---
creative_pillar: themes
always_load_for: [discuss, plan, draft, editor-review]
authority: project
---

# Themes

*The thematic threads this work explores. Each theme has a position (the writer's stance), a set of scenes where it surfaces, and a craft strategy for handling it.*

---

## {{THEME_NAME}}

**The question:** {{QUESTION}}
**The writer's position:** {{POSITION}} (or "deliberately unresolved")
**How it surfaces:** {{HOW}} (dialogue, action, imagery, structure, contrast)
**Scenes where it appears:** {{SCENE_LIST}}
**Craft strategy:** {{STRATEGY}} (show without telling, contrast through character, embedded in setting, etc.)
**Risks:** {{RISKS}} (preachiness, obviousness, loss of subtlety)

---

## Subject dynamics

Use this section when the work does not depend on named characters, or when a unit is driven more by an idea, subject, procedure, place, object, doctrine, argument, reader problem, or image pattern than by cast dynamics.

### {{SUBJECT_NAME}}

**Subject type:** {{SUBJECT_TYPE}} (idea, claim, process, procedure, place, object, doctrine, image pattern, reader problem)
**Reader starts here:** {{READER_START}}
**Reader should move toward:** {{READER_SHIFT}}
**Pressure or friction:** {{SUBJECT_PRESSURE}} (misconception, counterclaim, risk, constraint, ambiguity, failure mode)
**Interaction pattern:** {{INTERACTION_PATTERN}} (claim vs. counterclaim, rule vs. exception, step vs. failure mode, image vs. meaning, doctrine vs. practice)
**How it should surface:** {{SURFACE_STRATEGY}} (structure, example, evidence, image, rhythm, demonstration, contrast)
**Watchpoints:** {{SUBJECT_WATCHPOINTS}}