Into the Fire

                                                          OR

Okay, I happen to think actress Keira Knightley is beautiful. Inserted into acting at a young age, she became a sensation after playing Elizabeth Swann in the Pirates of the Caribbean Series. Mostly period pieces followed her success in "Pirates" with a couple of exceptions.

And I think we can all agree the picture of the "Smoke Monster" above is surely a beast.

I don't think any of us would find it surprising to hear the potential for either beauty or beast tendencies exists in the human soul. Now we can argue semantics, but in literature we read of overt or subtle battles between good and evil. Protagonists are rarely depicted as purely good and occasionally antagonists are portrayed as not all bad.

What about the author? Do we favor the beauty or celebrate the beast? Do we give accurate accounts of both or do we slip into clichés of either or both?

Do you as a reader need to "understand" the motivations of both the hero and the villain?

As a writer, if we write drama, we are compelled to make our characters realistic. Their language in the dialogue must fit them and the time slot in which we write. Their physical identity and descriptions must augment who they're set up to be. Their reasoning during crisis mode must not supersede who we've set them up to be.

If we've accentuated beauty and minimized beast – or vice versa – we are responsible for convincing readers there is a justifiable reason for choosing to do it.

It can be painful to allow the beast to erupt into our writing and difficult at times to show the beauty. Much depends on our vision for what we write based on our experiences in this world.

What's it like for you as a reader? Beauty or beast? As a writer?

Father, you're the only beauty we have and can cling to. Help us show the contrasts effectively and somehow demonstrate the only hope for the human race is in you. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.