Say Good-Bye To Writer's Block REPRINTED

Dan Bronzite is the editor of ScriptTips Ezine, and CEO of Movie Outline Software. Recently Dan asked if he could reprint an article I wrote a while back on the relationship between writer's block and the moral premise. I said yes, and as the article was released this past week. The link to the article (Say Good-Bye to Writer's Block) is here: http://www.movieoutline.com/articles/writer_block.html

Dan wrote again and said:

Thanks again for allowing us to republish your article which will feature in this month’s ezine. ...I read your article again and I have to say.. it really is great.  I think even your article has the “Moral Premise” because it is not just flimsy, superficial advice, it really gets to the heart of the issue.

He offered to give me another spot in a later issue, that I'll take him up on.

So, I read my own article again; it does a good job of summarizing the importance of following a true moral premise in anyone's life-story, and I was reminded of something, that Dara Marks in Inside Story writes about. Too often we embrace a "position" or "policy" that is more about not offending someone's contrary views, than it is about embracing what is true. We falsely believe that one value is as good as another. But all story tellers knows that's nuts.

There are many issues facing the political scene today that are more about tolerating things that are false or even evil, just so we don't offend another person's beliefs or values. The problem with that is that the other person's beliefs or values may actually be harmful to themselves and others.  The Catholic Church is often lambasted for objecting to various lifestyles and behaviors; the criticism is that the Church is not tolerant. As if tolerance of things that are contrary to natural law, what is true, or what is evil is somehow a virtue. "Tolerance of evil" is a false theme. It will not only destroy you but your story as well.

So, our telling of stories that connect with wide general audiences need to be about things that are true. Pursue what is good, true, and beautiful. And not everything open to a character these days fits into those categories.