How the Stoicism Philosophy Transformed My Writing Journey

Stoicism has given me a guiding philosophy to influence my writing and shape my fictional characters.

Photo by Jodie Cook on Unsplash

To become stoic is to endorse the truthfulness of its worldview and accept its prescription for how you ought to live, not just to like how it makes you feel.

Julian Baggini

Incorporating stoicism into my writing journey has helped me include more depth into my fictional characters and stories.

For instance: Stoicism teaches that fear is not something to be completely eliminated, but rather acknowledged and examined. It is an emotion that has the power to both protect and hinder us.

So, I’ve given my fictional characters fears and emotions that will affect their perceptions and judgments. By introducing stoicism into my writing, I’ve learned fear can be a valuable tool for my character’s survival.

For me, creating characters has always been a struggle. They’ve never seemed complete. Like I’ve left something out and hindered their growth.

Maybe it won’t be too much of a problem from now on.