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How to Write a Christian Novel: Defining Your Genre 3

Are you targeting the Christian market or the general market?

“Anything a Christian writes must reflect the truth of God’s account. If as a Christian we don’t write from a biblical worldview, we’re not portraying reality as it is.” Ann Tatlock

What is a biblical worldview? It the opposite of the post-modern view, which says that God is dead, we are a product of chance, reason alone will build a better society, there is no hope of life after death, and all paths lead to god . Penelope J Stokes defines Christian fiction as fiction that tells the truth. She goes on to comment that what we typically call Christian fiction is actually conservative evangelical fiction, which has not just an “acknowledgement of God, but a distinctly religious viewpoint, usually marked by the conversion of one or more characters”.

Christian Fiction (Evangelical)

The US-based Evangelical Christian Publishers Association require that books are consistent with their Statement of Faith (which is essentially the same as the Statement of Faith of the National Association of Evangelicals. American Christian Fiction Writers has a list of Recognized Publishers , which specifies that books must be written from a Christian world view, and must conform to the generally accepted standards of the CBA:

  • Main characters will be practicing Christians. Any character who isn’t (especially in a romance) is expected to have an on-page conversion during the course of the novel;
  • Christian characters do not gamble, play cards, drink alcoholic beverages or dance (although they might drink a little or dance in more ‘edgy’ contemporary stories). Love Inspired does not permit any mention of Halloween;
  • Conservative Christian values, but without mentioning a specific denomination;
  • No swearing;No strong violence, especially towards women;
  • Romantic relationships emphasise the emotional side of love rather than the physical (too much emphasis on the enjoyment of the physical will earn a Christian novel the ‘edgy’ tag, even if it’s no more than a kiss, yet there is an apparent contradiction in that Christian fiction may feature rape).

Some Christian novels tread close to the line in one of more of these traits, which is likely to earn them an ‘edgy’ tag. Others might consider ‘edgy’ to be more realistic: it’s a sad truth that Christians can still be victims of domestic violence or sexual assault, and it makes sense that our fiction should address these issues.

“We may have high and noble hopes of spreading the gospel to the world, but in most cases evangelical novels are read by other evangelicals; only rarely does a religious novel find an audience among the unconverted.” The exception might be Jewish author Chaim Potok: when asked why atheists and agnostics would read his novels but not read Christian fiction, he replied “Jewish authors do not proselytize.” Evangelical fiction certainly proselytizes. The conversion scene is a central focus, particularly in a romance which has a strong theme of not being unequally yoked with unbelievers.

What do you think? Should Christian fiction authors ‘preach to the choir’ or convert the masses?

Next week we will discuss the look at Inspirational, Crossover and General Market fiction.

How to Write a Christian Novel: Defining Your Genre 2

Step One: What age group are you writing for?

The standard industry age categorisations are:

  • Middle Grade: approximately 8-12 years of age.
  • Young Adult: approximately 13-18 years of age
  • Adult: Over 18

Young Adult (YA) is not a genre: it is an age range, as is Middle Grade. Books for children and teenagers cross a range of genres, as do books for adults.

Middle Grade

Middle Grade targeted at readers approximately 8-12 years of age. They are solid readers, able to cope with chapter books with few or no illustrations, and some in-depth in plot and characterisation. The lead characters should be a year or two older than the target audience: if your hero is sixteen, it is likely that the book is Young Adult, not Middle Grade.

Middle Grade fiction for girls will often feature teenagers in their middle school or early high school years, and will focus on relationship issues (e.g. bullying, mean girls) or growing up issues (e.g. physical changes). Fiction for boys is more likely to be adventure-based, and will probably feature two or three protagonists. It may well have a main female character so it will appeal to girls as well (at this age, it seems that girls will read anything, but boys won’t read ‘girl books’).

Prominent Christian authors writing for this age group include Nancy Rue (Lily and Sophie books), Jerry B Jenkins (Left Behind: The Kids and Red Rock Mysteries). Newer authors include Evan Angler (dystopian fiction) and Jerel Law (speculative fiction). Both Angler and Law have a male protagonist and a female secondary lead, to appeal to both genders.

Young Adult

Young Adult novels are written for teenagers, although many adults purchase and read YA fiction (one study found that 55% of YA fiction is purchased by adults). The themes in young adult literature are often very anti-Christian, with a lot of paranormal elements, including vampires, werewolves, mermaids and witchcraft. Dystopian novels are also popular. Those YA novels that are set in the ‘real’ world are likely to promote lust over love and sex over abstinence, glamorise abusive relationships, or endorse politically-correct alternative lifestyles.

Plots are typically consistent with the age and experience of the main character, who is usually in their mid-to-late teens, and may deal with issues such as peer pressure, divorce, illness, alcohol or drug use, gangs, violence, sex, pregnancy, incest and rape. Needless to say, there is a lot of debate around the suitability of these topics to the age group, but supporters argue that reading about these social issues help readers deal with real-life challenges.

Melody Carlson is probably the best-known Christian author for girls in this age group. Most Amish novels and Christian historicals also feature girls in their late teens, and are suitable teenage reading even though they are nominally targeted at adults (I think this is one of the reasons I don’t like Amish fiction: I find it rather juvenile).

I’d like to be able to suggest some solid YA authors for boys, but had trouble finding any. Is this why Omega authors such as L D Taylor and Lynne Stringer are targeting this age group?

Adult

The standard genre classifications for adult fiction are:

  • Literary
  • Mystery, Thriller and Suspense
  • Religious & Inspirational
  • Romance
  • Science Fiction & Fantasy

There are numerous sub-classifications within all of these (and note that ‘Religious and Inspirational’ is not restricted to the Christian religion). We will go into more detail in future posts.

New Adult

New Adult is an emerging genre, featuring protagonists in their early to mid-twenties facing ‘new adult’ problems such as college, relationship issues, starting work or sharing a flat or apartment. New Adult novels are invariably contemporary: the concept doesn’t work as well in a historical context, because people were typically working and/or by this age, so there was no idea of a time between finishing school and taking on the full responsibilities of adulthood.

Are you clear what age group your novel is targeting?

Next week we will discuss the next step in defining your genre: market segment.

How to Write A Christian Novel: Defining Your Genre 1

As a reviewer and editor, I read a lot of fiction, mostly Christian fiction. I see a lot of the same mistakes over and over, especially from first-time authors. My intention with this series of articles is to address some of these common errors to enable fiction authors to improve their writing.

The first issue I want to address is genre. Books from traditional publishers fall into a range of defined genres, which enable readers to easily pick books they will like. The rise of self-publishing makes it more difficult for readers to understand what they are buying based on the brand of the publisher, and many self-published authors haven’t thought through what they are selling. What genre are they?

Before you begin writing your novel, you should know what genre you are writing in. The number one mistake of beginning writers in this area is to not consider genre at all. – Angela Hunt

I agree the first step in writing a novel is to consider your genre. This may be similar to the plotter vs. pantster debate: is it better to plot out the novel in advance, or to have only a broad idea and write by the seat of the pants? Do you need to understand your genre before you start writing, or will it become obvious as the story comes together?

Author Karen Baney maintains the importance of defining your target audience before you begin writing. It is tempting to say ‘my story is targeted at people aged 8-80’ (yes, I’ve seen that). What is more likely is that story isn’t designed to appeal to anyone. A good book may well appeal to people outside the target market (think of the number of adults who buy and read Young Adult fiction), but first you need to meet the needs of a target reader. This could be defined as some or all of:

  • Age;
  • Gender;
  • Religion;
  • Race;
  • Geographic location;
  • Education and occupation;
  • Hobbies and interests;
  • etc.

Can you describe your target reader in these terms? If not, try. If you can’t define your target audience, how will you sell your novel to a publisher? Or to readers? Genre underpins the publishing world:

  • Publishers publish by genre;
  • Agents acquire by genre;
  • Readers purchase by genre.

And readers review by genre. If a book doesn’t meet the expectations of the genre, you can expect low-star reviews with comments about not meeting expectations (I know. I’ve read many, and even written a few myself.) There are advantages to having a broad idea of your target audience before you begin.

Understanding your target reader will:

  • Provide insight into your target market, which will help with determining the most appropriate marketing strategy and developing your platform;
  • Inform some of your writing decisions, including the most appropriate point of view, the number of viewpoint characters, tense, voice, style and word count;
  • Help ensure you don’t stray off-topic as you write;
  • Inform the length of your story.

Whatever genre you write in, make sure you are widely read in that genre so that you know you are following the rules of the genre.

Future posts will cover each of these aspects of genre, starting next week with target age.

What do you write? And what do you read?