Do What You Know Is Right

On occasion, my friends will come to me with questions. They're having some dilemma and they want me to tell them what they should do. For example, a friend hates her job. She comes and asks me if she should quit. Now, I approach this rationally. I ask my friend to tell me what is so terrible about the job, is there anything good coming from it, what she would be doing with the free time, if there is a way to fix or circumvent whatever the problem is. Rarely does any of this stuff matter.

Most of the time, when people are asking others for advice, they already know what they have to do. What they really want is confirmation. They want somebody else to sanction the decision so they feel less guilty about it. I know this to be true because, on several occasions, I have given my advice and was thoroughly ignored because it didn't agree with what my friend wanted to do.

These same things happen in writing. For example, I hate romance in writing. It is very difficult to make it interesting and not cliched. However, if I am writing a story and I see that two characters are naturally attracted to each other, I would feel very conflicted on how to proceed. My first reaction would be to ask my writer friends on whether or not I should have my characters fall in love. This always ends up as a waste of time, though, because the answer ends up being the same every time. Of course they should fall in love. They have to. Doing anything else would be a disservice to these characters.

If you are strongly compelled to do something, you don't need to find somebody else's blessing. You already know what's right and nohing is going to stop you from doing it. Trust in yourself, bite the bullet, and take the plunge. Do what you know is right.