturally shape the messages and morals in your writing anyway. Having them top of mind will just help make them more concrete.
Examples of core values:
Justice
Compassion
Freedom
Innovation
Integrity
Authenticity
Unity
Plus, you can often give your characters some of these values and have an easier time writing them.
Step 4: Determine the intersectionNow, combine the info from steps 2 and 3. Where do the common themes in your life intersect with your core values? 
This intersection is where your unique voice emerges and where your story will actually be made more original. Here are a few examples of how this might work:
Example 1:
Theme: Healing from loss
Value: Compassion
Intersection: A story about a hero who learns to heal by showing kindness to others who are grieving.
Example 2:
Theme: Finding your identity
Value: Freedom
Intersection: A shapeshifter must decide whether to embrace their true form or continue hiding to survive in a society that fears them
Example 3:
Theme: The pursuit of knowledge
Value: Curiosity
Intersection: A scholar risks everything to uncover the secrets of a forbidden library, only to discover the knowledge may endanger the world.
This step ensures your themes are both personal and meaningful, rather than generic or overused. But don’t just stop at a single "intersection". Come up with many until you have a fantasy story idea you like!
Plus, depending on the $ fantasy subgenre$  you want to write in, you can steer your intersection points in that direction.
Step 5: Situationalize your themeThis is where the plot comes together. When you know the theme, you get to create scenarios in which the themes in writing fantasy are exposed, tried, tested, mistakes are made, and challenges are overcome to prove the theme to be true.
You might think that’s a lot…which is true, and why fantasy books are often long. It takes a while to show the various facets of a theme without ever flat out stating what it is (uh-hem, show don’t tell, much?).
But after you have the intersection, you really have the story’s premise. The rest are the details and ensuring you’re able to do your theme justice.
This involves taking the premise, and coming up with the major plot points. You can use whatever method you like. The $ snowflake method$  works well if you’re starting with themes in writing fantasy and working backward.
Let’s take example 1 from above.
Theme: Healing from loss
Value: Compassion
Intersection: A story about a hero who learns to heal by showing kindness to others who are grieving.
If a character has to heal from loss, there has to be a loss that happens either in the story or before the story starts. If compassion is necessary to accomplish the healing, we also need a character who begins as not compassionate.
Start to ask yourself: what are the behavioral tendencies of a person who is hurting from a loss and has a lack of compassion? This will start to give you character insight you can use to shape events in the story.
More questions you can ask for this example:
What does a lack of compassion look like?
What does hidden pain from a loss look like?
How would someone who is hurting from loss treat their friends?
How would they operate at work?
What would their everyday internal monologue sound like?
What hobbies would they have or what would they do in their free time?
What scenarios would be needed to show them they needed to change?
All of the answers to these questions will help you come up with specific plot points and character arc details to shape the book so it fulfills the theme. And of course, make sure it fits in the $ rules of fantasy $ so you’re staying within genre.

Themes in writing fantasy can become redundant if you’re not focused on starting from within. We don’t really need more "good vs evil" fantasy stories. What we do need more of are unique, interesting themes that original from the author’s own life.