Can Inspirational Romance Serve a Dual Purpose?

Over the past few posts, we've been talking about infusing God into your work. I think this is a great time to iterate that--at least with White Rose Publishing titles--we want our work to serve a dual purpose. We want to entertain, of course, but we also want to glorify the Lord through that entertainment, and touch readers' heart. As inspy authors, we have to recognize first that He is the source of our talent. He is the source of our plot inspirations. Sure, the conversation we had with the stranger at the grocery store may have been the catalyst for that romantic suspense plot, but ultimately, He put us at the grocery store at just the right time to run into that stranger and have that conversation.

I'd have to say that currently, my favourite music band is Kutless (does it sound as though I'm off-topic? Hang in there; there is a point. :)). This group of guys is talented. The lead singer has a set of pipes that won't quit (even live and unmixed, I might add), and the songs they record tell wonderful stories of faith, hope and love.

This Christmas, we bought our daughter Kutless's latest release, It is Well (OK, we said it was for her) and the songs are beautiful. Well, I popped over to Kutless's website to look up the title of a song on a different album (because it was going to take too much time to walk into the other room and look at the actual jewel case), and I found this video of the guys talking about their experience while recording It is Well. It really illustrates what Jamie & I have been trying to convey about God having to be a personal influence in the life of an inspy author, and not just "someone" that's plugged in to make a story fit a Christian audience. But it also illustrates something that I also think is vital: the realization that when we do something for Him, we get infinitely more back--more time, more inspiration, more faith, more success, and a greater ability to touch others with that talent He's entrusted to us.

Below, I've embedded said video, but I couldn't close this post without giving you a link to a video of my fav (if I have to pick just one) track on It is Well. It's the song entitled, What Faith Can Do. You may not fancy Kutless's style of music, but even if that's the case, check them out and read some of their lyrics. If you can do with words and ink what they can do with lyrics and instruments, you will touch readers' hearts as you entertain them with your story.

Write What You Know...

I’m sure most of you have heard this advice at some point during your writing career, but never is it more important than when infusing God into inspirational fiction. Writing what you know affects characterization to the Nth degree. In Jamie West’s most recent post, Bringing God into the Story, she makes the point that God should be infused into the story in a non-preachy manner, and not plugged in as an afterthought. At its most basic level, this means write what you know. When we construct a scene, we want to pull the reader into the story so deeply that she forgets she’s reading. We want the reader to empathize, laugh, cry—feel every emotion our viewpoint character is feeling, but how can we do that if we remain outside the character ourselves? We have to envision ourselves as the viewpoint character. We need to roll the scene in our mind’s eye as though we were actors in the play we are creating with our words. What do we see, feel, smell? And then, we need to draw upon our own similar experiences—or experiences that produced the same emotions—to recreate that same emotion in our scene. When we become the viewpoint character, our writing is more active than passive, more show over tell. (active vs. passive, show vs. tell, and write what you know are all intertwined.)


To that end, if we’ve never been to the beach, felt the grittiness of sand, tasted sea spray, had our eyes burn from the salt water, how can we bring that scene to life with such vividness that we can take the reader to that place? I’ll admit it can be done with much research and input from people who have had the experience, but it’s exponentially more difficult than if we’ve experienced those things first-hand. Thus it is with infusing God into our stories.


How can we adequately convey a devout heroine who is so close to Our Lord that she feels His presence with her in the ordinary and automatically relies on him in times of strife, if we have not experienced that intimacy with God? How can we believably convey the heartbreaking catalyst for our Doubting Thomas of a hero if we’ve never experienced heartbreak or a moment of doubt in our own faith? Take these two examples:

The sky was beautiful. White puffy clouds gave the bright blue backdrop a softness that warmed Jane’s heart. Truly God was present here. She could feel Him with all her being, and all the stress from yesterday faded away and she felt at peace.

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Jane closed her eyes to imbibe the beauty of the morning. Jesus, thank you for this day. Tranquility washed over her, all the stress from yesterday draining away as she languished in the presence of the Lord. Her breathing slowed and her heartbeat became a steady rhythm that sang a hymn of praise as the Holy Spirit rejuvenated her soul.

Sure God existed, Joe thought. He existed all right. He just didn’t give a flying flip on a trapeze about what happened to people. Joe’d learned long ago not to trust in a God who ignored prayers and relished in seeing people suffer, after all, he’d prayed for David to be OK. David was dead. He’d prayed for the nightmares to stop. They still came every night. God didn’t care. Joe wanted to believe He did. But, He didn’t.

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Joe awoke in a cold sweat, images of his brother’s lifeless body still vivid. He squeezed his eyes closed. Please God, let it stop. It didn’t. David’s body, glistening with sand and seawater, flashed through Joe’s mind. Dead eyes stared at him. His heart shattered anew. Joe tore open his eyes. He wrenched back the covers and got out of bed. “Why?” he screamed. “Why?” he whispered. Sobs rose in his throat, choked him as collapsed to the carpeted floor. Why did he even continue to pray? God had made His decision plain: You’re on your own, Joe. Spent, he dragged himself off the floor and crawled back into bed.


In each of these sets of examples, the same concepts are put forth in paragraph within the set, yet the first paragraphs are all tell (rather than show). They leave the reader outside looking in. They serve the purpose of the scene OK, but God isn’t “real” because the character isn’t real; and the character isn’t real because there is no emotional tie.

The second paragraphs show rather than tell. God is real to Jane, so He is real to the reader. Joe is in pain. He feel abandoned by God and that comes across in the paragraph much more vividly than in the first paragraph.

If we know God, He will show up in our writing without any effort, just as recreating emotion we've personally experienced doesn't pose as much of a challenge as trying to write about something for which we have no point of reference.

Bringing God Into The Story

Part of every Christian romance is the presence of the Lord. He is a third character, embued into the soul of our hero and/or heroine, and standing guard over their thoughts, actions and deeds.

Writing His presence can be a daunting task. You want to give the reader a sense of God, but not get preachy about it. You want the reader to know that God is always present, but that he never interferes with free will. You want to quote Scripture, but not make it sound stilted or out of context.

When writing, we tend to want the story to be just so, and will often create a scenario where God is there, but out of sight. Instead, let God fill the scene naturally, as a character, rather than the ghostly presence of the hero/heroine’s conscience. Rather than writing about her/his faith and belief, write how they see God in everyday things or events.

Showing God’s majesty, in song, Scripture or prayer, will create the foil that allows characters to come before Him and accept His will in their lives. The characters should not just turn to God when there is a crisis. They should be interacting with Him on a daily basis, thanking, praising and worshiping the Creator of all things.

When an unbeliever crosses the path of the believing hero or heroine, they should get the sense of God that makes them wonder and become curious enough to explore their options, eventually discovering God themselves.

Shoe-horning God in as an afterthought is like inviting a clown to a funeral. The negative connotation sticks out like a sore thumb. Draw on your own relationship with God and make His presence fill your pages with the glory that is within yourselves. Bring the real, living God to life in your words, and use His Word to reinforce His character.

What's coming next to White Rose Publishing...


Prodigal by Robin Bayne

Release Date: 1-08-2010


Daniel Gardner is making a grand entrance at his brother’s wedding. The problem is, no one has seen him in years. Unsure of his welcome, this prodigal son needs the years and the hearts of his family to miraculously melt…but he may not be the only one needing to make amends.
Lane Taylor doesn’t realize how much she still loves Daniel until she’s standing face-to-face with him after so many years apart. Once upon a time, they’d dreamed of a life together. Now, when it seems they might get a second chance, she has to decide whether to divulge the secret she’s sure will shatter their happily-ever-after.


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