Philippians 4:8 for the Christian Writer

 I've been thinking about writing this post for a while.

I wasn't sure if it should be a blog post, an Instagram blurb, or if it was just something I was simply meant to learn. I have found, though, that what God teaches me, He usually means me to share with others.

That having been said, I should begin at the beginning: the night I began to write my "accidental novel". It was a school night, and  all day I had been looking forward to the hour I had planned to set aside and work on my nearly-finished manuscript of a study on a passage in Proverbs 30 (More to come about that!).

As I prepared to work, I went to the kitchen to get some tea. I had two kinds of loose-leaf tea I was trying to decide between, so I did what any tea lover would do and checked to see which one smelled the best. As I smelled first one, and then the other, something happened in the writer part of my imagination and next thing I knew, I was delightedly scribbling thoughts down in a notebook, curious where this little seed of a story might lead. After my fit of scribbling had subsided, I was left with several pages which read like the beginning of a novel. —And I loved where the story was going!

It was not until I had a couple of close friends read the short exerpt that I began to do some research into writing a novel. I listened to podcasts, found author advice videos on YouTube, and eventually ordered a book about structuring a novel. The more I learned, the more I realized just how much work there is in planning out a good story, and how lacking my very vague idea of a plot was.

And then there was the nagging thought that novels are not exactly what I want to be known for. I would much rather write nonfiction about things that matter. Then one night, I was listening to a podcast episode on choosing/writing characters, and the statement was made that the main characters should all flesh out the story's theme in some way. I felt utterly overwhelmed.

I didn't have a theme.

In fact, I didn't even have the faintest glimmering of a theme... and I wasn't sure how to get one.

 So, I did the only thing I could do and started talking to God about it. I hadn't talked to God about this story yet, and once I began, all my fears and apprehensions surfaced. I sat there in my car asking God if I should even be writing this story. It was so out of my league, and I was so overwhelmed by the structure and planning I didn't know how to start.

And besides, I thought, Is it right for me to be writing fiction at all? Can a novel glorify God? I have read Christian novels before, and I knew it was an accepted thing to write a novel that was meant to bring glory to God, but could my story really do that?

As I wrestled with these questions, I finally cried out to God:  I need a theme. But it has to be the right theme, a theme that will glorify You. I want my story to be true. I know it's fiction, but I want it to be built upon a truth.

God graciously helped me to find a theme which was founded upon a truth I have been learning in my own life in recent years, and once I had the theme, I knew exactly where the story would end up. (Even though I'm still not exactly sure how it will get there yet.) In fact, while thinking out the theme, I ended up writing what will eventually be the very last sentence of the novel.

My story is no longer just a few pages scribbled out for fun; it has a purpose I can get excited about, and I have a track to run on with all the numerous decisions necessary to planning out a plot.

In all this wrestling over what to write and how to write it, I have been reminded over and over again of Philippians 4:8.

"Finally, bretheren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."

That is my standard against which my novel --and anything else I write-- must be judged. Will it cause people to think on that which is true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy? Will readers come away with those things in their heads and hearts? Do the characters and plot exhibit or exalt these qualities? These are the questions that drive my writing decisions. It is a grave responsibility to represent Christ in irrevocable print, for all the world to see. I want to represent Him well. These qualities at least point me in the right direction as I consider whether my story line and characters will fulfill their purpose of glorifying God and representing His truths well.