Theme: do you start with theme, or find it after you first plot?

[vcassel]

Wes Anderson on themes.

"If somebody asks me about the themes of something I’m working on, I never have any idea what the themes are…. Somebody tells me the themes later. I sort of try to avoid developing themes. I want to just keep it a little bit more abstract. But then, what ends up happening is, they say, “Well, I see a lot here that you did before, and it’s connected to this other movie you did,” and…that almost seems like something I don’t quite choose. It chooses me."

But then, as screenwriting always proves, it takes all kinds and there's no final word.

 

[PopcornFlix]

Curious as to which writers here start with theme, then plot; or plot first, then discover theme along the way and then refine the story based on the combo of plot and [discovered] theme? And why do you write one way over the other (theme first, or plot first)?

I write either way. Starting with theme is great for developing a tight script quickly. Knowing the theme allows you to avoid blind alleys of development.

Developing themes later can be more fun, because you can write sloppy and just wander around in your script and clean it up later.