An effective screenplay story tracks the emotional journey that a character takes while pursuing an outer quest of a specific nature. 

Character motives generate story events, which when confronted with resistance from an antagonist originates plot. Plot grows from the sequence of external events perpetrated by the protagonist toward a specific goal when it continues to be challenged by an antagonistic force that urges the protagonist to reconsider the quest.

Plot is the vehicle for theme.  A theme is the glue that holds all of the events together -- the principle by which all things are related to each other.  Theme is the unifying force.  Theme is what the plot events stand for -- what they communicate.

The protagonist gives the character and story a thematic starting point when s/he refuses the call to adventure.  His/her decisions that challenge the emotional dilemmas caused by this ongoing inner conflict engage the audience.  Will s/he succeed?

Plot and theme have this symbiotic relationship.  They can’t be separated, but they are different.  They illuminate different parts of the same experience. 

The THEME tells us what the protagonist needs and yearns for as the result of some past experience, or ghost, that throws some value out of balance in his/her psyche -- the Theme goal. 

The PLOT shows us what s/he will do to achieve what s/he needs -- the Plot goal.

The elements that bring about an intertwining of plot and theme are as follows: main character GHOST (back-story trauma) brings about EMOTIONAL ARMOR.

This emotional armor manifests as REACTIVE BEHAVIOR and puts a certain VALUE OUT OF BALANCE, which bubbles up as NEED.

Emotional need in the main character generates a CONSCIOUS DESIRE for something to be, do, or have.

This conscious desire, in conflict with one’s emotional armor, attracts an EMOTIONALLY-CHALLENGING DILEMMA that requires an EMOTIONALLY CHALLENGING DECISION.

Making an emotionally challenging decision that leads to ACTION toward a specific QUEST, the protagonist enters a TRANSFORMATIONAL ARENA that stirs resistance from the ANTAGONIST, a character who opposes that quest.

This opposition culminates in CRITICAL SITUATION.  

To solve the critical situation, the protagonist must shift the LIMITING BELIEF that brought about the need in the first place.   

A balanced value reveals THEME.

Here is a review of each of the Protagonist’s elements:

• GHOST –
• EMOTIONAL ARMOR –
• REACTIVE BEHAVIOR -
• VALUE OUT OF BALANCE –
• NEED –
• CONSCIOUS DESIRE –
• EMOTIONALLY CHALLENGING DILEMMA -
• EMOTIONALLY-CHALLENGING DECISION –
• ACTION –
• QUEST –
• TRANSFORMATIONAL ARENA -
• ANTAGONIST –
• PLOT -
• CRITICAL SITUATION –
• LIMITING BELIEF THAT SHIFTS –
• THEME –

It is critical that you understand and internalize these dual but connected goals of Theme and Plot.  Work simultaneously with both -- the inner forces and needs that drive the protagonist and his/her visible goal and visible behavior.

In any screenplay of significance, both needs and opposed goals must be present and must create the continuity of the story.  A theme without a plot is not a story.  A plot without a theme is an empty series of events that may distract but not engage the reader/viewer.

The theme becomes known when the story arrives somewhere -- when the protagonist changes; when there is a solution to an articulated problem; when a situation changes; when there is a sense of completion, or unity. 

In any case, it’s the CLIMAX of your story that reveals your theme.   You give the protagonist a goal (Act one) and involve him/her in a struggle to learn skills and overcome obstacles to achieve that goal (Act two).  Then, by vicariously experiencing the protagonist’s struggle, his/her change/growth, and climactic choice (Act three), the reader/viewer comes to know and understand what you are saying, what you value.  Your climax articulates your theme. 

There are two important principles in communicating themes in your story: the presence of passion, and the absence of announcement.  Show us the passion you feel about your subject in your writing.  It is through your passion that you separate the Emotionally-Challenging Decisions – decisions that challenge the Protagonist’s emotional armor - from the ordinary "so-so" decisions -- and thus we discover your theme. 

I also suggest that you avoid "announcing" your theme.  It is your function as a story-teller and dramatic screenplay writer to seduce, to influence, to affect, to gain understanding and acceptance of your themes through vicarious and emotional experiences.  You must create a journey that elicits feelings and personal insights in the viewer. 

The reader/viewer can discuss the meaning of your story after experiencing your screenplay, but you as a writer are more successful with your theme if you allow the story to imply it. In your story every scene should move toward one idea; every moment should have a unifying idea; each beat should express the theme.