#WordWeavers 2026.01.19 — Who is the most moral character in your story?
...morals usually connotes an element of subjective preference, while ethics tends to suggest aspects of universal fairness and the question of whether or not an action is responsible...
—Merriam Webster
Because in most cultures, the subjective preference of what is or isn't moral is predicated on scripture or other religious doctrine, all the characters in my current WIP are by definition either immoral or amoral.
However, most are ethical and principled. Bolt, my MC, has a sense of what is right or wrong. She treats people fairly and kindly, and works to prevent them being hurt as best as her restricted freedom allows her to; she's even risked her safety to help those she dislikes. Regardless, she's serially immoral by the traditional standards ascribed to by the majority of Earth's population. Doubly so …
#WordWeavers 2026.01.19 — Who is the most moral character in your story?
...morals usually connotes an element of subjective preference, while ethics tends to suggest aspects of universal fairness and the question of whether or not an action is responsible...
—Merriam Webster
Because in most cultures, the subjective preference of what is or isn't moral is predicated on scripture or other religious doctrine, all the characters in my current WIP are by definition either immoral or amoral.
However, most are ethical and principled. Bolt, my MC, has a sense of what is right or wrong. She treats people fairly and kindly, and works to prevent them being hurt as best as her restricted freedom allows her to; she's even risked her safety to help those she dislikes. Regardless, she's serially immoral by the traditional standards ascribed to by the majority of Earth's population. Doubly so because she's female. Women are killed for her behavior in our world even today, or at very least shamed, shunned, and imprisoned.
I suggest considering the semantics of using the words moral and ethical very carefully.
[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]
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