I recently let one of my coworkers read the preliminary draft of Trust Hole, and just the other day she finished. I didn't get a chance to ask her what she thought of it that moment, but a few days later I worked up enough courage to ask, "So? What did you think?"
Now, The Trust Hole is blatantly Christian, (though hopefully not in a bad way). In other words, I preach Christ Jesus and Him crucified pretty hard, but in a way that makes sense to the story. I.e. my main character does not go to a church where he hears a pastor talking... etc. He hears about Christ through those around him, and slowly realizes his need of this Savior his closest friends seem to rely on so much. The way I see it, I exaggerate things in my stories, blowing up small things into bigger things. And when dangers become bigger, worlds stranger, surviving harsher, Christ shines through all the more. People feel no need for a Savior when their lives are going pretty well. It it only when they realize their own inability to cope and their great and utter need for someone to rescue them that they begin looking for someone to turn to. So I blast my characters through the worst I can imagine, sucking my readers (Christian and non-christian) into this roller coaster of a story, and then tie them so strongly to the characters and their journeys that they cannot put the book down, even if I am saying something they do not agree with. In the end, God-willing, it will have effected them in a way they weren't expecting.
So, naturally, I was a bit nervous about hearing what my non-christian co-worker had thought of the book.
"I really liked it! Couldn't put the book down when I first started reading it. Your writing is really clean and moves along nice. I kept thinking as I was reading it what a good movie it would make."
"Any suggestions?"
"Well, the pacing was really fast up to about the last third, then there were about four chapters of Christianity, and then it picked back up again. So maybe work on the pacing there."
"Thanks! That's really helpful"
"Well, you're welcome. Oh, and someone else was wondering if he could read it too. I told him, 'There's the words Jesus Christ in it! You might get saved!'"
We both laughed. But her critique was true, and I went back and checked the story. It could definitely use some pacing around those four chapters; it's a lot of character development, Gospel, and not much action. So I'm going to work on that. I want to "Show, not tell," but at the same time I don't want to be afraid to hold back the truth. It's a fine wire to walk, just as most everything in this life is.
I pray to God that He grants me the ability to craft a story worthy of telling His ultimate Story.
Good point you make there - though I myself found God differently (I was listening to a service, and it kinda hit me ... wow that's a pathetic description. But there was no trauma or struggle really involved, though I'd been fighting it out with my agnosticism and worried if I was damning myself for a long while).
ReplyDeleteThe work I got published recently was a Christian-ish work - it's a short story I wrote describing my own experience of finding faith. I find that showing faith via writing - and not shoving it down people's throats too pedantically, gosh I hate people who do that - is a good way to get people to explore and find their faith for themselves.
Do you agree with me on that?
Charley--that is a really good point, if I may jump in here. I agree about shoving it down their throats. I think that that sort of pushes them away. Why would they want to be Christians if that's what Christians are like? But then again, if we sit around doing just what the unbelievers do, then we are having the same result because why would they need to change if they were already like us, if that makes any sense? The thing is, it's really hard for me to tell what non-Christians get "saved" or "changed" by. You know what I mean? Since I am a Christian, even non-Christian books reek of Jesus because that is what I am looking for in reading the book, consciously or subconsciously (sp?).
DeleteHowever, coming from several reviews I have read by non-Christians on Christian books, they get a little weary of the preachiness. I can understand because even I get a little weary of it in Christian books. I think the main thing we're looking for is to glorify God in our writing (did you read Jake's post over at teenagewritingrocks.blogspot.com? Very good stuff there). Sometimes I wonder if I actually can save people by writing novels. Or if I am called to something higher with maybe some writing on the side to inspire other Christians like me. Who knows?
Anyway, thanks for letting me ponder in response to your comment. I hope mine made at least a little sense. ;-)
Good thoughts, Charley and Hannah! For me, I would definitely agree that shoving the gospel down a reader's throat is not what I want to do. At the same time, if the news I bear is so great and life-changing, wouldn't I want to share it any chance I get? It's rather like street-preaching; is it helpful or harmful? Frankly, only God knows. But that's the point. My job is to write what He has placed on my heart, His is to use it. I can't save a single soul on my own accord, nor can my best logic and reasoning convince a single skeptic of the legitimacy and reality of God, only His Holy Spirit can do that. All I can do is tell His tale as much and in as many ways as I can; and He will do the rest.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments, guys! They made me think, and reaffirm in my own mind what I know to be true. Thanks again!