Martin Detwiler

Fantastic article, Martin. Sometimes not writing and instead living our lives results in us creating more powerful stories than we could through hours of practice. That doesn’t cancel out the necessity of honing our craft, but living stories gives us an intuitive understanding of stories that studying them often can’t.

This was so interesting and something I might not have come to on my own. Definitely challenging.

I’m so glad this is encouraging to you, Zachary! The recent past has been a time of growing for me as well; it’s so encouraging to know that the wider our experiences range and the more issues we face and grow through, the more we’re equipped to tell stories that are nuanced and powerful. God bless you into the future as you seek to tell those stories!

Thank you for your kind words, Brian! Very encouraging.

I’m glad this struck a nerve with you and was liberating!

I’m one of those guys with the vivid imagination. 😄 Point 1 really struck me though. I’m going to have to dwell on this.

Wow. That’s interesting.
I don’t really have an entire monologue about it (good job, Brian), but I am sending it to my cousin, and from what I know of her WIP, I think it’ll help her.

“Three Christian fantasy authors I love and respect (Lewis, Tolkien, and Andrew Peterson) portray endings that mirror God’s metanarrative with resounding success.”

Someone else puts the name Peterson with those of Tolkien and Lewis?!? Yahooo!!!! (And I totally agree – all three endings leave you with that satisfactory ache for something more. Like Andrew Peterson said, “[Men and women] are sitting down to spin a tale that awakens, a tale that leaves readers with a painful longing that points them home, a tale whose fictional beauty begets beauty in the present world and heralds the world to come.” I think Peterson did an excellent job doing that with his own stories, just like Tolkien and Lewis.)

And while I’m most certainly NOT a horror person (LOTR haunted me for a whole year), you have very valid points I’ll have to think about. 🙂 Thx for the article!

Thank you so much! this just what I needed. I’ve always had a liking for the horror genre for a long time:) This helped put it in perspective for me.

Wow, wow. I agree wholeheartedly with this. Thank you for taking the time to put this down on “paper” and share it with us. I’m glad what I wrote was able to provide a springboard for these thoughts, and I hope they have continued to do so!

Also, thank you for your sincere encouragement. Every one of these articles is a team effort and we appreciate your involvement in the community, support, and yes, long comments, too. XD

Hey Andi!

It’s my hope that as more and more Christian writers simply set out to write impactful fiction that can change people’s lives, instead of trying to stick within the artificial constraints of a genre that exists for no other reason than marketing, that some of the issues you bring up in this comment will begin to lessen. There’s evident problems in how sanitized Christian fiction is, on average; as you mentioned, certain topics just seem to be unacceptable for the marketing label. I know that for myself, most of my story ideas tend to deal with heavy and/or mature subjects, making them ‘inappropriate’ for the Christian market.

But we can make a difference! And it all starts with writing great stories that cannot be ignored or sidelined, under whatever label they happen to fit best. If that means some of us have to leave the marketing label “Christian fiction” to do so, maybe that’s what it will take. At the end of the day, we’re trying to entertain and delight, and raise the readers eye to what is above. And it is excellent fiction that will accomplish that change.

Thank you for your comment!

Wow, how true. (AND THE REFERENCE TO THE WINGFEATHER SAGA!! *sniffs and wipes tears* He is SO good at writing heartwrenching scenes.)

This was so helpful! I especially loved that bit about us storytellers capturing the emotions, the essence instead of literally repainting things. That was so clarifying.

But I have a tricky situation in my WIP and I was wondering what I should do about it. My MC and her family live on Earth in Russia, so she knows about Jesus and such from the Bible, but her parents actually come from another planet, a magical fantasy world, where there is a divine being (Davatel, as they call.) God, of course, is the same in all universes, but he can be known by different names and through different ways (like in Narnia.) What I struggle with is what her parents tell her about “Earth” God? Would they teach her about Davatel? Would they treat our God/Jesus/Christianity as history? I guess it is just the balance that I struggle with, what these characters would believe. I would really appreciate any help!

Thank you for your encouraging words, Brian!

I love what you’ve laid out here concerning your WIP. I think it’s a great idea to show an evolution in your character’s understanding of God. In fact, I think this is a very important aspect that definitely should be included. Change denotes growth and shows that the character’s relationship with God is transformative and not a static set of beliefs. This has been true in my life, and I think many people of our Faith have had similar experiences coming to understand God from new perspectives as they mature.

If you portray this well, I think it will help give the impression that there is more to God than we are capable of fully grasping in our minds all at once, and will be a testament to the bigness and complexity of God’s character. However, the central image of a Stone will help to anchor all of those variations into something solid, easy to grasp, and unchanging. I like the paradox inherent in the idea of a Living Stone.

Rather than portraying a changing God, doing so will help underscore the reality of a changing individual as their relationship with God and others grows.

Thank you, Zachary!

I like me some direct theophany. 😎

My pleasure! I’m happy you found benefit in this article, and it’s always wonderful to meet another fan of the Wingfeather Saga!

I love this! I was super excited to find this website and was super encouraged by the message above:) I am in the process of writing a book and I always want everything I create to glorify my heavenly father and I want to learn to write a Jesus-like character. Thank you for putting this together!

Serving Him,
Annabel

Psalm 45:1

My heart overflows with a good theme;
I address my verses to the King;
My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.

Fantastic Article! It has given me a lot to think about for my story. It is a bit difficult to not have good people die in a world where everyone must fight to survive in a war-torn land. I have been struggling if that would be realistic if they all make it through. They will be victorious in the end but every victory has its cost and sacrifices. I honestly hate death scenes but respect them to the fullest if they show the quality of the character as to why they do and die for sake of others. Those scenes of selfless sacrifice have always stuck with me since I first read John 15:13 “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” I hope to make this a constant theme with all my good characters who seek to live in peace, honor, and faith but are ready to die for each other’s right to live. So far only off-screen or minor/brief characters die in my story in battle or tragedy which might help provide a feeling of how broken the world is. Most importantly why it is so important to keep fighting the good fight so no more will have to die. Though I would prefer they did not die at all. lol

I definitely have thought of compromising my characters so they will have to retire from the frontlines of the story. If something or ability is taken from someone that they dearly hold onto or that defines their life, it can often be like an internal death in their mind and soul where they have given up. In many cases looking at the misery of the character, it can seem like death would have been a more merciful thing. This definitely could be a powerful tool. The most memorable scene for me is when the character loses his whole world and is overcome by despair. However, they find victory through unconditional love and support from friends and family, they find new purpose and are reborn.

I’m glad you enjoyed it!

I’m glad you appreciated this, Michael!