Easter as Inspiration
As a writer of Christian fiction, I can find endless themes in the Easter story: renewal, sacrifice, forgiveness, love, rebirth, and resurrection are just a few. So many different people are involved in the story, each with his or her own backstory, I have myriad sources from which to create characters.
Since I can’t address all these in a single blog post, I’ll just focus on one: the Easter story as a story arc, mimicking the themes of Maundy Thursday to Easter.
Maundy Thursday – Story starts with some kind of celebration with all the main characters. One character is sad for some reason.
Good Friday – A tragedy occurs.
Holy Saturday – Charcters react to tragedy.
Easter – The tragedy is turned on its head somehow, becoming the opposite of what the characters thought it was. Because of this, most of the characters are profoundly changed for the better.
I wouldn’t have to plot my story over four days. I could have it unfold over years if I wanted to, but I would use the the four days as described as my anchors for the action.
I wouldn’t even have to mention within the story I was following the pattern of Easter. J.R.R. Tolkien used many Christian themes in The Lord of the Rings, but because his characters live in Europe before the introduction of Christianity, they can’t say Aragorn’s return to the throne is like the Jews waiting for the Messiah. But readers can make the connection.
I would love to try my hand at writing a story as I have outlined. Maybe I will get more inspiration. Does Easter inspire any ideas for you? Let me know!
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