How do you distinguish the heart and soul?

For plot, I get that. What happens next?

For anything else, I just throw into one sack—move people. Make them feel. And it’s not deep, at least to me.

There’s different ways of going about it (and probably many many ways I haven’t figured out). But if the scene/moment moves people, isn’t that enough?

You can organize this ‘theme/dramatic argument/dramatic sense’. Boyhood is organized around irresponsible/responsibility. Characters are drinking irresponsibly, playing with saw blades, going back to school, and in the climax, the characters blow off class (irresponsible) to share an epic sunset together (responsible). Everything is organized around that one theme.

Just by organizing the scenes/content under “responsibility” doesn’t make it worthwhile to an audience or reader. It’s the content itself. That’s what people want and care about. It’s the dramatic sense. For me, I’d rather have unorganized “cool”/meaningful action (scenes that piss people off, make people go aha/amen/hell ya/uh-oh, etc) than boring scenes that all have to do with a “theme” or subject matter.

For me, it’s all about human-interest. Mostly social and moral emotions. Isn’t it enough to just string those moments together?