Hard Choice vs. Ethical Choice

What Is The Difference Between A Hard Choice, And An Ethical Choice?

We publish stories about characters forced to make ethical choices.

We get a fair number of submissions from writers who think just because they are presenting us with character who has to make a hard choice, they are sending us a story about ethics. They are not the same! Just because a choice is hard, that does not mean it is an ethical choice. We publish stories about characters forced to make ethical choices.

Rule Of Thumb: If you know the right answer, but don't do it because you lack courage, that's probably a HARD CHOICE. If you don't even know what the right answer is, that's an ETHICAL CHOICE.

We made a fun little quiz about some some common ethical questions, if you are interested. Ethics Quiz Link

(I should also mention, it's not a perfect distinction between a hard and ethical choice and sometimes people will be so set in their value system they will see someone who makes a different choice as a person who was unable to make a hard choice, when in reality, the person might simply have different ethics that lead them to a different conclusion...)