Josiah DeGraafJosiah DeGraaf is a literature nerd who loves helping Christian writers impact readers with honest storytelling. As a reader, he loves epic fantasy stories with imaginative worldbuilding. And as a writer, he loves crafting fantasy stories about characters who face the same dilemmas we do when we try to do the right thing. You can download his illustrated short story collection for free to read about ordinary people who need to decide how far they’re willing to go to save lives when they’re gifted with supernatural powers. In addition to Story Embers, he also works as the program director of the Young Writer’s Workshop and as a staff writer for Lorehaven. He lives in a small river town just north of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Why does Christian fiction as a genre have to exist? Why can’t we ditch the special label and simply write good fiction? In the first installment of our article series exploring The Promise of Jesse Woods, Josiah answers these objections and explains what the book teaches about crafting explicitly Christian themes that resonate with readers.
One of our goals at Story Embers is to release series that unpack different resolutions from our manifesto and help writers pursue our vision for Christian fiction. This year, as we discussed which resolution to focus on, empathetic characters rose to the top of our list. Readers need to bond with characters, or they won’t enjoy and be impacted by a story. Accomplishing this as writers involves understanding “readers’ thought processes, emotions, and worldviews so we can connect meaningfully with them in our storytelling, knowing that human nature is repelled by simplistic representations.”
“Bad books are a myth because the only measuring stick is people’s whims.” I ended my first article in this mini series with that provocative and troubling conclusion. But hopefully you followed my reasoning. Since even literary-minded readers occasionally enjoy “bad” books, how can we make any objective assessments?
We all have books we hate where we can’t fathom how anyone else could enjoy them. And yet scrolling through the reviews of even your least-favorite book on Amazon or Goodreads will inevitably reveal a number of five-star write-ups. Why do readers like these books? And why does this matter to authors?
Writers tend to view symbols as literary tropes to develop a story’s theme. However, well-executed symbols not only deepen theme: they enhance the audience’s enjoyment of a story. Here’s a few lessons we can learn from the new Star Wars trilogy about how to craft symbols that emotionally impact readers.
Fawkes is one of those novels that breaks the “rules” for how to deliver a Christian message without sounding preachy. Many of the tropes used in this novel would be cliched or annoying in other stories. But Brandes makes them work without any of those downsides. Here’s how she did it.
In a world where the gods of sexual pleasure pose strong opposition to Christianity, we need Christian storytellers who are ready to write about sexuality appropriately and biblically. In this article, I outline seven principles to consider when incorporating sex into our stories.
Many Christian storytellers desire to set themselves apart from the secular world by writing clean stories. Clean fiction can have a purpose, especially if the target audience expects it. But if all Christian fiction is clean, I’d contend that we’ve lost something. Here’s why.
What are our goals here at Story Embers? I was at a writing conference a couple weeks ago and people asked me this question a lot. That’s why at our first annual staff retreat this summer, we created a video explaining what Story Embers is and how we want to help Christian writers grow.
“Do I need an editor?” I’ve seen this question countless times on blogs, forums, and Facebook posts. I understand why authors feel doubtful. The price tag can be steep, and you may be unsure whether the results are worth the cost. Many writers have misconceptions, though, about what professional editing actually is. Here
are three truths you may not realize about the practice.
