This is an issue I have struggled with for quite some time, but it's becoming more of an issue for me the closer I get to releasing my next book DESERT RICE. I'm not a religious fanatic, but I do have a moral compass and "rules" for myself that I try my best to live by. But here's the thing...I belong to a religious affiliation who have even more rules that I should be living by, and the kinds of stories I find myself writing tend to break a lot of those rules. I'm a good person, but my characters make a lot of mistakes--some pretty big ones. These are the stories that come to me, the voices that whisper in my ear. Personally, I think I would be HORRIBLE at writing religious fiction type books, so knowing that, I don't even try. So why does any of this matter? I guess because I worry someone might mistake my stories as my own personal belief system. What I write about rarely matches up to what I believe to be true. Do I believe kids should be having sex at fifteen-years-old? Heck no. Do I believe it's okay for kids to drink? Never. The list goes on. Desert Rice deals with some pretty tough topics. I don't go into details, but there is enough there for a reader to paint their own sordid picture. This is a book that I know might offend several people of my church. I guess, even after all this time, I still worry about what people think of me. Sad, I know. So then why write the stories I do? Why write about zombies or child abuse? Why not just stick to my moral compass and do the right thing? Because rarely do I pick the story or its characters--they come to me. That sounds crazy, but it's true. So I write what I write, and I will let the chips fall where they may. I don't think what I write about pushes any major envelopes--there are MANY books out there with topics and word choices I would NEVER do--but to be a member of a religion that preaches building up the kingdom God, I'm pretty sure my books aren't doing any of that. Take Stephanie Meyer for instance (I know, I know. We really don't want to talk about her, right?) but her fourth book got some members of her religious group in an uproar. They didn't agree with what she wrote. They attacked her and questioned her standing in her church. Besides her writing not being up to par, she didn't write anything completely offensive or downright evil, but she suffered some backlash for it, regardless. So how can I be who I am, believe what I do, but write books that contradict some of those beliefs? Am I a hypocrite? Maybe. I don't know. There are certain lines I have drawn, certain "things" and word choices I would never use, but I have made some "creative choices" (for lack of a better term) that some in my religious community would say is wrong--I should be sticking to my standards, so they would say. What do I do? How do I walk that fine line? How do I explain myself...or not? What do you think? How do you balance it? Do you draw lines in the sand or do you write the story that needs to be written...no matter what? I'd love to know.
24 Comments
6/6/2012 04:09:25 pm
Powerful post, Angela!
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Moslimah
6/6/2012 06:52:47 pm
I completely understand where you're coming from. I am going through that with the book I'm currently writing. For my own peace of mind, I did ask a scholar if my religion allowed me to write about such and such as it opposed my Islamic views. I did get a response which I was satisfied with and that was to try my best to make the majority of the messages in my story positive! And here I am, still on with that story :)
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I think you become a hypocrite when you stop being true to yourself and the story you have to tell to keep others (who may have forgetten the faith based AND secular warnings against judging others) happy. It would be one thing if you were marketing your writing as faith based fiction, but you don't. It would be far worse, in my opinion, to try to force yourself to write a story that comports with your faith when you don't have the inspiration to support it. Writing is HARD. Writing without that inspiration is practically impossible to do with any level of success or completion. Bottom line, don't be so hard on yourself. ;)
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6/6/2012 10:57:27 pm
I can't say what everyone else will do, but I, personally, will never think poorly of you regardless of what you write.
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6/6/2012 11:08:38 pm
I am no longer a religious person. I have a personal faith, and a relationship with God. I write romance and erotica under a pen name, living in fear that my mother and close-minded friends will find out. I grew up being judged and told what not to do. The religion I grew up with didn't allow me to ask questions. An open mind was discouraged.
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6/7/2012 01:06:57 am
Like the other writers here, I feel like the most important part of writing morality is not what are the characters doing, but what are the overall messages of the story? Characters in my stories (which are adult romances) do all kinds of things I would never do because, like somebody else wrote, if they only did things I would do my books would be seriously boring. But my characters succeed through finding the good in other people, being brave, and having open minds and open hearts. These are the values I think are most important, not whether or not they have sex too quickly or drink too much.
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6/7/2012 01:47:13 am
I am glad you did this post. I frequently find myself in the same gray area, and it is nice to know someone else walks that line too. Just because my characters make some questionable choices doesn't not mean that I have the morals of a pirate.
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6/7/2012 05:07:40 am
This is an excellent post outlining a writing dilemma. Here is how we deal with it: we write real life as it is. It's unfortunate that life contains so much violence and elements that are unsavory. But, it is reality. We, like you, hope readers realize that our characters and their actions do not necessarily represent our personal beliefs. They are simply there to tell a story.
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The way I see it, if something I write doesn' fit with someone's religious belief, thats ok. The stuff we write comes from the real world even if there are fantastic elements. Hemmingway said "All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence you know."
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Diana
6/7/2012 09:38:12 am
Desert Rice is a good book with heavy emotions. It's sad that you have to feel worried about something you really poured your heart into. I think some may raise their brows, some may whisper, but most will applaud your courage and your skill. Never hold back or you will be consumed by the voices in your head.
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Well, the thing about writing fiction is that it's not a soap box, and our characters oftentimes don't reflect our personal preferences and ideas, even our 'heroes.' We are also not our characters, nor are we personified by them, and believable stories are written with many different personalities that all have to be unique. That means, they're not all going to follow our personal ideals, whether based in Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, Sikkhism, Islam, Hinduism, or what have you.
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John
6/7/2012 10:56:32 am
Excellent post, Angela. Like many other commentators, I've struggled with reconciling my religion with my writing. It's something I've always struggled with, and expect to continue to do so into the future.
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6/7/2012 11:09:35 am
This is a tricky topic. I find myself thinking along the lines of very "un religious" topics myself. I have a few great ideas in my head, but I haven't actually written them.
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6/7/2012 10:25:48 pm
I'm of the opinion that apple trees can only grow apples. As a person of faith, my faith is going to come through no matter what I write. I don't think I could write "religious" fiction either, but a quote from the BBC movie "Mr. Harvey Lights a Candle" has always been a touchstone for me where faith and writing are concerned
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Melina
6/8/2012 12:07:08 am
Judging from the 14 responses above, it seems you are doing just what God called you to do. Not just by the books you write, but by blogging honestly on the issue, and being concious of your faith during the creative process.
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6/8/2012 04:16:57 am
Most of my characters make bad decisions, as I have been known to do =-) I write it like I see it. We all have struggles, temptations and flaws and sometimes we just fall flat on our faces. Along with that, I try to show the love of God, pointing out that He's not mad at us and He's not up in the heavens throwing lightning bolts at the "bad people." He knows how messed up we are and wants us to come to Him in whatever state we're in. If my characters have to wait until they're perfect to demonstrate God's love, then, like me, they're in big trouble.
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6/8/2012 12:52:07 pm
This was a very thought provoking and well-written post.
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6/8/2012 11:19:26 pm
I've started saying that my characters aren't my religion nor are they me and leave it at that. I'm a convert to my church and I really don't care what others say. I used to, but I'm realizing that Stephenie Meyer brought more recognition to the church with her stories than before she wrote. Also, on that same note - her characters waited until after marriage - what more could she do with a contemporary romance like that? I think she did a good job with it. Lol - her vamps sparkled in the sun rather than burning to a crisp.
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6/9/2012 04:42:12 am
I agree with most of the comments about being true to yourself, but none of your characters are you! As long as events in your story have a reason for happening and a moral to teach, you have to go where you must. Not everyone is going to be comfortable with everything you write. I'm sure some of my relatives are a little dismayed by what I write, but I always give my readers fair warning about what is suitable for teens and young adults or for more mature readers. I believe that my fiction is moral, though all that I write about is certainly not. In the end, it is the story and the message that count.
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6/13/2012 04:02:30 am
I have the same problem—my characters do not swear or do anything overtly over the top, but I often find that a bit stifling. I mean even when writing them snogging when unmarried I know will offend a lot of people whose opinion I care about, but you know what, as you said the characters come to the writer not the other way around. I didn't sit down and go "hey how can I offend people" the characters start behaving according to their personalities and stuff happens, just like in real life. Writing books about perfect people is not only dull but how can we learn from them? Look at the Old Testament—read through the book of judges! I sometimes do when I am feeling a lot of pressure as an author to conform to all the strict religious rules. At the same time, I also get pressure from the opposite end going "why don't you have your characters swearing a lot? You're being unrealistic and aren't a real writer." To them I'd say does realism = bad language? Is it impossible to be a real person or character when choosing not to do that? I have nothing against authors like Tom Clancy—I'd defend their right to write books with swearing every other word—that is just not who I am as an author and it is something I am uncomfortable with.
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I believe we're made as fallible beings. No one is perfect and the world is full of horrible things. To portray the world and people in a way that makes them anything their not is not righteousness its just plain dumb. Sometimes
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6/14/2012 02:32:13 pm
The idea that we must work a perfect representation of our beliefs into our novel, or that we must start our novel with an underlying sermon or moral lesson is, in my opinion, too formulaic. And coming from a guy who outlines his novels in chunks of 1000 words, that's saying something. I think if we admit to intentionally inserting a sermon into our story, we're also admitting that we're not at a place of spiritual maturity where Christ can spring naturally from our words.
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It's difficult, because a lot of (stupid) people out there mistake what is written for the author. It doesn't stand up, really, if you think about it. Nabokov wrote about a Paedophile, but it didn't make him one.
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5/19/2016 10:48:17 am
Really good question Angela - I struggle with this too when it comes to choosing books to narrate because there are a lot of genres out there that go against my beliefs. One thing I really appreciate about my church community is that people are willing to let me ask questions and not just judge on the spot. I've been able to dialogue with people about this without getting my head chopped off. Are there lots of gray areas? yes. Are there very distinct lines you know you don't want to cross - I think so. And I honestly feel like that line will be different for every person. I think it's good for people to see that characters mess up too b/c our world is messy and it would be pointless to have a story with unrelatable characters. In my bible there are lots and lots and lots of characters that mess up and do "bad" things but are the biggest symbols of what it is to be a Christian. (i.e. David, Paul) Anyways - the struggle is real girl, ya gotta figure out those lines for yourself. Thanks for bringing this up!
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