R.M. Archer's Blog, page 8

How I Became an Editor (and What I’ve Learned)

As I open my freelance editing services for the year, I wanted to talk a bit about how that branch of my business got started, some of the things I’ve learned along the way, and my values as an editor.

Over the years, I’ve had people ask me about how I got started because they’re interested in starting freelance editing businesses of their own, so I thought it would be helpful to put all of that information together in one place and touch on some details I haven’t always brought up in those discussions.

I’ve also talked to authors who don’t have much experience in finding editors who are a good fit for their work (and I’ve been that author, myself), and I hope that this post gives insight into what to look for (and what to avoid).

So without further ado, let’s get into it.

Reading with an Editor’s Eye

I’ve been asked whether I always liked editing, and I do think I’ve always liked critiquing things. I know I’ve always loved opportunities to encourage authors and help them strengthen their stories wherever I’m able! I’m a naturally analytical person, I can generally pull out the good and the bad in a project somewhat instinctively, so I’m often giving some sort of mental critique to anything I read–even if that “critique” is only pulling out the really skillful lines because whatever I’m reading is well-written.

I started really exercising that tendency for any useful purpose when I started beta-reading a long while back, and I enjoyed that process. I was in online writing groups where writers would occasionally ask for beta-readers for XYZ project, and I got into a habit of volunteering. I didn’t always finish those projects, but I practiced on several books that way and I did finish maybe half of them. (Don’t worry; I don’t carelessly drop projects anymore! I’ll talk about consistency a little later.)

Over the years, with more beta-reading experience and more regular reading experience with indie books, I figured out that I really love line editing. I love to tweak prose so that it’s stronger and conveys its meaning even better. I love catching small inconsistencies. I love just taking what’s there and smoothing it out so that it’s at its most effective and the reader doesn’t trip over it. I enjoy proofreading for somewhat similar reasons, and because I’m really good at catching those detail mistakes in someone else’s work. (Authors I’ve worked with have said so; that’s not just me puffing myself up, lol.) While I do also notice some bigger-picture weaknesses when I read, those issues don’t stand out to me with as much consistency; they take a lot more work to look for, if I want to be thorough on that level.

In short, I always liked editing, and I enjoyed it more and more as I figured out what I’m good at and where my passion lies.

A Desire to Help Indies

While I’d enjoyed casually beta-reading, the thought of starting an editing business didn’t really arise until I got deeper into the indie publishing world. A read a lot of indie books that were excellent where the big-picture elements were concerned but had awkward prose or were riddled with grammatical errors. (One book was so poorly edited I actually took red pen to it. Most were just a little awkward.) The big picture was great; the details to communicate and accentuate that big picture just needed a bit more fine-tuning.

I valued these indie authors (still do), and it pained me to see their books just lacking the one final polish that would allow their readers to be fully immersed in the story, so I started to think… I’d already been “editing” these books in my head: pulling out the strengths and weaknesses, thinking up smoother sentences, correcting improper punctuation, etc. Why not become an editor and put myself in a position to actually help these authors before their books went out? I knew that as an indie author myself, I would want to work with an editor to smooth over those rough spots!

The concept of starting an editing business was highly driven by this appreciation for indie publishing and the authors within that community. I value giving indie authors good editing options and a professional experience, and I do my best to provide that on my own part; I hope I succeed. I think it’s important to give authors options that suit their writing style and story, with quality feedback, which is another guiding principle of how I select projects to take on and my goals for referrals. But more on that later.

If you think we might be a good fit, check out my line editing services!

Learn more

Getting Started & Accountability

I didn’t have any official qualifications when I got started–in fact, I still don’t. I do plan to go through a certificate program at some point, and I think it is critical to have some sort of feedback from someone who knows their stuff before you get started. For me, this feedback came from my parents, both of whom are editors in some capacity. Their experience allowed them to know when I was really good enough to edit for other authors.

I do think a certificate program is a good idea, if and when you’re in a position to go through one, because it will not only put a rubber stamp on your skills but also refresh any knowledge you might be missing without realizing it. (For the same reason, it’s really helpful to keep something like the Chicago Manual of Style on hand so you can double-check things if you’re not sure about them.)

After getting the green light on your general editorial know-how, I recommend editing a handful of projects in exchange for testimonials. Especially if you don’t do something like a certificate program (or a whole course/degree, for that matter), it helps to have some honest reviews upfront so that prospective customers know what to expect–and so that you know how good you actually are and where your strengths and weaknesses lie.

If I recall correctly, I edited two short stories, a novella, and two novels before officially launching my business (not counting beta-reading projects). I have testimonials from four of those. Besides getting that social proof for my business, working on projects as if they were actually my job helped me figure out some of my weak spots.

Pricing & Payment

Once I was ready to officially open my editing business in 2018, I researched the average pricing for freelance editing services. I based my own pricing on the low end of those estimates for two reasons:

1) I was just starting out, so I knew I still had a lot of room to grow in comparison to more established editors.

2) Since my core audience is made up of indie authors on low budgets, I wanted to keep my pricing affordable.

I can’t remember what data went into my initial decision to charge per page vs. per word; I know that was also based on my research, but I didn’t keep my receipts, so to speak. That said, I can tell you why I’m glad now that I operate on that model. For one thing, again, per-page rates are more affordable for authors. The same book will usually cost less by a couple hundred dollars if you work with an editor who charges per page instead of per word. Secondly, it’s simpler for me to keep track of my progress in pages as I’m working, so it helps me to keep the focus on page count rather than word count.

I don’t have my original pricing written down (I wish I’d thought ahead at the time), but the most I charged per page was $3 and I was charging the most for developmental edits, then line edits, then copy-edits. The earliest pricing I have record of was when I started promoting my services in 2020: $2/page each for line edits and copy-edits or $3/page for both. Since I had figured out what I was good at, I eliminated developmental editing from my roster and raised my copy-editing prices.

In 2022, I adjusted again to highlight my line editing services–and to align with the market standard of charging more for line edits than copy-edits. At that point, I kept the $2/page price for line edits, lowered my copy-editing price to $1/page, and made the combined service $2.50/page.

My last price change was at the beginning of 2023, after working with more clients and discovering that copy-editing takes more energy from me if I’m not also doing line edits. I also did more research on current pricing–since the last I’d looked at standard pricing had been five years prior–and discovered that I was way undercharging by the market standard. Now that I had more work under my belt, I wanted my pricing to better reflect that experience and skill. I still aimed for the lower end of the current average–still wanting to keep my pricing accessible–and my pricing is now $4/page for line edits with $2/page to add-on copy-edits (which are no longer available as a standalone service).

But let me distill this into some useful tips:

1. Know the current market standard, at least when you’re starting out, and check in on it periodically. This not only includes knowing what is generally charged for your kind(s) of edits, but also knowing things like the fact that editing prices are tiered based on type, with developmental edits costing the most, line edits in the middle, and copy-edits at the bottom.

Don’t check these standards obsessively; if your pricing works for you, don’t try to change it every year or something. That said, it may be helpful to know where you stand in the market on a yearly basis or so even if you make a rule to only change your pricing every 3-5 years or with a significant change in your services.

2. It’s okay to try different pricing options when you’re starting out to see what works. I know I just said not to change your pricing every year, right after showing that I changed mine in 2018, 2020, 2022, and 2023. When you’re getting started, you might not know what you need to charge, or what is reasonable to charge, and it is okay to experiment until you find out. Just make sure that you settle in one place for long enough to actually find out whether or not it works. This settling includes marketing your services, working with authors, etc.; if you’re not doing that (at least the marketing), then you’re not actually testing your pricing.

3. Your experience level should affect your pricing. Cost is one marker by which authors can tell whether or not you’re an experienced, professional, high-quality editor. This does not mean that cost is a universal signal, that expensive editors always know what they’re doing and cheap editors are always bad at their job. However, it can be a helpful indicator when taken with additional data. So when you’re just starting out, you might do well to charge less; you’ll build up your experience and reputation with lower-budget authors, and you’ll make some money while you learn your lingering strengths and weaknesses on the job. Once you get some more projects under your belt and you shore up your weak spots, you can increase your prices. This applies to different types of editing, as well; if you have more skill or experience in one or two areas, charge more for those than for areas in which you’re weaker; make sure that you are paying back on the investment that authors are putting in for your services. (If you’re a lot weaker in one area than another, consider whether you should really be offering that service or if you should pare down to your strengths.)

As a side note for anyone wondering, I use PayPal invoices for payments and it has worked really well for me so far.

Staying Focused

When I was beta-reading, it was a hobby. I read things when I had the time, and sometimes I let myself drop projects due to lost interest or procrastinate so long that I missed the author’s deadline. Initially, I brought that same attitude into editing. While I tried to combat it some, procrastination was still an issue.

When you’re doing something as a prospective job, it puts a new perspective on things. I realized as I was working on projects for testimonials that I was not prioritizing these projects–or their authors–and I was not doing a good job of paying back these authors for what they’d invested in me (at that point, their time and projects).

What I learned is that it’s really important to see editing as a high priority. If you really want to edit for someone and you want to return on the investment the author has put into you—especially once they’re paying you—you have to decide to set aside time to do it. The first step is to just make that decision and say “I’m going to get this done by the deadline.”

But there are factors that can help an editor keep on task. Knowing how long a chapter normally takes you and/or knowing how much time you can set aside for editing in a given day is a good step, because that allows you to space out your work realistically. From there you can set yourself a deadline. I know that it usually takes me about 15-30 minutes to edit a chapter (depending on the book/length of the chapters) and I can dedicate about 1-2 hours to editing before I need a change of pace. This means I can generally edit a full-length novel within a month, if the average chapter count is around 40 chapters, and I don’t normally have to do more than two chapters a day. This also leaves me buffer space if I’ve procrastinated even for a few days in a row. Knowing how much time it takes and setting aside that time are crucial points in setting realistic deadlines for yourself and establishing a consistent turnaround time.

I’m generally energized enough from editing that the excitement of getting to work with an author on their book helps to keep me going, but when a project takes more energy than it returns or when I’m just having an off day I have to rely on the discipline of, “Okay, I can survive two chapters today. Let’s do this.”

Communication

Communication is critical in an author-editor relationship. For example, if something comes up or it’s just been a rough season and you can’t meet the deadline, communicate that with the author you’re working with. Make sure they know there’s going to be a delay, and give them a new deadline to expect from you. The two novels I edited for testimonials both took me far longer than they should have; one of them I communicated well on and the other I didn’t communicate about at all. The end results were drastically different. The project on which I communicated did eventually get finished, albeit wayyyy later than was reasonable, and the author provided a glowing review of my work. I never got to finish the other project, because the author locked me out of the document before I could finish (which was totally her prerogative since I didn’t deliver within the deadline I’d promised). Safe to say, I was always very careful to keep to my deadlines and communicate with authors after that! Communication and honesty are super important. People understand delays, as long as you’re clear about them.

You should also communicate clearly about what you offer, how your pricing works, what your feedback will generally look like (editing samples are great for this), what genres you are or are not experienced in, when you have a problem with the project partway through, when you don’t understand something about their book, etc. Strong communication will save both you and the author a lot of headache and bad blood down the road.

Also, follow-up is really important. If you book a sample edit, make sure you get the document, and make sure that they get your edits back. If you haven’t heard back from them in a couple of days, reach out. Don’t wait a week. Don’t be pushy, but make sure that they have the edited document and try to set a date for working out pricing on a full project or clearly parting ways. (I speak from experience. You can lose clients by making an error in returning a sample and not rectifying the issue in a timely manner.) If you’ve gone past the date that was set for them to send you their draft, check in and see if you can set up a new start date. Sometimes authors have lost track of time, sometimes they need an extension, and you can graciously handle either situation with a polite follow-up.

If you’re an author, you should absolutely be looking for an editor who will communicate with you clearly. If the editor can’t tell you why they operate a certain way or why they made a particular suggestion, if you reach out to them and they take forever to respond (say, more than a week in business days) without explanation or apology, if they don’t seem to listen to your explanations or concerns, etc., it may be time to find another editor (for the next book, if not this one). Do have grace, because sometimes editors just have something going on, but a good editor won’t just leave you in the lurch without some explanation.

My Values as an Editor

A lot of these values have been alluded to or mentioned previously in the post, but I want to clearly lay out some of the values that I do my best to operate by as an editor–most of which I think are also qualities to seek out in an editor if you’re an author.

1. Affordability for young and indie authors

I know firsthand how expensive it can be to hire out editing for a book, especially as a young author, and that editing is only one expense on a long list for an indie author. I think it’s a worthwhile expense, and I think it’s important to value what editors do by appropriately compensating their work, but I don’t want to put more expense on an author than I reasonably have to.

In my business, I do my best to balance charging what I think my services are worth and maintaining prices that aren’t astronomical for authors.

2. Focusing on my skills & prioritizing the author’s needs

I think it’s important for editors to recognize their strengths and focus there. Honestly, I don’t think that most editors (younger editors, at least) should try to offer every type of edits, because most of us just don’t actually have the skill in all of those areas to really do them well. For my part, developmental edits are really not my strong suit, so I don’t offer them. I focus on line editing and copy-editing because I know I can do them well, and editing well is a better service to authors than editing broadly and trying to be a one-stop shop.

Focusing on my strengths isn’t something I do just to keep from becoming frustrated (though it’s good for that, too); it’s one way in which I prioritize the needs of the authors I work with. If an author comes to me needing developmental edits, my job is not to say, “Yeah, I can do that!” and do a half-baked job of it; my job is to send them to a really good developmental editor and invite them to come back when they’re ready for line edits and/or copy-edits.

When people hire me as a line editor, I will still sometimes suggest they go to a developmental editor first if I see a lot of structural issues in the book. If they choose not to and ask me to continue with the line editor, then I’ll do my best with the line edit and send an email at the end with some additional feedback related to the developmental issues I saw, as well as patterns I saw in my line edits. This feedback is for them to do with as they will (just like all of it), but I think I would be remiss as an editor to neglect mentioning areas I see for improvement. It’s always my goal to work with the author to make their story the strongest it can be, and I want to do everything in my power to that end.

This also means that it’s a high priority for me to understand the heart and voice of any project I work on. My job as a line editor is to hone an author’s prose to best convey the story they’re telling, and this means I have to make their voice shine and make suggestions that support their purpose for the story. If I don’t get why they chose the pacing they did, or why the writing style is so old-timey, or what sort of difficulties their characters are going through, and I try to make changes to those aspects without that understanding, then I’m not going to do a good job of editing for them. I might comment on some of these things and ask why they made that choice, but it’s not my job to change large elements of their book; it’s my job to enhance what they’ve written.

3. Accountability and quality

It’s very easy to get started as a freelance editor. If you have a strong social media presence, it’s easy to get noticed as a freelance editor. That does not mean that every entrepreneurial author out there is actually cut out to be an editor. Are some of them? Absolutely. I know several. I also know a few whom I would not seek out to edit my work.

This is why I think it’s super important to have accountability from someone (ideally multiple people) with experience before you get started–and to take feedback from those with experience as you continue in your business. Take a certificate program; get feedback from established editors who have both good reviews and strong results; get a lot of honest feedback from authors as you accumulate testimonials. And if you’re not ready yet, that doesn’t necessarily mean editing is something you should never pursue; it just needs to need to put in more practice and learning first.

I also think it’s important to practice quality in all aspects of your business. Don’t advertise yourself as an editor and then leave most of your business’s social media posts littered with typos. Yes, typos slip through; it happens, and everyone understands. But you should have a habit of posts that are clean of typos. It’s hard to trust an editor when their own social media, website, books, etc., aren’t edited well.

4. Being teachable

It’s important for an editor (especially a young one) to be teachable. We need to be able to admit that we don’t know something, and it’s important that we know how to find answers. We need to be able to learn rules we didn’t know before, to work within the standards of different countries as appropriate (UK spelling, anyone?), to take advice and feedback from other authors and editors, etc. Otherwise, we’re going to be bad editors and–more importantly–stay bad editors. A bad editor only becomes a good editor by being teachable and growing in their weak areas.

5. Generosity

It’s important to me to give authors as much as I can. This is why my concluding emails include things like bigger-picture issues I spotted and patterns I picked up on about their writing style (including strengths they can build on) and their common pitfalls. It’s also part of the reason that I pray for the authors I work with and for their projects, and pray that I do an effective job of strengthening the story God has given them to tell. It’s why I support authors’ books beyond the editing process by celebrating their publication, buying completed copies, and/or featuring them on my social media or in my emails.

I see editing as an investment in an author and their work. That means that I give my top attention to my editing projects whenever possible, I do what I can to encourage the authors I work with and give them what tools I have to help them succeed, I try to think long-term as well as focus on the exact project at hand, and I cover all of it in prayer because I know only God provides the clarity and wisdom needed to shape these books into the final draft He intends.

Want to work with me? Submit your query today!

Book now!

Growing as I Go

In all of this, I’m still learning and growing. I’ve learned a lot through failure; I’ve learned some by thinking ahead. I’ve learned things like, “Always double-check that the right document went through,” and, “Keep an email template to work from when you send a project back so you don’t get so carried away with excitement over the book that you forget to mention the closing payment.” A lot of what I’ve learned, I couldn’t have learned by anything but experience, and I know that I’ll continue to learn a lot more as the years go on and I work with more authors on more projects.

There are projects I haven’t served as well as I could–either because I didn’t do my best then or because I’ve grown and could simply do better now–and unfortunately you sometimes just have to let that go, knowing that you did your best with XYZ project but you can also do better with projects moving forward. Especially if you’re starting out without a lot of experience, you will have projects that you look back on with disappointment. Sometimes you have the opportunity to go back and do better on the second time around, but most of the time you have to make peace with the fact that you’re a growing human being and your past efforts might not look as good as your skill develops. (The same is true of publishing.) Don’t let that keep you from learning and growing and putting your all into the projects you work on as you move forward.

Kudos and cookies to everyone who read this very long post all the way to the end. If you have another second, comment below with your biggest takeaway from the post!

The post How I Became an Editor (and What I’ve Learned) appeared first on Scribes & Archers.

My Top 7 Writing Tools

As we get started in the new year and many of us begin working toward particular writing goals, it seemed a fitting time to share several of the writing tools that I’ve found most useful in my own process, in case they turn out to work well for you also. I’ve sorted them in terms of when I use them in my own writing process, going from outlining and prewriting all the way through editing and formatting. I hope you find the list helpful!

*Links marked with an asterisk are affiliate links, meaning I make a small commission off of purchases made through these links at no extra cost to you. These links help me fund my business, and Bookshop also supports local small bookstores in the U.S.!Structuring Your Novel by K.M. Weiland

The first resource I want to mention is K.M. Weiland’s book Structuring Your Novel*. This has been the most helpful outlining resource I’ve found; the structure laid out and the way Weiland expands on each point has been the best fit for me, personally, of any outlining resource I’ve worked with thus far.

I highly recommend checking out Structuring Your Novel if you want to find an outlining system that isn’t inherently too rigid, but can also be made more detailed if that’s more your style.

Side note: Since getting outlining to work better for me in general, I’d also like to return to The Writer’s Journey* by Christopher Vogler, which was my first introduction to story structure roughly a decade ago. It’s not an official part of this list since I haven’t read it since then, but I remember it being a strong resource if you like structuring your stories in a very classic, mythical manner.

For more on outlining, check out this guest post by Rose Atkinson-Carter.

World Anvil

World Anvil* is a tool I’ve talked about at length, but for those of you who are new here, World Anvil is one of my top worldbuilding tools. I love the organization, the ability to link articles together super easily, the visual aesthetic options for sharing a world, the map features, etc., etc. Plus, the developers really prioritize taking suggestions from their community of users and making the tool better for worldbuilders, which I greatly appreciate in any sort of tool like this.

Check out my post reviewing my favorite World Anvil features, try it out for yourself (you can do a fair amount with the free tier), and see if it works for you!

Pinterest

Pinterest is great for inspiration. Whether you need setting inspiration, character inspiration, a writing prompt, or whether you want to build a visual representation of some aspect of your story (the setting, for example), Pinterest is a great tool. I use this to keep track of aesthetics, to determine what some of my characters look like, I’ve used it to pick out character quirks, I have boards where I keep links to writing advice posts, I flesh out worlds through visuals on Pinterest… If you need any visual inspiration or development related to your project, Pinterest is the tool to use.

(To be honest, I don’t like Pinterest’s algorithms nearly as well now as when I started using it. Now I mostly use it if I know specifically what I’m looking for or looking to flesh out; I don’t browse for inspiration the same way I used to. But that can be influenced to some degree by who you follow, as well as whether you use Pinterest as a new user vs. someone used to the older functionality.)

Spotify

I write to music, and while the music I listen to while writing has changed (I used to write exclusively to songs without lyrics; now it’s almost the opposite, lol), Spotify has always been my go-to tool for this. Just about any song, album, or artist you can think of can be found on Spotify, and it allows you to adjust the order of your playlists if you want (on desktop, anyway).

Though I will say I’ve had complaints with the advertising and with the company’s response (or lack thereof) to complaints from users regarding the marking of explicit content, so I’m grateful that my family is on Premium for the time being. Unfortunately, I haven’t found any other music-streaming app that has the same breadth of functionality as Spotify, or else that alternative would probably be on the list instead. :P

Fighter’s Block

This is actually a tool I tend to forget about, but it’s always exciting to be reminded of it again because it’s such a cool tool!

Do you like the accountability, competition, and challenge of writing sprints but have trouble finding people to sprint with–or a time that everyone can coordinate for? If so, you should check out Fighter’s Block! Fighter’s Block is a sprinting tool that is set up to look like an RPG–you’re a hero fighting a monster, but your weapon is words! You set a word count goal, and every word you write weakens the monster. The monster’s weapon is time; if you let up on writing, he’ll slowly do more damage to your character until you start writing again and heal.

You can set your difficulty level to line up with your general writing speed (so the monster isn’t beating you up if you’re a slow writer, or giving you way too much time if you’re a faster writer), choose from a few different font and background options to set the tone, and unlock different hero characters the more you write with the tool.

It’s really cool; I definitely recommend checking it out if sprints and the like are something that motivate you.

Side note: If you’re interested in sprints with other writers, consider joining my Discord server! We do at least two sprinting sessions per week, and we’re currently working on developing a schedule that’s more frequent, accommodates more of the authors, but also doesn’t burn anyone out, lol.

Scrivener

When it comes to drafting (as well as outlining and editing, to some degree), Scrivener* is my go-to writing tool. I can keep my notes, my first draft, and consequent drafts all in one program and easily put different documents side-by-side for reference or editing. If I need to reference a character’s eye color, for example, I can just pop open my character sheet right beside my draft and keep on going. Or I can rewrite a scene in a new document while the old version is open for reference beside it.

Once I’m ready to move on to Word, I can easily export the files that are part of my draft into a single Word document and be ready for the next step. Plus, you can label scenes and/or chapters with custom labels (I’ve been using this for Lightning to easily spot whose POV a chapter is told from) and sort them by those labels–or see scenes/chapters with different labels lined up side-by-side by color (great if you want to look at POV distribution and consistency, for example).

Scrivener has a ton of features, half of which I probably don’t even use to their full potential yet, and you can use as many or as few of those features as you need. The vast capabilities don’t mean you can’t just use the simpler features as you need them; the interface isn’t automatically overwhelming (at least I didn’t personally think so), and it is, at its core, a word processor like Word or Google Docs.

Scrivener has a 30-day free trial (for 30 days of use rather than 30 consecutive days, if I recall correctly, which is a model I really appreciate), so you can poke around a bit and make sure it’s going to work for you before you invest in the full cost of the software.

Microsoft Word

Lastly for this list, I just use plain ol’ Microsoft Word. Primarily, I use Word once I’m into the final edits (last line edits and copy-edits, usually) and formatting. Word is the most reliable tool I’ve used thus far to format books and export them to PDF, so I try to keep my final edits in the same software. But I also use Word sometimes for the “braindump” part of my worldbuilding process, and there are certain books that I outline and write in Word because they feel nostalgic; since I didn’t start using Scrivener until later in my writing career, sometimes Word just feels more appropriate. Silly, I know, but it’s true.

I also think this is the best beginning writer’s tool. If you have a computer with Word installed, you are good to go. You don’t need all of the fancy tools in order to write, or write well. Do I think they’re useful? Absolutely. But try things out as you’re able, invest in what you’ll make good use of, and don’t feel pressured to use the “right” tools. The right tool is whatever is the best tool for you and your writing process, whether it’s fancy or simple.

With that, I’d love to hear about some of your favorite writing tools in the comments!

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2023 Wrap-Up & Goals for 2024

This post is coming in at the beginning of the new year instead of the end of the previous because I wanted to maintain my December hiatus and kick off the year with a bit of an introduction to the things I’m hoping to accomplish in my business (and beyond) in the coming year. This way, hopefully I set the tone for what to expect in the coming year of Scribes & Archers and everything attached!

This past year was a crazy one, one that didn’t really go the way I expected–but it was a year that I’m incredibly grateful for!

2023: An Overview

I got engaged at the very end of December 2022, which means that the first half of 2023 was spent primarily on planning a wedding and strengthening the relationship with my now-husband. I didn’t have a lot of bandwidth left for other things, though I did still accomplish some things beyond the wedding and my relationships. (If you’re interested in wedding pictures, check out this Instagram post.)

A lot of relationships changed this year–especially in that first half of the year–whether growing weaker or stronger. The life transition has definitely been a process of growing and adjusting, letting go of some things from the past season and grasping hold of the new blessings God’s placed before me. I’m especially grateful for my family, my husband, and their stability and support through all of those changes, and my husband’s patience with my low days and continued experiments toward effective homemaking.

The latter half of the year was much more stable than the first half. Settling into married life did take a couple months, but we established functional rhythms in time and it’s been such a blessing to step into my dream role of homemaking, host friends in our home, and otherwise enjoy being a wife. Not that I’m perfectly consistent in being conscious of that blessing, unfortunately. Consistent gratitude is a habit I’m working to rebuild, and it’s especially hard during the dark, cold winter months. Thank God for grace and the power of His Spirit!

As things stabilized, I was also able to get more done in the latter half of the year as far as writing and writing-related endeavors are concerned. There are a couple of projects I’m especially excited to talk about, which we’ll get into both with last year’s accomplished goals and my goals for the upcoming year!

2023: Goals in Review

Finish 2 drafts of my non-fiction project

I still have yet to finish the first draft of this project–though I am at least making progress again! And the more time wears on, the more reminders pop up of how helpful this book is going to be when it’s done, lol. (Hopefully that doesn’t sound arrogant… but I haven’t seen any other worldbuilding resource that works through the worldbuilding progress in a systematic, integrated way.)

Finish the 1st draft of Lightning

I accomplished this in early November! It’s definitely a rough draft, but it’s written! This was my first completed novel-length 1st draft in four years, so it was especially satisfying to hit the point of completion. I’m really excited to complete this story with Thunder and go back afterward to polish up this world that’s lived in my head for so long.

Finish the 1st draft of Lightning‘s sequel

Lightning took longer than anticipated, so I’ve only gotten partway through the outlining process with Thunder, but it is underway and I hope to draft the whole thing in the coming year. After that, the plan is to take a worldbuilding break before coming back to edits!

Send quarterly emails

This was successful! This spacing seems to work well for me, and I’ve managed to send a fair number of emails in between as well. If you’re interested in getting those quarterly (and additional) emails, sign up for the newsletter! The first quarterly update email for this year will be going out tomorrow.

Post at least twice a month on Scribes & Archers

My posting had started to fall off by the end of 2022, hence this goal. I failed in January (1 post), May (1 post), and July (intentional hiatus), but otherwise maintained consistency on the blog! And I accomplished my goal of hopping back on the wagon, as a whole, so the purpose of this goal was accomplished even if the details weren’t perfect.

Attend Realm Makers

As predicted, I was busy getting married and going on my honeymoon in July and thus did not attend Realm Makers. But, y’know… I got married, so I’m not disappointed, lol.

Do 4+ blog collabs

Romance trope collaboration with Kellyn Roth and Grace JohnsonCritique for Grace Johnson at the end of my “Crafting Emotional Resonance” seriesGuest post from Rose Atkinson-Carter: 5 Types of Story Structure to Help You Outline Your Novel

I also got several books for review this year, but I don’t generally count those as “blog collaborations” since I don’t directly collaborate with the authors when it comes to most of those. Remembering to reach out to people about collaborating is still something I need to work on.

Write for Story Embers

This still has yet to get bumped up high enough on the priority list to actually happen. But collaboration is something I want to place a higher emphasis on in the coming year, so you may see this happen in 2024.

Edit for 4+ clients

I didn’t do any editing this year, but that was at least partially intentional. I didn’t really promote my services much this year because I was busy planning a wedding and then adjusting to getting married, so I didn’t have a lot of extra space on my plate for new editing projects and I was intentionally specific about what outreach I did toward acquiring new projects.

Add 12 new students to The Worldbuilding Toolbox

This goal was omitted from the beginning-of-the-year list, but I want to talk about it now. 12 new students did not enroll in The Worldbuilding Toolbox, but there are nine new students enrolled in the course! And I’m working on a new program that I hope will serve my worldbuilding students even better… but more on that later.

Read 52 books

“A more modest goal for the coming year, which I’m pretty sure I can surpass but which I won’t be flailing to hit if something unexpected happens, lol.”

“LOL” is right. XD I read about half this.

Read 10 new-to-me classics

I read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. That was the only new-to-me classic I got to this year. But it was pretty good! Much more interesting in the second half than the first, as a whole. It did inspire a budding story idea, though, too.

Finish 2+ crochet projects

I can’t remember what I did or didn’t finish in early 2023, but I finally finished the blanket I’d started for my sister prior to Christmas 2022 in mid-November of 2023 and I made a complete baby headband around the same time. So I did at least accomplish the two project minimum, lol.

Write 12+ poems

Nope. I got really into writing poetry in the fall of 2022, made this goal, and then lost interest in poetry sometime in the spring of last year. I did draft about three poems in the spring, but I never really want to look at them again to edit them. I have been more poetic as it’s been colder again, but I’ve only drafted a couple of new poems in full. Still, I’m grateful for the poetry practice in those few months, and I’ve enjoyed the apparent rhythm of writing more poetry in the colder months and setting it aside in the spring and summer.

2024: Concrete Goals

As always, this list includes only the more relevant and/or interesting goals on my list.

Open the Worldbuilders Guild for enrollment

For those of you who aren’t on my newsletter and haven’t heard, I’m developing a worldbuilding mentorship program called the Worldbuilders Guild! This is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time, but I didn’t have a functional setup for it until after I got married. As soon as I realized I finally had an open opportunity, I dove straight into figuring out the structure and content of such a thing. I have all of that down now; I just need to fill in the actual content necessary, test it with betas, and then it’ll be ready to launch to the general public!

If you’d like to get on the waitlist or even sign up to be one of the beta testers, check out the form below!

Do 4+ blog collabs

If you’re interested in collaborating this year, please reach out through my contact form and let me know! (Bonus points if you have experience with traditional publishing, btw.)

If you’re not personally interested in collaborating but there’s an author you think would be a great fit for me to reach out to, please leave your suggestion in the comments!

Finish the 1st draft of my worldbuilding book and send it to betas

If you’d like to be first to hear about the opening for betas, sign up for my street team below!

Finish the 1st draft of Thunder

Attend Realm Makers

I think this year offers the best chance I’ve had of actually getting to Realm Makers. Of course, we’ll see what plans God has in store!

If I do make it, I may try to query Lightning for traditional publishing, if only for the experience. But we’ll see; I’m not sure if the publishers at Realm Makers will want it, so it might not be the best to start off with in case I try traditional publishing more purposefully with a future project.

Start a new novel draft

I’m not sure what novel this will be, yet. The world of The Dark War Trilogy keeps popping back into my head lately, so I might try to reboot that project (as daunting as that prospect is). But I also have a weird apocalyptic novel idea I could work on, or I could go back to one of my other started projects, or rewrite something I’ve only gotten through a 1st draft of… There are lots of options, lol.

Just for fun, comment below with what type of project you’d like to see me work on next (or a specific project, if there’s one that has stood out to you over the years).

Reopen my editing services

While they were technically never closed, I want to “reopen” my editing services for more consistent booking this year. I miss editing, and I’d love to work on at least four or five projects this year, Lord willing!

If you’re an author in search of a line editor for a project this year, check out my editing services!

Read 52 books

Including Pride & Prejudice, nine more new-to-me classics, and a particular subset of the books I own but haven’t read (the latter list contains 38 books). If I manage to read all the books I specifically hope to read, I’ll be well on my way to accomplishing the full goal.

Crochet a garment

I’m not requiring myself to complete a whole garment this year, but I would like to at least dip my toes into garment-crocheting.

Write a short story in French

I have no idea if this is actually going to prove a high enough priority to be accomplished, but I think this would be a fun way to practice both writing and my French study.

Attend an Andrew Peterson concert

Attend Hutchmoot

Not much to say about these. I just think they’d be awesome experiences, and I love Andrew Peterson’s work (as I’ve talked about before) and–from what I can tell–his worldview.

Visit the Library of Congress

I’ve actually never been, despite multiple trips to D.C. I’ve wanted to go for a while, and my husband actually promised the day after our first date that he would take me sometime, so we’re planning to take a day trip sometime this year.

Visit the Wayside

This is a place I learned about just last year when I found a book about it; The Wayside was the home of both Nathaniel Hawthorne and Louisa May Alcott, and what classic-loving reader wouldn’t want to visit such a historic literary site? I just need to do my homework beforehand and actually read the book I bought about the house… as well as Little Women since that’s actually still on my TBR. I suppose that and Five Little Peppers and How They Grew (The Wayside was also the home of Margaret Sidney/Harriet Lothrop for a time) will be another two of the new-to-me classics on this year’s list! (I already love Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter… though perhaps this is a good excuse to reread it.)

2024: General Hopes

In the coming year I’d like to regain some of the joy and vibrancy I had when I was finishing up high school. I want to be adventurous, practice gratitude, get outside more, intentionally strengthen relationships and reach out to new people, renew my spiritual disciplines, maintain a beautiful home, serve more authors through my business (and serve the same authors in new ways), and (Lord willing) watch my household grow. As a extension off of renewing my spiritual disciplines, I’d like to get back into the practice of thinking on and discussing theological topics with more of an attitude toward learning new things instead of the stubbornness I’ve let creep in over the past year or two.

Overall, I guess it can be summed up by saying I pray God renews my joy and sense of wonder in Him this year.

How was your 2023? What are you looking forward to in 2024? Do you have any exciting goals or plans for the year?

The post 2023 Wrap-Up & Goals for 2024 appeared first on Scribes & Archers.

Government Values

This post was originally published at Lavender Bleu Books. That site is currently on full hiatus (i.e. inaccessible), and this post is a stand-in for the time being. Upon Lavender Bleu Books’ re-launch, this post will disappear and links will once again go through to Bleu’s website.

Fantasy cultures are often placed under monarchies. Dystopian cultures are often placed under autocracies or totalitarianism. But there are many government types to choose from, and what government you choose when building a fictional culture might be best influenced by the core values of that culture. So in this post I want to summarize several different government types, as well as provide some ideas of the cultural values that might support them.

Aristocracy

Aristocracy comes from the Greek for “rule of the best.” An aristocracy can be ruled by the best craftsmen, the best warriors, or simply the most wealthy (see Plutocracy). This is a very flexible system which is ruled by a group comprised of the best of the best. Aristocrats could be elected based on their ability, or they could simply take office independently or by the decision of the existing aristocracy by virtue of their skill.

Values: You can use an aristocracy in just about any culture you want. They could value craftsmanship, combat skill, wealth, music, athletics, writing… An aristocracy is not likely to be chosen by cultures that value diversity in skills.

Autocracy

An autocracy is ruled by a single individual with few limitations, absolute power, and no input from the people.

Values: It’s unlikely that a culture would choose to become an autocracy, but if they did it might be because they dislike decision-making or there’s some outstanding value to their ruler (e.g. they believe he’s a deity or chosen by a deity, or he’s achieved some great act of heroism that earned him the spot).

Communism

Communism places total power over industry and the economy in the hands of the government, and the government supposedly distributes wealth equally among the people. There is no such thing as private property, since the government owns everything.

Values: Communism is likely to be chosen by cultures that value community and equality but don’t value/appreciate individuality and people’s unique needs.

Confederation

A confederation unites several independent states or nations through a treaty or other agreement. These independent areas retain all authority except what is specifically delegated to the central government that unites them.

Values: A confederation is likely to be chosen by a culture that values independence and cooperation and/or unity.

Democracy

A democracy is a government of the people. A plain democracy operates on strict majority rule, a democratic republic operates through representatives of the people, and a constitutional democracy sets specific guidelines in place that the people must follow in their decision-making.

Values: A democracy is likely to be chosen by a culture that values individual responsibility and independence.

Ecclesiastical Government

An ecclesiastical government is one in which the church has authority. This might be benevolent, or it might lean toward legalism. It’s likely to crowd out religions that the ruling church doesn’t adhere to.

Values: Ecclesiastical government would be chosen by a culture that values a single religion, morality and, potentially, adherence to rules. It’s not likely to be chosen by a culture that values diversity of religions.

Federation

Like a confederacy, a federation distributes power among smaller areas–usually by means of a constitution–and the central government retains some powers over these sub-groups. While a confederation draws independent states together, a federation begins with a central point and delegates powers to its existing sub-states.

Values: A federation is likely to be chosen by a nation that values expansion and/or colonialism, leading to the practical need to distribute power. It may also be chosen by a nation that values individual responsibility and seeks to grant more power to the people under a ruling body, or that values community and wishes to foster smaller communities under its larger national banner. It could also be chosen by a nation that segregates its members based on race, trade, class, etc. and seeks to give each demographic its own authority.

Monarchy (Absolute)

An absolute monarchy gives complete control to a monarch who is chosen based on royal lineage. The monarch’s reign usually lasts for life.

Values: A culture that chooses absolute monarchy may value tradition, religion (if they believe the monarch’s family was chosen by God/the gods as in the case of divine right), or even just family.

Monarchy (Constitutional)

A constitutional monarchy adds limitations to the monarch in the form of a constitution, providing accountability.

Values: As above, values may include tradition, religion, or family.

Oligarchy

Similar to an aristocracy, oligarchy gives authority to a small group of people, either individuals or families. These are generally chosen based on their prowess in a certain area or by their power and/or wealth.

Values: Like an aristocracy, this one is really flexible. Who your culture chooses to be the reigning few will be more influenced by their values than the actual choice of government.

Parliamentary Government

In a parliamentary government, the legislative aspect of government is at the head and is largely one with the executive. Though there may be a separate executive branch (a monarch or an executive representative such as a president, usually), parliament usually has the ultimate authority to make decisions. A parliament may be one large group (unicameral) or it may be split into two (bicameral), and the members of parliament are generally elected by the people. A parliament is usually subject to a sovereign law such as a constitution and held accountable by it.

Values: A culture might choose a parliamentary government if it predominantly values law or morality.

Plutocracy

A plutocracy is government by the rich. This may be overt or it may be a practical reality while the government looks on the surface like something else (i.e. those with money are the puppeteers for a monarchy, democracy, ecclesiastical government, etc.).

Values: Obviously, a rule by the wealthy would work only in a culture that values monetary wealth to one degree or another.

Republic

In a republic, the government’s authority is based on the votes of citizens, represented by elected representatives who make decisions on the people’s behalf.

Values: A republic might be chosen by a culture that values independence and individual responsibility but tempers them with values of order and restraint.

Technocracy

A technocracy is governed by those with experience and skill in the sciences and other technical areas. Essentially a more specific aristocracy.

Values: A technocracy would be chosen by a culture that values progress, scientific advancement, etc.

Theocracy

A theocracy is a nation that is ruled by its deity/deities. Often religious leaders will serve as intermediaries, but the deity is perceived as the ultimate authority, as opposed to an ecclesiocracy in which the religious leaders are seen as the final authority.

Values: A theocracy would be chosen by a culture that values faith, especially one that believes their deity instructs submission to the deity alone.

Totalitarianism

A totalitarian government goes a step further than communism by seeking to control individuals’ values, attitude, and beliefs as well as all politics and economic decisions.

Values: A culture might choose totalitarianism if they value uniformity (perhaps under the guise of unity) or believe that their mindset/way of life is certainly superior to others.

Which government types have you used before? Did any of these intrigue you? Did you discover a way to strengthen a well-used system? Go forth and write more dynamic governments!

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2023 Know the Novel: Part 3 – Words Written

Hello and welcome to what is both the last installment of this year’s Know the Novel link-up as well as my last blog post for this year as I take a December hiatus to enjoy the holidays and recharge for the new year. (Go back to the beginning of this year’s Know the Novel series here.)

Today we get to look back on Lightning and the writing process thereof, as well as plans moving forward and future dreams for the story!

1. Firstly, how did writing this novel go all around?

The process for Lightning was rather slow (I started outlining on June 1st, 2022 and finished drafting on November 7th, 2023), but not painfully so. Since I had other things taking up my attention for a big chunk of that time and this was my first focused drafting project in years, it seemed appropriate to go a little more slowly and let myself get reacquainted with the process.

There were some trouble spots along the way–Alaric and Ash co-existing almost always came out more stilted than I wanted, and Ash became the problem child for a little while–but overall I think it was a decently smooth writing process. Nothing like the process of Calligraphy Guild, but I don’t think any of my future projects will be like Calligraphy Guild in that respect, lol. There’s definitely a lot of work to be done to bring Lightning to where it needs to be in terms of storytelling and writing quality, but the writing process overall was pretty much what would be expected given the circumstances.

As for outlining Thunder, I’ve gotten through the first several chapters’ worth of outline, I’ve changed an important detail from where I started, and overall I like the direction of things. I just need to hone in on some areas and iron out my ending so I know for sure what I’m aiming for. (Plotting toward a specific ending is usually not a consideration in my personal outlining process, but this book has a particular ending so I need to know how to get there).

2. Did it turn out like you expected or completely different? And how do you feel about the outcome?

I think I expected it to be more action-led, and it’s actually a more philosophically-leaning story at this point. There is action, but mostly the action kicks in at the end of the book, going into Thunder. I like the philosophical elements, so I’m not disappointed, but I may adjust the balance some when I go back to edit.

3. What aspect of the story did you love writing about the most? (Characters, plot, setting, prose, etc.)

The prose and dialogue were highlights, at least in certain parts, but it should be noted that those elements tend to reflect character and thus character was a significant factor. I don’t think that all of my prose and dialogue were great in this book–there are some spots that make me cringe already, and a couple that I cringed at even while I was writing them, lol–but some of my favorite moments when I read it back are favorites because of particular portions of prose or dialogue.

4. What was your least favorite part?

I know I said characters were part of my favorite elements, but they were also really difficult at times, lol. I don’t think I’m as “close” to these characters as I am with those from some of my other works, and while I don’t think that has affected how they come out on paper as much as I might have feared, I think it has made the writing process a bit more difficult sometimes.

Also, the worldbuilding shown is not up to snuff yet. Overall, this doesn’t “feel” as much like a sci-fi novel as I want it to yet. (It won’t be the most sci-fi-heavy science fiction novel, anyway–part of the point is that the world is still very familiar to our own–but there is some tech that I’d like to incorporate better in future drafts.)

5. What do you feel like needs the most work?

The worldbuilding. I’ve developed lots of bits and pieces over the years, and an overall “vibe,” but it’s not as cohesive and detailed as I would like it to be within actual novels.

Also, Ash and Alaric’s relationship and each of their character arcs (which I think are connected issues). They’re so awkward when they show up in scenes together and they’re not supposed to be. I need them to get along, or at least challenge each other naturally, lol.

6. How do you feel about your characters now that the novel is done? Who’s your favorite? Least favorite? Anyone surprise you? Give us all the details!

Favorite is Nyla. I like different things about different characters, but Nyla is the only one that hasn’t significantly annoyed me at one point or another–whether in the way she was coming through (or failing to come through) on paper or just in her character as it’s meant to be.

I’m not sure about least favorite. Everyone else has been my least favorite at some point or another (except maybe Ash), but they don’t usually stay there. I guess the most accurate answer is that since I’m not actively writing there is no active least favorite right now. XD

Most surprising was Ash. For the most part he progressed the way that I expected, and came out on paper more-or-less as intended, but I didn’t expect him to be the difficult one to write toward the middle of the book. He’d been easy up to that point, and then suddenly we hit the middle of the book (and the murky middle of his arc, I suspect) and his interactions with everyone started to become difficult, so that was a surprise. But I’ll iron out his arc and those interactions in future drafts.

7. What’s your next plan of action with this novel?Outline Thunder (finishing hopefully no later than the end of January)Draft Thunder (finishing by March or April at the latest)Set both novels aside to focus on worldbuilding for Esleon (as long as needed)Come back and edit both books as a single story as well as individual books8. If you could have your greatest dream realized for this novel, what would it be?

Obviously the first thing is to publish it, and I think this one would be cool to publish traditionally if I can find a publishing house that will take it. (I suspect it falls into that awkward ditch where it’s too Christian for secular publishers and not Christian enough for Christian publishers.) But I may or may not wait on that route; it will likely depend on how I feel about the project following edits and how my next writing projects go. If I release my worldbuilding book, for instance, I might take more time on getting Lightning out.

In more fun dreams, beyond practical publication thoughts, I’d love to have the duology adapted into graphic novel form as well, and possibly adapted for film.

9. Share a snippet of one of your most favorite scenes!

I shared most of my non-spoilery favorites in the last installment…

Ah! There is this one… I wrote this one ahead of time because I was excited about it, so I think it qualifies for favorite scene. XD (It is admittedly cliché, but clichés exist for a reason and it’s because we like them, so here you go. The shooting-training-with-romantic-tension trope scene for this book.)

My hands were firmly wrapped in my sleeves when I arrived in the training room. Ash stood opposite the firing wall, his stance wide as he slammed round after round into the target. I winced at the sound, but made my way to the edge of the sparring grounds, keeping a bit of distance from the shooting line and the jarring sounds of gunpowder and lead.

Ash lowered his gun and turned as he released his clip, glancing up and smiling when he saw me. I ignored the flip in my stomach that resulted. “Miss Bird. I’m glad you made it.”

He tossed the empty clip onto a table and set his pistol more carefully beside it, the muscles in his shoulder stretching.

My gaze whipped to the target he’d just destroyed, banishing the thought of his muscles. The dark spots indicating his shots were concentrated well within the center ring. My fingers twitched. “You’re a good shot.”

“Thanks. Do you shoot?”

I shook my head, fists clenching around my sleeves.

“You should learn. It’s a good skill to have.”

My chuckle was more a huff of air, not even audible.

“I could teach you.”

My gaze snapped to Ash and immediately darted away from his eyes to a blank spot on his cheek. His attention still made my stomach squirm. Though the patch of skin I stared at instead wasn’t blank; not totally. Were those freckles?

Then he was moving toward me, and I took an instinctive step back as he drew a second gun. He stilled.

“I’m not going to hurt you.”

I found the courage to meet his eyes—despite my stomach’s flip-flopping—and my lips twitched. “I know.”

He flipped the gun around so the handle faced me. My heart pounded as I stared at the metal. I imagined the feel of it, cold and ridged against my palm. I would fire. There would be a—

BANG!

I winced against the sound in my mind.

Ash nudged the gun toward me again, reminding me I was here, in the training room with him. I glanced around at the blank white walls. This place was sterile. Safe. Or as safe as I’d ever known, anyway.

With a trembling hand, I took the gun. My imagination had been correct, if incomplete. I hadn’t accounted for the weight of the pistol. Hadn’t imagined my knuckles turning white as I gripped it, trying to keep it from slipping out of my sweaty hand.

“Two hands.”

I wrapped my other hand around the grip and took a deep breath, the gun a bit more steady now.

“Now look toward the target and aim.”

The target was printed on the wall in red, and I blinked as my mind immediately compared the color to blood. The circle suddenly seemed so far away. How was I supposed to hit that?

I raised the gun, my hands trembling once again.

Ash stepped closer and I eyed him, trying to gauge his opinion. He set his hand against mine and the touch sent lightning rushing through me, stealing away my breath as he adjusted my aim and held me steady.

He glanced at me and his breath warmed my temple as he spoke. “Don’t forget to breathe.”

Maybe if I refocused on the target I could forget how close he stood. How his fingers brushed against my knuckles. I drew in a deep breath.

“And relax. If you’re too tense, you won’t be able to handle the recoil.” He brushed the knuckles of his free hand down my shoulder-blade and the tension immediately fell from my shoulders, replaced by a desire to melt into him.

I swallowed hard and stared at the target in front of me. Not the time. Nor would it ever be. Rubbing my thumb against the gun’s grip brought me back to reality, rough and cold. My back straightened and I took a deep breath.

Ash stepped back, leaving my hand tingling where he’d touched it. “There you go. Fire when ready.”

After another breath, I curled my finger around the trigger. Ignoring the color of the target, I muttered, “Just a wall. Just a wall. Just a—“

BANG!

I staggered back, wincing. Far louder than the gunshots in my memory, the shot left my ears ringing.

“Not bad.”

I glanced toward Ash, then at the target. I hadn’t shot the center, but my aim was at least mediocre. I might have shot an arm, had I been defending myself, which I honestly preferred to a lethal alternative.

“Are you ready for another shot?”

I looked at Ash, swallowing hard and ignoring the butterflies in my stomach as I met his dark eyes. Hopefully he’d think my anxiety was due to the gun, which at least wasn’t a total lie. “I don’t know.”

Ash smiled, his eyebrow lifting with the corner of his mouth as it often did. My gaze dropped to his freckles. “We can do more tomorrow.”

I tried not to tense as he approached. He took the gun back, his fingers grazing the inside of my wrist. The way he gripped the weapon, I almost wondered if the touch was intentional. But he holstered the gun in one swift motion and his expression was sober when I looked up.

“There’s valid reason to be afraid. But if I can teach you to shoot…” He looked toward the target, then back at me. A sad smile graced his lips. “Maybe you won’t have to be.”

I felt a twinge in my chest as I gripped my arm, remembering the loss he’d trusted me enough to tell me about, the loss that left him with these moments of bare sorrow. My gaze drifted across his face, across its lines and curves, all its perfections and the places his pain bled through. It was so easy to forget that his mask was cracked, too.

When Ash cleared his throat and started turning toward me, my attention darted back to the target wall, then quickly to the floor. “Anyway. I need to get back to the Sentinel ward. But I’m glad you came.”

“Me too.” To my own mild surprise, I meant it.

Ash turned to go, but stopped short. “Would you like to shoot again tomorrow?”

I picked at my sleeve, my reason warring with itself. “Okay.”

A faint smile warmed Ash’s lips. “Good. I’ll see you tomorrow, Sparrow.”

With that, he turned on his polished heel and left me blinking.

Sparrow?

He’d nicknamed me?

When had that happened?

10. Did you glean any new writing and/or life lessons from writing this novel?

ProWritingAid‘s Sci-Fi Writers Week took place while I was working on Lightning and I attended a couple of particularly helpful webinars. The one that most stuck with me was one about how setting can both affect and reflect character change–even down to the clothes that your characters wear. Eileen Cook was the author that put on that particular webinar. I think that was one of the biggest things I learned about as I wrote Lightning.

If you worked on a writing project in November, how is it going? Did you accomplish what you wanted to? What has been your favorite part of the process?

If you’re interested in hearing more about Lightning and Thunder as the series progresses, sign up to my newsletter below!

The post 2023 Know the Novel: Part 3 – Words Written appeared first on Scribes & Archers.

Why Hallmark Movies Work

We’ve officially entered the time of year in which women everywhere gather around their TVs with fuzzy blankets and hot cocoa to watch predictable romance movies that happen to center around the Christmas season. And let’s admit it, there’s a certain charm and coziness in that, and there is something that compels us to watch (and even enjoy) these movies even though they’re trite and predictable and clichéd. Today, I want to talk about what I think those “somethings” are.

(Note: this post is titled “Hallmark movies,” but I’m covering that whole genre that we tend to associate with Hallmark Christmas movies.)

Comfortable Predictability

The workaholic businesswoman is forced to return to her cozy small town birthplace for the Christmas season and is determined to hate it, but she runs into an attractive, flannel-wearing farm boy who teaches her the true meaning of Christmas as they slowly (or, really, not-so-slowly) fall in love, and she decides maybe the slow pace of the small town life is better than the helter-skelter business world after all.

I’ve just summarized the entire plot of dozens of Hallmark movies. And yet, we keep watching them, and I think part of the reason for that is because they’re predictable. It’s comfortable to know what’s going to happen, to know that the guy gets the girl in the end, to know that the main character learns her lesson and finds belonging and love in the small town. The story is comfortable, it’s familiar, and we can just sit back and enjoy watching the story unfold… again.

I think this is especially appealing around the holidays, when things are starting to slow down for the year and we are, ourselves, appreciating the slower pace and time with family and loved ones. We aren’t looking for excitement; we’re looking for home, family, and cozy charm.

Reminders of What Matters

The values portrayed in Hallmark-esque movies tend to be pretty wholesome. There are some exceptions, but the prevailing themes that home and family matter, that faith is worthwhile, that love is important, that it’s healthy to slow down and leave behind the hectic pace of work–if only for a little while… These themes are fundamentally true, and I think we have an innate sense for that when we watch these sorts of movies. And if those themes aren’t delivered–if the sisters don’t reconcile, if the girl goes home and leaves behind the man who’s taken care of her, if the family business fails… we’re disappointed. We connect with these themes, with the truth underpinning them (even if the trappings in a Hallmark movie are pretty shallow), and we appreciate seeing them play out and pay off.

This is true in all sorts of stories–we connect with themes that reflect truth–but I think it’s especially obvious in Hallmark movies where the veneer is so see-through that the themes are the only thing of really substantive worth. And they still compel us, even without much help from the rest of the storytelling.

Is This Applicable?

Okay, so we know what makes these cheesy Hallmark movies tick and what keeps us coming back–the value we get out of them. But how does this apply to writing? If we’re writing anything other than romance, why do either of these things matter?

While we don’t want our books to be as predictable as a Hallmark movie (at least, not in the vast majority of cases), there is still something to be said for the comfort of predictability–and the satisfaction of predicting what will happen next. While we may not have (or want) a strict formula for our stories, there are tropes, genre expectations, etc. that can give our readers a bit of familiarity with our story right off the bat. And there are fun ways we can play with these, as well; check out this podcast on using tropes in speculative fiction as an example.

As for themes, the underlying values of our stories don’t have to be right under the surface in order to be effective. Threading subtle themes of truth through our work is just as compelling. The thing to note is that not all themes are created equal; not only are some less heavily influenced by fundamental truths of how God made the universe than others, but different themes will connect better with different audiences. If your audience shares the values you have threaded through your book, they’ll be more compelled than readers who disagree with your premises or just don’t think the same way. (You may notice, not a whole lot of men watch Hallmark movies, and that’s because they’re tailored to the more home- and emotionally-centered themes that women connect with more closely by nature.) So knowing your audience–while secondary to ensuring that your themes are truthful–is another aspect of writing themes that will compel your readers.

Do you watch Hallmark(-esque) movies? What draws you to them? Do you think you’ll apply either of these concepts to your own work? Comment your thoughts below!

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How Should Christians Write About… Allegorical Religions?

One of the earliest installments in this series covered how to write about false religions, those that aren’t even real within your world. But today I want to cover the separate issue of how to write about religions that are designed to reflect the truth of who our God is within the context of a fictional world.

As always, this is intended to be food-for-thought, not the one proper way for Christians to write about this topic. Abide by Scripture and the Lord’s leading in this topic as in all the others discussed.

The Purpose of Allegorical Religions

There may be a couple purposes to including an allegorical religion in your work–whether it’s full allegory or whether it bears some intentional resemblance to the truth while remaining distinct to your fictional world. (The choice of how much allegory you want will likely be informed by which of these camps you fall into.)

Reason #1: We want to reflect truth and true religion in our world, in a way that suits that fictional world and can “sneak past the watchful dragons.”

Reason #2: We want our fictional world to be distinctly Christian, with 1-to-1 correspondence between the characters’ god and our own.

These two different reasons will result in two different kinds of allegorical religions–either a religion that faithfully reflects God but weaves His truth in seamlessly with the rest of the world, or, often, a religion that reads like you copied and pasted Christianity into a fictional world. I’ve read both types of allegories–as well as those that hit a sweet spot in between, being clearly allegorical without feeling like you just hit copy and paste (Narnia, for example).

A more blunt allegory is not inherently a problem; it can be done well, especially in fantasy worlds that are connected somehow to our own world (e.g. Narnia, The Door Within). Personally, I prefer a bit more subtlety in most cases. I don’t think that an allegorical god figure has to match our own God in every last feature and detail–though obviously in order to represent Him accurately we must leave the foundational elements the same.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Knowing Who God Is

In order to truthfully reflect God in the fictional religions we build, we must have a clear understanding of who He is. We must know Him before we can imitate His character in a way that effectively points to Him and brings Him the glory.

We know that God is the Creator and He is the Author of our faith. We know that He is just, holy, merciful, omnipotent, faithful to His people. We know the relationship He has with us as our Savior, Redeemer, and King, as the authority over us. We know that He is truth and in Him is no shadow of turning.

There are many, many other attributes we could ascribe to Him through the revelation of Scripture, and we should be studying our Bibles to gain a greater understanding of God’s character and His relationship toward His people if we intend to reflect Him through the allegorical religions we create. Without a strong knowledge of Him, our allegories can become skewed and ineffectual toward revealing Him.

Holding Onto the Fundamentals

We don’t have to reflect every single aspect of who God is in our fictional counterparts; they’re meant to be like God, not to be God. But there are certain fundamental characteristics that we should take into account in order to reflect His character rightly.

While different authors may see different attributes as critical, these are a few I think fall into that category: He’s our creator, He’s holy and righteous, both just and merciful, He is omnipotent and sovereign, He is faithful even when His people are not, He is our Savior from sin, He is the King of kings and the authority over us and the world (and He’s masculine; He is a He, and that is tied in with His authority and the authority structure He’s given us as a reflection of Himself. See Ephesians 5 and 1 Corinthians 11).

These are the characteristics that I always incorporate into the fully true religions of my fictional worlds. Other religions I write may get parts of this right but not others, and those fall into the false religions category in the way they’re written and constructed. Whatever religion I’ve designed to be true in these worlds must reflect all of these traits of God.

Your list may look different, but try to think through what elements of God’s character would make Him into a totally different kind of god if they were removed–or would drastically alter the moral structure of the world–and avoid tampering with those, or at least be aware of the consequent differences in the world’s moral law and make sure they’re not going to misrepresent God if they’re alongside qualities that are clearly His.

Creativity in the Details

Your allegorical god figure doesn’t have to be called by exactly the same names, speak through exactly the same text, or have precisely the same story as our God in the real world when it comes to the details. Is it important that the God figure have some plan of redemption for His people? Absolutely. Should there be a defeat of death involved? Yes (per Romans 5:12,18-21). Does that have to look like dying on a cross and coming up from the grave in worlds where those details don’t make sense or there are other ways to show the same conquering? No.

Your allegorical god figure can be called by a name that makes sense in the culture(s) in which he’s known–linguistically and/or as far as meaning is concerned. The allegorical god figure in Deseran, for example, is known by several different names depending on which culture is referencing him:

In Sachara, he’s known as Aomlan; holy, whole, complete, perfect… etc.He has the most names in Veldan. First, Veldan-Arba, or Father of Veldan (Veldan being an ancestor, similar to Israel’s namesake). Then also Saving-Father, Perfect-Father, Valiant-Father, Just-Father, Healing-Father and, of course, simply Arba. (All of those titles translated into the Veldani language.)To the Virilen, he’s known as All-God, or Complete-God.In Mordon, he’s Utmost-Conqueror.In Eilis, he’s Truth.In Teraco, he’s simply God.In Osanar, he’s Life-Giver.In Piradi, he’s Peace-Father, with “peace” in the Piradi tongue and “father” being the native Veldani “Arba.”In Rasell, he’s Creator.

Our own God is referenced by several different names in Scripture (I AM, Yahweh–with various names afterward such as Yahweh Nissi, Yahweh Jireh/Yireh, etc.); I don’t think different names reflecting different attributes of God’s character or different tongues are problematic–unless a culture begins calling the true god figure by the same name as one of their false gods.

As for the details of His story, the question is whether the details or the themes are more important to carry over when crafting an allegory.

If the themes are more important than the details, then draw out those themes and think about how they fit into your fictional world. For example, say you have a world in which there is a genuinely real “god” figure over death (see the portion in the false religions post about “gods” that are in subjection to God); it may be effective allegory to Christ’s death and resurrection to show your redemptive figure being imprisoned by that “god” for a time (and showing the consequences of that imprisonment) before breaking free and defeating that “god” in a way that saves mortals from his thrall. Or maybe your redemptive figure is simply killed by mortals despite his innocence (scorned by those he came to save), but he’s killed in a manner befitting the judicial system of the culture you’ve built. He must humble himself and give himself up for his people, and he must come out the victor, but the details are where you can weave that story into the world you’ve built. (For example, look at Aslan submitting himself to be killed by the White Witch on the Stone Table, then rising again. It’s a clear allegory, but the details suit the world of Narnia.)

If the details are critical–the cross, for instance–then you’ll need to figure out how to incorporate those details into your world in a way that feels natural. Develop the reasons for the culture within your world to use crosses as a means of execution. (Are they intentionally brutal? Do they have a lot of trees, so wooden crosses make sense for their resources? Does the cross already have some cultural or religious significance which is upended by the crucifixion of the redeemer and given new meaning–like the Egyptian ankh may look very different to a Christian than it did to an ancient Egyptian?) There’s nothing wrong with maintaining the details as long as you construct your world in a way that supports those details instead of giving those details the impression of being shoehorned in for the sake of allegory alone.

Weaving Our Worlds With Truth

If we’ve created worlds that operate on similar foundational principles to our own, according to similar laws of morality (in particular), then it should be (relatively) easy to fit a truthful religion in without it feeling like a copy-and-paste job. Truth goes with truth. If there’s any sense of true justice in the world, a just god is the logical source and standard. Likewise with mercy, righteousness, sacrifice, etc. All of these things must stem from some standard, and a god who fills all of these roles is a logical standard–just as in the real world.

Build off of truth, hold to the fundamental pieces of God’s character, shape the details around the edges to connect with your world, and you’ll be left with a truthful allegory that doesn’t stand out from your world to slap readers in the face but simply reflects truth as it ought.

How do you construct your allegories? What traits are non-negotiable for you in an allegorical god figure? Please share your thoughts in the comments!

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2023 Know the Novel: Part 2 – Within the WIP

The time has come for part 2 of the Know the Novel link-up for this year! Now that we’re a good chunk of the way through November, let’s talk about how Lightning and Thunder are going and what I expect moving forward.

If you missed part 1, check it out here!

*Links marked with an asterisk are affiliate links, meaning I earn a commission off of purchases made through them at no extra cost to you.1. How’s the writing going overall?

Decently well! I got to the end of Lightning‘s first draft on November 2nd, then went back over the following few workdays to fill in some bracketed scenes I’d left undone. There was a bit of a delay after that while my copy of Structuring Your Novel* was on loan (which was good for my blog progress and getting more of my non-fiction book written!), but I got that back this past Wednesday and on Thursday I started my Thunder outline! I’m hoping to at least have that outline finished–if not start drafting Thunder–by the end of the month, but we’ll see how that goes once holiday plans factor in.

2. What’s been the most fun aspect about writing this novel so far?

Is it bad to say “finishing”? XD It was super exciting to hit the finish line on a novel after so long in editing, publishing, and resting stages. (All of those stages were wonderful in their own right, and needed, but it’s also nice to return to drafting in earnest.) And I’ve really enjoyed seeing my alpha readers‘ feedback and all the things they pick up on that I wove in by accident, lol.

3. What do you think of your characters at this point? Who’s your favorite to write about?

Hm. Good question. I still like Nyla; she’s still probably the most consistently easy to write, so that’s nice, lol. Rhys gained some interest in the last few chapters of Lightning, and I’m hoping I can hold onto that in Thunder. Alaric and Ash are both tough, in different ways, and Alaric tends to be a little… melodramatic, which I’ll need to work on when I go back and edit. XD Erika is still Erika; not an especially good person, but her snark is fun and frequently makes me snort when I read it back.

There will be a couple more characters popping up regularly in Thunder, but they’re surprises so I can’t really talk about them. That said, they both have a lot of potential to be really fun and I hope I’m able to actually write them well.

4. Has your novel surprised you in any way?

I wasn’t entirely sure where a couple of the characters would end up at the end of Lightning, and the answer that arose for that question was a surprise to me. But, again, spoilers. ;P

5. Have you come across any problem areas?

Rhys was a challenge for a little while. She was boring, and I was having trouble making her character and her part of the story interesting, but I think I finally resolved that somewhat.

Now I have the challenge before me of outlining Thunder and giving it a functional, compelling arc and ending. I know basically where I want the story to end, but I’m a little nervous about working out the details. We’ll see how it goes, I suppose!

6. What’s been your biggest victory with writing this novel at this point?

Again, I think finishing the first draft of Lightning takes the cake, lol. And I’m pretty happy with the motivations I’ve given each of the characters for Thunder, and how smoothly they worked themselves out.

7. If you were transported into your novel and became any one of the characters, which one do you think you’d be? Would you take any different actions than they have?

In most ways, Rhys would be the obvious choice, except I dislike math and I would not want to be an accountant, lol. So if I were Rhys, I just wouldn’t be in the story at all; I’d go back to my family and their horse ranch and keep the horses and the barn clean.

If that’s too much of a cop-out, then I think I’d be Nyla. I’m not sure if I’d do anything differently. I might take a page out of Erika’s book and pay closer attention to the layout of everything, after a certain point, and I probably wouldn’t pursue one of the relationships she does for the sake of their escape plan. Beyond that, I’m not sure how we would or wouldn’t differ.

8. Give us the first sentence or paragraph then 2 (or 3!) more favorite snippets!

Here’s a little more than a paragraph from the beginning…

When Ash came to get me, I was already expecting him. He knocked more to alert me of his entry than anything before opening the door in his crisp Grantech uniform and telling me what I already knew.
“Good morning, Erika. I’m here to let you know that your powers have failed to manifest and you’re to be cut from the program.”
Killed. I was going to be killed.

A snippet from Nyla’s POV:

The automatic doors swung open before us and we stepped to one of three black cars hovering at the sidewalk. The locks clicked when Ash grabbed the driver’s door handle. Erika took shotgun and I slid into the back, belting myself into a bench that felt just like my backpack—sleek to the point of discomfort.
“Since you’ve yet to give me a destination.” Ash clicked a few buttons on the navigation panel. “I’ll choose.”
A moment later, the car was zooming over the road toward Upper Newbridge’s shopping district. Alone in the back seat, I stared out the window at blurs of metal and glass and the flash of ad screens. I rarely considered Newbridge a beautiful city, but I supposed it was a “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” scenario. It had its own glitzy, bright sort of beauty. Personally, I only truly saw it at night. Otherwise, it had always seemed plastic—a perfect façade for a city broken inside. Or maybe I only thought that because I tried to build a pretty façade over my own cracks and tears.

Snark from Erika:

“Why do you hate them so much? They’re the reason you’re not dead somewhere from your health issues or some armed mugger on the street.”
I snorted. “Sure. The nation is better off with Grantech at the controls and they’ve only ever been miracle-workers and perfect angels.” Ten steps to the next camera, twenty more after that, then another ten to my door.
“Of course they’re not perfect, but they’ve certainly done a lot of good. Getting criminals off the streets—including GenDevs, creating the technology we all use on a daily basis, vaccines… Rumor is they’re even working on a cure for cancer.”
Oh great. Just another notch in their campaign to brainwash the entire population. I could already see the headlines: “Grantech cures cancer! Get your shot for the low, low price of your firstborn child!”
“You couldn’t pay me enough to take a cancer cure from Grantech. And that’s saying a lot.”

And one more paragraph from Nyla:

My gaze wandered to the bulletin board across from my bed, drifting over the notes and drawings I’d been given by younger GenDevs over the years. There was one from Gilly, who saw a false future in Grantech’s experiments. Another from Caleb, who fought back tears anytime someone mentioned their sister or his. These kids needed hope. They needed to know that Grantech is not the end, that Grantech is not inevitable, that there is something more beyond what Grantech tries to turn us all into: broken soldiers built from the wreckage of children.

There are actually not a lot of spots in Lightning that really stand out to me for sharing snippets. I mostly hold onto individual sentences with this book rather than whole moments or scenes. (Each of these was grabbed based on a sentence I remembered or half-remembered.) I’m not certain if that’s just a difference from book to book or if it’s evidence that Lightning is in desperate need of edits (which is true regardless, lol).

9. Share an interesting tidbit about the writing process so far! (For example: Have you made any hilarious typos? Derailed from your outline? Killed off a character? Changed projects entirely? Anything you want to share!)

A couple of fun facts:

Lightning is the first novel-length first draft I’ve completed since 2019.Thunder will be the first traditional sequel I’ve written (as far as I can find) since 2016. (I’m not counting any of the Dark War Trilogy books since they occur simultaneously rather than following one another chronologically.)

(These facts make the writing process simultaneously exciting and daunting, lol.)

10. Take us on a tour of what a normal writing day for this novel looks like. Where do you write? What time of day? Alone or with others? Is a lot of coffee (or some other drink) consumed? Do you light candles? Play music? Get distracted by social media (*cough, cough*)? Tell all!

I usually write on my living room couch. We set up a whole office/library room in our house, but I gravitate toward the living room because it has so much more natural light. Afternoons and evenings are my usual writing time (mostly afternoons), and there’s usually a story playlist going and either vanilla chai tea or Coca-Cola on the coffee table, lol. Most of my writing occurs during (or is at least instigated by) writing sprints, so I usually manage to stay fairly focused; accountability and virtual company help keep me on task, and if I keep going then it’s with the momentum and focus born from that. It’s more the getting started that’s a challenge if I don’t have a sprinting session to kick me into gear, lol.

There you go! A bit of an update on Lightning, Thunder, and a bit on the state of my writing as a whole with its changing seasons.

If you’ve been working on a writing project this month, how is the process going for you? What has been your biggest win so far? Share in the comments!

The post 2023 Know the Novel: Part 2 – Within the WIP appeared first on Scribes & Archers.

The Value of Fictional “Escape”

To continue with the “classics” theme I started last week, I want to talk about the idea of fictional “escape,” and the question of whether or not fiction should be “escapist”/whether or not we ought to read “to escape.” Tolkien covered this well in “On Fairy Stories,” which I’ll quote and which I highly recommend reading in full, but I want to look at a few key points to consider in this discussion for those of you who just want to focus on fictional “escape” and don’t want to read a whole 40-page essay on fairy stories (as excellent as that essay may be).

The Judgment on “Escape”

The primary judgment leveled at the idea of “escaping” into fiction is that escapism disregards the real world; it’s a means of ignoring the goings-on of the real world and an excuse not to engage with “real world” considerations. Certainly, this sort of “escape” is problematic and the judgment of it is valid. If you’re reading, playing video games, watching movies, etc. at the expense of the responsibilities and relationships around you, that’s an unfruitful use of time and something that should be addressed.

However, this sort of “escape” (or “desertion,” as Tolkien puts it) is an abuse of something that can, alternatively, be used properly and with wisdom. There is nothing wrong with taking a “vacation” from the “real world,” so long as all that you’ve been entrusted with in that real world comes first. Rewarding yourself for accomplishing all of the tasks on your to-do list by playing a video game or reading a novel is not inherently problematic, nor is a properly-prioritized desire to explore fantastical worlds beyond our own. In fact, I think that desire is good, and that’s what I want to cover in my next point.

Escape into Greater Truth

If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. If none of my earthy pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe is a fraud. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing.

— Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

Fiction offers us a taste of satisfaction for the desire toward something amazing and fantastical, something beyond what we can physically see and experience in this world. While it cannot fully satisfy that desire–the only ultimate fulfillment we find for that desire is in the “true country,” as Lewis goes on to put it, for which we were made–it does give us a taste of what may be and it is a constant reminder of that desire. C.S. Lewis continues on to say,

I must keep alive in myself the desire for my true country, which I shall not find till after death; I must never let it get snowed under or turned aside; I must make it the main object of life to press on to that other country and help others to do the same.

Fiction, properly used and understood, stokes this desire and encourages us to press on toward the true beauty and wonder of God’s creation–both visible and invisible. Exploring the wonderful worlds of fiction should not be a desertion of reality, but a press toward a greater understanding of reality. We should bring that wonder back with us when we return to the “real world.”

But I promised to quote “On Fairy Stories,” so let’s look at how Tolkien put it.

I have claimed that Escape is one of the main functions of fairy-stories, and since I do not disapprove of them, it is plain that I do not accept the tone of scorn or pity with which “Escape” is now so often used: a tone for which the uses of the word outside literary criticism give no warrant at all. In what the misusers are fond of calling Real Life, Escape is evidently as a rule very practical, and may even be heroic. In real life it is difficult to blame it, unless it fails; in criticism it would seem to be the worse the better it succeeds. Evidently we are faced by a misuse of words, and also by a confusion of thought. Why should a man be scorned if, finding himself in prison, he tries to get out and go home? Or if, when he cannot do so, he thinks and talks about other topics than jailers and prison-walls? The world outside has not become less real because the prisoner cannot see it. In using escape in this way the critics have chosen the wrong word, and, what is more, they are confusing, not always by sincere error, the Escape of the Prisoner with the Flight of the Deserter.

—“On Fairy Stories” by J.R.R. Tolkien

Truly good fiction should reflect the reality of God’s design in ways that we miss in the “real world,” or present those realities in ways that make us think on them anew. Reading fiction should not be an escape from what is real, but an escape into something even more real than the “reality” that we see in the everyday. Fiction reminds us that the mundane and everyday tasks we accomplish have a purpose larger than ourselves, that heroism is still valuable, that the world is more than material, and that God is in the business of accomplishing more than we can possibly think or imagine. Fiction pushes us to imagine, to think on the fantastical, and to bring those values back into the “real world” that we inhabit and the way we interact therein.

Knowing Where We’re Escaping To

This definition of true escape brings with it an inherent responsibility to know where it is that we’re running to. Not all fiction is created equal. If we are “escaping” into books void of real truth and beauty, then our escape is a desertion of reality instead of an escape into the greater truth of reality as God created it. Are we directing our “escape” toward lands of truth and beauty as God designed it, or lands built on the corruption of that truth and beauty–worlds devoid of hope and light, or that point our eyes toward false safety?

This is not to say that we cannot glean truth from even poorer-quality media–truth is impossible to fully escape in the telling of stories–but we should be striving to fill our minds with “whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely.” We should put thought into our escape plan to ensure that we arrive where we want to be. Much more of our time should be spent on fiction that returns on the investment than on fiction that provides little lasting value.

“Escape” through fiction is not an inherent problem, but a means by which we grasp hold of the invisible truth and beauty in our world (and the visible, sometimes, too). Fiction does what “real life” isn’t always able to do and “sneaks past the watchful dragons” that keep us from embracing truth in a purely intellectual way, instead giving us a means by which we can connect with it on an emotional level through story. (Quote paraphrased from Lewis’s essay, “Sometimes Fairy Stories May Say Best What’s to be Said.”) So let’s escape to places of wisdom, virtue, and hope.

What are your favorite places of fictional “escape”?

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3 Literary Qualities (Largely) Lost to Time

Classic literature did it better.

Okay, not always, but there is a lot to be said for classic literature that can’t (often) be said for modern literature, and I think that modern authors–even modern Christian authors–have lost sight of a lot of the values that can be found in classic literature and the lives of classic authors. Today I want to look at some of the qualities of classic writing that I see more rarely in modern writing, and encourage us to consider whether we’re striving for these qualities in our own work.

*Links marked with an asterisk are affiliate links, meaning I earn a commission off of purchases made through them at no extra cost to you.Classic authors knew what they believed

Classic authors had strong convictions, they studied and tested the things that they believed, and they drew clear lines between their beliefs and the beliefs of the culture (where those differed). They knew what they believed, they paid attention to the culture around them and knew what the culture believed (in practice if not in word), and they didn’t get the two muddled. Tolkien was conscious of the fact that his writing reflected conservationism, which wasn’t an especially popular thought at the time. On the secular side, Oscar Wilde was conscious of the fact that Dorian Gray’s lifestyle (and his own) went against the grain of polite society.

It is important to note that these authors did not shun those who disagreed with them, nor did they isolate themselves from society. In fact, they were very involved in the society around them and I believe that the challenging of their beliefs was likely one of the factors toward the strength of their convictions. They knew what they believed because they’d be pushed over by anything if they didn’t. Nowadays we can shelter ourselves in online echo-chambers and avoid much of the debate that classic authors engaged in, and I think that has actually left us vulnerable. We take our beliefs for granted and there’s much less need to stretch our thinking into areas we might not automatically consider–or think on much of anything beyond a surface-level judgment based on our existing (often shallow) presuppositions.

Of course, not everyone today is guilty of this–certainly not to the extreme I’ve presented. There are those who seek out knowledge and philosophize for the joy of it. There are those who enjoy (or at least value) the challenging of their own beliefs and therefore seek out reasonable debate. There are those (hopefully many!) who don’t just read their Bibles but study it deeply and are ready to give a defense to any who ask the reason for their hope–or conviction.

But too often we can be lazy in shaping our worldview, letting the culture seep in the cracks and/or holding to what’s been passed down without question. (Not that tradition or the teaching of wise elders is inherently wrong–if I thought that, I wouldn’t hold to 99% of my convictions and I wouldn’t be writing this post!–but we ought to “test all things; hold fast to what is good.” When we do so, I think we’ll end up holding to a lot of what those wise elders have passed down to us.)

Are we conscious of our worldview? Do we know where our convictions end and the culture’s values begin? Are our beliefs built on truth? Does that truth influence all areas of our thinking and challenge us to build not only a sturdy worldview but a comprehensive one?

Our books don’t have to preach (and often shouldn’t), but they shouldn’t sound just like any secular book on the shelf, either.

Classic authors explored themes with intention and nuance

To step into the realm of storytelling itself, worldview is going to naturally appear in your story’s themes. (It’ll show up everywhere, actually, but it will be most obvious in your themes.)

One of the skills fostered by classic authors was that of exploring a theme with great intention without losing reasonable nuance. Classic authors were able to decide on clear themes for their work, explore those themes in great depth, and reveal great nuance within their portrayals of those themes. They were thoughtful without being wishy-washy, and they took a stance without being preachy. The principle Brandon Sanderson articulated when he said, “The purpose of a storyteller is not to tell you how to think, but to give you questions to think upon,” is a principle that classic authors understood and put into practice with much greater consistency than modern authors–falling prey neither to telling their readers how to think nor to a failure to give intentional questions to think upon.

Of course, there are exceptions on both sides. Some classics seem pointless, some could be viewed as preachy; meanwhile, some modern books accomplish nuanced themes and balance this principle very well! But it is a skill that not all authors prioritize, and we ought to value it more highly as a whole. Blunt is not always better, nor is being wishy-washy desirable. It is undeniably a difficult skill to be firm but nuanced and thoughtful, but it is a skill we should be striving to strengthen!

Classic authors made rich use of language

By and large, modern writing is much simpler than classic writing. This is not all bad–simple writing has its place and serves a function–but it’s become easy to lose sight of how rich and powerful our language is. We have whole dictionaries open to us, and we barely scratch the surface of the words we use to convey ideas. I’m not saying we should go raid our dictionaries for the most obscure words possible–it defeats the purpose of communication if we’re talking so far over everyone’s heads that we can’t be understood–but we would do well to stretch our vocabularies and challenge our readers just a little bit (or, for that matter, assume they have broader vocabularies, themselves).

So much can be conveyed in the perfect word choice: precision, emotion, foreshadowing, voice, etc. As Mark Twain said,

“The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.”

I recently experienced this in reading Brandon Sanderson’s Hero of Ages, in which a single word operated as a highly effective foreshadowing tool!

Words are the primary tool of our trade. Let’s stretch our skill with them! Collect vivid words; follow word nerds on Twitter (@elzakinde and @arealmofwonder are two peddlers of great words); peruse your dictionary every so often; play Balderdash*; practice poetry.

We’ve been given a task, to tell quality stories that reflect the creativity of The Storyteller and the truth of His Story. Let us steward that task well, and build on the shoulders of the storytellers who went before us to even greater effect and greater reflection of God’s glory.

Which of these qualities are you most excited to strengthen in your own work? Which is the most daunting? Where have you seen these qualities reflected in more recent work? Comment your thoughts below!

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