"Redemption comes from a character who has incurred a moral debt through their actions then making good on that moral debt by performing some deed or service or act of heroism that will ameliorate the bad. That seems simple enough. But in the arid secular plains of modernity and its accompanying moral relativism, what is even good? What is even bad? How can there be redemption in the absence of a functioning moral schema?"
When used properly, metaphors enhance speech. But correctly dosing the metaphorical spice in the dish of language is no easy task. They ‘must not be far-fetched, or they will be difficult to grasp, nor obvious, or they will have no effect’, as Aristotle already noted nearly 2,500 years ago.
What I really think good writing does: It enlivens that part of us that actually believes we are in this world, right now, and that being here somehow matters.
Many people assume they are bad at writing because it is hard. This is like assuming you are bad at weightlifting because the weight is heavy.
Writing is useful because it is hard. It's the effort that goes into writing a clear sentence that leads to better thinking.
In good hands
There is a feeling I search for: being in good hands. It is the feeling I look to give and the feeling I look to receive.
I know I am in good hands when I sense a cohesive point of view expressed with attention to detail.
I can feel it almost... See more