JAM2b
Newbie
I questions this a lot, or actually it makes me question my writing.
I think people have a hard time grasping that Christianity doesn't mean easy and blessed life all the time. I think they also think the only way to live out their faith is to be directly evangelizing and proselytizing all the time.
My work that I really want to do is too Christian for secular audience and too secular or "worldly" (not faithful enough) for mainstream/mass market Christian audiences. Christian characters are often too good (and moral) to be true. They may have a trouble or two in order to create a plot, but for the most part, they lived a blessed life. This is not reality for many true believers.
In short, many people, both Christians and people who are not Christians observing from the outside, do not understand being "in the world but not of it."
I do not want to publish independently because I am not a good promoter and I do not want to handle sales. However, I don't expect for some of my work to be picked up by any traditional publisher because it isn't Christian enough for Christian publishers and it's too Christian (or not bad enough) for secular ones.
In my most recent submission I was asked to describe my previous writing experience. Part of that is church dramas and Sunday school lessons. I almost didn't put that in there because my manuscript is not overtly Christian material, and I was afraid the editors who read it might think that it was and they would not be interested.
There is obviously room in the market for blatant Christianity in the Christian book world, if that is what authors want to write. But for the Christian author who wants to write clean fiction with real plot and challenges for realistic characters with realistic life struggles and temptations, it's hard to get it out there.
My hope is to have works that are entertaining with real-to-life drama without explicitly depicting violence, sex, or real bad language. Think of books or movies that are wonderfully written but not full of unnecessary bad content, like Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, The Incredibles, Stranger Things, Chronicles of Narnia, Hoot, and New Mexico Sunrise and New Mexico Sunset romance series by Tracy Peterson (not well known). Think of Fred Rogers, who addressed things honestly and was very progressive, but most people didn't know he was a Presbyterian Minister.
In our nation (U.S.) I believe in living a life that makes it obvious I'm a Christian without preaching and throwing Scripture at people so much they are turned off. People here already know about church and Jesus and the Bible. If they were interested, they would seek it out. If I have to tell people I'm a Christian, or tell them some Scripture for them to realize it, then I'm not living right or treating others right. This is a major philosophy I use when I write.
I think people have a hard time grasping that Christianity doesn't mean easy and blessed life all the time. I think they also think the only way to live out their faith is to be directly evangelizing and proselytizing all the time.
My work that I really want to do is too Christian for secular audience and too secular or "worldly" (not faithful enough) for mainstream/mass market Christian audiences. Christian characters are often too good (and moral) to be true. They may have a trouble or two in order to create a plot, but for the most part, they lived a blessed life. This is not reality for many true believers.
In short, many people, both Christians and people who are not Christians observing from the outside, do not understand being "in the world but not of it."
I do not want to publish independently because I am not a good promoter and I do not want to handle sales. However, I don't expect for some of my work to be picked up by any traditional publisher because it isn't Christian enough for Christian publishers and it's too Christian (or not bad enough) for secular ones.
In my most recent submission I was asked to describe my previous writing experience. Part of that is church dramas and Sunday school lessons. I almost didn't put that in there because my manuscript is not overtly Christian material, and I was afraid the editors who read it might think that it was and they would not be interested.
There is obviously room in the market for blatant Christianity in the Christian book world, if that is what authors want to write. But for the Christian author who wants to write clean fiction with real plot and challenges for realistic characters with realistic life struggles and temptations, it's hard to get it out there.
My hope is to have works that are entertaining with real-to-life drama without explicitly depicting violence, sex, or real bad language. Think of books or movies that are wonderfully written but not full of unnecessary bad content, like Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, The Incredibles, Stranger Things, Chronicles of Narnia, Hoot, and New Mexico Sunrise and New Mexico Sunset romance series by Tracy Peterson (not well known). Think of Fred Rogers, who addressed things honestly and was very progressive, but most people didn't know he was a Presbyterian Minister.
In our nation (U.S.) I believe in living a life that makes it obvious I'm a Christian without preaching and throwing Scripture at people so much they are turned off. People here already know about church and Jesus and the Bible. If they were interested, they would seek it out. If I have to tell people I'm a Christian, or tell them some Scripture for them to realize it, then I'm not living right or treating others right. This is a major philosophy I use when I write.
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