: Re: How to deal with moral/legal subjects in writing? More specifically, how can one write a novel that examines or even argues against cultural moral values and laws without... dealing with legal

@Sarah872

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Anything that goes against the status quo is going to piss people off.

If you want to argue against the status quo, you're kind of going to have to accept that some people are going to get mad at you.

Don't break laws by what you write, unless you are doing so as a form of civil protest - in which case you need to be prepared for the possible legal results.

If all you want to do is to make people reconsider the status quo, write your story within the status quo.

To take your speed limit argument. Have your character intentionally break the law. Show the current consequences for breaking that law, and have your character (or the character's lawyer) discuss the arguments for weakening or eliminating the laws - or present arguments for why the law shouldn't have ever been there. You can't just write bullet list of arguments. You'll have to make it look natural - the character has to explain to the lawyer why he broke the law, and has to convince the lawyer that he's got a good argument. Once he's convinced the lawyer, you can have the lawyer convince the jury.

There's got to be a bazillion ways to do it without yourself saying or writing anything illegal. Immoral isn't a problem - you are arguing the morality, so don't let that bother you.

Alternatively, create a place (or time) in which that law doesn't exist. Show that civilisation doesn't collapse (and millions of people don't die) because there's no speed limit. Have a character visit that place, and contrast it with the known places where the law exists. This character doesn't have to be opposed to the law. This character could be someone who is completely convinced that the law is needed, and has to face a society in which it turns out that the law is really not needed.

This was (for me) one of the things which formed my opinions on homosexuality. I cannot begin to tell you how many novels I've read where the sexual orientation of the characters is mentioned in passing. Other than that mention, the stories get on with doing something else. It forms an image of homosexuality as normal and mundane - and the societies in which this happens and is accepted just keep on trucking and don't collapse because a couple of guys get it on. It's a kind of subversive "argue by not arguing" kind of thing. Assume your argument correct, and present a totally normal society in which your argument is taken for granted.

It boggles the mind that people are advising against moral arguments and the exploration of society and norms in a novel. With out that kind of thing, you might as well not bother to write. If there's no moral dilemma to consider or argue with, then you might as well write screenplays for the Teletubbies.

Adding a moral consideration or problem to a story won't necessarily make it a good story, but if there's none in the story then the story is automatically less good than it might have been.

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