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How should my faith influence my writing/art/etc.?

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  • How should my faith influence my writing/art/etc.?

    Let's say that I'm writing a novel (because I am). To what extent would you say that my Christian faith should influence my writing, and what should that influence look like?

    There seems to be a crowd that would argue that if you aren't writing to, for example, explicitly further the gospel, then what do you think you're doing? That should be the only purpose, they'd say. I think most of us could probably agree that a lot of the Christian fiction that seems born out of that thinking is less than great. Words that come to my mind with that stuff would be cheesy, corny, etc.

    If your answer is something along the lines of, "do it subtly," then what does subtly look like? This is probably a tough question to answer, so I'm just throwing it out there to see how people respond.

    For example, a good portion of my novel was born out of some psychological stress and poor thinking habits I've been confronting in myself over the past year. I suppose you could say that, on one level, writing the novel has been therapeutic for me, and I'm sure now that one of the reasons I think it works is precisely because of that influence.

    So, how "Christian" should my book, written by a Christian, be? It's a horror, btw, if that helps to elucidate the question.
    I DENOUNCE DONALD J. TRUMP AND ALL HIS IMMORAL ACTS.

  • #2
    I struggle with this. I think the crowd who says everything has to be explicit is obnoxious. However, it is difficult to deliberately infuse meaning without being weird. At the same time I think about ten years in the future and some book study group is talking about the "themes" of my novel. What will they come up with?

    No, the house isn't yellow for any particular reason. I just thought it was a funny color for it.

    "Fire is catching. If we burn, you burn with us!"
    "I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to stay here and cause all kinds of trouble."
    Katniss Everdeen


    Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast.

    Comment


    • #3
      Here's a random thought that might help clarify my own thinking here:

      I've noticed a lot of Christian reviews--like PluggedIn--of popular movies focus very strictly on content: violence, language, sexual content. I've seen some movies that were violent that I thought were spectacular, or movies that had a good bit of swearing that I thought were extremely worthwhile. Conversely, I've seen some movies with PG-rated content that I thought were horrifying.

      Another, related thought: a lot of people take issue with something that's portrayed in a movie or book, and say that the movie/book "glorifies" that. (I'll give a good example if I think of one.) I don't think a movie or book portraying objectionable, even horrifying, conduct means that the movie is glorifying it. It's often quite the opposite, IMO.
      I DENOUNCE DONALD J. TRUMP AND ALL HIS IMMORAL ACTS.

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by thewriteranon View Post
        I struggle with this. I think the crowd who says everything has to be explicit is obnoxious. However, it is difficult to deliberately infuse meaning without being weird. At the same time I think about ten years in the future and some book study group is talking about the "themes" of my novel. What will they come up with?

        No, the house isn't yellow for any particular reason. I just thought it was a funny color for it.
        Yeah, the search for deep meaning is often unintentionally hilarious. Sometimes I wonder if, assuming I ever get published, somebody will come up with some far-out theory from a detail that I just threw in there because I thought it was cool at the time.
        I DENOUNCE DONALD J. TRUMP AND ALL HIS IMMORAL ACTS.

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by Zymologist View Post
          Yeah, the search for deep meaning is often unintentionally hilarious. Sometimes I wonder if, assuming I ever get published, somebody will come up with some far-out theory from a detail that I just threw in there because I thought it was cool at the time.
          My deepest desire is to be able to know what sorts of bizarre meanings at least one person is drawing out of my writing in the future. My own personal wacko.

          "Fire is catching. If we burn, you burn with us!"
          "I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to stay here and cause all kinds of trouble."
          Katniss Everdeen


          Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast.

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by thewriteranon View Post
            My deepest desire is to be able to know what sorts of bizarre meanings at least one person is drawing out of my writing in the future. My own personal wacko.
            Asking some people about their take on my book has yielded more than one, "Huh, that interpretation never even occurred to me--and I wrote it" moments on my part.
            I DENOUNCE DONALD J. TRUMP AND ALL HIS IMMORAL ACTS.

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by Zymologist View Post
              Asking some people about their take on my book has yielded more than one, "Huh, that interpretation never even occurred to me--and I wrote it" moments on my part.
              I don't think anyone has read past like chapter ten of my thing. I keep it closely guarded.

              "Fire is catching. If we burn, you burn with us!"
              "I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to stay here and cause all kinds of trouble."
              Katniss Everdeen


              Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast.

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by Zymologist View Post
                Let's say that I'm writing a novel (because I am). To what extent would you say that my Christian faith should influence my writing, and what should that influence look like?

                There seems to be a crowd that would argue that if you aren't writing to, for example, explicitly further the gospel, then what do you think you're doing? That should be the only purpose, they'd say. I think most of us could probably agree that a lot of the Christian fiction that seems born out of that thinking is less than great. Words that come to my mind with that stuff would be cheesy, corny, etc.

                If your answer is something along the lines of, "do it subtly," then what does subtly look like? This is probably a tough question to answer, so I'm just throwing it out there to see how people respond.

                For example, a good portion of my novel was born out of some psychological stress and poor thinking habits I've been confronting in myself over the past year. I suppose you could say that, on one level, writing the novel has been therapeutic for me, and I'm sure now that one of the reasons I think it works is precisely because of that influence.

                So, how "Christian" should my book, written by a Christian, be? It's a horror, btw, if that helps to elucidate the question.
                I think "subtle" can mean something as simple as "not marketed to a Christian audience". There are plenty of great Christian/Not-Christian works of art that are overtly Christian in theme, yet that I would still consider subtle enough to be open to a non-Christian audience. Robert Duvall's The Apostle, for instance. I mean, it's about a Pentecostal preacher. It doesn't get much more blatant than that, but the film doesn't try to sugarcoat a Christian message. It doesn't speak to the audience in Christianese, and for the most part, it was never marketed to a Christian audience. The film is about a heavily heavily flawed character. A man who acts the very opposite of the Christian he ought to be, yet the audience is left with the sense that his faith moves him beyond his circumstances and doing great good. It's really a modern David and Bathsheba sort of narrative. A lot of Christian films made by the Christian industry produce films that are intentionally for Christian audiences, and end their films happily with all the pieces in their proper places, and that's simply not reality. That's not something a non-Christian audience can relate to.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by thewriteranon View Post
                  I don't think anyone has read past like chapter ten of my thing. I keep it closely guarded.
                  I probably don't keep mine as closely guarded as I should. Hopefully I won't regret posting about this thing on here in six months' time.*

                  But hey, if you ever want a beta or alpha reader and would be ok with sending stuff to a random guy on the internet with a dumb screen-name, I'll be willing.

                  *Btw, if anybody ever runs across a thread that I made about my writing before about this time last year, please, please don't read it. It's garbage, and I am ashamed.
                  I DENOUNCE DONALD J. TRUMP AND ALL HIS IMMORAL ACTS.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Zymologist View Post
                    Here's a random thought that might help clarify my own thinking here:

                    I've noticed a lot of Christian reviews--like PluggedIn--of popular movies focus very strictly on content: violence, language, sexual content. I've seen some movies that were violent that I thought were spectacular, or movies that had a good bit of swearing that I thought were extremely worthwhile. Conversely, I've seen some movies with PG-rated content that I thought were horrifying.
                    Yeah, I agree. The Bible is not a PG-rated book. Why should we expect our movies and books to be?

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Zymologist View Post
                      Yeah, the search for deep meaning is often unintentionally hilarious. Sometimes I wonder if, assuming I ever get published, somebody will come up with some far-out theory from a detail that I just threw in there because I thought it was cool at the time.

                      I want to know about the headaches.





                      Securely anchored to the Rock amid every storm of trial, testing or tribulation.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Adrift View Post
                        I think "subtle" can mean something as simple as "not marketed to a Christian audience". There are plenty of great Christian/Not-Christian works of art that are overtly Christian in theme, yet that I would still consider subtle enough to be open to a non-Christian audience. Robert Duvall's The Apostle, for instance. I mean, it's about a Pentecostal preacher. It doesn't get much more blatant than that, but the film doesn't try to sugarcoat a Christian message. It doesn't speak to the audience in Christianese, and for the most part, it was never marketed to a Christian audience. The film is about a heavily heavily flawed character. A man who acts the very opposite of the Christian he ought to be, yet the audience is left with the sense that his faith moves him beyond his circumstances and doing great good. It's really a modern David and Bathsheba sort of narrative. A lot of Christian films made by the Christian industry produce films that are intentionally for Christian audiences, and end their films happily with all the pieces in their proper places, and that's simply not reality. That's not something a non-Christian audience can relate to.
                        I like this explanation. While sometimes I like a happy ending, the deliriously happy endings usually irritate me and make me want to go write a story where the narrator dies, or something.
                        I DENOUNCE DONALD J. TRUMP AND ALL HIS IMMORAL ACTS.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Zymologist View Post
                          I probably don't keep mine as closely guarded as I should. Hopefully I won't regret posting about this thing on here in six months' time.*

                          But hey, if you ever want a beta or alpha reader and would be ok with sending stuff to a random guy on the internet with a dumb screen-name, I'll be willing.

                          *Btw, if anybody ever runs across a thread that I made about my writing before about this time last year, please, please don't read it. It's garbage, and I am ashamed.
                          I might take you on that. But not until after all my grad school applications are in. I'm writing enough essays to give me a headache.

                          "Fire is catching. If we burn, you burn with us!"
                          "I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to stay here and cause all kinds of trouble."
                          Katniss Everdeen


                          Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by mossrose View Post
                            I want to know about the headaches.



                            Yeah, me too.

                            Also, it occurs to me that my ending as-is may be a bit too happy...methinks maybe I should throw in a little more bleakness. What do you think?
                            I DENOUNCE DONALD J. TRUMP AND ALL HIS IMMORAL ACTS.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Zymologist View Post
                              I like this explanation. While sometimes I like a happy ending, the deliriously happy endings usually irritate me and make me want to go write a story where the narrator dies, or something.
                              Yep, and really, I think The Apostle does have a happy ending of sorts, but it's not the type of happy ending that you see in a film marketed to Christians. Spoiler: Our hero ends up in jail, but in jail he's still preaching the Gospel.

                              Comment

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