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Christian Storytellers Manifesto

Calling Christian Fiction to High Standards

Foreword

Where will Christian fiction be in a decade?

Ultimately, that depends upon you. Do you want to craft temporary entertainment, or art that endures?

Many writers focus on what sells right now, and producing marketable fiction is a challenge no matter who you’re trying to reach. But imagine how much more memorable and meaningful your stories would be if you delved deeper than current trends.

Christian authors of the past who dedicated themselves to timeless techniques and themes continue to touch hearts through the centuries. Wouldn’t you love to see more of those kinds of books published in our modern culture? And wouldn’t you love for yours to be one of them?

To pursue that dream, you need a vision that inspires you, holds you accountable, and keeps you on course.

This manifesto clarifies the principles and practices that lead to engaging, faith-grounded stories. It declares a commitment to exceptional rather than average literature. And it unites like-minded writers who will support each other as, together, they strive to raise Christian fiction to new levels.

Are you ready to join the movement? Sign your name below!

The Manifesto

As human beings created in God’s image, enabled to sub-create stories that reflect and reveal God’s story, and enlightened by the Word to see and display this reality, we resolve the following:

We resolve to be passionate and dedicated in our pursuit of excellent storytelling, knowing that we are reflecting the Creator’s image within us and fulfilling God’s commands to take dominion over the earth, love fellow image-bearers, and steward the resources He has provided.

– We resolve to fearlessly embrace and wisely exercise imagination as a gift from God, trusting Him to use it, not by limiting our creativity but by benevolently directing it.

– We resolve to look for ways to explore meaningful themes while delighting our readers, avoiding futile attempts to depict truth devoid of beauty.

– We resolve to infuse our storytelling with truth, being bold and unafraid of our stance while presenting it with love and tact, recognizing that truth in storytelling is best communicated when shown, not told.

– We resolve to avoid pointing readers toward false sources of hope or unbiblical answers to thematic questions, but to seriously consider how we can naturally and powerfully portray or allude to God’s reality in our stories.

– We resolve to craft characters who remain true to how flawed human beings live and act, affirming that Christian storytellers have the freedom to portray the full human experience in all its beauty and depravity, not to glorify or endorse sin but to accurately reveal the brokenness of the world.

– We resolve to seek to understand 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.

– We resolve, in light of God’s ultimate victory in our fallen world, to paint traces of hope in even the darkest situations.

– We resolve to accurately represent beliefs that differ from our own in order to help readers understand people rightly and challenge misconceptions.

– We resolve to strive for excellence and not settle for mediocrity by developing a competent command of grammar and style, understanding that skilled use of language points to the splendor of God’s created order.

We resolve to let our work shine before others in an effort to reach, encourage, and challenge them.

– We resolve to exhibit Christlikeness by nurturing authentic connections with readers that transcend their potential as customers, building a rapport with fellow authors, and responding to critics with patience and grace.

We resolve to base our confidence in God and not the opinions of others, to rely on God by praying over our writing, and to bury ourselves in Scripture, for we can only exemplify truth when we are immersed in it ourselves.

We resolve to be teachable, weighing the advice of others because we always have room to grow, and to be humble, acknowledging that we are not writing the greatest story but merely pointing readers to it.

– We resolve to remember that the purpose of storytelling is to glorify God and that our worth is not founded in our authorship, but in being sons and daughters of the King.

Featured Signers

Paul McCusker

Paul McCusker

Writer of 300 Adventures in Odyssey  episodes & 30+ novels

Wayne Thomas Batson

Wayne Thomas Batson

Author: The Door Within

Anna Raats

Anna Raats

Chief Operating Officer of Ambassador International

Sharon Hinck

Sharon Hinck

Author: The Restorer, The Restorer’s Son, The Deliverer

Faith Blum

Faith Blum

Author: Hymns of the West, Orphans of the West

Paul Regnier

Paul Regnier

Author: The Emerald Enigma, The Iron Gauntlet

S. D. Grimm

S. D. Grimm

Author: Scarlet Moon, Phoenix Fire, Summoner

Morgan L. Busse

Morgan L. Busse

Author: Daughter of Light, Tainted, Mark of the Raven

Nicole Sager

Nicole Sager

Author: The Heart of Arcrea, Hebbros, Burdney

Kyle Robert Shultz

Kyle Robert Shultz

Author: The Beast of Talesend, Horseman, The Janus Elixir

Nate Philbrick

Nate Philbrick

Author: Broken City of Crows, Where the Woods Grow Wild

K. L. Pierce

K. L. Pierce

Author: Two Lives Three Choices

Jaye L. Knight

Jaye L. Knight

Author: Resistance, The King’s Scrolls, Samara’s Peril, Exiles

Kim Vandel

Kim Vandel

Author: Into the Fire, Among the Flames

Aleigha Israel

Aleigha Israel

Author: A Light for Christ Trilogy

Hannah Heath

Hannah Heath

Author: Colors of Fear, Skies of Dripping Gold

Add Your Signature 

Christian Storytellers Manifesto

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Further Reading

We’ve written several in-depth article series that unpack the practical applications of the manifesto resolutions. Learn how to live out the manifesto by clicking one of the article series below.

(Why download? Resolutions work best when they’re visible. Sign a physical copy and put it somewhere it will inspire you.)

View All 1017 Signatures

1,017 NICHOLAS JOHNSON Sep 29, 2024
1,016 Amy Ramirez-Leal Sep 20, 2024
1,015 Caitlin Schwanger Sep 14, 2024
1,014 Laurie Germaine Sep 13, 2024
1,013 Elisabeth Faircloth Sep 12, 2024
1,012 Adalaid Hitzfield Sep 09, 2024
1,011 Abigail Berg Aug 23, 2024
1,010 Cheryl Stansberry Aug 01, 2024
1,009 Samuel Eyk Jul 30, 2024
1,008 Kathryn Gibson Jul 23, 2024
1,007 Fran Suárez Jul 21, 2024
1,006 Sunny Chapin Jul 11, 2024
1,005 Alice Hope Dexter Jul 03, 2024
1,004 Lucy Rubach Jul 02, 2024
1,003 Tiffany Link Jun 29, 2024
1,002 Hannah Stiff Jun 17, 2024
1,001 Melissa Troutman Jun 12, 2024
1,000 Shannon Skaer Jun 06, 2024
999 Luke Vulgate Jun 02, 2024
998 anna pedersen Jun 01, 2024
997 Lydiyah Israela May 24, 2024
996 Meredith Folz May 18, 2024
995 Lisa Cullett May 16, 2024
994 Rachel Appelt May 13, 2024
993 Sharleen Bennett May 04, 2024
992 Debbie Thomas Apr 23, 2024
991 KENDRA RYALS Apr 20, 2024
990 Kathryn Jordan Apr 18, 2024
989 Allison Hilleson Apr 18, 2024
988 Olivia Tonn Apr 13, 2024
987 Lavonne Hunt Apr 11, 2024
986 Aurora Frasca Apr 05, 2024
985 Jason Bergstrom Apr 03, 2024
984 Abigail Harvey Apr 02, 2024
983 Natalie Michaelis Apr 01, 2024
982 Alaina E. White Apr 01, 2024
981 Gail Allyson King Mar 27, 2024
980 Leona Burch Mar 12, 2024
979 Ines Manahan Mar 04, 2024
978 Anna Ohrenberg Feb 25, 2024
977 Arianna Johnson Feb 18, 2024
976 Hannah Ramirez Feb 18, 2024
975 Riley Crowe Feb 15, 2024
974 Libby Taylor-Worden Feb 02, 2024
973 Robert Battle Feb 02, 2024
972 Eowyn G. Tern Jan 24, 2024
971 Claire Shealy Jan 22, 2024
970 Eowyn Bolivette Jan 15, 2024
969 Carter Knight Jan 15, 2024
968 Leslie B Jan 11, 2024

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