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@calidris I pretty much agree with everything that you just said there. Especially about how moral issues are being sanitised and that people like to make the assassin character ‘cool’ but not the drug dealer. On example is an anime I watched recently vinland saga, it has a character who is considered to be the fan favourite because he’s morally grey. Sure he has an interesting character arc, but in my opinion, he’s just a straight up villain with a sad backstory, so I find the universal praise for this ‘awesome’ character somewhat disturbing.

I think that one of the best ways that we can avoid glorifying sin in our writing is to clearly portray the consequences of their actions.  This applies to any character, but I think it’s especially important with morally gray characters, since they tend to be seen as “cool.”  I think it’s also important to let this be a natural consequence instead of just punishment from the author XD

Absolutely! In general one of the biggest complaints about fiction nowadays is that the characters are spared from the consequences of their own actions. Imagine that😂

For example, a lot of characters’ sins and mistakes culminated in Kit being ostracized, and even after this event, these sins continued to have an effect.  Cecil never would have shared about the private struggle Kit confided in him if he weren’t drunk, and Kit’s petty motives and arrogance/cockiness while interacting with Alastor certainly caused some resentment, which very well might have been a factor in Alastor’s decision to out Kit and socially isolate him.  I wouldn’t be surprised if Cecil was later tempted to drown his guilt and shame over betraying Kit’s trust in even more booze, and even Alastor himself was plagued by guilt and fear after seeing how cruelly Kit was treated, because he realized that the exact same thing could one day happen to him if someone shared a “shameful” secret of his own (I say “shameful” because Kit knows that his shame has been taken away by his Savior, while Alastor is probably an unbeliever and has not experienced that redemption.)  I think Alastor also knows that because he gained social power through gossip and drama, he’s opened up opportunities for other people to use these same tactics against him – he’s essentially afraid of being pitted against someone like himself.

Can I just say that I want to give Kit like the biggest, best hug in the world?😪 That poor thing! And I think its great that you’re prepared to use his character to address a topic as complex as this. I can tell how dedicated you are to getting Kit’s character arc right, so I know you will do the topic justice 🙂

One area in which my convictions really differ from a lot of Christian writers is that I don’t really write about violence.  I can maybe think of three potential instances of violence, and those were all instigated by an antagonist.  Personally, I’ve found that thinking about and plotting scenes involving violence and fighting made me feel farther away from God – even something as “minor” as a fistfight felt unhealthy to dwell on.  I feel like for some reason, God doesn’t want me writing about these things, so I’m obeying that conviction and avoiding those scenes.  Back when I was really lukewarm, I had a lot of violent/fighting scenes in my writing, but as I started growing closer to God and making an effort to intentionally pursue Him and involve Him in my writing, the amount of violence significantly decreased.  Obviously, I’m far from perfect, but I do see the changes in my writing as evidence of my spiritual growth and sanctification.  This isn’t to say that it’s wrong for Christians to write about violence!  This is just a personal conviction that God has put on my heart, but I do think it’s a good reminder to check your heart and your motives.  What is the purpose of the morally gray/touchy things you’re including?  Honestly, as I look back on my heart and maturity throughout my time as a writer (even just this year,) there’s been so many times when my motives were immature or flat out bad, and I’m so thankful to God for correcting me and even using the writing that came out of those impure motives for far better purposes.  Throughout this year, I’ve made a really intentional choice of asking God to shape and change my writing as He sees fit, and to show me how I can use it to better glorify Him.  It’s something that I believe has led to really, really rapid growth and maturing both in my writing and in my personal walk with Christ, and I would encourage you to do it as well!

I respect that you have decided to stay away from topics that you feel you shouldn’t breach. I think there are far too many writers who think they can do a hard topic justice and end up failing. The topic of violence is quite a tricky one for Christians, it should definitely not be glorified. In my case, I feel compelled to focus on the horrors of war in my WIP. It didn’t start off that way, it was a gradual process, beginning after I watched some war-themes films and shows. The power of indoctrination and corruption became something I just couldn’t ignore, which then moved onto the consequences of these deeds. One thing I know for sure is that it is horrifically easy for people turn against one another. You don’t need a very complicated reason. Like in Northern Ireland, Catholics and Protestants turned against one another simply because of their different political and cultural identities. That particular ongoing conflict was actually an inspiration for the war in my series.

For all of my characters, they are all affected by a heavy indoctrination of some sort, war truama and displacement. That is why the morals in that story are so bent, at least for the young characters, including Lorcán. But I also recently added in two new characters, a married couple, Rathnait and Oisín, who actually serve as sort of spiritual and emotional help to them.

And I always ask God to guide me of course 🙂 because like I said, I deal with a lot of terrible and complicated subjects. Can’t do it without Him!😁

And at the end of the day, I think it really all boils down to this question: who and what does this character glorify?  Is God glorified by this character and by their arc, or does their story just magnify darkness?  Because I think you can have a dark or morally gray character who ultimately glorifies God – either by their redemption through grace, or through justice and the portrayal of good conquering evil.  I’d steer away from depicting anything that only serves to magnify the darkness (one reason why I’m wary of Christian horror.)  And absolutely ask Him how you can glorify Him with your characters and story!

Definitely! For Lorcán it’s definitely God being glorified through his character by his redemption arc. I look at him through the lens of a soldier. I will try to explain this as best as I can without giving away spoilers so here goes:

Lorcán has an us-or-them and it’s-for-the-greater-good sort of mindset, which was built up over a long period of time. He believes what he does will be beneficial in the long run, even so he detests his profession. Through his relationships with Mayra and other characters, the doubt he’s always had at the back of his mind slowly spills out. He wants ‘freedom’ and ‘peace’ but the problem with that is that he has always been taught that it’s ‘the other side’ that’s the issue, which means ‘the other side’ have to go. Bottom line is – lots of people have to die if you want to achieve ultimate peace and freedom. That’s how war starts and genocides occur. And its his ultimate realisation later on in the series that its all a lie, that he doesn’t hate and doesn’t want to hate ‘the other side’, he’s just being used for war and that genocide is the endgame, that causes him to just crack and decide he wants no part in it. He is going to achieve peace the righteous way.

I don’t know if I answered all your points in your response, so let me know your thoughts! 🙂