writingcommunity

According to psychologists there’s two main value systems for people: ethical systems and ideological systems.

When you approach a character, you may have some general idea of what they’re looking to do in the story. But what do they value? In this article I hope to dissect “letter of the law” vs. “spirit of the law” and basic value propositions. Hopefully this will help you formulate your own characters’ value propositions and how they can clash with people who have different values.

Let’s look at a few characters and their values:

1. Batman/Bruce Wayne – “It’s Wrong to Kill”

In terms of value systems, a reader can make an easy judgement on what someone values if they have a code that they stick to. This can be something blatantly said in the story, like Batman’s code to not kill, or something more subtle, like his aversion to using firearms. He values nonlethal force and actually looks down on those who use lethal force as taking the easy way out.

However, he’s obviously committing a crime by acting as a vigilante and assaulting people. So he clearly sees some crimes as true violations and others as not so true violations. This means he isn’t acting in the “letter of the law”, he’s got a more vague idea of right and wrong that he’s personally using as his metric for justice.

A good way to frame a value is to use an “it’s wrong…” sentence. In this case, Batman would say “it’s wrong to kill”, “it’s wrong to steal”, and “it’s wrong to hurt the innocent”. Notice the inclusion of “innocent” in the last one. It’s perfectly fine for Batman to hurt villains or criminals, but not those that don’t deserve it.

Let’s try another person…

2. Judge Dredd – “It’s Wrong to Violate the Law”

As far as “letter of the law” goes, it’s usually used by people to describe characters who stick to the law exactly as it’s written. There can be no bending the rules here. Judge Dredd is a perfect example.

So let’s say Judge Dredd’s value proposition is “it’s wrong to violate the law”. Now what’s permissible? Well essentially anything as long as you are operating within the law. Dredd can kill, maim, hurt, or detain anyone who violates the law within a set framework. Because his value system is aligned with the law he has the benefit of falling back on actual codified rules, there’s no vagaries here since the law stays the same.

He isn’t like Batman, who believes killing is wrong. He’s perfectly fine killing as long as it’s someone who has violated the law to such a degree to warrant it.

Let’s try another character. One not as nice, or human, as these others…

3. Lucifer (from Lucifer) – “It’s Wrong to Lie”

Lucifer is a show that was originally cancelled on a television network and picked up by Netflix. It’s based on the comic of the same name, though the show takes liberties with the story quite a bit.

Now Lucifer is supposed to be the character from the Bible, the serpent of old and the devil. He’s described here as an angel fallen from grace and cast out of Heaven. However, the show goes out of its way to explain that he isn’t “all bad”. He’s not a liar, despite being the father of lies. Lucifer will never outright lie, though he will kill, torture, hurt, or detain people.

His value proposition is therefore “it’s wrong to lie”. Simply because of his nature in the show, he’s leaned heavily on that specific value to show some worth to others. When another character shows up to impersonate him, when the character lies it reveals he isn’t the same person. This is a useful tool for a writer because it can show the tension or clash of values between two people. Someone like a spy would be willing to lie constantly to complete a mission. Lucifer, however, would be a terrible spy.

Conclusion

Values are important for a character. When working on your characters, consider what their main value judgment is. What do they think is wrong? For extra credit you can explore why they think it’s wrong. Story elements can put this value proposition to the test, similar to Misha Burnett’s Five Pillars idea.

My newest poetry book is now available!

If you like my work consider supporting me with a donation! http://www.paypal.me/FrankOrmond

You may also like some of my other work:

Make sure to follow me on Twitter and Instagram!

If the title of this article is confusing to you, I recommend an article by The Write Practice on the difference between “pantsers” and “plotters”. That being said, the genesis of today’s writing post is from my own research and revelation. I mentioned it briefly on Twitter.

I’ve been writing for some time. Back in Middle School (age 11-13) I had an idea for a children’s fantasy book I never finished. The story was partly allegorical and filled with dream logic. It was incredibly fantastical and even now when I revisit my ideas from back then I feel a sense of wonder from the words I wrote as a child.

In revisiting some of the work I wrote later, maybe during my early college years, I saw that same sense of wonder and earnestness towards writing. I regret that I seemingly lost that spark.

So what happened?

You’ve read the title. You should know by now.

The revelation struck me like a slap to the face. I should have known better.

I am, in my heart of hearts, a “pantser”. My stories flow better and characters grow better when I don’t have every detail meticulously planned out ahead of time. I have ideas, sure, and I even make a general outline, but when I let the characters tell me their story my writing works better.

Story advice tends to come from the “plotters” though, because “pantsers” can’t easily express what it is that they do. So in researching writing, I was taking advice that didn’t work for me. I was planning out every detail, every minutia, that would hamper my personal writing style.

There are three takeaways from this:

Check Your Old Writing – I mentioned this before in my post titled How to Tell If Your Writing Is Improving. It’s extremely important to read what you’ve written in the past and glean from those stories any changes between then and now. In my case, I realized my stories have become sterile and lacked heart.
Everyone is Different – Easy to say, I know, but there’s a truth here. I shouldn’t have been trying to force a square peg in a round hole. I’m a pantser, and should have written as one. Figure out your style of writing and do it the way that works best for you.
Take What Lessons You Can – Yes, I said that taking plotter advice was difficult for me, but it doesn’t mean it’s all a bad fit. The structure of stories, character changes, foreshadowing… these are all things I found useful to learn about. Find something that catches your eye and if it doesn’t work for you (see #2) then try something else.

Well, I hope that helps you with your writing. It helped me realize my difficulties so I hope to pass it on.

Remember to keep writing!

If you like my work consider supporting me with a donation! http://www.paypal.me/FrankOrmond

My recent poetry has been gaining some attention:

Poetry: Can you Fix It?

Poetry: The House I Used to Live In

You may like some of my other posts about writing:

Going from Outline to Manuscript

Revising Your First Draft Novel

Worldbuilding: Religion and Philosophy

Also check out my book reviews:

Book Review: The Children of Hurin by J. R. R. Tolkien