Constructing: Themes: Examples: JCLS

Introduction

When first considering this course for Jackson County Library Services,
we wondered whether it might fit into the Summer Reading theme: Imagine Your Story.
I generated crossword theme ideas & phrases "related to" this JCLS theme.
Which might fit in a 15 x 15 crossword? How to choose?
One combination -- on right (also logo for JCLS: Constructing Crosswords description).

Wouldn't IMAGINE YOUR STORY itself be great as an entry?
Yes, but at 16 characters (w/o spaces), it would require a larger (say, 17 x 17) grid;
even then, it couldn't be the central theme entry since it's even length.
We'll assume we want to avoid even-sized (16 x 16; non-standard) puzzles
and rebuses (2+ letters in a square; more difficult).
Of course, by changing "YOUR" or "OUR" (or HIS or HER) or "STORY" to "LIFE" or "TALE",
the phrase would be 15 letters, but then not the same name as JCLS's Summer Program.
Perhaps it could be used as a puzzle Title later,
if the other theme entries don't already include IMAGINE or STORY.

Many stories start with: ONCE UPON A TIME
Maybe a 'quotation theme' with other phrases from a very short story?
-- though quotations are notoriously difficult to segment
into matching theme pairs (with possibly odd-length center entry),
e.g., Once upon a time, there was a girl who liked books and lived happily ever after.
ONCEUPONATIME=13
THEREWASAGIRL=13
WHOLIKEDBOOKS=13
ANDLIVEDHAPPILYEVERAFTER=24 (doesn't match ONCEUPONATIME)
or
ANDLIVEDHAPPILY=15 (doesn't match if broken into shorter phrases either)
EVERAFTER=9
A different 'story' could work,
e.g., Once upon a time, they read books. They lived happily ever after.
ONCEUPONA=9
TIMETHEYREAD=12
BOOKSTHEY=9 (unmatched, odd-length center entry)
LIVEDHAPPILY=12 (matches TIMETHEYREAD)
EVERAFTER=9 (matches ONCEUPONA)
If this were a well-known quote/story, then it might
use clues like "Start of quote", "Quote, part 2", ... "End of quote"; plus author's name as final entry;
for an unfamous quote, the many partial phrases that would be awkward to clue.
Other 'short' stories, such as Six-Word Sci-Fi:
Imagine an Apocalypse With a Happy Ending: e.g., The Aliens Were Allergic To Cats
A Story About the Upside of Failure, e.g., The Radioactive Cockroach Hiccuped, and Grinned

ONCE UPON A TIME, plus phrases similar to "Imagine Your Story"?
SHAREONESSTORY=14 SPEAKYOURHEART=14 SPEAKONESTRUTH=14 TELLITLIKEITIS=14 SHARINGSTORIES=14 SPEAKTHETRUTH=13 OPENYOURHEART=13 REFLECTLISTEN=13 TALKANDLISTEN=13 TELLMEABOUTIT=13 TELLONESSTORY=13 SHAREYOURLIFE=13 SPEAKONESMIND=13 STORYTELLING=12 SPINSAYARN=10
...
Can we find 4 phrases with paired lengths -- or 3 phrases: 1 pair, plus 1 odd length phrase?
with no duplicate words, e.g., STORY, TALK, etc.?
Here's the list of theme entries I chose:
ONCE UPON A TIME=13 TALK AND LISTEN=13 TELL ONES STORY=13 SHARE YOUR LIFE=13
An alternate final phrase (to match ONCEIUPONATIME) suggested by one class:
INTO THE SUNSET=13
Optional: add LIBRARY=9 as an odd-length central entry? (see image)
Note: these are asymmetric in grammatical structure (maybe rejected if submitted for publication).
Still, we'll work with these further as an example in later sections.
Draft of possible clues (avoid re-using theme words):
"Common fairy tale start" [ONCEUPONATIME]
"Alternate use of mouth and ears" [TALKANDLISTEN]
"Dictate your memoir" [TELLONESSTORY]
"Open up about self-experiences" [SHAREYOURLIFE]