Two months ago, I swore I wouldn’t buy any more books dealing with the
craft of writing fiction. But after reading this and this post on the moral
premise, my interest was piqued regarding the book The Moral Premise: Harnessing
Virtue & Vice for Box Office Success by Stanley D. Williams.
Did I buy the book right away? Nope. Didn’t need to. The moral premise
for my WIP came easily to me, thanks to the blog posts. It wasn’t until I
started to figure out my next story that I became stuck. My moral premise was
lame. Actually, it went beyond lame. It sucked.
So, I ordered the book and I’m glad I did.
The book goes into what the moral premise really means and why it can
benefit your story. As Dr. Williams points out, theme only plays part of it. For
example, the moral premise for the James Bond movies would be: The pursuit of power leads to death and
defeat; while the pursuit of justice leads to life and success (taken from
the book).
The Moral Premise brilliantly
explains how to create yours based on vice and virtue, how to use it to create
your characters, and how to apply it to your plot and story structure. It gives
you a framework for building a strong story that won’t let you and your readers
down.
If you want to write a story that will resonate with your readers, I
highly recommend the book. It’s both insightful and enjoyable. In all honestly,
I couldn’t put the book down (though I did skim through a few of the early
chapters). And the best part of all, there are plenty of examples from movies
to demonstrate the author’s points. Movies we’re all familiar with.
What is the last writing craft book you’ve read? Do you usually figure out your theme before writing your story?
40 comments:
No, I don't usually figure it out beforehand. Even after that exercise I shared on my blog a couple weeks back, when I identified themes that resonate with me and saw threads of them in my WIP, I still can't say that I understood my theme until I wrote the final chapters.
Only when I saw exactly where my characters were at the end did I realize where they had been going all along. (Morally, that is. I always knew where they would end up physically. The ending was planned.)
Now in my second draft, I can go ahead and weave the theme in better all along.
Well I can see how this book helped your story (it shines)!!!
But, um, Stina, your addiction to craft books is showing. *ahem*
You will need written permission before you buy another one! *wink*
I'm not that big on craft books. I think the last one I read was Save the Cat, which I found to be useful, but not as exciting as so many of my writers friends did.
Thanks for sharing about this. I need to read some craft books again. I have read a few books on marketing and realize I enjoy reading nonfiction books about writing. Next, I have to get back to those craft books.
Haven't read a craft on in a while, but yeah you are an addict haha
It's time for me to read another craft book, so thanks for the recommendation!
You always find the best books on the writing craft. I'll definitely add this one to the list on my blog.
I don't usually determine Theme prior to writing, but it usually comes to me early on, while writing the first few chapters or developing plot points more intimately.
I've never consciously considered the moral premise before writing--but I can see how it would be helpful. I'll add this to my list of craft books. Thanks!
Hi, Stina,
Thanks for sharing your view on this book and other craft books (Still waiting patiently for the book I won on social networking.)
This one sound intriguing. I never had issues before, but I do need to read books on writing.
Great book to know about. I wouldn't have guess from the cover it was a craft book. Thanks.
I'm not sure I do have a firm definition of the theme, per se. But I know what growth I want the main character to make.
Usually I have a clear idea of the issues I want to address, just now exactly how they will be addressed as I sit down to write.
This sounds interesting. My themes and such grow organically from the story, usually. It's something I focus on in revisions.
I tried to read Save the Cat but couldn't get involved in it.
I usually do have a vision of the ideas I want to play a big part in my books. And when I saw the cover of the book, I thought it was a movie poster :)
This sounds great, Stina! Thank you for sharing. You know me I am a die hard Save the Cat fan so yup, I def always find my theme before I start writing the novel.
I don't figure it out before hand, but then I'm a pantster so I generally don't know much before I start. It becomes fairly obvious during the writing though.
I didn't do this when I first started writing, but after about the third novel I wrote, I started making sure I had "a theme" before I began. Usually my theme becomes better defined as I write, and the theme helps pull the plot tighter. Sounds like a great book, for sure.
I read The Moral Premise a couple of years ago and thought it had some great ideas. I love the virtue/vice pairings. They add energy to deepen the conflict as well.
Last craft book I read was Save the Cat, and it was also brilliant. I'm a craft book junkie too - fully admit it!
The theme usually emerges and refines itself as I'm in the middle of writing.
So borrowing this one from you! :)
books about writing are tempting. but after reading contradictory advice and too many books about writing I've realized I need to be writing, not analyzing writing.
So, my new obsession after giving up reading books about craft - reading blogs.
I bookmarked this. I hope to get the Kindle edition so that I learn more about moral premise.
sounds like they expanded and highlighted the charater chapter from bird by bird. characters are the heart of the book, they need to feel real! thanks for the rec!
Gosh, the last book I read was Stephen King's On Writing. Right now, I'm currently writing a historical-- so all my reads are about this specific time frame, spanning 100 years. But I do have the theme planned out, as well as an outline, a family tree, and a timeline. This panster has turned into a plotter!
Looks like another I'll be looking into, thanks!! I usually have the same sort of theme run through my books: good can overcome evil, though each book is different, of course, in their own way. Hope that doesn't sound like I'm writing the same book. I try to explore different aspects of such.
The "Moral Premise" I'll use when I explain to my wife why I must have this book will be my path to self-realization. It may be a crock...but at least I'll get the book! :)
Thank you so much for posting this. I'll need to check it out.
Great blog!
Crap, now I have to go and get the book. Because my reading pile isn't already toppling! But this sounds really good!
Thanks so much for sharing, Stina!
Never been fond of craft books, even though I probably should read more of them! The last one I read/used was Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell. There were a few helpful tidbits in it. But I was pleased to realize most of what he was telling you to do I'd already done instinctively.
In college, I had a professor who insisted theme was something readers or critics imposed on a book after it was published, that the author didn't deliberately write to the theme. Not sure I agree with that!
That sounds like a very helpful book - I'll have to check it out. I still choose The Novel Writing Workbook as my all-time favorite writing book - pretty soon I'll have read it so many times I'll have it memorized.
this book sounds helpful. I will check it out. Thanks.
Interesting. I hadn't thought about the moral premise of my book. I'm sure it has one, though, lol! I've never been good at actually pinpointing things like this. Thanks for the recommendation, Stina!
The book sounds really interesting. I think my themes come to light as I'm brainstorming, and get tweaked as I write, but I don't have one right from the start.
I haven't read a writing book in AGES (basically since I discovered all the great writing blogs) (well except for the Fire in Fiction). I am thinking I am overdue to read another one, and this one might be it.
I have a stack of craft books...that I started. I love reading fiction in my genre and other genres so much more than craft books. Hopefully, I am learning as I'm reading them. I know it sounds awful that I'm not good at completing craft books. I did read them when I first began writing...
It's the story first and hopefully there's a moral lesson which comes out naturally. Don't like being hit with a moralistic sledgehammer! This does sound like a good book to read!
Yes, I usually do figure it out before writing. I didn't always. I so love craft books. My most recent favorite is Story Engineering.
The cover is very misleading because it certainly doesn't look like a craft book! Ha! I thought it was a suspense/thriller when I looked at the cover.
The book sounds interesting though!
The last book I read on the craft of writing was John Gardner's On Becoming A Novelist, and I can't recommend that highly enough.
Something like this is very helpful. It's so difficult to formulate a compelling moral premise that feels genuine.
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