I grew-up in a completely non-religious family
Needless to say, I didn’t have a lot of role models in my life to look up to as a young person.
What I did have was literature, comic books, television, and movies. Many of the morals, values, and social behaviors traditionally taught by institutions and parents, I learned from stories. I stood-up to bullies. I tried not to lie, cheat, or steal. I did my best to be a kind and good person because that’s how the heroes I read about behaved.
Frodo Baggins sacrificed his own comfort and safety for the benefit of others.
Luke Skywalker resisted the darkness within himself and his bloodline.
When the insanely attractive high school student Audrey Horne threw herself at FBI agent Dale Cooper, he turned down her sexual advances because it was the moral thing to do.
This is why stories matter.
This is why fiction is infinitely more than “just entertainment.”
As a writer, you aren’t taking people away from their real lives; you’re showing them how to live a good life.
In his article, “Art and Polarity“, editor and writer Shawn Coyne is spot on when he argues,
“If you want to create art, you need to make judgments about human behavior and take a side. (…) You must choose a position in this world on innumerable moral questions and stand by your judgments.”
The world can be a dark place and these are challenging times. Terrible things happen every day, and horrible people do despicable things on a regular basis. Faced with this unrelenting negativity, it is easy to despair. By writing about heroic characters who make moral decisions and persevere in the face of the worst of challenges and the most difficult of obstacles, we are teaching our readers how to live their lives in the face of that darkness.
Not everyone grows up with parents, teachers, or religious leaders showing them the way. And not every adult goes about their day with a clear framework for how to tackle life’s challenges. Not everyone turns to a motto like “What would Jesus do?” for guidance and direction; some of us just have Luke Skywalker.
By telling stories, making films, and writing novels, you’re lighting a torch in the darkness and showing readers a path through the night. Regardless of whether your write pulpy ebooks, screenplays for hundred-million-dollar blockbuster films, or dense historical novels, as a writer you are a teacher of humanity.
Make it dark, make it funny, make it entertaining, by all means, but never forget the moral role you play. It’s a scary and confusing world. Somewhere out there is a reader who needs your guidance.
So tell them a story.
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