We’re going to start this post by talking, again, about the
movie God’s Not Dead. The problem for
today is widely prevalent in Christian fiction, and in specialty fiction in
general, but God’s Not Dead is an
extreme (and therefore particularly useful) example.
The real reason I hate this movie is that I could have loved
it. I could have loved it two or three times, at least.
The thing you need to understand about God’s Not Dead is that it has, like, fourteen different plot lines.
There’s the evil atheist professor (See Part II). There’s the Muslim family
with the daughter who converted to Christianity. There’s a couple of depressing
romances, mostly with a focus on
conflict due to religious differences. Someone’s dad is dying.
Like, just chill, guys. Not one of those stories got the
attention it deserved. And they were all crammed into the space of a couple
weeks.
I’ve talked before about how to salvage the evil professor
bit. But do you know how much I’d pay to see a sincere, respectful portrayal of
that conversion subplot? Hint: it’s a lot. I mean, think about it. The sense of
betrayal when your daughter casts aside your faith. The struggle on both sides,
loving someone but knowing they’re wrong, not knowing what to do, what to say
to them, how to interact anymore—there is so much potential here for a powerful
story about love and doubt and reconciliation, about relearning how to be a
family when something huge, like your core belief system, has torn you apart.
But instead you made it a halfhearted subplot in a crappy
movie full of halfhearted subplots all overwhelming each other and the mediocre
main plot.
So many stories, particularly Christian stories, are like
this. My wife’s in a coma, my house burned down, I have two kids, and I’m mad
at God. I read that book, and the wife actually fell into two separate comas.
Look. If you’re writing a six book epic fantasy, you can
include all the subplots you want. But no one has the energy for a novella
where you’re mourning your dead daughter, developing feelings for a man who doesn’t
share your faith, struggling to cope with the knowledge that your little
brother had premarital sex, and helping your parents transfer into a nursing
home, all while you’re in the process of moving to a new town where everyone is
atheist and trying to found a church despite violent opposition from city
officials. It’s just too much.
Find the story you want to tell. The real, main thing. Is it
the aftermath of losing your daughter? Is it developing a relationship with
someone who doesn’t share your beliefs? Pick a plot.
Subplots are meant to build a story up, not bog it down in
inconsequential side notes. Find subplots
tat will connect to and clarify you main story. Aim for thematic resonance.
Every story doesn’t need to do everything. And you shouldn’t
try to make it from a decent writing standpoint , but also because it leads you
into one of the standard pitfalls of Christian fiction: the martyr.
We talked a little about this last time, in the context of
the atheist bad guy, but it bears repeating. Embrace reality, people. The
persecution plot? It’s getting really old. You’re a Methodist in modern
Midwestern America.
The world is not out to get you, okay? It’s just not.
So if it’s not the atheist bad guy, you make it about death
and unemployment and natural disasters. In
order to actually be persecuted, you would have to do something other than writing crappy, self-indulgent stories
about how much you suffer because of your faith.
And then there’s the Christian fantasy angle. Like, oh my
goodness, the instinct to read in the
dark and hide the book in my underwear drawer is way stronger when I’m reading Christian fantasy than anything else—it
just tends to feel dirty. Demons and dragons and ill-conceived allegories full
of blood and gore. Distortions of love and memory. Demonic monkeys. Angelic
monkeys, which frankly I find even more disturbing.
And if I let myself go any further down this road, it’ll
morph into a Ted Dekker rant, so let’s move on.
Everything doesn’t have to be so uncomfortably over the top.
You’re not doing yourselves any favors with the death and drama and demons.
Just keep it simple.
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