My Life in Books

Shortly after becoming a Christian I was on holidays with my parents and the place where we were staying had some books for sale. I realized that one of them was a Christian book so I bought it with my own pocket money. It was Norman Vincent Peale's, A Tough Minded Optimist.

This is probably not the book you would recommend to a teenage girl who had just become a Christian. Yet it began a journey of reading Christian books. These days I wouldn't agree with all of Norman Vincent Peale's theology but back then I knew nothing about theology. I had not grown up in a Christian family but had come to faith through a church youth group.

The book, A Tough Minded Optimist, gave me the one thing I desperately needed at the time, hope. I was a deeply depressed teenager and I read and reread this book, filled with story after story of people who had turned their lives around by trusting God and changing the way they thought.

I had always been an avid reader; it was a way of escaping the real world and getting lost in another. Now I had found a whole new genre of material. I stumbled across John Powell, David Seamands, and when I had my children, James Dobson.

However the next life changing book moment came when a friend gave me a copy of Selwyn Hughes' quarterly devotional, Every Day With Jesus. For the next 20 years I read these devotions. I also read Selwyn Hughes' other books and went to one of his conferences when he was in Australia.

From Selwyn Hughes I discovered Neil Anderson who wrote along similar themes, then there was Larry Crabb, Dan Allender, R.C. Sproul and Mark Buchanan. I said to someone recently I can't give my books away because, although I won't read them again, they have sentimental value because they changed my life. They replied, "If you gave them away they might change someone else's life." Ouch!

I am grateful to each and every one of these authors yet none of them know they changed my life. It motivates me to tell my story through the things I write when I realize how much other people's stories have impacted me.

We may never know whose lives we touch, encourage and motivate with our writing. However if we seek God as we write we know that God will use our written offerings to bless others.

*****

Susan Barnes likes to write inspirational articles, book reviews, and reflections on Bible passages and regularly blogs at abooklook.blogspot.com.au. She is also a librarian.

Burning Beliefs

The following question is one I saw posed as part of suggested writing tips;

Why must you tell this story in particular? What’s the belief burning within you that your story feeds off?

This appeals to me because I immediately identify with the idea of writing that is motivated by the desire to provoke readers to be challenged to grow.  The stories I want to tell are based on my belief that life is a journey of learning, that life has a purpose which is beyond ourselves, and that it is often from reflecting on our own struggles and challenges, or the lives of others who have wrestled with life’s issues, that we learn our best life lessons, and come to understand what real love is, and what real life is all about.

 

 



I think this is so true!

 

Yet I’m reminded by Meredith Resce’s provocative post on Facebook, questioning the value and pitfalls of writing romance stories. In spite of so much acknowledgement that romance can have a misleading and shallow focus, and perhaps even be counterproductive for Christian writers, that romance and love are quite different concepts, still it seems that so many readers – Christian and non-Christian - want to lose themselves in a romance, with prince charming, the excitement of the pursuit, and the happily ever after ending.

I was warned when I began to write that if I wanted to sell books, I’d need to write romance novels; if I wanted to write historical fiction, it would need to be romance, couched in historical settings. The feedback I get about my novels supports this notion, but I still find it frustrating.

I’ve also come across many Christians who will not read novels at all. They are only interested in devotional material and don’t see the value of reading anything which they see as ‘fiction’. Of course, that is their choice and it may be a safe path to stick to the scriptures and purely devotional material. For all of us there’s a place for this kind of reading in our lives.

For others reading may be mainly an escape from reality; a way to relax, or enjoy the distraction of imagining a life on earth that is ideal, romantic and happily ever after. I suppose that’s also a valid motivation for reading.

Then there are those who love other genres; fantasy, mystery, historical, and no doubt there are plenty of readers who like to learn from novels, who like to be challenged to grow in their spiritual, emotional and relational lives, regardless of their preferred genre.
 

There is also the question of writing for Christians or non-Christians. How do we draw non-Christians to our work in order to influence their thinking, and yet maintain our Christian values in the way we write? If we can't do this, are we simply preaching to the converted?
 

What a challenge we have as writers! We certainly can’t address all these issues in any one story. We’ll never please everyone, or be every reader’s favourite writer.

So I’m drawn back to the original question:

Why must you tell this story in particular? What’s the belief burning within you that your story feeds off?





 

See Carol's websites for more on her historical novels (real life with a little romance thrown in)

www.carolpreston.com.au

www.amazon.com/author/carolpreston

www.facebook.com/writingtoreach