Screenwriting : Theme List by Maurice Vaughan

These are great!!

Thanks, Mark Deuce. What's a theme you've used in a script?

Be careful what you wish for

Great advice

Don’t forget the theme I see in about 75% of all movies…

You can’t always get what you want, but sometimes you get what you need.

“You are better than you think you are.”

I've seen that theme in movies, but I've never used it, Michael Bret Hood. I plan on it though.

That's a great theme, Mike Boas. I see it a lot too.

I gotta use that theme, Banafsheh Esmailzadeh!

Thanks, Montana Clayton. What's a theme you use?

Maurice Vaughan

Interesting and insightful.

Hi, Somay Gupta. What's one of the themes you use?

These are fantastic Maurice Vaughan. Here are some of mine:

1. Your past does not define you.

2. What happened to you was not your fault. It's what you do with it from here on out that matters.

3. Family is strength.

4. Even the hardest heart can be softened.

5. Weakness can be a strength.

6. Forgive. You might learn something from an enemy.

7. Trials are designed to be conquered, not feared.

8. Laugh. The child in you is who you really are.

9. Sometimes we win by losing.

Thanks, Leonardo Ramirez. Those are fantastic too! I gotta use them in scripts! And #5 might be the theme I need for a script I'm struggling to outline. Thanks.

Awesome Maurice Vaughan. Hope it helps!

Maurice Vaughan I was playing around with:

1. Not all bad guys think they're bad guys

2. Not all heroes have to be super

3. The good guy can sometimes be the bad guy

I like those themes, Gloria Salazar, especially 2! I could picture 2 being the theme for a story where a superhero loses his powers and has to find a way to be a hero in another way.

Maurice, I'm late to the game...but I'm still happy to pitch in about themes.

Here are some themes that keep showing up in the scripts I've written:

1. There's nothing wrong with empowerment. (Someone or something drove us to do what we do.)

2. We ARE fam-a-lee...whether it's a nuclear one or a found one.

3. We're out there trying to find our own voices and identities.

4. Speaking of voices...the O'Jays were right: "Music is the healing force of the world."

5. What's wrong with celebrating diversity and inclusion...especially here in the United States?

Great, great post...thanks so doggone much!

Hey, Jim Boston. You're welcome. I like those themes, especially 2 and 5! I just thought of a script idea for 5. Thanks for sharing the themes.

You're so very welcome, Maurice!

Maurice Vaughan and Leonardo Ramirez All brilliant themes and really high concept if you ask me. In fact, most are part of my life practice. Especially:

Maurice's:

– Let go of the past

– Respect one another

#8. Laugh. The child in you is who you really are.

#9. Sometimes we win by losing.

My WIP themes:

-- Make peace with your enemies.

-- Obstacles are opportunities to discover our super powers.

Thanks, Robin Gregory. I really like the themes for your WIPs! I can see both of them working for superhero stories and everyday people stories.

Maurice Vaughan Thank you kindly. That's what I'm after!

You're welcome, Robin Gregory. How's your projects coming along?

Maurice Vaughan Just buttoning up the last revision of my fantasy feature script with my fabulous mentor. I hope to send it out soon to my rep. Then, I want to get back to a draft of my next novel. How are your projects going?

I hope you sell your script and novel, Robin Gregory! I'm rewriting two feature scripts and writing a short script. They're taking more work than I thought, but that's ok. I'm also working on projects here and there.

Maurice Vaughan That second prompt was an old story idea I played around with a few years back. It’s about a homeless man named Greg Goplins who ends up rescuing a woman named Vanessa Finch from a gang of thugs that takes over her apartment building. Greg lives in the alley behind her place, and Vanessa often leaves fresh food on her fire escape for him. When things go south and the thugs move in, Greg defies them to climb the fire escape and save her.

Greg doesn't have superpowers or special abilities—just quick wit, the ability to blend in, and fast feet. The dynamic between them felt like it had potential, especially with Greg’s resourcefulness and the connection they've formed over time through small acts of kindness.

I put the idea aside a while ago but still think about it occasionally. If you’re interested, feel free to run with it or adapt it however you like.

I like that story idea, Gloria Salazar! Thanks, but I have a ton of ideas to write, and I wouldn't want to take yours. And I think you should turn the idea into a script. I think it'd be a great movie!

I don't usually give away ideas, Maurice Vaughan. However, all the time I have had that particular idea rolling around in my brain, it has never grown past the initial idea phase. I've tried to write it a few times, but it somehow eludes me. I find that after a few attempts, I inevitably begin a different story. It's almost like the story is a muse, something to ponder to produce other works.

Hope you can get past the idea phase, Gloria Salazar. And maybe collaborate with another writer on it. They might have ideas that could help you get past the idea phase.

Accepting yourself is one of the big themes I used in my first script. Kind of hits hard since it's about a mythological/shapeshifting fox trying to fit it in with his community when there's no one really else like him.

Hey, Joshua Goldman. That's a great theme, and that sounds like a great story! Did you pitch the script?

Yes, many times. Even got the got one of the producers of Teen Wolf interested, but he wanted to charge me 2,500 just to read it. It might be due to some contract he has but, it was definitely sad to hear. I pitch in the Writers Room and inkTip and I currently have the script listed on the Blacklist (will see where that goes). Hoping for the best! It's the first screenplay I've ever written and it's taken nearly six years to complete.

Maurice Vaughan Screenwriting is harder than it appears, right? It's like writing in shorthand and then translating it to a universal language. I'm impressed by your dedication to excellence, and appreciate your ongoing support.

Thanks, Robin Gregory. I appreciate your support too. You're right. Screenwriting is harder than it appears, but it's fun too! I've written short stories, skits, etc., but I've had the most fun writing scripts.

This is a great post, thanks for sharing your list!

I think I incorporated several of these into one script; I like layering multiple themes so there is something that reaches out and touches everyone, depending on what resonates.

You're welcome, Jody Solomon. Thanks. I do that too. Layer themes in a script. I focus on the main theme. And I figure out the themes in the outline, but sometimes I think of themes when I'm writing the script.