https://steemit.com/story/@miquielbanks/why-the-moral-premise-is-the-greatest-story-tool-ever
I've found the best way to explain writing is to go somewhere else and allow the power of metaphor to cross-pollinate the brains of my readers.
So today's brain twister is based on the power of POV and starts with a simple question.
Do UFOs exist?
I was recently attacked by a friend who wanted to know what I learned about Writing. Then, she wanted to know, should I learn Story FIRST or should I just jump into Video Projects?
I informed her that Story is not limited to what most people think of Story.
Story is the backbone structure of all projects.
And I'll say it again.
ALL PROJECTS!
Got a powerpoint on Big Data or DevOps and you wanna live in the numbers and live in the fiscal year's break room?
Wrong Answer.
With numbers, more than other fields, the need for Story is not required or necessary, but organic to understanding.
Yes, the developers and IT people understand the numbers, but how does that help the other employees?
Remember this, the process of Story is the same as Alchemy - how do you turn "THIS" into "THAT?"
So back to my friend.
I asked her a simple question.
When minorities ask the government if UFOs exist and they say they do not, is this a conspiracy?
She responded quickly, "Hell yes!"
I paused, breathed deeply and looked into her wheat-brown eyes and told her the truth.
"Sorry, but the government isn't lying."
After two hours on the soapbox about the MAAFA, HAARP, chemtrails, Plasma and sinkholes, the Ohio Mound Builders, The Tuskegee Airmen, Stem Research, Dr. John Moore Journals, Delbert Blair's Moon Theory, and Dr. Sebi's ideas on Melanin, she came back to reality and eyed me, "why are you being difficult?"
So what's the disconnect here?
Is it the writer?
The reader?
The audience?
Sadly, we have to announce the sole blame goes to a set of eyes, not a person.
Who is the original author?
Who is the editor?
Who is the proofer?
Between these three job skills, a single pair of eyes must ensure the POV is in control and does not buckle under the weight of being more dramatic or beefing up the story or adding more subplots.
I show my friend the whiteboard.
This is what you see.
This is what the government sees.
And this is the truth.
She gazes at the whiteboard and takes several sighs.
She rustles in her chair, the faint scent of coconut oil coming from her potpourri skin as she smiles.
She leans forward, I still don’t get it.
Then, I show her the complete chart and she screams - I got it, I got it, I GOT IT!
There are many problems with my friend.
She jumped straight into the scene with no context or backstory.
Other people call this PREJUDICE.
She brought her personal baggage into the scene and now we have multiple plotlines happening at once, confusing the viewer.
Other people call this DRAMA.
So I calm her down and tell her the TRUTH.
The government isn't lying to the minority and this isn't a conspiracy or a cover-up.
This is an instance of understanding POV, and like most writers, my friend is CLUELESS on this subject.
Now I'm going to ask you, does this happen to you in your writing?
Do you have story problems that cannot and/or refuse to be solved?
Have you spent days working on a subplot and just can't find where it fits?
The easy answer is call me - LMAO!
The not-so-easy answer is get creative and cram the circle inside the square hole.
The band-aid answer would be to drop everything and spend the next year understanding the POV. But the problem with POV is that you can't fully understand it without first mastering the Moral Premise.
The best answer is to find an appropriate professional Story Consultant to diagram out your POV so you can "SEE" your story, not dream about what it looks like.
Or you can wait until A.I. begins book doctoring and story consulting.
You're welcome to try, but for your sanity, keep it simple.
Go hit the books and take long walks and live with the Moral Premise for a few months.
And when you're called to take your Hero's Journey, go celebrate and embrace the power of POV.
Remember, successful stories aren't written better, they are "framed" better.
