Al's Writing Journal

Sugar Coated Pill

In the short (too short) time I had in college, I studied film as well as writing. In the famous introduction to film class, we learned of the "sugar coated pill." People often have a message they want to share, a lesson, sometimes we just want to get right up on a soapbox and preach. However, the effectiveness of straight preaching is limited, there needs to be a predisposition to the preacher, a faith in them, and their message. Think of religious institutions. Now the writer does not have that kind of credibility, not at first. And even if they did, to convey their "message" to those that are not receptive, even they need to sugar coat the pill. Practically this means simply, the writer must show through the story that something is so, and allow the reader to come to their own conclusion. Simply taking the character and having them come to a conclusion is not as powerful. And another step down is simply narrating a lesson, i.e. outright preaching. The art of conveying whatever it is that the writer has to say lies in making the reader come to that conclusion entirely on their own.