Is It Okay

[tynessxoxo]

i am trying to write a novel (184 pgs. so far) about a boy with a rough life and tough past. i started him as a child and want to write through his adult age, until he gives his life to god, and settles down. i want it to be christian but it is really hard trying to make him in a gang or have a rough life if he acts christian. please any advice or suggestions needed

 

[GodFlute2]

If he starts off not a Christian then why is he living a Christian life? Or did I misunderstand something again?

 

[Lessien]

Could you clarify that, tynessxoxo?

 

[TheOriginalWhitehorse]

Is he saved before or after joining this gang? Because if he became a Christian, then he wouldn't join a gang afterward-I can see the predicament and I'd either change his conversion or eliminate the issue. But if he joined, struggled and then turned to the Lord, then you have a great resource for building tension. There is conflict between his lifestyle and his God, and between His saved spirit and the gang. Good for lots of material.

 

[tynessxoxo]

okay, im sorry for any misunderstanding. the boy is not a christian now. he is only 13 but later in the book as an adult i want to have him find god. he is in a gang now, and i feel guilty if i uses bad language or stuuf b/c i am christian and i dont want to write evil books. but i am trying to get across the point of turning your life around. so is it okay if it says unchristain stuff

 

[GodFlute2]

In that instance it would be ok, because he gets forgiven.

 

[antiarte]

Just like a song off a Mars ILL record says: "There's hurt before the healing; dirt before the cleansing".
If you're gonna have the lead character be in a gang before he's found by God then you do need to use the "unchristian and evil stuff"- at least it's a very educated and high class type of gang, like in a Richie Rich cartoon or somethin' .

But, hey, if you don't feel peace about it, then just don't do it. Pray to God about it. Let the Holy Spirit guide you with His peace. Just let God guide you in all things.

 

[TheOriginalWhitehorse]

Just an idea, but if you want to let people know about all he's been saved from without focusing on the ungodly parts too much, you could begin the book in his adulthood, right at the moment he decides to give his life to the Lord, and then show the struggle between spirit and flesh, with occasional flashbacks to his childhood. That way his being saved would be more of a focus, and you can skip over the details that bother you. You can have flashbacks from his gang life where someone tells him to do something he shouldn't, and have him walk off to do it but not tell about the details too much. But that's just one possible workaround-there are probably many others as well.

 

[tynessxoxo]

thank you all alot for your advice it actually really helped. i appreciated it alot. god bless

 

[New Creation]

Instead of writing the actually curses themselves you could write something like "Richie let out a string of curses that would make a biker blush" Or "Richie's usual salutation was one of a variety of curses, differing every day"

I suggest you pray and I'll bet Holy spirit will solve your problem!!!

 

[zay]

Hmm I'm thinking along the lines of Whitehorse's suggestion, as far as flashbacks and whatnot. You could do it to where he's giving a firsthand account and he describes the actions of what's going on. That way the reader gets the idea of the bad surroundings and bad acts that are constantly going on around him, but you don't have to necessarily use vulgar language.

Or you could keep him 13 and have it to where he's in a gang but he has an experience and he picks up God. Then throughout his life it's a constant struggle between how he acts and who he really is. The pain of doing wrong, mixed in with the pain of not being accepted, and not having someone physically there to understand him. Also, him struggling trying to figure out God, as well as other things.

If the experience is something like someone dear dying, he could go to their grave and talk about the different things happening with him. Maybe a deceased family member that he reveals more and more about as the story goes on. Or, maybe someone the gang killed and he's trying to figure out who they were. He finds more and more about them, and learning about this person leads him to God.

Either way I'd introduce some other characters to mix in with the regular plot that have a sound background to them. That'll help take some of the focus off the main character but add depth to the story as well. I'm guessing you'll have to focus more on character development and plot than actual dialogue. I'm not sure, I'll have to think about it more.

 

[tynessxoxo]

thanks again. you all had such helpful ideas

 

[artybloke]

i am trying to write a novel (184 pgs. so far) about a boy with a rough life and tough past. i started him as a child and want to write through his adult age, until he gives his life to god, and settles down. i want it to be christian but it is really hard trying to make him in a gang or have a rough life if he acts christian. please any advice or suggestions needed

I suspect - and forgive me if I'm wrong - that you're trying too hard to write A Story With A Meaning - with a nice, sewn-up little moral at the end. They can often read as terribly unrealistic and not very much like what really happens in life.

Especially if the Christian character is all good and the non-Christian side is all bad, or if there's a nice happy conversion experience at the end. You probably have in mind the idea that people will read this and might want to get converted. If you don't, please forgive me for the presumption.

The thing that makes me wonder is, what experience of being in a gang do you have? You don't say; so this will be a big assumption. I'll assume for the moment that you don't, that you're getting your information from books. If you are, then you either need to do lots of research, or perhaps write about something closer to home. If you have experienced gangs, then obviously you can draw on your own feelings and experience.

The first requisite of a novel is that it tells a good story. Have you read such Christian authors as Grahame Greene, Edwin Waugh, Flannery O'Connor? They manage as much as anything to deal with the dilemmas and the struggles of faith, and never picture conversion as the neat happy ending that it very rarely is in real life (besides, they're all Catholics - I've never managed to come across any Protestant writers that can write as well as Catholic authors.)

I'm not too bothered by such things as use of swearwords - that's just Protestant prissiness - above all, write what you honestly feel would happen in a real situation, not what you think you ought to write to please your Christian readers. In fact, don't write for Christian readers at all. I personally would never dream of asking a Christian for advice on the content of what I write; as long as it's true and honest, as long as it speaks about life ("Nothing is dissonent that speaks of life" - Coleridge, another Christian writer) then it will be good writing.

 

[tynessxoxo]

artyblock, thanks for your advice. i really dont write for an adudience that i dont have yet. i write for me. i just dont want it to look like im a hypocrite of a christian b/c i have "unchristian" writtings .i am actually a pretty good writter, or so everyone tells me, so i am very immaginative, no i dont have an experience with a gang, but i can draw it from my own mind b/c thats how i erite. i appreciate you advice, but just to let you know i dont plan to have the complete happy ending, and i dont think my story will convert anyone. i just want it to be appropriate. thank you and god bless

 

[ConstanceB]

Hmm I'm thinking along the lines of Whitehorse's suggestion, as far as flashbacks and whatnot. You could do it to where he's giving a firsthand account and he describes the actions of what's going on. That way the reader gets the idea of the bad surroundings and bad acts that are constantly going on around him, but you don't have to necessarily use vulgar language.

Or you could keep him 13 and have it to where he's in a gang but he has an experience and he picks up God. Then throughout his life it's a constant struggle between how he acts and who he really is. The pain of doing wrong, mixed in with the pain of not being accepted, and not having someone physically there to understand him. Also, him struggling trying to figure out God, as well as other things.

If the experience is something like someone dear dying, he could go to their grave and talk about the different things happening with him. Maybe a deceased family member that he reveals more and more about as the story goes on. Or, maybe someone the gang killed and he's trying to figure out who they were. He finds more and more about them, and learning about this person leads him to God.

Either way I'd introduce some other characters to mix in with the regular plot that have a sound background to them. That'll help take some of the focus off the main character but add depth to the story as well. I'm guessing you'll have to focus more on character development and plot than actual dialogue. I'm not sure, I'll have to think about it more.

Zay, you're impressive! -- personally invested enough in writing to "work it out" when the opportunity presents. I'm proud of you & would have given you a Reputation point (but I was alerted that I need to "spread it around"!). Here's another for you: Have you read Writing Down the Bones? The author is WAY "new age" and almost flakey, but recommends such things to try.

 

[ConstanceB]

Good evening, fellow writer!

I didn't read your profile -- and realize I should have. I'm a writer and I have these questions:

- You are female. right? Do you believe you can "get into a guy's head" enough to show him in such transition?

- Have you been in a gang? We all know more than we should about gangs, what with TV and movies. But the mindset of a gang member -- reasons for coveting the lifestyle to begin with, for instance -- are quite complex. (There are good reasons the experts say "write about what you know.")

- Have you considered exploring transitions in your very own life? I can recall pivotal points in my own life where my choices or mere reactions would dictate my future, my friends....

- The most incredible "questionable" scenes often are not graphic. Consider Rhett to Scarlett the night he carried her up the staircase. There was the threat/promise .... and then the morning. (But wow, what your own imagination brought to what must have come between!) Like another suggested (with very good examples, I think), you can make it clear that obscenities, vulgarities, etc. are uttered and not lie in the gutter yourself.

Happy writing! Oh -- one more suggestion. Some pretty prolific writers sometimes write an ending and then fill in the middle. If you're "stuck" try it once or twice. God grant you discretion and confidence. cb

 

[artybloke]

artyblock, thanks for your advice. i really dont write for an adudience that i dont have yet. i write for me. i just dont want it to look like im a hypocrite of a christian b/c i have "unchristian" writtings .i am actually a pretty good writter, or so everyone tells me, so i am very immaginative, no i dont have an experience with a gang, but i can draw it from my own mind b/c thats how i erite. i appreciate you advice, but just to let you know i dont plan to have the complete happy ending, and i dont think my story will convert anyone. i just want it to be appropriate. thank you and god bless

Hmmmm....

What are "unchristian" writings? If it's honest, true to your self and is seeking some kind of truth about human relationships, how can it be "unchristian?" And if your fellow Christians don't like it, or think that because of its honesty it shows you up, then that's their affair, not yours. And if it shows the doubts and uncertainties you might have about some aspects of faith - and we all have them, even if we like to pretend we haven't - then that could help those going through similar problems: "Oh wow! I'm not alone! someone has been there too!"

I can't remember who said this, but "look to your heart and write" is the best advice for any writer.

By the way - I don't think that means that you can't write in a male voice or about gang members - if it was OK for Flaubert to write Madame Bovary about a woman's experience, it's OK for you to write about a man's experience. Though presumably he's a teenager; so you might have to imagine what it's like to be swimming in testosterone... (Good luck on that one.)

 

[antiarte]

to the OP: You're sixteen, right? So, have you been in a gang? A real gang? If not, you need to do extensive research. You don't want your gangs to be unrealistic, do you? I mean, if you're involved in gangs there's the jackin', the stick-up's, gang rapes, and those infamous parties when a new gang member is introduced (If I mentioned what goes on there I could get my third warning )

 

[RThibeault]

Interesting dilema. I have thought of the same problem. How do you portray a non-Christian life in such a way that it won't offend Christians.

That sad thing is that for many Christian, not all, they live in a "Cinderella Christian World," where things aren't really all too bad. It is interesting where God has placed me and the people to whom He has called me to.

The thing you have to ask yourself is, "who is your target audience?" If you are seeking to save the lost, then write it is in such a matter as to reach those people. If you are writing it for Christians, then write in such a way as to not offend them.

 

[zay]

Hi constance, thank you. lol, I appreciate your rep points, but trust me, you won't have a problem finding people to give some to. There's a bunch of great people here. But no I haven't read that, I'll try to look out for it when I have the means

ok, to the topic at hand


Well tyness, like others have said I think you should just pray and write what's in your heart. I personally feel that you can do it to where it can have elements that appeal to both Christians and those outside in the "world", even if the ending isn't completely happy. Your story I feel will have something that makes people think. Also, it's not always bad to write something a little controversial. It's awesome when someone writes something thought provoking and puts their own individual spin on something.

Kevin Max comes to mind, many people have criticized him for being a Christian and writing music that doesn't necessarily fit into the christian cookie cutter music fest. And for his unique vision of reaching out to those who need God rather than just focusing on those who already have Him. While he loves his Christian music fans, he also has a voice and vision for those outside of them, and he writes his music, poetry, etc. accordingly. And while he loves God and his fellow Christians, he loves just writing music. Not always Christian, just music. Does that change his beliefs and his love for God? no.

But with all of that said tyness, I think you should pray and let your heart guide what you write. Don't be afraid of a little controversy or having an ending that hasn't been done before. Or of having a project that doesn't have the conventional good ending. That's what the greats do, they don't stay within the boundaries, they push them out and set the new bar to reach. I pray that it works out for you.