In the next post of my Ask an Author blog series, I’m answering the question: What part of your books do you have the hardest time writing? Thanks for the question, Richard!
As many of my readers know, I am not a Christian who writes romance but a writer of Christian romantic fiction. There is a difference that I’d like to take a minute to explain. Some Christian writers write what they call “clean romance,” which has no universal standard and can mean many things. In general, it means there is no swearing, no explicit scenes (although the line as to what is acceptable is very blurry), and low violence in a novel. Unfortunately, because the standards are subjective, a person reading “clean” fiction may find themselves reading something outside their comfort zone.
I write what is labeled Christian romance. This means that Christianity will be part of the story line and part of the character’s lives. Again, in Christian romantic fiction, there are also no universal standards, but there are some general expectations. Those are that there will be no swearing and very chaste romance aspects. I do want to point out that this might not be the same for other genres, so if romance isn’t your preferred genre, these terms may mean something completely different to you.
Unfortunately, many authors are moving away from these standards.
I have stopped reading almost all “clean romance” novels, because the line keeps moving and “clean” means that the author only stops short of writing the actual act of intercourse. There may be several swear words, because authors now consider “clean” to only apply to the romance aspect of the story. When I do read them, I choose novels by authors that I have read in the past and know actually write clean fiction or that readers I trust have recommend.
Even Christian fiction writers are succumbing to the pressures to conform to the world. I often read reviews on Goodreads by readers who did not finish Christian novels because they were laced with profanities and all kinds of problematic elements. In an effort to appear “gritty” and relevant, Christian fiction writers have included things in their novels that many readers of Christian fiction do not want to see in them. Sometimes the Christian elements in these novels are limited to a few references to church or prayer with not much relevance to the overall storyline.
What does this have to do with me?
Let’s go back to the original question. What part of your books do you have the hardest time writing? We all know we live in a fallen, sinful world. Part of writing contemporary fiction means that I have to write about that in a way that doesn’t glorify the sin or plant seeds of sin in the hearts of my readers. Philippians 4:8 says, “Finally, bretheren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy–meditate on these things.” (NKJV) I do not want to cause my readers to meditate on things that go against the Word of God.
When I was writing A Heart to Cherish,* this applied the most with scenes that included the character, Wes. I had to strike a balance between showing how terrible he treated Julia while protecting those readers who expected my Christian romance to “set no wicked thing before [their] eyes.” (Psalms 101:3 NKJV) There is one confrontation scene that appears late in the novel that I actually wrote early in the writing process, and I had to completely rewrite it after deciding it was too drastic for the type of writer my conscience would allow me to be.
As I write my current novel, I’ve sent scenes to sensitivity readers to make sure they aren’t “too much.” Even Christians make mistakes, and I want my writing to reflect that. However, I don’t want to dwell on those sins in a way that glorifies them or causes someone who is struggling with that kind of sin to stumble. Being authentic without crossing lines is very important to me.
So, what do I have the hardest time writing?
Any scenes where I’m depicting blatant sin. Whether they are Christians or not, I believe I have a responsibility to my readers. That means making sure I’m stopping before I cross any lines rather than seeing how close I can get. But that also sometimes means questioning every single word I’m writing. Ultimately, this is something that each Christian author has to work out between him or herself and God, but for me, there’s always a lot of prayer, rereading, and second guessing that goes along with each one of these types of scenes.
What additional questions do you have about writing or publishing? Something about the process or my own personal author journey? Or did you read A Heart to Cherish and have questions about it? If your enquiring mind wants to know, I want to write about it! Let me know in the comments, and you may see your question in an upcoming Ask an Author post!
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