WRITING CRAFT - Christian Romance (Part 2)

So just what do romance readers expect in an inspirational romance?
Basically, everything they expect from any other SWEET romance sub-genre but from a Christian world view. 

WARNING: If you do not enjoy reading SWEET romance novels with low sexual content, you will not really understand this and will disappoint avid romance readers. And I am very aware that these days there are novels classified as sweet which still contain levels of love-making you may not like or approve of in Christian fiction. On the other hand, there are also “sweet” novels that have little or no sensual tension and simply can leave a reader wondering if Christians never have desire for a member of the opposite sex!

 

This means it is essential to understand those basic elements any novel classified as a romance should have plus the faith elements. I only had space to touch on some of these elements in Part One. The best way to discover these is to read widely in the inspirational romance sub-genre, including novels of varying lengths and from  different publishers.

When you find writers whose style and content you really enjoy, read their books again as a writer and try to dissect why and how they have made you enjoy their type of novel.  Check out the author’s website and/or blog. See if they have made comments and written articles that will help you.

Okay, romance novels all end up the “same” so what keeps readers wanting to read them? Basically it is the story, the characters, the emotional impact and the way the couple overcome all obstacles to their having a believable HEA ending. So whatever the sub-genre inspirational – contemporary, historical, mystery, suspense, etc – this makes the whole plot, setting and characterisation very important.

Plotting:  The romance, while not the story itself, is central to the plot and MUST be adequate. In inspirationals, the faith element must also be woven throughout. Remember, this also can include SHOWING the different responses of characters without faith as well as those with faith - including whether weak or strong faith. Do remember to make sure the reader knows that because a character has no personal relationship with God does not automatically make them a “bad” person. Unfortunately we know that there are many unbelievers who by their lifestyles can put professing Christians to shame.

Character’s Goal, Motivation and Conflict:  With characterisation, I touched on these in last Monday’s post.  Characters should have a goal - or goals. Make sure it fits with their personality and history. Whether a good or bad goal, the reason for it has to be strong enough to motivate the characters in what is thought, believed and acted on in an attempt to reach it.

Of course, these are all very important for any novel but  you must study and understand these elements as applied to romance. Remember, you can make many seemingly unbelievable things believable with strong enough characters who have strong and believable motivation! A strong goal can supply motivation to keep the character persevering through the journey to reach mountains as well as when things happen and they are in the valleys of life. (Sounds like writers!)

Conflict between hero and heroine is essential and also requires extra consideration in how to include the faith elements. There must be believable, strong external and internal conflict that cannot be resolved easily so tension can be maintained between the characters and keep the reader turning the page. It is also important to have conflict that is possible to be resolved.

 Because of what I have personally seen happen between couples over the years, one faith “conflict” that I have tried to highlight in some of my novels is the issue of a believer marrying a non-believer. Then after writing my first single title, Return to Baragula, I wondered how a heroine without faith might feel and respond when she realises that is the main reason the hero with faith refuses to allow a romantic relationship between them to develop. However, in Outback from Baragula I then had to make both characters “lovable” enough for the reader to care about what happens to them despite their differences. They had to have strong reasons, strong enough events, in their past histories to make them the way they were when the story commences. However, that “theme” of being “unequally yoked together” needed to

run throughout the whole story of stolen cattle and dangers they both had to face.

 

Time line: Another important element in a romance is having the hero and heroine together in scenes long enough to develop a realistic, loving relationship that leads to marriage. Love at first sight? Perhaps there is, but whatever the time frame, their relationship has to grow. They need to be seen together in scenes to show the reader how they get to know each other. Show how and why their relationship develops until they both realise their love for each other. Even after that there may still be obstacles of course preventing them from committing to each other. 

I have touched on only one faith theme here. In Part Three next Monday, January 6^th , I will share a little about “How much spiritual content?” “How much sexual content?” and other hints about how readers expect inspirationals to be “different” from other romance novels.

 

Are there any themes you have read in inspirational romance novels that you thought very important, were challenging and you really loved? Are there some you thought were not relevant or important enough to make you want to read more?

Please leave comments here on the blog as well as on Facebook.

 

 

Mary Hawkins is currently revising her latest Christian romance manuscript, Her Outback Cowboy, and still trying to put into practice what she has been learning about romance writing for nearly thirty years. This December she is also celebrating twenty years since her first book, Search For Tomorrow, was published in 1993 by Barbour. She is excited it is again available as an e-book through Barbour’s Truly Yours Digital Editions.

(Currently all her Heartsong Presents Kindle editions are on sale. Not sure when they will revert back to full price.)

Website and blog: http://www.mary-hawkins.com

 

On Christian Romance

By Iola Goulton

A recent article in Eternity newspaper titled Why do we read Christian romance? caused consternation in Australasian Christian writing circles. The article was well-balanced (if ill-informed), giving equal space to the arguments for and against Christian romance novels. The blog posts the article was based on were not so balanced. The author wrote one post praising the virtues of Christian romance novels, but negated these with four posts pointing out what she saw as faults in the genre and criticisms of the people who write them.

The blog posts said she read five popular Christian romances. She doesn’t reveal the titles, but said at least one was Amish romance (the others appear to be historical westerns, a popular sub-genre). Saying romance novels offer unrealistic ideals based on a mere five books is like saying modern children’s fiction is puerile on the basis of reading nothing but Captain Underpants. Her points were:

Christian romances explicitly teach that God has a special someone lined up for each of us

Of the hundreds of Christian novels I’ve read, the only novel I can recall making this point was Angelguard by Gene Edwards (a pastor), and the novel was speculative fiction, not romance.

Christian romance novels follow general market trends by featuring the one man-one woman idea. The ‘other woman’ and love triangle plots are no longer in vogue (except in specific erotica subgenres). Modern romance readers want to identify the hero and heroine in the first chapter (ideally on the first page), then follow that story through to a logical conclusion.

Christian romances feature Mr Perfect

A recent article in Relevant, an online magazine aimed at Christian young people (and just typing that makes me feel old) outlines the "perfect man" from a Christian perspective. He should be a man of honesty, purity, strength, compassion and humility. And a man of strong Christian faith. It also pretty much describes all my favourite romance heroes ... and my husband. Young women need to be encouraged to hold out for heroes like these, not told their expectations are "unrealistic".

"Women, it’s time to expect more from men, and then, to wait patiently until you see these qualities at work in his life. Don’t you dare settle for less."

If reading a romance novel encourages one woman to hold out for her hero instead of marrying a man who is more concerned with his sexual prowess and ability to drink kegs of beer, or one who likes to prove his strength and manliness by abusing his family, then that, to me, is a good thing. Statistics show the majority of marriages will fail, and many will be negatively affected by drugs, alcohol, pornography and violence.

I don’t care that these things are now the norm for much of society rather than the exception. I don’t want them for myself, and I certainly don’t want them for my daughter.

I want my daughter to settle for nothing less than the biblical ideal. She shouldn’t be made to feel guilty for having high expectations. If reading romance novels encourages those expectations, then that’s all well and good (better than most Young Adult and New Adult literature or the books she’s going to be forced to read for high school English, many of which encourage promiscuity and alternative lifestyles, and display a distinct lack of hope).

Christian romances are too ambitious in what they set out to do

All fiction has an underlying theme. Sometimes that theme is overt (as with preachy Christian fiction or general market Young Adult novels that attempt to normalise and justify homosexuality). But the theme in good fiction will be barely present, and the reader may not even pick up on it consciously. I suspect the titles she read were too overt in their themes, and didn't succeed. That's a valid criticism of individual books and authors, but not of Christian fiction in general.

Christian fiction often deals with themes of hope, forgiveness—and love. Some fiction deals with it badly (just because something is ‘popular’ doesn’t mean it’s good—Twilight, The Da Vinci Code and Fifty Shades of Grey were all wildly popular. But that doesn’t make them good fiction).

Some Christian fiction is too preachy, too much focused on the theme and not enough on the plot and characters. Some is purely entertainment, for people who don’t want to watch another rape-and-murder show on TV (or who want something to read while husband watches football replays).

Christian Romances are set in an imaginary world

Yes. They are novels, and that's the definition of a novel—it's an imaginary story. But good fiction is a story that hides a deeper truth:

"Fiction is a lie, and good fiction is the truth inside the lie.” On Writing by Stephen King

Jesus told stories. He knew that people related to stories, and often remember the story more than the sermon. Sometimes His stories were based on fact, on real people and events. But often they were fiction (the Bible calls them parables). Preachers do the same thing today, only instead of calling them ‘stories’, they call them ‘sermon illustrations’. Because people remember the message better if they can relate it to a story.


Am I offended by views such as these? No. I’ve heard enough sermons to know offense is the bait of satan (thank you, John Bevere).

As Christians, we are called to encourage each other to pursue and be obedient to our God-given callings, not to pull one another down or make people feel guilty or ashamed of their calling. So I am disappointed in this series of blog posts, as I would be disappointed in anyone who uses a position of influence to belittle those following their God-ordained calling. Some people are called to be missionaries or preachers. Some are called to minister in prayer, hospitality or cleaning. And some are called to contribute to the body of Christ by writing romantic fiction from a Christian world view.

I’ve recently read Truth Stained Lies, a Christian thriller by Terri Blackstock. At the end, the author shared a little of her personal history and a prayer that:

"when the last pages of our lives are written, we’ll each embrace the happily-ever–after that Christ was dying to write into our lives.”

Because that is the crux of life. We are the Bride of Christ, and He wants to spend eternity loving us. That’s what Christian romance is all about. It’s a human reflection of the greatest love story of all time: God’s everlasting and all-encompassing love for me. And you.

Isn't that the important thing?

I am a freelance editor specialising in Christian fiction, and you can find out more about my services at my website, or follow me on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest. I love reading, and read and review around 150 Christian books each year on my blog.

Why I Write What I Write

Some inspirations for my books

My Writing Journey

I’d rather mow the grass or go shopping or do anything before reading. Whatever the reason, it doesn’t come naturally to me. Yet I believe in the power of the written word. How come? Through hearing about or reading stories of how words changed lives,. There are many stories showing the power of words for great good or terrible evil. Then of course being drawn into ministry by the Lord has made me appreciate the wonder and awesome transforming power of The Word!

My first effort in expressing myself in words was first year in Bible College. My turn came to give devotions for the faculty and students. So I wrote out my five-eight minute presentation. I then gave it to our English lecturer. Oh dear! She used a red pen and made it look like someone had been slaughtered over the pages. I still have that devotional from 53 years ago. It at least tells me I have learnt something.

Being a minister means reading. It also calls for writing sermons, reports and other material. However I never entertained being a writer. I did make one or two tentative ventures which were really puerile in storyline and conversation mode. So I would never be a novelist. It was Jock Hunting from then Jewish Evangelical Witness, now David House Fellowship, who encouraged me to write for the Vineyard magazine. These were articles from Scripture in the light of current or historical events. He or others must have had great patience in editing.

I remember sending an article to a particular Denominational Editor. I typed it in red ink because my black had disintegrated and we were too broke to buy another at the time. You will realise how uncouth was my foundations in literary understandings and appreciation. The editor replied graciously saying the material was okay but the presentation left lots to be desired. He did offer some hints which I took on board. Thank the Lord for sympathetic editors who don’t crush the spirit of the uncouth but keen.

I did undertake an Australian Writers course, very basic but helpful. What was the refining, should I say chiselling work on my uncouthness was God Himself through His word and giving me my wife. Mary loves to read. She writes well and is a helpful critic. It has taken time and perseverance but I think I’m a little less prone to such things as red ink these days.

It is because I believe in the power of the written (and spoken) word that I’ve stuck at the discipline of learning to write what I am able to write. I still am unable to write novels . I did write a biography of John Thompson a Churches of Christ missionary with the Kanakas. My good friend and fellow minister Graeme Chapman edited it and ran off a few copies for our Churches Missionary archives. So what do I write? Devotionals! These actually began through two sources. One was my Mary who said I needed to pen my thoughts. The other was our experiences on three short term mission trips to Africa. I wrote thirty–one day devotional in a book entitled ‘The Neurotic Rooster.’ It was a fund raiser privately published for Eagles Wings mission to street children in Zambia.

I believe God’s Word is alive and active and want to share it as best I can. My devotional books which Even Before Publishing ( www.evenbeforepublishing.com ) have printed are all themed. God’s word offers challenges, blessings, instruction and warnings on life related matters. It is on such things I want to show in a devotional meditation manner how they work out in life. So far printed Children – God’s Special Interest, From Eden with Love (about Marriage), Captured by Calvary, Bethlehem’s Warrior Baby are available.  In storage or under construction are Signposts to Happiness (The Blessings in the Bible), Dynamic Aging, No Soft Option (re the Ministry), The Warrior Lord Returns and The Warrior Lord’s Sword (What the Bible says about itself).

I look back on my journey with words and writing and stand amazed at the patience and mercy of God. When I was in college I really felt overwhelmed by the brilliance, skills and wisdom of others. They had experience or views ranging from politics to secular and sacred history. Some had University and other training, I had none.

I remember talking to the Lord about it one starry night on the college lawn. I told Him what He knew.”Lord I’m no intellectual, I don’t have political skills or academic degrees but you have called me to be your minister. I can only offer you this, I’ll do my best to know your word, teach your word, love and live your word if you will help me.”

The latest in the series unveils the biblical understanding of the Babe of Bethlehem.
All books are also available as Ebooks.

So that is why I write what I write. I know I may never be a Spurgeon or a Watchman Nee but I can be Ray Hawkins – no longer uncouth but still being finely honed.

Australasian Christian Literature - An Industry Perspective.

With the launch of this new blog connecting Australasian writers, I thought it was timely to take a look at the dynamics of our industry. As a writer, knowing and understanding your industry is vital. The cogs and wheels of our literary world will influence a writer’s work, contributing to its position in the marketplace, and formulating a reader base. If we do not have an understanding of the industry, we are flying blind.

I have asked three questions to three industry insiders; Rochelle Manners - Director of Australia’s leading Christian Publishing house, Wombat Books; Anne Hamilton – Spokesperson for Omega Writers; and Jenny Blake – Otherwise known as ‘Ausjenny’, one of Australia’s leading literary bloggers.

I hope you find their answers as insightful and informative as I have.

1.      In your opinion, what sets Australasian Christian Literature apart from the rest of the world?

Anne Hamilton: This is a sweeping generalisation with all the flaws inherent in broad statements but I think there is a distinctive edgy aspect to Aussie and Kiwi romance, compared to that coming out of the States. On the other hand, we tend to be less experimental than the UK. To a large degree, the reverse is true in areas like speculative fiction. It's more conservative here - we don't have writers pushing the boundaries and coming out with horror. Even our fantasy stories tend to be a lot less dark than either the US or UK. We tend to ignore genre categories to a large degree and this can have an impact on overseas sales.

Jenny Blake: As a reader I would say the setting, language, and our unique style. We have sayings unique to us, as well as a different history and background.  As in life, our writing has a different flavour. You can see that we don't take ourselves seriously, and you can see it in characters. You can see the ‘Larrikin’ in some of the characters.

 Rochelle Manners: This is a hard question to answer. What sets it apart? There are so many things that could be suggested to be different. We have different styles, we have new authors, and we have different life experiences and perspectives. Australian Christian material doesn’t always follow all the “rules” that are often in place, especially for Christian fiction. Our books have a lot of potential locally when they relate to the Australian situation and experience. They might even be good to explore on the international front because they do relate and show the Aussie experience. What I hope can set us apart is actually the community. We can, in Australia, grow a community of Australian experience through literature that can touch lives.

2.      What do you see as the biggest hurdles our industry needs to jump in order to excel on the world stage?

Anne Hamilton: In no particular order: the tendency to ignore genre, the tendency to assume writing hasn't changed in the last fifty years, the tendency to stay with well-trodden plots and not take risks, the tendency to romanticise Christian characters as one-dimensional 'goodies', the tendency towards the formulaic especially in terms of the Christian conversion scene and over-explaining. That said, market forces tend to want the last one because that's what allegedly makes it 'evangelistic'.

Jenny Blake: From a readers point of view there are so many good books available now. In fact, I would say a glut of good books. Australian writers have to compete with all these books. It's not that readers do not want to read Australian books, as I know many are excited to read books set here, but they have to be well edited and to the standard readers are use to. Also one thing that annoys readers is not knowing what genre the book is, or reading a mislabelled book. We need to define what the book is. Cost is another issue, but now that books are available on ereader that will help. 

Rochelle Manners: Hurdles – how do we compete! We are in a small country down under and our bookstores and media in the Christian industry mostly notice what is coming from America and the “famous” well known authors, not the new ones from our own local country. There are images and reputations that need to be developed so that we, (Australian industry professionals in publishing and writing), can be seen as strong, reputable and profitable. We need to change perspective, and also simply have people know who we are - new authors and new publishers facing a big world. I think the trick is to increase networks and continue to increase profile and quality.

3. Where would you like to see Australasian Christian Literature heading in the next few years?

Anne Hamilton: YA literature today is very complex in terms of plot and character motivation. As that age group matures, I can't see the taste for multi-level plots and double or triple think changing. I think that particular audience will want the same within Christian literature. So I'd like to see us rethinking the very nature of our storylines and introducing surprises that are well foreshadowed even now. I suspect our reliance on the American model is holding us back.

Jenny Blake: As a reader this is hard to say. I would like to see more Australian books out there both set in Australia, as well as books by Australian authors set in other places. I would like to see the books on a par with the American books, and featuring our uniqueness. I would love to see more historical Australian books about our history. This also applies to New Zealand.

Rochelle Manners: We have big plans. I would like to see Australian Christian Literature first of all really touch lives and be noticed here in Australia. I would like to see us increase the digital world with Christian material that is high quality, and I would like to see us start to get noticed more on an international stage.

Note: Wombat Books have had some recent international successes including:

Puggle’s Problem (children’s literature title) translated into Korean.

Coming Home (children’s literature title) translated into German.

A Simple Mistake, Best Forgotten, and Fine Lines (fiction titles) translated into Korean.

EBP also attended the Korean Christian Rights Fair in August 2013.

Please visit me at; http://rosedee.com/