Writing Truth in Fiction - 4 Tips

 

by Cindy K. Sproles @CindyDevoted

Thumbing through social media crushes my writing soul. These days, an innocent joke among friends leads to accusations of social injustice, racism, or politics. It makes writing a difficult thing. We now have to pour more critically over our work and that makes getting the message out, hard. Given light to highly publicized social injustices, innocent lines of dialogue are now taken as offensive and for Christian writers, the use of God or religion in anything is increasingly difficult. We can hardly allow characters to work through conflict and issues without strong social scrutiny or being tagged insensitive.

 Here are 4 ways to write to a troubled world and still bring forth truth.

Never forget who you are writing for – If you feel called as a Christian writer, never forget who you are writing for. Jesus taught hard subjects through parables. He never called anyone names (well, maybe the money changers are the exception), instead, he gave them a story through love that pinged their common sense and His points always reverted back to His Father. He walked listeners through the consequences of their mistakes and into the light of better decisions. If we master this simplistic ability, what an impact we can have on others.Do not be afraid of the hard subjects – Best-selling author, Steven James once said, “Don’t avoid hard subjects, instead, learn to write from the decision’s consequences.” I’m sure he grabbed this from Jesus, but the point is, he made this a profound thought that changed my perspective. Readers cannot argue with the consequences of a hard subject but they can argue opinion. Show the consequence of a bad decision and allow characters to work through. Stop preaching – Learn to write both sides of the character’s situations. Wagging a finger, insisting those bad characters repent, doesn’t work when you reach beyond your religious circle. Allow characters to truthfully express their understanding, or lack of, in their walk. Let them express their anger, expectations, or frustration at God and as the character develops, provide them the understanding they seek. Allow your “good” character to make mistakes, suffer consequences, and then rebound from better choices. Slowly allowing a character to experience and understand what it is to have a spiritual life, becomes realistic and authentic. Most folks slowly arrive at an understanding of God and the need only He can fulfill. Learn to write this way.Stop praying for God to help you publish –  Though this isn’t wrong by any means, consider praying for how your work can speak Christ boldly in a time when words can be so damming. In today’s ultra-sensitive world, ask God for the right approach or words necessary to get the message out. Then believe He will do so. When you loosen the grip around your work enough for God to take hold, it allows Him the necessary room He needs.

We cannot write to please the world. We can only write to please God. Holding firm to the truth yet exploring new ways to broach subject matter is challenging. Speak gentle truth and God will pierce the souls of those who need to hear.

Cindy K. Sproles is an author, speaker, and conference teacher. She is the cofounder of Christian Devotions Ministries and the executive editor for christiandevotions.us and inspireafire.com. Cindy is the lead managing editor for SonRise Devotionals and also Straight Street Books, both imprints of LPC/Iron Stream Media Publications. She is a mentor with Write Right and the director of the Asheville Chrisitan Writers Conference held each February at the Billy Graham Training Center, the Cove, Asheville, NC. Cindy is a best selling, award winning novelist. Visit Cindy at www.cindysproles.com.