Activity

Holy spagoni, so many replies! O-o 😀 Okay, from the beginning.

@princess-foo I totally agree on your paragraph on physical attraction! I already did hold that as my opinion, though I will say that, in real life, there really are some people who are absolutely stunning and do actually become the “love interest,” per se. However, to avoid clichés, I do usually (not always) go for the less attractive character as opposed to the glamorous model (when it comes to romance, at least) since that is a trope that’s way overused, and it hurts me. xD All in all, I think it’s more so the person behind the body that should be loved, regardless of what he/she looks like. Ya dig me?

@cassandraia Love everything you have to say, and definitely agree!

@daeus-lamb Oh wow, nice. *clapping hands emoji* This is very well thought out! There’s a lot of it there so I’ll probably have to mull it over, but reading it over I found it to be some really good advice. Thank you so much for investing so much time and thought into this question.

@wordsmith What you said about young writers totally makes since for me, and I think that might be something I needed to hear because I feel like that was kind of my thoughts already, but couldn’t put it into words very well.

@noahlitle I actually kind of agree with what you’re saying. xD The thing is, as I see it, romance (or horror) is very dangerous ground to trod, especially for us who are younger and not as wise. Though, to be fair, it really doesn’t matter what genre the story is in to me, so long as the message coincides with the one given to us by Christ. The Gospel. Personally I can’t handle anything over pg-13 (sometimes not even that), but if there were to be a Christian horror story that had clear messages pointing to the truth, I don’t think I’d be opposed to it at all. I just don’t think I’d read it. xD

The reason why I’m sort of confused about romance (or horror… frankly, I didn’t even realize that was a genre until now xD) is because yeah, there seem to be so many novels, even Christian ones, portraying romantic love as shallow and callous even, if that makes sense. It’s like wish-fulfillment. Instead of looking to God for a greater understanding and for hope and love, you read a romance novel that, because it’s Christian, is totally okay when it’s really… not. Especially for younger audiences, I think. It kind of fuels the fire where it doesn’t need to be fueled.

So, I guess it really all depends on your motives. Why do you read a Christian romance novel? Is it to glean insight, enjoy a good story, return to your life feeling motivated and inspired, or to fulfill your own desires while not actually going out to date a dude (or dudette)? Why write one? To pour your soul into a story, or to dwell on that which you probably shouldn’t? It all depends. So, if you’re gonna write for God, I don’t care what genre it is, that’s wonderful! But we must be careful to discern whether we’re writing for God or writing for ourselves. If that makes sense.