by Elizabeth M Young

Created on: October 01, 2010

A person who avoids discussion and thought on the topic of crime, sex, foul language or other violations of moral standards is not going to be that good at writing to topics where the characters are studies in moral issues. Since most good fiction gets its power by confronting and presenting tough and challenging moral issues, it makes little sense to write about realistic relationships, characters and lives without overcoming moral inhibitions.

But, sometimes, the idea of writing a graphic sex scene presents an overwhelming challenge to a writer. This is not such a difficult issue because, even though graphic sex scenes sell books, books without graphic sex scenes also do well. If an editor or publisher demands that the scene be written, then the moral issue becomes one of either keeping the publisher happy or of finding another publishing option.

Another moral issue concerns characters who are based on real people, their favorite and original sayings and on facts about their lives. Many a family member, mate, co-worker, boss or friend has been affected when they find that they are a significant character in a popular book, article or story. Journalists are confronted by the morality of whether to cover for their own friends or family by leaving them out of their investigative or news articles.

When covering a person, investigating a story or presenting information, another moral issue becomes: how far should we go to get and to present information on an individual? Journalists are far more easily exposed these days as they may trespass, use extortionate tactics, stalk, invade privacy and even break the law in order to get information. The average person has very severe moral restrictions against doing some of the behaviors that work for hard core journalists or investigators.

To get over these limitations with an end goal in mind, there is journalistic training that teaches the proper techniques while also teaching the ethical and legal boundaries for such activity. A writing course will help with ways to "sanitize" or change the facts so that they do not clearly expose the identity of a particular individual. Still, many writers write with exact clarity and add a disclaimer that a real person is not being described, but readers who know the individual still make the connections.

No writer should feel compelled to write outside of their moral comfort level or to throw away their moral compass in order to satisfy an audience or to be successful. But if describing gritty reality is the goal, then gritty immorality needs to be as well expressed and understood as are the gritty moral values that are being violated.

In summary, many actors and performers manage to have stellar careers without completely losing their moral compass, but the best ones learn to get comfortable with some elements of a performance or character portrayal that they would never do in real life. The same goes for writers who want to expand their creative boundaries.  Each journey is an individual journey of self discovery, of expanding the creative limits and of maintaining a personal moral compass that serves as a decision making guide. 

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