Moving down to the Variation level, we find story points that further refine the story's problem as seen from each throughline. We call each of these an Issue. The Issue describes the subject matter explored in context of the Concerns in a given Throughline. In a sense, think of the Issue as the thematic topic for each throughline.

Overall Story Issue

This story point describes the kind of value judgments that apply to all the characters and events in a story. For example, an Issue of Morality will have a dynamic counterpoint of Self-Interest. This means the thematic conflict in the Overall Story Throughline would be Morality vs. Self-Interest. Because Morality is the Issue, it would be in the forefront and appear as the topic or subject matter of the Overall Story Throughline's Theme.

Because Morality is the Overall Story Issue, it will appear almost everywhere. In a hypothetical story, we might see a man taking candy from a baby, a headline proclaiming that a company's profits are up, while behind the newsstand we see the company dumping toxic waste in the background. Illustrations of the Overall Story Issue can focus on the characters or can act as a flavoring for the story as a whole. We shall explore this in greater detail in the Encoding section.

NOTE: The Overall Story Issue is the closest touch point with the traditional use of the term, "theme."

Main Character Issue

The Main Character Issue (and its counterpoint) represents the thematic conflict of personal interest to the Main Character. You see it in the kinds of things this character notices that no one else does. Because it is a personal value judgment, the author can use this appreciation to whisper his point of view, rather than shouting it overtly, as might happen with the Overall Story Issue. Because it is so personal, the Main Character Issue helps bring humanity to the Main Character. It is through the issues explored through the Issue the audience can identify not only with the Main Character's head but his heart as well.

Impact Character Issue

The Impact Character Issue provides a way of evaluating the appropriateness of the Impact Character's impact. The Impact Character Issue and Counterpoint act as a balance or scale to measure the results of the Impact Character's point of view. This is where an author can tip the balance to favor one point of view over another. Later we shall explore how to tip that balance back and forth over the course of the story, making a more realistic and less heavy-handed statement of the author's bias.

Subjective Story Issue

The Subjective Story Concern describes the area of shared concern for the Main and Impact Characters. The Subjective Story Issue and Counterpoint describe why they conflict over it. The Main Character will believe the Subjective Story Issue (or counterpoint) is the value standard to use when looking at the Subjective Story Concern. As a result, The Main Character will see the Concern in a particular light. In contrast, the Impact Character will believe the other Variation (Issue or counterpoint) is the proper way to evaluate the Concern. Since this standard of measure results in different conclusions about the Concern, the Main and Impact Characters come into conflict. They use these two points as they argue over two issues: What to do about the Concern, and which is the best way to look at it?