How to eat a dinosaur!

When I set out to write, the thing that catches me every time is, where to start. Much like the dinosaur the task at hand can look huge and unappetising. But for me the first bight is always to tackle the theme, the underlying meaning or motif. And I don’t mean the plot.

With Michael Crichton’s bestseller Jurassic Park, the theme is the ramifications of tinkering with biology. This overarching theme drives the complex plot, the characterisation and the narrative arc. It’s the underpinning that resonates with readers, that pushes them to follow the wild adventure to the end, especially as in 1983 the science of cloning and DNA were still unknown to most of us.

So whether you’re story is about chaos theory or everlasting love, define the theme to anchor your writing. Everything else hangs off this central pillar.