Writing It Down

 

This week I started reading the book of Luke, the third gospel in the New Testament. I’ve read the familiar stories numerous times, but each time I read the accounts, I find some new thing.

Here are the first four verses of Luke. “Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.”

Of course, Luke was inspired by the Holy Spirit as he wrote his account of Jesus’s life. As a writer, I’m looking at the things Luke did. He investigated. That says research to me. A writer must research the subject to get the details correct. Luke had a specific audience in mind, Theophilus. As I write I’m thinking about my readers and the story they might like to read.

Many of my books deal with forgiveness. I think it is a difficult thing to do sometimes when the hurt goes deep. But as Christians we are called on to forgive. So I hope my stories in some small way can show characters who find a way to forgive.

What kind of lessons have you learned from works of fiction?