I remember when I was doing critiques as an ACFW member. I was reading one novel where the male lead was knocked out and put in a death trap inside a house. He made it out unharmed but still bound.
Then, he heard footsteps. Was it the bad guys to make sure there job was finished? No! God was good: it was his buddy who came to see if he was okay.
The author then submitted their synopsis of the story for feedback. When it got to the scene I mentioned, the author again mentioned God is good in allowing the hero's friend to come instead of his foes.
Is God good? Absolutely. And in the novel itself, the hero was definitely saying God is good. However, the fact that good guy showed up instead of the bad guy had nothing to do with the goodness of the Lord, but the goodness of the author. (Unless you are such a strong Calvinist that you believe every word a novelist writes has been predestined.)
In a sense, could a novelist/screenwriter be viewed as a small 'g' god? They have the ability to create a world with people in it. The places may resemble real life places (e.g. my novel takes place in Indianapolis.) Or the places are fictitious but still operate in our reality (such as my favorite coffee shop which closed half a dozen years ago in real life but still is open for business in my novel.) Or the writer is a sci-fi or fantasy writer where you have your complete world with creatures that you don't have here.
The first two books I read on Christian writing were How To Write (And Sell) A Christian Novel by Gilbert Morris and Writing For The Soul by Jerry Jenkins. Morris made it clear from the start that we shouldn't just start writing but in advance divide the book into parts and chapters. Likewise, he has a detailed list on what each character looks like as well as other info.
Jenkins has a completely different philosophy. You may or may not know that when he and LaHaye started writing Left Behind it was supposed to be a novel, not a series. It didn't turn out that way. He also likes getting interesting characters in a room together and see what happens. Jenkins tells readers that he didn't kill off a character - he found them dead. Likewise, he keeps the descriptions to a minimum, allowing the reader the honor of deciding what a character looks like.
Now, there are times descriptions help. Remember the story I mentioned at the top of this blog? The hero's friend was named Billy Bob. How many of you have a picture of a white guy? I did. The author was creative in having an African American with that moniker.
However, the story I was critiquing was a sequel to a published novel. She mentioned Billy Bob's ethinicity in the first book; she forgot to mention that in book two. So I had an incorrect picture of the character as I was reviewing the second story, before I had a chance to read the first one.
Another writing book I read was Writing Killer Fiction: The Fun House of Mystery And The Roller Coaster Of Suspense by Carolyn Wheat. She mentioned that most mystery writers plot it out like Gilbert Morris, while suspense authors are more apt to just write without planning ahead.
So let me close this with two questions. The first is how you'd write. (And if I'm blessed to have any authors as regular blog readers, please tell me about your writing). The second is from those who know me which one you think I would lean towards. I'll answer the second question next week.
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