On interweaving a universal theme into writing: All living things share the need to feed, create waste, and reproduce; a body and identity are evolved around these needs.

When I write a theme, I sometimes imagine I’m an alien species, able to read translated English. Would my theme transcribe to iterations of those universal needs for identity and survival? I do this to look beyond flourishes and aesthetics, to strip my story down to its starkest, most relevant core.