I haven’t found any help so far about themes and how they can be used. Does anyone have examples of how to use them effectively? What are they best for? When not to use them? How to use them? I’d be interested in any and all answers to these questions as I admit to certain level of bafflement.
Thanks
I’d like to see some of these as well. There’s precious little documentation about it, and I don’t recall seeing this in any of the example projects.
I think that there has been so little activity here speaks to the general lack of clarity about this feature. Still hoping for some pointers! 
Digging around, it feels like this is more of an example of a custom kind of item that can be removed, modified, etc. The sample for Orient Express, for instance, has a “Clues” category type, so maybe it’s just a “use as you wish” kind of type.
Where can i find the Orient express example? I’ve poked around and can’t find it. It would be useful to look at it because of what you’ve said.
Thanks
I had Aeon open all the time I was looking. So had to close it down and re-open to get it. Knew I’d seen it but couldn’t think where.
Thanks for that!
Yep. That’s what it is. Another customizable item you can choose to use / show or not. More and more possibilities to segment / identify information I suppose. And there was me thinking that just having a timeline of events would be sufficient 
Yes, Themes is another entity type that is customisable, so you don’t have to use it. We have had a few questions about it, so we are planning to add some documentation that describes some of the aspects of our templates (such as Themes) in more detail, so people have an idea on how they can be used.
But like most parts of a template, you can remove them/not use them if not applicable to you.
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There doesn’t appear to have been an explicit purpose for the Theme item, but from narrative design in general, that would be what Robert McKee calls the story’s controlling idea. From my notes, theme (controlling idea) is …
a single sentence expressing “the core meaning of the story.” It describes “how and why life undergoes change from one condition of existence at the beginning to another at the end.” Controlling idea “has two components: Value plus Cause. It identifies the positive or negative charge of the story’s critical value at the last act’s climax, and it identifies the chief reason that this value has changed to its final state.”
Value – “the primary value in its positive or negative charge that comes into the world or life of your character as a result of the final action of the story.”
Cause – “the primary reason that the life or world of the protagonist has turned to its positive or negative value. Working back from the ending to the beginning, we trace the chief cause deep within the character, society, or environment that has brought this value into existence. A complex story may contain many forces for change, but generally one cause dominates the others.”
Examples
- Dirty Harry: “Justice triumphs because the protagonist is more violent than the criminals.”
- Columbo: “Justice is restored because the protagonist is more clever than the criminal.”
- In the Heat of the Night: “Justice is restored because a perceptive black outsider sees the truth of white perversion.”
- Groundhog Day: “Happiness fills our lives when we learn to love unconditionally.”
- Missing: "Tyranny prevails because it’s supported by a corrupt CIA.”
- Dangerous Liaisons: “Hatred destroys us when we fear the opposite sex.”
Objective
Use the controlling idea as a relevance filter to determine what to include and omit from your story.
Method: How to apply the controlling idea
“Looking at your ending, ask: As a result of this climactic action, what value, positively or negatively charged, is brought into the world of my protagonist? Next, tracing backward from this climax, digging to the bedrock, ask: What is the chief cause, force, or means by which this value is brought into his world?”
In Aeon Timeline
I don’t yet see a meaninful way to use the AT Theme data item, but I’m still learning my way around the app. I would see something like a tag being more useful, for noting which scenes or events closely relate to the global story’s theme.
References
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