"The Moral Premise" (TMP) claims that a story, to be interesting and appealing to readers, needs a clear moral premise. Not a sermon, but as the "psychological DNA" of all characters and actions. Example : unselfishness begets friends and help, selfishness begets enemies and abandonment. Hero acts according to the positive side of the principle, even if it initially is unpopular and/or unsuccesful (think George Baily in "It's A Wonderful Life"); villain acts according to "the dark side". Who "wins" is up to the author and whatever point s/he wishes to make - in "Romeo And Juliet", the young lovers lose, harshly making the point spoken by the Prince of Verona at the end : if you keep clinging to old hatred, it will keep causing new and tragic deaths, and we are all punished by the tragedies that follow.
TMP warns that it is perfectly possible for an author to think that (in the example above) unselfishness is stupid and self-destructive, and hence let the "villain" win - but if such a world-view runs counter to that of the intended audience, the book will have less (or no) appeal. The moral principle of "The "Da Vinci Code" could be expressed as "the truth shall set you free, and [in this story] the real Jesus had a wife, sex and children; so the established church's principles of sin and penance, pain and abstention (as expressed by the "villain" monk) are based on a falsehood and can be abandoned." No matter how exciting and immersive a story "Da Vinci" had otherwise been, this world-view will not appeal to readers in Vatican City.
TMP states that moral premises express "natural laws" about ethics. A questionable statement, since various cultures throughout history have had quite different sets of ethics that seemed just as "natural" to them, as our ethics seem "natural" to us. Nevertheless, TMP's explanation of the importance of harmony between story and reader's world-view/ethics gives the author a clear understanding of an essential ingredient of appeal, and gives the author a CHOICE - step on the toes of the reader's preferences, or not.
Via many enlightening examples, plus very good nuts-and-bolts directions, TMP equips the author to make a knowing choice of her/his story's "moral DNA" and to weave it, non-sermon-like, into characters and plot. That leads to a well-integrated story where the author knows very clearly what should happen and who should do it - and it will be clear and logical to the reader why they do so.
Highly recommended.
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An Important Book for Screenwriters and Novelists
In THE MORAL PREMISE, Stanley Williams analyzes numerous contemporary films, creating an admirable companion to the analyses of stage plays in Lajos Egri's classic, THE ART OF DRAMATIC WRITING.Williams explains the concept of moral premise first "academically" and later "practically": "Every one of the physical obstacles that the protagonist confronts is rooted in a single psychological, spiritual, or emotional obstacle....That single psychological obstacle is summed up by the Moral Premise--a statement of truth about the protagonist's psychological predicament."The moral premise "is comprised of four parts: a virtue, a vice, desirable consequences (success), and undesirable consequences (defeat). These four parts can be used to create a statement that describes precisely what a movie is really about, on both physical and psychological levels. This is the formal structure of a Moral Premise: [Vice] leads to defeat, but [Virtue] leads to success" (p 60).Throughout the book, Williams presents the moral premise as the subtext underlying numerous films such as: * "BRAVEHEART: Compromise of liberty leads to tyranny, but dying for liberty leads to freedom";* "AN OFFICER AND A GENTELMAN: Deceiving ourselves and others leads to despair and death, but truthfulness to ourselves and others leads to hope and life";* "DIE HARD: Covetous hatred leads to death and destruction, but sacrificial love leads to life and celebration."Do all films follow or even have a moral premise? No. Williams' contention is that the ones that win box office success do. Not convinced? Williams presents a formidable-looking mathematical equation (p. 164) from "Narrative Argument Validity and Film Popularity," his 600-page Ph. D. dissertation. Not to worry, he isn't just an academic. The bio-note on the book's jacket says "he's an internationally award-winning film-maker, writer, and instructor. During the past 30 years, he has produced, written, directed, shot, or edited over 400 projects."The practical part explains eight steps to outline your screenplay. 1. Determine the controlling virtue. 2. Determine the controlling vice. 3. Determine the moral premise. 4. Determine the movie's genre. 5. Determine the protagonist's physical goal. 6. Determine the protagonist's physical obstacles. 7. Determine the major dramatic beats. 8. Sequence the dramatic beats.This lucid book merits top priority on the aspiring screenwriter's study list.-- C J Singh
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
Reviewed in the United States on October 22, 2012
Reviewed in the United States on June 12, 2008
Reviewed in the United States on May 27, 2008
Williams explains the concept of moral premise first "academically" and later "practically": "Every one of the physical obstacles that the protagonist confronts is rooted in a single psychological, spiritual, or emotional obstacle....That single psychological obstacle is summed up by the Moral Premise--a statement of truth about the protagonist's psychological predicament."
The moral premise "is comprised of four parts: a virtue, a vice, desirable consequences (success), and undesirable consequences (defeat). These four parts can be used to create a statement that describes precisely what a movie is really about, on both physical and psychological levels. This is the formal structure of a Moral Premise: [Vice] leads to defeat, but [Virtue] leads to success" (p 60).
Throughout the book, Williams presents the moral premise as the subtext underlying numerous films such as:
* "BRAVEHEART: Compromise of liberty leads to tyranny, but dying for liberty leads to freedom";
* "AN OFFICER AND A GENTELMAN: Deceiving ourselves and others leads to despair and death, but truthfulness to ourselves and others leads to hope and life";
* "DIE HARD: Covetous hatred leads to death and destruction, but sacrificial love leads to life and celebration."
Do all films follow or even have a moral premise? No. Williams' contention is that the ones that win box office success do. Not convinced? Williams presents a formidable-looking mathematical equation (p. 164) from "Narrative Argument Validity and Film Popularity," his 600-page Ph. D. dissertation. Not to worry, he isn't just an academic. The bio-note on the book's jacket says "he's an internationally award-winning film-maker, writer, and instructor. During the past 30 years, he has produced, written, directed, shot, or edited over 400 projects."
The practical part explains eight steps to outline your screenplay.
1. Determine the controlling virtue.
2. Determine the controlling vice.
3. Determine the moral premise.
4. Determine the movie's genre.
5. Determine the protagonist's physical goal.
6. Determine the protagonist's physical obstacles.
7. Determine the major dramatic beats.
8. Sequence the dramatic beats.
This lucid book merits top priority on the aspiring screenwriter's study list.
-- C J Singh
An Important Book for Screenwriters and Novelists
Reviewed in the United States on May 27, 2008
In THE MORAL PREMISE, Stanley Williams analyzes numerous contemporary films, creating an admirable companion to the analyses of stage plays in Lajos Egri's classic, THE ART OF DRAMATIC WRITING.Reviewed in the United States on May 27, 2008
Williams explains the concept of moral premise first "academically" and later "practically": "Every one of the physical obstacles that the protagonist confronts is rooted in a single psychological, spiritual, or emotional obstacle....That single psychological obstacle is summed up by the Moral Premise--a statement of truth about the protagonist's psychological predicament."
The moral premise "is comprised of four parts: a virtue, a vice, desirable consequences (success), and undesirable consequences (defeat). These four parts can be used to create a statement that describes precisely what a movie is really about, on both physical and psychological levels. This is the formal structure of a Moral Premise: [Vice] leads to defeat, but [Virtue] leads to success" (p 60).
Throughout the book, Williams presents the moral premise as the subtext underlying numerous films such as:
* "BRAVEHEART: Compromise of liberty leads to tyranny, but dying for liberty leads to freedom";
* "AN OFFICER AND A GENTELMAN: Deceiving ourselves and others leads to despair and death, but truthfulness to ourselves and others leads to hope and life";
* "DIE HARD: Covetous hatred leads to death and destruction, but sacrificial love leads to life and celebration."
Do all films follow or even have a moral premise? No. Williams' contention is that the ones that win box office success do. Not convinced? Williams presents a formidable-looking mathematical equation (p. 164) from "Narrative Argument Validity and Film Popularity," his 600-page Ph. D. dissertation. Not to worry, he isn't just an academic. The bio-note on the book's jacket says "he's an internationally award-winning film-maker, writer, and instructor. During the past 30 years, he has produced, written, directed, shot, or edited over 400 projects."
The practical part explains eight steps to outline your screenplay.
1. Determine the controlling virtue.
2. Determine the controlling vice.
3. Determine the moral premise.
4. Determine the movie's genre.
5. Determine the protagonist's physical goal.
6. Determine the protagonist's physical obstacles.
7. Determine the major dramatic beats.
8. Sequence the dramatic beats.
This lucid book merits top priority on the aspiring screenwriter's study list.
-- C J Singh
Images in this review
Top reviews from other countries
GB
A good book on a subject not explored enough in other ...
Reviewed in Australia on December 15, 2016
Mike Andrew Dawson
A dreadful rehash of everything you've ever read on the subject
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 3, 2011