Thought-provoking stories don’t just make us wonder whether the characters are going to learn their lesson. They push us to pursue truth by putting us in situations where WE don’t yet have the answers.

As an author, the best way to do this is by forcing your characters to confront dilemmas where every option comes with a devastating cost.

⚡Make the personal cost impossible.

Easy decisions don’t require sacrifice. Values we glibly commit to when life is pressure-free suddenly appear much less certain when the price is high. Even if readers believe they know what the right decision is, we can still push them to think by asking “But is it really worth it?”

The protagonist of A Study of Shattered Spells, Kalina, has everything to lose. Author @josiahdegraaf takes the time to show readers Kalina’s relationships and brings us to care about the people she’s struggling to protect. He makes the stakes personal to us, the readers, and soon *we’re* the ones asking “Is it really worth it?”

⚡Make the moral cost impossible.

Given a simple choice between right and wrong, we don’t have to think for even half a second. Of course it’s good to protect the vulnerable, and it’s bad to leave them at the mercy of dangerous people. It’s right to show mercy, and it’s wrong to withhold it.

The struggle comes when we’re forced to choose between options that appear to be equally right or equally wrong. These are the kinds of questions that drive A Study of Shattered Spells.

Sometimes this means forcing a character to choose between taking responsibility for two terrible outcomes. As mentioned in the novel’s blurb, Kalina faces a decision between throwing away her country’s last hope of survival and abandoning her students to the power of an abuser.

This also can mean forcing a character to choose between two deeply valued convictions, as Kalina does in her struggle between extending grace and pursuing justice.

Because of these difficult questions, A Study of Shattered Spells pushes readers beyond spectatorship to participation in Kalina’s quest for answers. 

Visit Josiah’s website to learn more about the book!

I’d love to hear from you! What’s one of the most compelling moral dilemmas you’ve encountered in a ficitional story?