Tackling the Tough Stuff

I love reading and writing Christian, romance. However, sometimes reality has a way of creeping into our sweet little stories. Not because we want it to, but because God does. 
As often happens, a writer can be moving happily along, getting to know their characters and then all of a sudden you learn something about that person’s past. Something that has impacted their life. Something terrible that affects how they live and who they are today. Things like abuse, betrayal, drugs, cancer, PTSD, and the list goes on and on.
These subjects have to be handled with sensitivity because we never know what a reader might be going/have been through. Our goal in the face of life’s ugliness is to offer them hope.
How do we do that?
Do your research – Knowledge is power. And as unsavory as some of these topics are, you owe it to yourself and your readers to have a better understanding of whatever it is your character is struggling with and how it could impact their thinking and their day-to-day life. Search the internet or visit your local library for books on that particular subject. If you know someone who’s struggled with that issue, see if they’d be willing to talk with you so you can get a sense for how your character might feel. You don’t need to become an expert, you simply need to be familiar enough with that topic to do your character justice and not insult a reader who might be dealing with the same thing.
Don’t be graphic – This is one of those stretching exercises for writers. Sometimes we think we need to just lay it all out there. But would that be beneficial? Readers have imaginations. We don’t want to plant something in their mind’s-eye that they might not be able to forget.
Here’s an example from Ruthy’s Christy nominated book, Her Secret Daughter.

“I trusted the wrong man, Jacob. After years of being so careful, and prim and proper in a city where that’s not exactly easy, I believed a man who carried date-rape drugs in his pocket. A foolish mistake from a woman who had promised her family nothing would go wrong in New Orleans. And there I was, hating myself all over again, but pregnant this time.”
As readers, we know what happened and our heart goes out to the heroine without being hit over the head with all the details of that painful event.
Unfold the journey – Whether physical or emotional, healing is a process. Don’t gyp readers by having a character afraid to trust throughout a story, then suddenly give their heart away in the last chapter. Trust has to be built. Wounds need to be healed. Little by little, one step at a time throughout the book. So by the time we near that final chapter, we know that our character really is strong enough to take that leap of faith. Speaking of faith – As Christians, we know that true healing can only come from God. So above all else, pray your way through any story, but especially those that deal with sensitive topics. Because you never know when a reader might contact you to share their experience and tell you that your book gave them hope. And knowing your book has actually reached that one person God called you to write that story for is the most humbling and amazing feeling you’ll ever know. 
What are your thoughts on these difficult topics? Do you shy away from books that have them or do you feel that they make the characters more real? Share your thoughts to be entered into a drawing for a copy of Her Colorado Cowboy.

Three-time Carol Award nominee, Mindy Obenhaus, writes contemporary romance for Love Inspired Books. She’s passionate about touching readers with Biblical truths in an entertaining, and sometimes adventurous, manner. When she’s not writing, she enjoys cooking and spending time with her grandchildren at her Texas ranch. Learn more at www.MindyObenhaus.com