“Reasonable action, beats thoughtless reaction”
As a writing prompt, the opposite idea is true, I suppose, because taking reasonable actions is likely to lead to sensible results, no drama, no conflict, all calm … But of course this will lead to a quiet and sensible piece of writing (even boring), and without dramatic things going on, where’s the excitement, where’s the possibility for action packed climactic scenes at the end of the poem or story?
But when you’re writing something more philosophical, and meaningful, reasonable action is the way to go, rather than lashing out, jumping straight in, taking a shot without knowing where the target is!
These thoughts are useful to think about in terms of character development, if writing fiction, and trying to think on what kinds of characters you have to work with, always remembering that characters are generally held to need to change, by the end of a book, or story, in some way.
Of course, generally held truths are always there to be twisted and shaped in ‘other ways’ if the writer wants to, but bear on mind publishers may hold to more traditional views! A character acting in a different way, but lashing out suddenly can be an exciting way to get a story going, and you can then explore in the story what led to that unusual action …
People aren’t robots, and they don’t always do the expected thing. This is what makes life, and writing interesting, exploring those moments when things suddenly get very, very exciting, dangerous, interesting …
If one is a follower of the Stoics, reasonable action is likely to be your way to go for everything. Considered thought, doing the best thing for self, family, friends, community, and the world, whenever possible, is the way to go. Can that attitude always be the way a person, living by Stoic principles, always goes? Well, people, as I wrote previously, aren’t robots, so maybe not.
No-one is born with a Stoic attitude, far from it. Babies are born with a give it to me, don’t care about you, give, give, give attitude, but they quickly learn to love the one who gives them what they want (need), and become more nuanced in the way they may make their demands … Some anyway. And as we get older, we gain more understanding about those nuances that are there, and that need to be thought about.
What might cause such a diversion from the thoughtful wisdom of the Stoic person? Therein lies the interest in a story with such a character … In the weighing up of options, ideas, emotions, and actions, there are many gaps and tweaks that have to happen, all of which add interest. Whether Stoic or not, people are people, and have motivations, sometimes conflicting ones, and so comes the interest in examining people and their actions …
As the John Lennon song goes, “Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans …”
I hope these ideas might be helpful to writers when thinking about characters, story development, poetry themes, articles …
Carolyn Cordon - Creative 