“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.”
-1 Peter 4:10
Welcome Christian Writer!
Whether you’re a traditionally published author or an indie author, your “voice” matters! God has given you a gift, and I pray you use it for His eternal purposes.
I was blessed to teach at the American Christian Fiction Writers’ Lowcountry Meeting, where I spoke to a group of beautiful writers. I shared tidbits of advice on how to enhance your writing as an author and, more importantly, how to convey God’s eternal truths through fiction.
May you be encouraged and inspired through this free teaching on the “why” behind Christian fiction.
*The teaching notes are below the video (for those of you who like quick highlights).
Teaching Notes:
Keeping First Things, First.
- One of the first things we have to establish as Christian artists is the purpose of Christian fiction. Why write fiction?
- First off, I believe the ability to write is a gift from God and that we are entrusted to steward that gift wisely. I believe everything we do should be about loving Him… I don’t think anything we do will count for eternity if it’s not built on loving God and serving him from a pure heart. I started writing because I stuttered so badly that I was afraid to speak, so I had a lot of quiet time to observe people and pray internally. I would spend hours almost every morning getting to know God as a teenager, in worship, in prayer and in journaling my prayers to Him. Eventually my prayers changed into poems of love toward Him and stories filled with characters that revealed some biblical truth that drew the characters closer to God.
- I believe God has given every believer gifts that are meant to be used to glorify Him, fulfill the great commission (by pointing others to Him), and bring joy and fulfillment in our lives. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. -1 Peter 4:10
- Our writing is a part of the ministry He’s called us to. The greatest ministry is to be a servant.
- For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. -1 Corinthians 3:9
- Everything should exult Christ.
- I believe that we work in partnership with God and He has given us the ability to evangelize in different ways. Maybe your gift isn’t street evangelism where you go and talk to people as you’re out, but maybe your gift is sharing the Gospel through written words.
Getting Started. What is your passion and how does it serve your reader? (This gets into your genre)
- Start by asking what is the main takeaway you want your readers to have from your book? Is it faith under trial, redemption, being equally yoked in marriage, how to handle trauma the Biblical way, the power of the supernatural realm, how to navigate hardships in marriage, keeping faith after the loss of a loved one?
- Pray, pray, pray. Ask the Holy Spirit what He would have you write about because our gifts are from Him and He takes what is in the mind of God and reveals it to us (we want to work in partnership with the same Holy Spirit that Jesus walked with in his earthly ministry). For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. And this is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.… -1 Corinthians 2:10-12.
- What solution are you offering your readers through your story?
- For example, my book, Romantic Rendezvous for the Soul and The Sacred Wooing addresses the God-size hole that everyone has (that nothing on earth can satisfy) through the revelation of Christ as Bridegroom. I play on the romantic yearning in women for everlasting love by pointing them to one, eternally faithful, Lover of their souls. My goal is for this to help women (especially young adults and teenagers), avoid unhealthy codependent relationships, or even abusive relationships by giving them a drink from the well that never runs dry and helping them to come to Jesus so that they thirst no more but they see themselves as cherished, beloved, and as the bride of Christ. This comes from my experience in working as a youth minister with teenage girls for almost ten years (I saw girls get into unhealthy relationships because they wanted to feel loved and didn’t know how much God loved them or how precious they are to Jesus. Some of the girls I knew compromised their morals to gain a fleeting sense of love, some of them had babies, which I’m grateful that they kept their babies, but maybe some didn’t and I didn’t know about it. One girl ran away from home, some left the church and maybe stopped believing in Jesus all to fill a hole that only Jesus can fill). This passion also came from working with women who survived trafficking, from my time hosting women home Bible study groups, and even as a crisis prayer minister for Andrew Wommack Ministries. I saw time and time again how the yearning for love got women into horrible situations and created brokenness not only in their lives, but in the lives of those around them. I know there is only One who can satisfy the human heart, even though He gave us the beautiful gift of marriage and all the good things it entails. He is the water of life, and promises that those who drink from Him will never be thirsty. I also went through my single years trusting Jesus for a godly husband and I prayed that my first boyfriend would be the one because I didn’t want to face heartache or give something precious away that i only wanted my husband to have, not a piece of my heart and not even a kiss and God honored my prayer.
- This brings up another point, who is your audience? What age range are you targeting? Do they come from a certain demographic?
- My audience is Christian youth and women, ages fifteen and up. They are church goers, most likely middle class and mainly single or women who want a deeper relationship with Jesus and enjoy warm romances.
Creating Memorable Characters
- Once you find how you want to serve your reader, you create your characters around that core message. Who are your characters (protagonist, antagonist, side characters)? Who is for the main character, who or what is against the main character?
- Who is your main character before she endures the storm and who does she become after?
- How will your character relate to your reader? How can your reader see themselves in her? (what things might your character have in common with your readers) We want our readers to subconsciously connect with the main character and see bits of them in her so they can internalize the eternal message from God’s word in our book.
- For example, in my upcoming book, The Sacred Wooing, Noelani is a representation of the church who is confused about her identity. She doesn’t understand her worth, her godly inheritance, her position as the Bride of Christ, etc. As Jesus walks with her, and dismantles the lies of the culture (humanism) around her and the enemy, she begins to see herself through His eyes and this translates into her outfit transforming into a heavenly dress of righteousness. It sparkles like starlight. Many believers do not perceive their preciousness to God. They go around with an undertow of guilt or feeling like GOd is disappointed with them. They might feel unworthy to be in ministry, not sure of their forgiveness. They are not bold in prayer (those who know their God will do great exploits), they let fear and doubt control aspects of their lives.
The plot
- Create tension. What is the main plot of the story? What is bothering the main character? What challenges do they have to overcome?
- One thing I want to do as a writer is to glorify God in every chapter by somehow pointing the reader to Him. You can include this in your chapter outline as an easy way to keep track of how you will do that.
- Create tension in every chapter to keep the reader interested. EVERY chapter should have a challenge, whether it’s emotional or something as small as a flat tire for your character. Something should engage the reader and yet plug the greater plot along. When I first joined ACFW, I admit, I found this to be challenging. I was so absorbed in building my characters and even writing day to day scenes because I was in love with my characters, that I forgot to see things from a readers perspective who may be less invested in my characters (until they get to know them) than I am. A few critique partners lovingly pointed this out to me and it really helped me enhance my story.
- How might what your characters face resonate with your reader/audience?
- Your plot: How does your plot fit the genre that your readers love and also, how is it unique (what makes it stand out)? This is a delicate balance to strike. For example, what makes almost all Hallmark movies the same? What distinguishes them?
Drawing Closer to God as You Write
- Return to your first love. Why did you begin to write in the first place? Remember that pure place. If you’ve lost it, remember the beginning when writing was full of joy and simplicity and there wasn’t anything complicated about it. No hard deadlines, no wondering what others will think, no people pleasing, no studying algorithms or allowing the culture to pull you away from the message you believe you’re called to express through writing. When group thinking or conforming to circles wasn’t demanding or heavy. Maybe you’ve never felt these things, but I’ve felt some of them and I know I’m not alone.
- For me, it was to spend time with God in the secret place.
- You can grow closer to God in your writing and God can use you to inspire others to draw near to Him in your writing!
