What Themes Work Best in Christian Fiction?

While reading On Writing (and Writers): A Miscellany of Advice and Opinions by C.S. Lewis, which is a collection of quotes from his writings, I discovered a passage in which Mr. Lewis discusses writing blatant or latent themes in Christian fiction. It got me to thinking about what themes work best in Christian fiction

Blatant Theme or…

“Blatant” means obvious, so Christian fiction with a blatant theme is one that presents itself without any disguises. Francine Rivers’s Redeeming Love is obviously a reworking of the Book of Hosea, set in the American West. The main male character is named Michael Hosea. Christian readers know what to expect.

Latent Theme or…

Latent themes are the ones you have to dig for. Such as the Christian themes in The Lord of the Rings. Gandalf’s death and resurrection mimics Christ’s. The people of Gondor have long expected the return of a king, like the Jewish people awaiting the Messiah.

Both Blatant and Latent Themes

My stories so far fall in this category. On the one hand, my main character and many of her close relatives are Christians. It makes sense for them to discuss problems in light of their faith.

The main character of my YA mystery series is Rae Riley. She’s turning twenty in my next novel, working title A Storm in Summer. She’s still getting to know her father Mal and his family. Tension between Rae and Mal rises when Rae wants to help people in trouble and her father wants her to stay safe. He sees she has a gift for mercy and suggests they both read up on that in their Bibles. This makes sense because they are Christian characters.

But I like working with latent themes much more. In all my Rae Riley mysteries, Rae’s journey to know her father can be seen as a similar journey Christians take to know their Heavenly Father. I don’t have Rae think things like, “Wow. Trusting Dad is as hard as trusting God.” My characters don’t comment on the latent theme. I present it and hope I do it in a way that makes readers think and encourages them to uncover the theme themselves.

That’s something else l like about latent themes. The author gives the readers room to make their own discoveries, rather than spelling out every letter of the theme for them. The reading experience is more meaningful if the author regards readers as partners in the process of unveiling the hidden gems in a story, rather than as students who have to be instructed on the theme.

Preachiness Can Be Found in Secular Fiction Too

I read a YA mystery in the last few years that included in the wrap up a speech from the main character about the case she just solved. She lets readers know exactly how they are supposed to judge the victim and the guilty parties. I wish the author had trusted readers to come to their own conclusions.

What themes works best in Christian fiction in your opinion? Why?

July 13, 2023 3

Write an Acrostic Poem of Faith

While trying to think of a writing prompt for this month’s theme of Christian fiction, an acrostic poem for “joy” popped into my head. So my challenge for you today is to write an acrostic poem of faith.

You can try love, hope, faith, holy, Jesus, God, and if you’re truly inspired, obedience, forgiveness, sacrifice, or Christmas. I wrote an acrostic poem for Easter a few years ago.

I’d love to read your inspiration in the comments!

July 10, 2023 0

Defining Christian Fiction

Since this month’s theme is Christian fiction, I thought defining Christian fiction would be helpful. Below is my post from last year, explaining the basic elements of the genre. My definition here is based on my own writing process and thinking and the definition used by many professionals in the Christian fiction industry.

Christian Worldview

Many times when I visit a page for a Christian writers group or publisher, they post a list of what they publish or represent. Often this includes they are looking for stories that demonstrate “a Christian worldview.” One publisher I found puts “Evangelical Christian worldview.” Since the Bible is a big book, what does that mean? Below are the basics of that worldview.

Theres is a God and He created the universe and all the people in it.
Sin is disobedience to God, and it cuts us off from Him.
Jesus is God’s son and God himself. His choice to take the punishment for our sins gives us a chance to reconcile with God.
When we accept the gift of forgiveness, we spend the rest of our lives learning about God and growing closer to him as well as telling other about the gift.
When we die, we go to live with Him forever.

Christian fiction publishers will likely expect more from a manuscript, such as no graphic content, but if at some point, it deviates from the above list, it’s not a Christian worldview.

Two Approaches

As I’ve written in the genre, I’ve discovered two approaches to writing Christian fiction. One is deciding at the outset to that you’re going to write about a Christian theme. Author Francine Rivers took the book of Hosea and moved it to the American West in Redeeming Love. Someone else might want to put a modern spin on the story of Paul. Or construct a plot to demonstrate God’s love or mercy in any genre, whether it’s historical, speculative fiction, or thriller.

The second approach is to write a story with Christian characters, or characters who will become Christian, and see how they handle the situation they are in. This is how I write. I’m a character writer first. I build my main characters and then concoct plots that will test them, develop them, and are a ton of fun to write. My teen detective, Rae Riley, is a Christian because I am and it’s easier for me to imagine how she does life as a Christian. As I write, a Christian theme may emerge. Or I may start with a theme in mind but it has to work naturally with the story. When I wrote “A Rose from the Ashes,” I’d thought the theme was mercy and forgiveness. That’s there, but about 18 months after I wrote it, I realized it was also a spin on the parable of the Prodigal Son.

Clean Reads

Clean reads are not Christian fiction, although most Christian fiction would qualify as clean reads. What are clean reads? These are stories without graphic sex or violence and little to no bad language, but they don’t have Christian themes or characters. Most cozy mysteries in the secular market could be called clean reads because readers expect the violence and any sex to take place off stage and not described in nitty gritty detail. Sweet romance stories fall into this category too.

If you read or write Christian fiction, how do you define it?

July 6, 2023 0

Halfway Through The Journey of a Book!

As we head into the second half of the year, I decided to recap what we’ve covered so far since we’re halfway through “The Journey of a Book.” Below are the links for the monthly themes that all contribute to how a book moves from inspiration to publication.

May: Historical fiction

June: Characters

I hope you’ve found this journey helpful with your own writing adventures! Thursday I’ll kick off this month’s theme of Christian fiction.

July 3, 2023 0