Christian fiction
Dec. 19th, 2008 04:31 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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christianreaderHi, community.
Someone just joined this community which made me feel that I should contribute to making it a bit more active.
So here's something....I often hear Christians (me included) complaining about Christian fiction. I know what my own complaints are - often it's cheesy, portraying Christianity in a shallow way, and it seems there is a required ministry message that is almost always poorly written. Still, I read it. I like knowing the character is probably going to approach things from a Christian perspective.
I guess what I'm wondering is what would be the "right" way to write Christian fiction for those of you who don't like it? I often wonder how I would incorporate faith if I wrote a book. Sure, I can write a character who isn't Christian at all, but as a Christian it would be tempting to write from a perspective that I know and live. But how do I do that in a way that doesn't just seem silly? How does one write that in a way that can be appreciated by Christians and nonChristians alike? Does it always have to be allegory?
I suppose I'm also wondering if you have read any Christian fiction that you think was well done. If so, why do you say that?
Someone just joined this community which made me feel that I should contribute to making it a bit more active.
So here's something....I often hear Christians (me included) complaining about Christian fiction. I know what my own complaints are - often it's cheesy, portraying Christianity in a shallow way, and it seems there is a required ministry message that is almost always poorly written. Still, I read it. I like knowing the character is probably going to approach things from a Christian perspective.
I guess what I'm wondering is what would be the "right" way to write Christian fiction for those of you who don't like it? I often wonder how I would incorporate faith if I wrote a book. Sure, I can write a character who isn't Christian at all, but as a Christian it would be tempting to write from a perspective that I know and live. But how do I do that in a way that doesn't just seem silly? How does one write that in a way that can be appreciated by Christians and nonChristians alike? Does it always have to be allegory?
I suppose I'm also wondering if you have read any Christian fiction that you think was well done. If so, why do you say that?
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Date: 2008-12-20 05:25 pm (UTC)Yes, G.K. Chesterton's. :-)
If so, why do you say that?
To use the words that Martin Gardner (a non-Christian) used in describing Chesterton's novel The Ball and the Cross, and which can be applied to GKC's fiction in general, I:
"...enjoy reading it for its colorful style, with its constant alliteration, amusing puns and clever paradoxes; for its purple passages about sunsets, dawns and silver moonlight; and for the humor and melodrama of its crazy plot."
Speaking of which, you can read a great deal of Chesterton's fiction (and non-fiction as well) on the following website:
G.K. Chesterton's Works on the Web (http://www.cse.dmu.ac.uk/~mward/gkc/books/index.html)
(Though some of the books which are in the public domain in the UK, where the owner of that site lives, are not in the public domain in the US. I believe the key date for the US is 1923. But I believe most of the work is in the public domain in both places).
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Date: 2008-12-20 05:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-20 05:37 pm (UTC)But I *do* dream of being G.K. Chesterton's agent! Heh. :-)
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Date: 2008-12-20 05:38 pm (UTC)