Character Transformation

I LOVE my characters; I love all characters. Every character, side, main, and antagonist, is on a journey and has a backstory. Writing from a Christian world view makes this different though, because it adds this peak in their life, where they find Christ, and it adds a personal relationship with God, that should be the main aspect of their life. Depending on when the story takes place, some characters find Christ during, before, or after the story.

I have a character right now, her name is Wren, and she is has a very immature and innocent relationship with God. That's where the story begins. She feels small, weak, afraid, incapable, and instead of the direction a secular story might take her (believe in yourself), my Christian world view takes her somewhere else. It's almost like thinking of God looking at the character and wondering what He wants for them, and how he might go about doing it, WHILE at the same time, touching every other character, bringing them closer to Him, no matter what stage they're in at this moment.

Wren, although small, shy, weak, and afraid, has God in her life, and that turns the tables a little bit, because even though she not in a position to desire to put herself out there or succeed, she steps up anyway, because it's what God wants. Let me describe it through a scenario she goes through.

Wren is alone now, pretty much scavenging, trying to stay out of sight and survive, but she comes across a man, who physically needs her help: he's lying beneath debre that's pinning him down. She doesn't look like she can lift the debre, he doesn't think she can, and if she does, can she trust the man she's freeing? She decides, it's a risk she'll have to take, because acting out of fear and doubt, for your own good, isn't the right thing to do, not when you say you believe God can and will protect you. You say that, but you're not willing to help someone else in need?

So she helps him, she uses her mind along with her strength and is resourceful and wise. She stays with the man, going to find food and supplies to bind his wounds, even though her need is to lie low and she isn't exactly trained in stealth.

Instantly, she knew what she had to do and decided to believe God's promises rather than be led by her fears. That is one of her strengths. Throughout the story, she will discover her true strengths and learn to depend on God to take care of her. If she were to be told, she would teach every other character a lesson by the end of the story, she wouldn't believe it, because she really thinks she's just getting by. But it's her strength to believe, her endurance to continue after God, her desire for others above herself, and ultimately, for God's will above her own, that will stand out to the other characters, and show them what it means to have strength in the most hopeless situations.

Her antagonist is another good character: Reyner. He doesn't want anything to do with God- his past has convinced him that God doesn't care about him. He is capable, strong, smart, cunning, and agile, and on top of all that, he possesses the power (this is fantasy btw haha) to shift his shape into any animal or humaniod form, and might in some ways be considered the best of the best; he has it made. BUT he's missing one thing: home. He's living in a world that isn't his, he's been exiled. He wants to return and thinks that end all will make him happy for life. So he's desperate to get home and he has one thing to get possession of and he thinks it's a one way ticket back, but Wren is taking a stand in his way.

Little, weak, trembling, Wren, and she's taking a stand in front of the antagonist, because what he's doing isn't right, she can't stand by and let him get away with it. Reyner is so astonished by Wren, he's not even that angry, until it get's old of course, but at first she just intrigues him. See his impression of Wren is that she is brave, everyone who meets her in this tension filled part of her life, considers her brave, she just doesn't see it as bravery, because she's still scared. As Reyner discovers her fears, he wonders what makes her stand up, there's something powerful inside her.

Throughout the story, he will see glimpses of God, His love, His righteousness, and His power. He'll discover the reason why Wren has hope, even though everything's been taken from her, why she still relentlessly believes God is there, when it seems to him, He's not. Ultimately, Reyner will find God and realize, going home won't give him the peace he wants, especially with the way he's going about it, and that when you have God's presence in your life, you are home, wherever you are. He will get his prayers answered, the opportunity to go home, like he wanted, but will feel God wants him to go back and help Wren.

I LOVE building these character's transformations, and watching them unfold like a rose.

Why Write

I've been told by Christians, to give up writing. I've been subjected to opinions, that writing is a nice career choice, if I can pull it off, but has no purpose in God's eternal plans. People have asked me why I want to write- why I think God wants me to write. Here's my answer:

When I was a kid, I absolutely HATED writing. Well, actually, when I was very young, I enjoyed making my own books and illustrating them. It was only when I had to write things for school, that I began to abhor literature. I hated reading and I hated writing; I blame the content that was forced on me.

School reading books are filled with horribly boring, disturbing, and depressing stories, that didn't carry enough detail to draw me in. There were maybe three stories I enjoyed enough to go back and read, over all my years of elementary school. The things I was forced to write about were of the same cloth- informational essays, a short event- and really the writing was solely to practice my cursive, which I was horrid at and hated. 

Let me get off subject for a second to note that homeschooling saved me, because even though ADD didn't make homeschooling any easier than regular [private] school, I quickly recognized the freedom I had over content. As I progressed into high school, I chose the way I learned history, mixing the subject with English, which made both so much more exciting. Normally when I read history, I would get distracted by imagining actually being there- but now I had the freedom to set it aside and tackle some English by actually writing out my ideas. I got to choose what books I wanted to read, I met teachers [homeschool moms] who passed onto me, a love for what they were teaching, whether is was English or Biology [Math never stuck with me until after I graduated though haha]. Homeschooling, because of the freedom it gave, nurtured in me a LOVE for learning, and in turn a love for all the places I could take that knowledge through writing. I still catch myself researching things I have no need to know, just because I love learning and storing. Also let me note, history would be a lot more interesting and productive, if we could get into discussions about the stories, rather than getting caught up in the numbers and statistics. 

To get back to the point, through homeschooling, I learned to love learning, and more importantly, reading and writing. Quickly, I began to write my own stories- more like scenarios because I never managed to finish any. 

In some ways, I was using writing as an escape, something I don't think is a good thing. You should never try to escape reality with fantasy, it doesn't end well and it isn't healthy. As I realized that I was doing this, I took a good hard look at my heart, my intentions, and what I wanted. Being a Christian, above all else, I wanted to put God first. Escaping my reality is running from the place God put me. My heart and intentions were to escape an ebbing loneliness and stale purposelessness with something on fire and alive. 

Good intentions, bad execution. 

In loneliness, I should have run to God, the only One who can actually cure loneliness 110% of the time. In purposelessness, I should have asked God for more, who has plenty for me to live for. I didn't know these things at the time, neither did I truly learn what it is to have God cure your loneliness until just a few months ago. Walking with God is a process.

What I did see at that time, was that I was using writing selfishly and solely for my own enjoyment, entertainment, and gratification. I made a decision: I would not write anything just for the experience anymore. Every story I put to paper- or the computer- would have to be glorifying to God, and pointing back to Him. I could still enjoy those stories, I just wouldn't be living in a constant state of self-indulgence anymore- at least in writing. Later, I had to make the same decision in my reading choices. 

In a way, I'm an adrenaline-junky when it comes to the written word. I loved the places stories could take me, the people I could interact with, the experiences I could have that I could never have in real life. Although none of that is wrong- like everything else in the world- it can be corrupted with selfish intent.

This turn I took in my path, through the exotic world of Fiction, has found more significance over the years then it had when I first took it. I recently found myself asking if God wants me to write. I definitely want to be an author, the career sounds ideal to my social habits and I LOVE the work. But I have to ask what God wants- He has purposes and plans I don't see, that are far better than I can imagine.

God puts desires in us, to be used to His glory, in His plans and purposes He has for us. Our good desires aren't to be denied, just curbed until their time. The moment a desire causes sin in our lives, is the moment we don't exercise self-control over ourselves anymore, and take what want before God's time. God doesn't make mistakes; every part of your life- every desire- has a purpose. 

Something I thought of recently, was Exodus 35:10 "Let all the skilled artisans among you come, and make everything the Lord has commanded."

God loves art. God loves stories. He is the true artist, who designed the universe and every intangible we make art about. He plotted and wrote the epic story of humanity, down to the detail and backstory, of every single player. 

I have a friend who often relays to me, their disdain or depreciation for stories- movies, books- probably art too. I don't get it. Everything in the world belongs to God, every secular movie, has it's purpose for God, every war- every murder- why do I say this? Because God is in the business of taking Satan's attempts of war, and turning them on their head for His own glory. Look at the very gospel. Who would have thought, the hero of the story, would die? Who would have thought God, lowering Himself to the dust of humanity and being killed, could ever be turned for good?

God took the greatest crime of Satan- an attempt on God's life while in the form of a man- and let him get away with it, still using it for good of everyone. God took murder and ultimate hatred and evil and turned it into sacrifice and the greatest act of love and good the world has ever seen. He is definitely in the business of reclaiming His creation for good. In 2 Corinthians, Paul wrote that we as Christians, are in the ministry of reconciliation, not just for humans to God, but all of God's good creation that has been corrupted by Satan. 

That's what I see in writing. Some Christians look at the world and only see the secular. I look at the world and know God originally meant mediums being used for rampant evil, to be used for good. 

Look at spoken word. I can tell you a joke and make you laugh. Or I can tell you the gospel and rend your heart in two. The first is entertaining, the other is life changing, cutting so finely to separate soul from spirit- bone from marrow. The same medium, two different purposes.

Movies are the same- art is the same. Satan uses these mediums for distracting entertainment, temptation, and advertising wickedness. God meant these mediums for His glory, to communicate His character, to spread the gospel.

Just as Exodus 35:10 shows that God wanted a universe of beautiful, purpose-filled detail in the first temple- a simple, makeshift tent-tabernacle- I think it's a clear God cares about beauty. Look at the world around you- it can't be denied that God is both an artist and an author. Just as doctors and scientist see God's intense attention to detail in science and biology, and the knitty-gritty engineering of every living thing and every piece of technology- God is a jack of all trades- in fact He's THE Jack of all trades. 

To find my point once more- God has placed grand purpose in writing stories, just as He's placed grand purpose in every other job, down to the most seemingly minuscule and insignificant.

I came to the decision that every story idea I had, needed to be turned to God's glory, just as He takes every act in the world, whether evilly intended or well intended, and turns it to His glory. I decided I would not write a story, unless I had found a way to turn it back to God. 

As a Christian, I write to glorify God. I am in the ministry of reconciliation, to reclaim every bit of God's creation to Him, because all things are created good. I'll finish by linking a video that helped me come to this view, by Jefferson Bethke, an awesome youtuber.

If you are a Christian, with stories and a heart to write, Go. Do it for God. Don't quit, God gave you those stories and has His own plans for them. Be flexible to let Him write the story through you. You are the pen in His hand, let Him work in you- let Him write His stories. Why should you write? To fulfill your ministry of reconciliation. Write.

You Stand At The Gate

I have- for a long time now- been looking for a website, or a blog, or something, that will discuss everything fiction and literature, but through a Christian perspective. I have found nothing, and now am creating the blog myself.

Some of this information will be useless in all points except to get your brain going.

I'm an aspiring author, a Christian, so my beliefs pour into my writing, and sometimes, when I go to resource blogs for writing or character development, there's just something lacking for me. Although I LOVE reading off author's blogs, about their characters or plot resources, there's a spiritual aspect in my own plots and writing, that secular authors don't have, so in turn, don't discuss.

That's what this blog is for, to get into discussions about plot, characters, setting, spiritual development, anything and everything fiction and literature, between like-minded people, who have a story to write.





If you're just entering this exotic world of fiction, then know I'm only a couple steps ahead of you, and although I have some information to share here, I'm navigating it almost blindly the same as you.

So let's navigate it together, PLEASE share your questions, in a personal message or a comment, whichever you like, as the bulk of content to this blog will be answering questions. Ask me anything, sometimes I won't know the answer off the bat, but hey, I'd like to know it just as much you do.

You stand at the gate of this exotic world of fiction; be warned, the land is dark and wild. Your job, if you so choose, is to explore this ever-new frontier and tame the world to your needs, but leave the raw beauty and unbridled nature, for it glorifies it's Creator.

PS. If you haven't noticed, I'm super visual, and will always add pictures to my posts, that probably took me hours to find. Or I might just draw them myself, because I couldn't find what I wanted.