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I’m often asked what
led me to write a novel like Angelguard, and particularly, that it
features angels and demons in the supporting cast. My most common response is
that an angel, called Tagan, introduced himself to me and told me to write a
story. I’d suggest for many of us writers, it’s a character that pushes us to write
their story.
When I set out on the
first draft I knew it would be a story about angels and demons. That was about
all I knew. One day I sat down at my computer and for the following nine months
wrote on average 2,000 words (because that’s what Stephen King said he wrote
each day) to arrive at a monster first draft of 253,211 words and 697 pages.
Yes, I had the untrained writer disease of thinking everything was important.
But I take comfort from that fact Tosca Lee also writes very long first
drafts.
“Intercession
is spiritual warfare” (Mark Batterson)
I didn’t set out with
any particular theme or point of view that I wanted to promote. That came
later. It was about draft three of four when the significance of prayer in
spiritual warfare took root in the story.
The Power of Story
We all love the
essence of story, don’t we? It could be historical, romance, suspense,
speculative or other genre. It’s why we spend all those hours at the keyboard.
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I read a great guest post yesterday by a speculative fiction author, John Otte, on why he
loves writing these stories. For me, I’m intrigued by the supernatural and why
in many Christian circles it is rarely mentioned. As John Eldredge says we have
become so familiar with the lies of the enemy that we don’t see him.
I asked a friend,
Peter, whom I met in a Facebook Group set up by a favourite author
of ours, why he read almost entirely Christian speculative fiction. Pete’s a
voracious reader who has dived deep into the SpecFic catalogue. This was part
of his response:
“Reading Christian SpecFic, I get to see the
author's heart toward God, his relationship with God, and maybe how he has
experienced God in his life. Through this, I find God ministers to my heart. I
also learn more about His heart. I learn through the plot or what the situation
the character(s) are in how to apply forgiveness, acceptance of others despite
their attitude and behaviour, submission to Him, mercy in abnormal
circumstances that maybe most of us would not find ourselves in. From this, you
can think about how to apply this to your life and circumstance.”
Interesting how
Peter’s comment reinforces how John Otte summed up his passion for the genre quoting Aslan in CS Lewis’, “The Voyage of the Dawn Trader”:
“This was the very reason why you were brought to
Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there.”
It was only in the later
drafts of Angelguard that I established the firm connection between how prayer influences the warfare
in the supernatural which then impacts the events in the natural. I
hope readers are able to see the connection.
World Creation
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As I mentioned last week, a key characteristic of SpecFic stories is the creation of an alternate
setting or world. Any fantasy or scifi readers will be very well versed in such
worlds. Having read enough of Tolkien and Lewis I can only sit in awe at the
immensity of the challenge such authors take on. I can’t relate to writing such
an alternate world, rather creating characters that are not human, that is,
angels and demons.
I don’t profess to be
any expert in these beings. Yes, I’ve probably read more novels that feature
them and non-fiction books that explore their existence, not to mention
studying the various places in the Bible they appear.
We probably all have our
own picture of them. I’ve loved reading the comments many have supplied on how
mine differ from their picture, whether it’s their language (mine's very
human-like) or their gender. I have female angels and demons. Angels
and demons are created beings. Certainly I don’t believe there is any reference
to a female-looking angel in the Bible, but I believe it was Thomas Aquinas who
proposed angels could assume whatever form was needed to do God’s work. So why
not, a female?
What’s the best alternate world or character you’ve
read or watched?
And we’d love to hear from the authors amongst us
who’ve created alternative worlds. How did you go about it? Did you start with
the new world, theme or character?
Ian Acheson is an author
and strategy consultant based in Northern Sydney. Ian's first novel of
speculative fiction, Angelguard, is now available in the US, UK, Canada and Australia. You can
find more about Angelguard at Ian's website, on his author Facebook page and Twitter
