Go On Your Own Quest — Week 7: Theme

“The Quest” has entered Week 7! And so did Go On Your Own Quest, an opportunity for anyone to follow the structure of “The Quest” to dig into screenwriting theory [Core — 8 weeks], figure out your story [Prep — 6 weeks], and write a first draft [Pages — 10 weeks]. It’s a 24-week immersion in the screenwriting process and you can do it here — for free!

This week, we are reflecting on the subject of Theme, mirroring the content the Questers are engaged with in Core VII: Theme. They are working through six lectures I have written building off the 7th Essential Screenwriting Principle: Theme = Meaning.

For those of you who plan to Go On Your Own Quest, we began our week-long discussion on scene Monday with this question: How would you define ‘theme’? You can read the discussion here. Yesterday’s question: Do you start with theme or with plot, then see how the them emerges? That discussion here. Today’s question:

* Why is it important for a writer to work with themes in a screenplay?

This week, you can do some serious reflection about the nature and importance of theme. If members of the GITS community really engage in a wide-ranging conversation about the subject, there’s no telling what insight each individual can gain, perhaps even a critical key to unlocking your understanding of the subject.

I strongly encourage you to Go On Your Own Quest. First off, you can’t sell a script unless you write it. Second, you can’t get better as a writer unless you write. Third, if you don’t write that script now, when are you going to write it?

So consider this your very own Call To Adventure. Will you heed the call?

I will be teaching the 1-week online writing course Core VII: Theme beginning October 22.

For background on “Go Into The Story: The Quest,” go here and here.

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