Saturday, August 08, 2009

Tips to Write Christian Fiction

by Adrienne Carlson

It’s a wonderful feeling when you’re a writer and you’re able to give vent to your creativity and let the words fly as faster than your fingers can move over the keyboard. And when you’re writing Christian fiction, you feel a greater sense of achievement because you know you’re doing your readers a world of good. It’s a little different from writing regular fiction, so if you’re looking for tips on how to attract a larger target audience, read on:
Know Christian values: The very purpose of writing Christian fiction is to imbue in your readers a sense of Christian values. And only when you know and practice these values yourself will you be able to include them in your writing and pass them on to your target audience. Read the Bible and learn all you can about Christian values before you begin to write.

Offer advice subtly instead of preaching: Most people are put off by attempts to preach, even if they are meant to instill good values in them. It’s best to offer advice subtly, through the story rather than directly. It takes all your skill as a writer to be able to do this, to make readers realize the importance of values even as they are engrossed in your story.
Mix values into the story: Your story may be great, but when you’re trying to attract Christian readers, you must be able to mix values seamlessly into the story. This allows them to connect to both your story and you on different levels and provides you with a regular readership.

Provide a great story: Most important of all, your story must be able to captive readers, even those who are not interested in Christian values. When you’re able to weave a compelling yarn, you can use it as a foundation to spread Christian values and rope in more people into the fold. Your books and stories serve as a platform to spread Christianity and Christian values.

Christian fiction must be engrossing and filled with values that both the young and the old can enjoy. Only then are you doing your job as a good Christian writer.

This guest article was written by Adrienne Carlson, who regularly writes on the topic of online bible colleges . Adrienne welcomes your comments and questions at her email address: adrienne.carlson1 at gmail.com

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