I enjoy a good story whether it is in the form of a movie or a book. My husband and I usually attend a movie twice a month and I always discover a lesson about writing a story. Last night was no different. We watched Home Run. It is a Christian-based movie about a baseball player's struggle with alcoholism.
This movie was a good example of how a writer drags the hero through hell. You first learn about the abuse he received as a child due to his own father's struggle with alcoholism. Next, the writer shows how the hero's addiction with alcohol is slowly ruining his life, but he can't see it, even when he almost kills his own brother.
The temptation at this point would be to force the hero to realize he almost killed his brother and attend the treatment program willingly. Not this writer. Immediately after causing the accident which landed his brother in the hospital, our hero pays a motel employee to keep his refrigerator stocked with adult beverages.
The main character is forced to attend a treatment center and throughout most of the story he takes one step forward and one step back. Just when you think he might overcome his addiction, life hits him in the gut and he is thrown back into the bottle. By the time our hero is ready to truly face his problems, you feel his agony and sense of hopelessness. There is no doubt he has hit rock bottom. This is the difference between a good book and a great one.
Until next week,
happy reading, watching, and writing.
Tina Swayzee McCright
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