"Whoa, dude, that's deep." Unexpected themes popping up in your novel.

I had to start over on my novel, from scratch, due to a computer problem, so day 24, I had 0 words, and it was the best thing that ever happened to me; I am LOVING the new story, whereas, the old one would have been much more effective as a short story, and was dragging like you would not believe.

Anyway, as I was writing, I noticed that there were motifs and themes cropping up in my new story; gender roles were being explored, tradition and morality questioned, even a running theme about thoughts on what exactly is so "wrong" about nudity and how it represents humanity's divorce from nature. In short, things I had absolutely not expected happening in a novel I was trying to vomit out in under a week, and I am so excited for the editing phase, where I can articulate these points and bring them a little closer to the surface of the narrative.

Anyone else have random themes and such popping up that they hadn't expected at all?

Started writing about time travel, ended up writing about fate vs. free will, abortion, religion, bullying, and love. I can assure you, I wanted no allegories or themes at all, and even though my characters seem to be taking an anti-religious slant (they even claim that Joan of Arc's saintly visions were holograms from the future), the whole thing could be read as an allegory about the afterlife and making deals with the devil.
I should include a disclaimer: "Attention schoolkids reading this for class. Your teacher wants you to read this with themes and symbolism and stuff. Don’t. Just read it as a time travel adventure story and move on with your life."

My characters kept talking about society and changing the world... so I kept it and expanded on it and my story feels like there's something deeper behind it.

My story was supposed to be about three guys staying in Wales and having a bit of a comic time.

Instead it became a psychological thriller, with special emphasis on the effects of isolation from wider society, including paranoia, change of relationships and possible psychosis.

It's not such a funny story anymore.

One of my princess' brothers turned out to be abusing his family. I totally did not see that coming, but was able to address it in a way that it moved the plot forward.

Beyond that, there was a bigger theme of making time for family and what's most important in life than I first expected. It's totally awesome, of course, but I didn't see that coming.

My story was supposed to be about getting over grief, and then it was about trust, and then it was about finding yourself, and now it's about getting over grief again.... It's a roller coaster, but I think I've got it under control =)

I've had a few pop up, the deepest of which is "What is free choice?" It's become crucial to my conclusion, but otherwise pretty obtrusive. I wanted to write a sci-fantasy lark, not a deep philosophical essay.

I have, and I'm really excited about it! The two big themes that have emerged are self-sacrifice, and the corrupting influences of power. I'm also discovering lots of real world parallels that I hadn't planned on.

I meant to do a pretty straightforward good vs evil fantasy novel, but I ended up not coming close. My chief antagonist is sympathetic and sweet, if delusional and needy. His partners on the side of "evil" include two who are purely dedicated to doing the right thing, several powerless and basically nice characters, and one whose main fault is excessive logic.

My group of protagonists includes two murderers (one who does it out of pure jealousy), one double agent who betrays both sides, and one who switches allegiances whenever it suits her whims. I don't know whose side I'm on anymore, but it sure gives the reader a lot to think about, especially when I get into the motivations behind everyone's actions.

Men become Zombies. And then, it started becoming a commentary on sexism and morality.

Mine was always going to have 'deep' themes, but the themes in question have been mutating and transforming as they go, becoming something more coherent. With any luck, by the end, it will be an exploration of trust and manipulation (what's the difference between mind control and just lying to someone 'for their own good'?) with a side salad of the morality of killing enemies and the difference between execution and murder.

Family sort of ended up being a recurring theme in my story. A lot of my main characters' choices and intentions can be tied back to the relationships they have with their families. A sort of "friends as family" theme has come up a couple times too. So I guess the underlying message is that your life is shaped by the people you care about most.

How about an epic urban fantasy that morphs into a lighhearted fractured fairy tale? Now I've got all these dead bodies I have to do something with.

I thought it would be a commentary on society and the way the world is slowly condensing into just a few superpowers.
Instead, it's about how much people can be willing to forgive, and the power of forgiveness to change both the forgiven and the forgiving.

I wrote a light adventure novel. Somehow, a subplot involving abortion and PAS ended up in it. The two parts of the story kind of clash. :)

I was intending my MC's boyfriend to have angelic parents, but it turns out that his dad abuses both of them, and as a result, the mother is over emotional. My MC doesnt care as much as i thought she would when people die, but she gets over tese things fast. Also, the sweet blind old lady dies suddenly of a heart attack.

My novel ended up with racism as a main theme. Surprising in a post apocalyptic world, really, I suppose.

Mine suddenly took on themes I'm writing about for a paper right now, including retaining humanity in the face of horrible situations and accepting one's own mortality. Basically, that there are things worse than death, and that how you live your life is often more important than staying alive at any cost.

Mine has accidentally turned into a complete morality- trip about what's wrong with the youth of today, and why it isn't actually wrong at all.

Polyamory. I hate to say I didn't even know it was a word until a question I posted on a forum said what my characters were doing would be called polyamory.

But, it's so right for my story. So for now, I have three characters practicing polyamory.

All my characters had a ball over Thanksgiving pursuing all kinds of experiences that I didn't know were going to happen. I hope most of it survives the editing process.