Hot Blog

It's summer and it's hot....which made me think of hot topics in Christian fiction. Yes, my mind really does work that way.

Basically there are three controversial bugaboos in Christian fiction: language, sensuality, and violence. 

Should there be any? How much is too much? Who gets to decide?

As a baseline when I'm writing, I first look to Jesus when I create my heroes. With that in mind...

• Jesus didn't use vulgar language even when nailed on the cross, though I suspect we all would've cut Him some slack for a few slipped curses. 
• Jesus loved with every pore in his body but not in an erotic way. 
• Jesus had violence committed against him but did not commit violence Himself. Yet. He will return astride a white horse someday and be armed for battle, though of what kind, I'm not sure.

That being said, as much as Jesus is my personal hero, He's not a fictional character in one of my books. So yes, my characters do sometimes let fly a naughty word (though I don't name it), they have physical reactions to the opposite sex, and they'll smack someone upside the head if they feel it's necessary. None of this, however, is overtly graphic or the primary focus of the story.

But that's just me. Who really gets to decide what goes into a piece of Christian fiction? The author, the publisher or the reader?

Ultimately, I'd say the reader and publisher are tied for first place. An author can write whatever he/she wants, but if a publisher or reader doesn't pick it up, it's kind of a moot point. A reader is only going to buy what they like to read, and a publisher is going to put out what a reader wants to read, so that's why I give them equal weight.

Great stories can be told without the use of F-bombs, literary porn, and guns galore. Sometimes those are merely crutches to prop up a weak plot.

A Random Philosophical Rant

"There is no such thing as a moral or immoral book. 

Books are well written, or badly written. That is all."

~ Oscar Wilde

So...what do you think? Agree or disagree? Are there some books that are totally immoral? And if so, is there such a creature as Christian fiction to counter such wicked tomes?


Honestly, I've never understood this argument. Seems like a play on words to me. Fiction can't be 'saved' because it's an inanimate object. End of story. But that doesn't mean I read erotica or any other piece of fiction that doesn't showcase and promote Biblical truth. Why?


Because the heart of the matter is the worldview of the author.


And believe me, worldview WILL show through in a book no matter how much you try to diminish it. Whether you're a staunch Christian writing horror or a flaming Wiccan writing a bonnet book, your belief system will shine through your characters, dialogue, and theme no matter how hard you try to write otherwise.


So as I ponder how to make my writing more 'Christian', more glorfying to God, I can think of no better way than to spend more time with Him. Remember when Moses went up the mountain to hang out with God and came down with a zinger of a glow? So much that he basically had to bag his head to be in public because God's glory was so strong upon him?That God Glow, or lack thereof, permeates everything you write. 


Which leads me to believe that if my relationship with God ever takes a backseat to my writing, I seriously doubt it will sparkle and shine.

Hearing Heaven

DAY 49

Word Count: 31,495

Sentence of the Day: Snuff colored laundry hung overhead, laced from window to window.

I had a speaking gig this weekend, and believe me, there's a reason why I write instead of speak. I'm not cut-out for the spotlight. Good thing I was wearing Depends. Even so, God was/is faithful, and here's one little example.

When I prepared what I was going to say, I thought why not do what I do best and write a story? I took the account of Jesus in the Garden (Matthew 26) and fictionalized it. As part of one of my sessions, I read it aloud.

It's interesting that of all the things I said, I got the most comments on the story. One lady came to me later and told me that she'd come to the conference empty, asking God for some kind of encouragement. She got it--in story form.

Which is amazing, but not surprising. Jesus used story often as a way to teach truth. Hearing heaven doesn't always come through sermons on Sunday morning. Sometimes it comes packaged in a tale.

One of the best pieces of fiction that I heard heaven through is Streiker's Bride by Robin Hardy. It's a beautiful picture of how Jesus pursues us set in modern day Dallas.

What about you? What's a piece of fiction that made you hear heaven?

Fluff Defined

One of my readers wrote:

"I agree about planting seeds, but that can be done even in lighthearted books.

We don't have to be serious to go deep with the Truth."

I'm not going to argue with that. Lighthearted stories can kidney-punch some powerful wallops of Biblical truth (which is what I was advocating in my previous post). Humor is a fantastic approach to impart hard principles in a way that is more palatable.

It's not lighthearted I have a problem with. It's fluff. Here's a dictionary definition:

fluff (flf)

n.

1. Light down or fuzz, as on a young bird or on a dandelion or milkweed seed.

2. Something having a very light, soft, or frothy consistency or appearance: a fluff of meringue; a fluff of cloud.

3. Something of little substance or consequence, especially:

a. Light or superficial entertainment: The movie was just another bit of fluff from Hollywood.

b. Inflated or padded material: The report was mostly fluff, with little new information.

4. The parts of a junked car that are not metal and cannot be recycled.

Definition 3A...now that's what I'm talkin 'bout. Note that it says light, not lighthearted. This is exactly what should be considered when developing characters, plot and theme.

Banish the Fluffy Characters

If you don't make the reader care about your characters, they won't give a flying wingnut about what happens to them, even if it's catastrophic. Your job as a writer is learning to be a good tightrope walker. It's all a balancing act. Villains can't be all bad. Heroes and heroines can't be all good. A reader connects emotionally to a multi-faceted persona because that's the way people are. It makes them more relatable instead of superficial.

Axe Fluffy Plots

Not that you have to have mushroom clouds and/or zombies dominating every scene, but you do have to include increasing crises which build to a climax. This doesn't have to be physical. Emotional confrontations create fireworks as well. This is especially important to remember in the middle of your tale.

Say No to Fluffy Themes

This is where you have the chance to impact a reader's life. Don't waste your opportunity with platitudes. You can go simple but go deep.

Example: forgiveness. Sounds easy enough, but if you pick apart the act of forgiveness, you can share nuggets of Biblical truth all the way from bitterness to freedom. And this can be done in any genre, from humor to horror.

I suppose the point of this rant is to make your writing count. When it comes to words, quality is indeed more virtuous than quantity.

Nixing the Fluff

I keep forgetting this is the last year of my life...if the Mayan's are correct, that is. Personally, I think they ran out of parchment or papyrus or whatever-in-the-world kind of paper they used.

But for the sake of argument, what if this really were the last year any of us had here on earth? Would we live differently? Love differently?

Write differently?

If so...then how?

I'm thinking theme. Message. Take away value. Plant deep the seeds of Biblical truth so that readers very souls are affected. Not that I'm advocating sermonizing and whapping people upside the head with the Bible, but honestly...is it worth a reader's time to ingest pap?

When I do finally park my behind in a chair and get back to my WIP, I'm going to keep this in mind.