Blogger: Wendy Lawton
“What we want is not more little books about Christianity, but more little books by Christians on other subjects– with their Christianity latent.” -C. S. Lewis
That’s a quote I’ve always loved. It’s more than a quote, it’s a challenge.
Most of you know I only represent books written by Christians with a Christian world view. That’s a very individual choice each agent makes– what will be the parameters of my practice? I decided early on that this life is too short to represent anything that doesn’t offer that world view within the pages.
So does that mean that the nonfiction book needs to be prescriptive or filled with apologetics or theology? Does each novel need to have a character bending his knee in acknowledgment of God’s saving grace? Of course not. That can get positively clichéd.
So what makes a “Christian” book? In fiction it’s just a story that not only explores the plot and characters but explores faith issues as well, however subtly. In nonfiction it’s looking at the subject through the eyes of faith.
It has nothing to do with whether a book ends up in the CBA market or the ABA market. There are plenty of writers in the general market (ABA) who can’t divorce their faith from their storytelling. John Grisham’s The Covenant was one book that comes to mind. Debbie Macomber’s are another.
It’s true that in the Christian market there are strictures– CBA readers expect the books to be free of profanity, gratuitous sex and violence. We expect a gentle read. That has little to do with whether a book has a faith arc in it, however. There are many a sweet romance in the general market that meets those restrictions.
So let’s talk. You tell me. What makes a book a “Christian” book? How can a book have latent Christianity? Do you worry about whether your book is too “Christian?” Not “Christian” enough? Is there anything wrong with speaking Christianese? What is a faith arc in fiction? I look forward to hearing what you think.
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C.S. Lewis was so right, because the disconnect between the way we portray Christianity and the way we live it carries the danger of making Christ irrelevant or, worse, becoming Pharisees ourselves.
Many books and films have moved toward portraying a Christian life of decorous externals that is analogous to the ‘holiness’ of wearing phylacteries.
We hold up not swearing, not smoking, and not drinking as hallmarks of a ‘holy’ life while we seem to sit in condescending judgement of those we call “baby Christians”, and cheerfully damn those who practice other faiths. (How many positive Muslim or Hindu characters have you seen in a Christian book? Not many…but it really doesn’t put your faith at risk by acknowledging their sincerity, even if you believe they’re wrong…and if they are taking care of the sick and visiting the imprisoned, they may be doing more for Christ than we are, by His own definition.)
To say that Christian fiction requires a gentle read is like saying a stuffed tiger accurately represents a real one. Good luck, when you try to prove that at the zoo. Bring Band-Aids.
To say that Christians don’t drink or smoke because those are violations of the body’s role as a Temple of God also implies that Christians can’t be overweight (the sin of gluttony, there). We’re the ones chopping logic, not Jesus.
To say that Christians don’t swear is ludicrous, because every time we mentally use a scatalogical exoression, or have taken the Lord’s name in vain…we’re sworn. Period.
In historical fiction, you can’t write a novel depicting the fighting on Guadalcanal without using the all-purpose seven-letter adverb. That benighted place was known by all who fought there as “that ****ing island”, and for good reason. Likewise, introducing George Patton as a character without putting profanity is his dialogue would be completely wrong…and he was a very devout Christian. Is Patton ours to judge?
And to say that Christians don’t have inappropriate sex is..you know the refrain. We do. We fall. And we dust ourselves off in sorrow, and try again.
The big issue really centers around the word “gratuitous”.
If we want to engage the world, and be Christ’s hands and feet in the way we portray the faith we live, we can’t shy away from either human-ness or accuracy.
Jesus embraced the tax collector and the prostitute. He told them to stop the behavior, but He didn’t pretend that they never did it.
We can’t pretend holiness and put ourselves (though our characters) on that pedestal that is rightly reserved only for the Lord.
But we don’t have to put the voluptuous, the scatalogigal and the profane in for verisimilitude, or, worse, because we can’t think of anything else to say.
The faith arc is not one of diamonds being polished.
It’s carbon under intolerable heat and unbearable pressure, becoming that most precious of jewels.
And what was that self-deprecating bit about not being a writer yesterday? If you’re no writer, then I ought to stop following this blog religiously. But you are. You’re also a great thinker. Thanks for your honest contributions here.
Thanks, Shauna. I’m humbled, and appreciative.
Writers always seemed to me to be such BIG people. Big in ideas,and in the way they express them. Makes me feel like a self-promoting flea on an elephant, thinking I’m standing next to them.
But I guess I am, and last time I looked, I didn’t have six legs and was living off sucked blood.
Again, thanks.
Amen, Shauna.
Andrew, you’re thinking and writing is on such a high level. I feel like a kindergartener most of the time. You are brilliant, and I learn so much from you on a daily basis. Thank you.
Interesting, Andrew. And I agree in principle, but one of the realities of the CBA market is that when someone buys a CBA book they won’t find profanity, explicit sex or vivid violence. So the readers and the gatekeepers (store buyers) dictate those parameters. whether we agree or not, it’s the reality.
And by the same token, the ABA often won’t consider a book unless the language is “real” the sex is vivid and the violence well sketched. So both arms have their own strictures. Making it in ABA with a gentle read may be even more difficult than making it in CBA with an envelope-pushing novel.
You mentioned addressing the real in nonfiction. I agree but just yesterday I was talking with a client about the danger of being so “real” that we excuse our and our reader’s “ragamuffinness” instead of encouraging the reach toward holiness.
Very true, that we don’t want to make depictions of Real and excuse for vulgar and unmannerly behavior.
It’s a hard line to draw because of where our society is today; but we do have some examples of where it can be drawn.
Yes, the recent “Star Trek” movies. Good intuition!
In the first reboot, from 2009, there was only one gross vulgarity, and it was used to express Kirk’s shock when he was told that he was talking to an older version of the Spock who had just marooned him on a desolate planet. It fit, because it expressed such an extreme case of ‘weird’ that nothing else would have worked. And in its singular use, it had the impact that was needed.
In “Star trek Into Darkness”, the shorter version of that vulgarity was used two and a half times. The first was expressing desperation, while a torpedo was resisting being disarmed.
The “half” was used to express amazement, and was cleverly segued into a scene change and combined with the hiss of a door opening.
The third was spoken casually by a villain, and came across as truly vulgar; the speech of a character no one would want to emulate.
As a civilized man, not to say a Christian, I don’t crudeness as part of my life; but I have to admit that I was not always the man I am today, and if you had been in my house two days ago, when I sliced a finger to the bone whilst trying to cut a frozen bagel (gluten free!), you would have noticed the shades of mercenaries and worse, blushing at my choice of epithets drawn from an ignoble past.
And why does the emphasis that the bagel was gluten free make the description funnier? or is it just me?
I read an ABA book earlier this year that had an unnecessary gratuitous scene. Of course it was the scene I couldn’t displace from my mind. Grrr. Although the writing was beautiful and the history fascinating, I could not recommend it to friends. Frustrating.
When I read CBA, I’m confident I’ll cringe in all the right places.
I had a client who wrote a Christian novel about a former military man and the nightmares that plague him from the Vietnam War. The author felt strongly that he must portray the war element accurately; and therefore, cussing and one sexual act were included. Some reviewers wouldn’t touch it, but many enjoyed it. As a publicist, I felt I had to warn people when they requested it, which made it harder for me to place.
On a more personal note, I can’t seem to separate my faith and my fiction when I write. I’ve done it once, but it’s not my favorite story. In my WIP, faith plays a role, but it’s not the focus. It is part of the daily lives of the characters. The girl attends church with her family, she must memorize Bible verses, and she must be of strong moral character–as would be expected in the late 1800s. But it is all woven into the story of this orphan girl who is now living with her spinster aunt and befriending an African-American stable hand during the Reconstruction Era. The controversy over their friendship propels the story forward more than their faith.
I’m smiling because I had to write a scene with Patton in it – without profanity 🙂 Since my (fictional) hero served in one of the real evac hospitals in Sicily where Patton slapped patients, I had to include the incident. It was challenging, to say the least. I used the actual dialogue recorded by the physicians, removed the words my publisher can’t publish, and tried to preserve the “profane” feel of Patton’s rant. Throwing in “he swore” helped 🙂
Nicely done!
🙂
Amen to every single thing you just said, Andrew.
Wendy,
Thanks for addressing this topic. So timely for me!
As a Christian, I have spent my career in ministry and Christian education. I always thought that if I wrote a book, it would be boldly pointing others toward Christ.
So imagine my surprise when I felt strongly led to write a middle grade novel for a general audience. I feel that by having Christian characters, who interact with the main characters, I can subtly guide those characters toward positive life choices and at the same time, introduce Christians who are reliable, trust-worthy, accepting, and “real people”.
The main stream media has created a caricature of believers as intolerant, ranting, small-minded people. Wendy, you and I know that believers are most often the kindest and most accepting people out there. That is what I want to portray.
So I pray that a publisher is interested in a “coming of age” story where some of the adults need to grow up as much as the kids, and very gentlest of souls shows them how.
Thanks! Thanks! Thanks!
btw – hope this doesn’t post twice – I had problems posting.
Sounds like exactly what Lewis was saying.
Susan May Warren has a great way of teaching a faith arc for characters. Being brief, she figures out the lies her characters believe and the truth they need to hear. Through the story’s external journey, characters learn the truth and how to walk in it. She’s figured out how to make it an organic part of her stories.
As for Christianese, I personally don’t think it should be in Christian books for a couple reasons. 1. People who read the terms may not know what they mean, and 2. I think people who do not share the belief system will be turned off. In my mind, it’s another form of writing cliché.
You’ve given me some good food for thought today. Thanks, Wendy!
I totally agree with you on the use of Christianese, Jeanne. Especially the bit about turning people off.
If we use it, we end up writing books “by Christians for Christians”.
Great was to make money (to something of a captive audience), but we can hardly claim to be reaching out and spreading the Gospel.
Exactly, Andrew. 🙂
The hardest thing is hearing our own jargon. I was talking with a women’s ministry director the other day who kept talking about “speaking into” people’s lives. I kept thinking about how her language could be a barrier to doing that very thing.
And about Susie– bingo! Yes. She has nailed what an arc can look like. There are other arcs, of course, but she has identified the character change aspect.
You’re right about it being hard hearing our own jargon. I try not to speak Christian-ese, but I’m certain I do, at least with friends. I also try not to write it.
I’ll just say I’ve learned a ton from Susie, and learning how to craft the arc has been huge for me. 🙂
In the Christian magazine I write for, I’m not supposed to use Christian jargon … the Christian language. And boy, is that ever hard. You have to be intentional not to use it. But it needs to be written in a way that anyone can understand.
I would suppose a book might need to be the same … if anyone were to get their hands on it, would they understand? That’s probably real controversial. 🙂
In my middle grade book … I intended to write it for children enduring or having endured life threatening illnesses because my daughter did. I included the Golden Rule, references to prayer and repentant hearts to each other … with the main idea being content with your circumstances. In writing it, I wanted to include all kids … without excluding the One who made them. For its future, I want to be able to hand it to the medical director at our children’s hospital … our good friend these last 13 years … and it be something he can let his patients read.
“I wanted to include all kids … without excluding the One who made them.”
Sounds perfect, Shelli.
Thank you, Wendy, for exploring this intriguing topic today with us.
I do wonder if my book will be accepted in both the Christian and mainstream market. My goal was to write it in a similar voice as my blog (since I hope my blog friends will enjoy the novel).
When I imagine breaking into both markets I get a lot more excited than having only like-minded people reading something they can grab out of their church library already.
I have an evangelical heart that desires to reach out to those who are struggling with faith or are still on the outside of it.
I’m going to write down that quote by C.S. Lewis.
Blessings ~ Wendy Mac. ❀
“Reach out to those who are struggling with faith” … beautiful, Wendy.
The danger, Wendy, in trying to “hit” both markets is that you miss both. You clearly need to know your reader– actually keep a few real people in mind as you write your book.
Those who write for the CBA market can have an evangelical heart. Believe me, many who read in the CBA are not believers but they come because they prefer a certain kind of read.
Interestingly enough, the books that have crossed over with huge success are unashamedly Christian– like Left Behind.
Usually the audience for whom you write has less to do with voice than content. The content demanded by the ABA romance reader, for instance, would never be read by the CBA audience. (Ignoring the few successful gentle ABA romance writers– those spots are firmly held and there is not a lot of call for new gentle fiction writers in ABA.)
For the general market, mentioning Jesus is often offensive. Read reviews of our Christian fiction that has ended up in general reader hands. The “Jesus talk” gags them. God and general spirituality is usually acceptable but mention Jesus or some kind of personal interaction with Jesus and you are clearly some kind of propagandist.
Very true, that mentioning Jesus can turn people off. When I was teaching, students came to me to talk faith…but they didn’t want to talk about Jesus. Usually someone had hit that button too hard, and made them feel like outsiders.
I see salvation as a triune process. the first state of being is ‘lostness’, a person flung from a sinking ship, swimming on a vast sea.
The second part is the lifeboat. It’s not safety, but it’s a place from which rescue is far more likely.
And the third is being rescued, and coming firmly to the shore.
I learned to see that my job was to bring people to the lifeboat, and to steady the boat for those who were in danger of falling out. They wanted to believe in God, or at least in a Creator who cared something for them.
They couldn’t feel Christ’s love in His atonement for our sins, often because they had been excoriated for those sins and were told they were going to Hell if they didn’t repent and confess. It’s not the best way to demonstrate infinite Love.
So I did my best to steady them, and keep them in a place where they could believe…something. For the salvation that lay on shore, usually I could only hope, and leave that in God’s hands, and in the hands of others along the path.
Point being that as writers, we have to choose our faith arcs carefully, and attune them to our audience. The ability to “create a Christian” from an Information Age Pagan is rare, but the talent for helping the IAP to hear the Hound of Heaven’s distant bark is not beyond most of us.
Wendy, thank you for reminding me that not everyone who reads CBA is a Christian (this makes my day.
A few years ago I was downsizing my library and reluctantly gave away a few sets of Christian novels by Janette Oke. The friend I gave them to passed them onto her mother who was in the hospital dying of cancer.
I had felt the nudge to give them away, even though I still loved reading them. My friend told me that her mom came to faith because of the gospel message in those books.
Needless to say, I have passed on other books to people I wouldn’t have before–including to a young teen relative stuck in the hospital in isolation for a few weeks. She called and thanked me for the care package.
I’m going to take your advice and aim my books at one market. It doesn’t make sense to split an arrow. ❀
Now that I’m getting reviews for my first novel, it’s interesting that some readers find it too Christian while others wish the Christian message were stronger. But there’s a big bunch in the middle who just say the story’s about forgiveness. I think that may be what makes a book Christian–it offers up a Biblical truth that people “get.” I recently read “The Funeral Dress” by Susan Gregg Gilmore. Not a Christian book, but with a strong message about how love changes everything. Seems like Jesus talked about that. I definitely felt like there were some good, faith-related takeaways whether the author meant for them to be there or not.
Isn’t that a wonderful find?
It’s happened to me yesterday. Lori Benton mentioned a song she loved, Baba Yetu– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17svtURunUk–the theme song from a video game called Civilization IV apparently. A video game! You know what the song is? It’s The Lord’s Prayer in Swahili. (I bought it on iTunes last night– beautiful.)
🙂 I can’t shut up about that song. The cover by Peter and Malukah is my favorite version, but when I watch the original with the graphics from the video game? I cry. Every time.
Good post, Wendy. Thank you for it.
Of the seventeen items I’ve published, only one is overtly Christian. The others (excepting the one that’s republishing public domain material) are, I hope, underpinned by my Christian worldview. I’ve not heard the C.S. Lewis quote before, but it’s a good one. Still, some of us have been so immersed in Christian worldview and lifestyles for so long that we won’t notice (unless we really, really work at it) just how Christian our words, plots, and themes are.
Exactly, David. I think we can’t help but see the world through eyes of faith whether we say it or just live it.
I get that profanity issue, Wendy. I know for me, I steer away from it, as best as possible. I know it’s a real world thing and it can’t be avoided by our ears. It doesn’t make one less a Christian … it probably just proves they are real.
And I love that Beth Moore talks about her husband’s vocabulary … she shares his struggles. She got me laughing so hard basically saying she just knew his goal was to get her to holler a profanity after an injury or fright. 🙂 And she loves him.
But I do know that input equals output. If I can avoid it with my eyes, I’ll try.
I don’t want to read it in my books … and I don’t want it in books for my girls, my young adults.
“Oh, be careful little ears what you hear …
Oh, be careful little eyes what you see …”
I’ll make a confession though … after seeing Little Women, the new version … I kind of fell in love with the word “blast.” 🙂
Besides, it is such fun to write “around” profanity. We can imply an expletive coming out of a profane mouth without ever having to write it. The reader doesn’t feel like the language is stilted or unreal, he just doesn’t have to be subject to it.
Rough example: “His answer? An impressive string of profanity. He must have depleted his entire vocabulary of scatological terms punctuated by fist pumps and foot stomps before he was ready to address the problem.”
Notice that the writer not only revealed something about the profane man but we also learned a great deal about the POV person and her reaction (or lack thereof) to his tirade. By creatively writing around the actual expletives we are often able to accomplish a whole lot more.
Of course it would have been a lot easier to just put the expletives in his mouth but that is lazy writing,
Brilliant, Wendy! I’m going to remember that.
Can I use that if I credit you?
It’s perfect!
Shelli, your comment about Little Women made me smile. After reading the Winnie the Pooh books to my children I caught the “Oh, bother” bug and still have it. ❀
I have sooooo many thoughts on this, but this is how I approach Christianese…if I cannot directly translate into ASL, French or Spanish, so that the phrase isn’t lost in translation? Then I speak plainly, and not hear “yo no comprende” back.
A good way of communicating our message is to communicate clearly, and without falling back on phrases that already are used to mock believers.
If you translate “out of sight, out of mind” into Russian, and then do a literal translation back to English, what you get is “invisible insanity”.
I think that may be appropriate for us writers.
Eh?
And of course, “eh?” is translated “please respond with a deep answer” because that’s how Canadians mea for “eh?” to be interpreted.
Actually, I thought “eh” was both an affirmation, and a request for affirmation.
“I think this is so, and I believe – and hope – that you agree with me, because your opinion is important.”
That seemingly uncomplicated two-letter query speaks to the loneliness that underlies the human condition, and reaches out for a common thread to which we can cling, that will lead us, as it is reeled in, to the arms of a loving God.
By the bye, when this website is coming up today, it’s mixing your name with the first couple of lines of your initial comment, so I did not see the bit about food poisoning.
I hope you’re feeling better!
I hope you’re kidding about food poisoning, Jennifer.
Nope. I’ve been in bed the entire, beautiful sunny, warm day.
Meh.
I’m feeling much better though.
As always, an excellent post. Thank you.
I’ve been pleased that most Christian readers see faith in my stories and non-Christian readers enjoy the stories without stumbling over my worldview. Hope I can keep that middle ground in my next books, because that’s what I most enjoy reading–a shared worldview without the preaching, with characters who are real and don’t always fit a particular mold.
Love this: “without stumbling over my worldview.” Yes.
I write general market romance with latent Christianity in it. There are no mentions of God, of faith only in passing, no praying. There’s no plan of salvation. Nothing that most people associate with Christian fiction. I left the Christian market on purpose, because trying to write in an overt way about faith was a real struggle for me and never felt authentic. I also believe God gave me a story not meant for the Christian market. To make it “Christian” would have removed the story’s heart, sad to say.
I do write very much from my worldview as a Christian. There are tiny seeds scattered throughout all my work that those with open ears will hear. But there’s one thing in this series, that I’m sad to say, makes Christians unwilling to even read the blurb when they find out about this. Which makes me very sad, but at the same time doesn’t surprise me.
You see, the hero is bi. To remove that part of him removes who he is. My picture of Christ’s sacrificial love (that type of love is one of my themes) is the hero’s male lover dying to save him. the hero marries his heroine and eventually they get their happily ever after involving multiple kids.
He’s a hurting, confused character. And there are so many people outside the Christian world who are hurting and confused in the same way my hero is, but most people won’t reach out to them.
I also write about the difference between sex and intimacy, and how the former can’t be detached from the latter without dire consequences.
Leaving the CBA market was a gut-wrenching decision that took me months to make and come to terms with. Everyone who saw my Christian historical romance said it was awesome, they’d never seen it before, it was unique. But they couldn’t sell it because it was too different. And I couldn’t make myself fit into the box that would allow it to sell.
All of us have different fields of calling and different ministries. I believe I’ve found mine, and I have a chance to plant seeds of hope in people who wouldn’t otherwise be reached. So that’s what I’m doing, and I’m having the time of my life with it. I have never been happier than I am on this path, with these strange characters who so mirror the real world and that Christianity as religion has no idea how to reach effectively.
I admire and salute your courage.
Reaching out to that extent takes more guts than I have.
We need salt and light. I have a number of friends who’ve been that in the general market. Only you know where God is calling you.
Writing both fiction and nonfiction, I find it a constant challenge to write for the reader, not for my own experience. The spiritual practices I embrace may be not only foreign but offensive to some readers, or at the least confusing. I’m conscious that we sometimes quote Scripture or a Scriptural principle, but a biblically less-familiar audience may not even know it originated in God’s Word. Even when Jesus spoke with embezzlers and prostitutes, urging them to stop sinning, He did so with a divine tenderness that brings us to tears. He reserved His condemnation for those who claimed they were religious.
Nothing troubles me more in a novel than a plot that has all the faith impact coming from the mouth of a minister or missionary. All the faith-shaping moments are related to a sermon the character hears. The sermon spells out what the character needed to know and ta-da! Instant heart-change. By contrast, Jesus spoke with people primarily as He walked along the way, a clear connection to God’s instructions to us all in Deuteronomy 6:6 that we live out His principles and instructions in everyday life. “Talk about them when you are sitting around your house and when you are out and about, when you are lying down and when you are getting up…”
The first thing Jesus said to Zaccheus wasn’t, “You scoundrel!” but “Come closer. Let’s go have something to eat.”
Maybe that’s a worthy goal for our writing, too. That our stories and non-fiction would feel like a call to come closer.
Amen, Cynthia!
I find it very telling who He condemned, and who He loved on. I want to do the same.
And nothing grates on my nerves more than a sermon scene, along with everything else you described. It’s cheap, fake, and a good way to make me wall-bang a book.
Cynthia, can you expand on what you mean by finding it a ‘constant challenge to write for the reader’ rather than for your own experience?
Is it easier to pinpoint this once a readership is established? Or are you honing your words to a specific person as you write? Do you find that you come from different angles with your fiction and NF?
Forgive the plethora of questions. I look forward to your response. 🙂
Jenni, we all write from our own perspective, but unless we learn how to become our readers–just as we hope our readers will temporarily “become” the characters we write about for the duration of the story–we will best reach only people wired and nurtured and educated exactly like us. I ask myself while I write and while I rewrite, “How will this land on the heart of a reader whose father was despicable, unlike mine? What will this line mean to a reader whose only association with unconditional love are as a phrase in a textbook, not as experience? How can I reframe this concept–or this scene–to assure the reader this hope applies to her, too, not just the single mom in the book.
I believe it does become more natural as a readership is established, but I also think it’s important for us to envision who our reader is in order to establish that readership. I knew going in that those who appreciate quick reads that are fun escapes from reality would not be my primary readership.
That specific person I think of as my reader is a composite. The longer I write, the more she’s faced. And she reminds me not to make judgments or assumptions about her. God often puts someone like her in my path, next to me on a plane, across from me at the church picnic, in a blog I follow, in an audience to which I’m speaking. She bares her soul. She cries on my shoulder. Her tears make me a better writer.
My fiction and nonfiction are fascinatingly related. (I may be the only one who finds that fascinating!) So the consciousness of reader needs and perspectives lingers and crosses over between the two disciplines.
A long time ago, I was impressed with the thought that–just as it is in communicating the truth of Jesus–my first responsibility is to love my reader before what I have to say has a prayer of getting through.
I don’t love my readers for buying my books. I love them for who they are and where their story intersects with God’s.
If I consistently wrote lighthearted comedies (which I’ve done before), I believe that basic principle would still hold true. And loving them makes me see myself as a matchmaker between their heart needs and the Needmeeter, whether in fiction or nonfiction.
Cynthia,thank you for this. So much truth to ponder and soak in.
Will you mentor me? 😉
Seriously though, your Christ-centered love for your readers is obvious in the way you focus on the individual and the eternal.
Beautiful, Cynthia.
YES! Exactly, Cynthia.
Not all of us can write “great books” – but we can write “little books” about great subjects.
My dog said that recently after reading Mother Teresa’s biography.
Sorry – Correction.
The biography my dog read was about Mother Teresa’s dog – who’s name is Humble.
You said: “It’s true that in the Christian market there are strictures– CBA readers expect the books to be free of profanity, gratuitous sex and violence. We expect a gentle read.”
My book Daisy McIntosh deals with the abuse of a young girl. It then goes on to deal with her sttuggles that come from the abuse, including struggling with understanding her friend’s question: “When did you come to know Jesus?”
I found it difficult to write this story without some violence, including murder. So it’s impossible for the likes of me to write some stories that are true to life and at the same time, give the readers “a gentle read.”
I wonder if there is some danger in the “gentle read”, in that it can build a thought-world that’s too soft.
When the brutality of the real world knocks everything aside, it might make it harder to hold onto faith.
Probably the biggest cause of loss of faith comes from “why does God allow bad things to happen”?
The answer some give, that He allows them to bring us closer to Him, is fraught with hazard…would you want to be closer to a God that “allows” journalists to be taken hostage and beheaded for video propaganda? Who was He trying to bring closer…the journalists themselves, or their bereaved families and friends?
The God I see in the Bible is furious at cruelty, and heartbroken at our sorrow, but it’s a necessary price for a world in which we can freely choose Him
What He does give us when we are in extremis is His comfort, and His assurance that there is a dawn on the other side of the blackest, longest night we could imagine.
That was what He gave Jesus, after all.
I wish there were a writer who could elucidate that message effectively…and, perhaps, a readership that could be made accessible to hear it.
Maybe that writer is you, Roger?
Maybe I misspoke when I said a gentler read. That’s not necessarily true. Many CBA readers like a complex read– just without the cringeworthy stuff.
An even bigger problem than the ABA/ CBA problem for you, Roger, is the marketing issue. We find that most readers do not want to read about sexual abuse, spousal abuse, child abduction, etc. You end up with readers passing that over, looking for an escaper in their reading.
Believe it or not, violence and murder are less of a problem. (Unless you do violence to a cat or murder a dog– those are acts readers hate.)
Funny, right?
Oh Wendy, you are singing my song. Throw into the discussion cultural differences that separate Christians and that can be a match on a tinder pile. I read a newsletter by poet and playwright Kelly DuMar that talked about the value of deep listening. In my writing I try to dig under the walls that both Christians and non Christians build. I’m finding that deep listening helps me respect my readers and walk that line, not always successfully but I am pleased to have readers in both camps.
We could do a whole long discussion on cultural issues!
Wendy, I’m loving the conversation today!
Of course, I adore your example of Debbie Macomber (my heroine). Debbie’s readers know she’s all about the meat-and-potatoes of life, but they are also guaranteed a clean story. Truth told in a wholesome way.
And I agree, too, with others here who have said we need to be realistic in our portrayal of Christians living in a real world, but not being OF it.
While Christian fiction is evolving, I pray we never see a Fifty Shades of Polka Dots in the CBA or witness gratuitous lifestyles without a redemption message.
If anyone doubts that there is a huge market for the “clean story,” they need only look at Debbie’s numbers. More than 100 million sold. (That’s sold, not “in print.”)
Exactly! 🙂
Wendy, what a wonderful, wonderful blog! You had me at C.S. Lewis!
Are you a fellow “Jack” aficionado, Lanny? You should see my bookshelves.
I am definitely a Christian, albeit a liberal one, and wish to write about my faith walk in the future. By your description, however, I do not think my books would be a “gentle read” and the will be filled with the truth of how I ended up where I am today. I do worry about what genre I will fit into, but I know one thing; I will write my truth. It may present itself as more of a draw to a secular audience who is intrigued or interested in their own faith walk. And that’s okay with me. I’m very raw with my testimonies and while most people appreciate that in my church, I am not sure all Christians can handle that type of in-your-face faith walk writing.
There is definitely a place for raw and up front. Just look at Anne Lamott. It just may not be in the CBA.
Boy, you hit the nail right on the head without even knowing me! My writing has actually been compared by peers to Anne Lamott more than once. I think there will be a place for me, I just have to figure out where.
In thinking about what you wrote, Wendy, and in reading all the comments, here’s where I came to rest –
I believe that when God said He’d make the rough ways smooth, He wasn’t talking about moving us to a new path. He meant that He was going to make our stride long enough, and our legs strong enough, to carry us through the valley of the shadow of death.
And that when we reached our limits, He’d carry us, and shield our eyes and hearts from that which would destroy our souls.
So I’m going to wear my heart and my faith on my sleeve. I’m going to write about the victory of faith in a world gone mad, and about the iron strength that God offers to place in our hearts, so that we may bear the unbearable, and one day come home to Him with our heads high, and duties fulfilled.
It may be to harsh for CBA, and too Christian for ABA.
I don’t care.
I’ll write for the broken, even if they never read it.
I am going to serve the God I love with all my heart in the best way I know how.
And the truth is, Andrew, you already write that here in this community. We all talk about our books or our eventual books but by writing your heart with your faith on your sleeve, you are already making a difference for the kingdom and with many of your friends here.
When you said that, Wendy, I suddenly saw my life redeemed, my heart made proof against despair, and my body resolved against pain.
Never out of the fight. For God, Kingdom, and my friends.
Thank you.
Hi Andrew,
Such powerful words: “He’d…shield our eyes and hearts from that which would destroy our souls.”
Your comment brought to mind something I just read. Jan Karon, in an interview, talking about incorporating Christianity into her stories:
“Many are scared to death of faith, and perhaps especially the Christian faith, which is radical, dangerous and exhausting. But of course it is also joyful, healing and transforming. A lot to chew, this Christianity– it is not for sissies.”
(Sounds like a best-seller to me…
“Christianity: It’s NOT for Sissies!”
Write on, Andrew!
Kathy
Definitely not for sissies.
When talking with fellow security contractors, I was always amused at their surprise that the Apostles were people like themselves…rough and physical men, whose behavior was not always decorous.
That Jesus would have been quite at home among a group of hired guns blew their minds, and made some believers – on the spot.
Not for sissies, indeed! Might make a good book, at that.
Great post and I love that quote. I am putting that on my bulletin board!
I did not worry about my story being “too” or “not enough” until I thought about publication and had to learn what ABA and CBA were. I just thought there were good books. “Good” as defined by me as a reader.
The jargon is particularly sensitive issue because Christianese is typically Evangelicalese. I’m Episcopal. My great friend is Orthodox. In my day job, we used to say at meetings to watch the jargon and not to use acronyms/abbreviations because you risk leaving people out of the conversation. Jargon is insider-speak, exclusionary.
There are books I won’t read because they are so “unreal” they make my eyes roll. And there are others I won’t read because I don’t care to have those ideas/images in my head. But I think we have to be careful to not minimize the dark lest we disguise it for it is and make it look so gray it almost looks like Light.
You are right. We speak to our own small choir quite often without even realizing it.
Years ago I asked my Catholic best friend, “When were you saved?” She looked at me as if I were asking a trick question and hesitatingly answered, “When Jesus died on the cross?” Bingo. I learned that there are many interesting ways to look at any faith issue.
As usual, I just dragged in from work, so I’m really late getting to the conversation. 🙁 I just wanted to say how grateful I am for you post. I often struggle with where my own stories belong, not because of the writing, but because of ME. I often feel that I don’t live up to the CBA standard myself and wonder if I’m a hypocrite for trying to write for that market. My character turn to God in times of crisis, as most Christians do. To remove that aspect from their story would remove part of who they are. I hope that readers won’t refuse to read my stories because I’m not a preacher’s wife, lead mission trips or teach Bible study classes.
I think you are right on track. To reach for God when we are in trouble is probably accurate for your characters. And guess what? Your readers may identify because they are, by and large, not pastor’s wives, do not lead mission trips nor teach Bible studies.
Thanks, Wendy, for this post + that link to Baba Yetu!
Great discussion, Everyone. The interest shown confirms the importance of this topic. By submitting ourselves to the Holy Spirit’s leadership, our Christian worldview can be properly expressed, regardless of genre or whether it’s CBA or ABA.
True, Sam. We have one of the best writing partners available– the Holy Spirit.
a fingerprint of such a book:
Oh My God, He’s Black(Gravity)
-sidney ross
Have not read that.
I love Stephen Lawhead’s books for just this reason. He is not preachy, but his faith is simply in the story, deep down, in how he views the characters and world he has created.
I do worry that my own stories don’t fit anywhere. Are my grumpy teen protagonists not Christian enough for the CBA and are the things they wrestle with and face too much? But there is such a strong faith journey in my stories, I think they might be too Christian for the ABA. Time will tell I suppose.
Does anyone else out there love a grumpy teen protagonist as much as I do? Hard to say.
Hmmm. Grumpy teens? Sounds like an accurate portrayal to me. 🙂
Read one of Virginia Smith’s bestselling books, Just As I Am. http://amzn.to/1uIXSdP
It sold well in the CBA market.
Thanks for the recommendation Wendy.
HarperCollins is publishing my first book next fall (www.jackieleasommers.com/truest), and I hope my Christianity is latent in it. The teens in it drink and curse, but there is blatant message of redemption.
I worry more about the evangelical culture attacking it for the cursing than I do about the secular culture attacking it for the faith elements.
“Blatant message of redemption.” Yes! I wish you amazing sales and a deep reach into your audience.
I don’t really think about the level of Christianity in my work. For instance, in my first novel, Spinstered, my characters’ struggle with their singleness is directly connected to their relationship with God so He’s almost a main character. In fact, technically speaking, He’s actually the antagonist of the story.
Hmm, I just made that realization. Thanks!
But in a novella I’m finishing up, while God is definitely a big part of her life, the main character is really dealing with issues of self-esteem and the search for family or, at least, a place to belong.
For me, the Christian aspect has to be organic to the story, not forced.
Isn’t it interesting to explore where and how God figures into our work?
Yes! Organic to the story.
I think the test for “latency” is generally whether you feel like you are being preached to. When telling a story, nuance and symbolism can be much more powerful than exposition and hand-holding. You can have a redemptive message without the characters becoming one-dimensional or reciting Bible verses. Even Jesus’s parables weren’t always very direct and the disciples actually needed some help connecting the dots. Getting readers to go on that journey (“oh, that’s what that meant!”) is indicative of good story-telling and latent Christianity.
I think the same holds true for movies and music, althouth I think Christian music has come a long way from listening to Petra (not that there’s anything wrong with that).
Not so for movies; I think our Christian movies are pretty non-latent. Granted, there’s been a few releases as of late that I haven’t seen. Guess I’m still traumatized from “Left Behind.” To be fair, the secular movies can get preachy and simplistic in their own right.
At the risk of being simplistic, a “Christian” book will move us closer to Jesus, a non-christian book will not.
I like all sorts of Christan books. Ones with Francine River’s take on a Bible character or Karen Kingsbury’s take on life through Christian eyes. I’m currently working on a book similar to Frank Petelli’s take on the unseen world. I love it! All kinds. 🙂
“WHAT MAKES A CHRISTIAN BOOK?” First of all my readers must enjoy what they read. I want them to turn the pages with anticipation, and get to know the characters as friends, or at least acquaintances. These characters should either be ordinary people with extraordinary things happening to them, or unhappy people who find peace in finding the source of real peace. Whatever causes the discontent and unhappiness, be it trauma, fear, guilt, jealousy or simply unbelief, I want my readers to enjoy following the character’s journey of discovery with me. Of course, this is a very simplistic description. Real life isn’t so predictable. There are hidden secrets, problems and misunderstandings, many twists and turns, often with lessons to learn along the way. Of course, there has to be a great plot. I want to expose my character’s innermost thoughts, suspicions, mistrust, and even vengeance. To fear when they fear. To sweat when they sweat. ‘To weep with those who weep, and laugh with those who laugh.’ To surreptitiously insert a few life lessons I have lived through myself. Don’t you just enjoy your power to create?
“TOO CHRISTIAN OR NOT CHRISTIAN ENOUGH?” Truthfully, I never worry about it. I simply create a character, and let them speak for themselves (sometimes negatively.) They will struggle to explain their own perceptions, and I just listen in.
During the time I lived in Toronto, under some very strange circumstances I found myself in a Jewish Writing Class. Almost every member of the class was some sort of professional – Medical Doctor, Professor, Engineer, Dentist, and several prosperous Business Men. Our teacher was also a professional Writer, who had won many awards and prizes. I learned so much from her, not just her skills in the written word, but also her attitude and humility. ‘What can we do with this Christian (me)?’ was a genuine problem for the class. I couldn’t just pretend to be Jewish as they suggested, but agreed not to proselytize. This didn’t work very well, as they asked me so many deep questions, which I was bound to answer truthfully. Instead of Christians hiding Jews, like in the Holocaust, it was Jews hiding a Christian.