What is Inspirational Fiction?
We may hear this word in a bookstore or see it on the spine of a library book. From one perspective, it’s a genre, just like romance and thriller. It helps categorize and market books of all kinds.
If you look up Inspirational Fiction, you’ll see phrases like, “uplifting” and “shows positive changes in the characters”. To be honest, I like to see positive character change in any story I read.
Is inspirational fiction the same as clean fiction?
Not really. In either case, you shouldn’t have to cringe as you turn the page, afraid of whatever erotic or profane thing you may encounter. (I have had negative surprises on more than one occasion when I read a romance from an unknown-to-me general market author. I’m pulled into the story, but am then ambushed by explicit scenes.) Clean fiction gives nothing to fear in that area, but there is no spiritual message woven in.
For Christian authors, the phrase means something deeper. Narrower. An inspirational novel shows a character who believes in Christ as Savior (or is on the way). She (or he) faces weaknesses in herself as she encounters the challenges of life. She may respond in faith, or she may not. But what she learns about herself and about God’s faithfulness can inspire and uplift the reader.
That’s why I love writing Inspirational (Christian) fiction.
I’d like to do more than entertain (though that’s important, to distinguish my book from a textbook!) But I’d like readers close the book with a reminder of God’s faithfulness, not only to fictitious characters, but to them as well. It’s the same God, with his typical M.O. of faithfulness and love, portrayed in the lives of literary people.
Make no mistake, these literary people have flaws and sometimes very hard knocks to face. They face fears, horrible circumstances, and injustice…and lots more. But in a way, we get to view a laboratory sample of how God could and might work in someone’s life. And that can be a great faith-booster, as we learn vicariously from their pain.
An armchair view of Christian growth while being highly entertained late into the night! How cool is that?
The Genres I Write: Christian Romance and Women’s Fiction
Let’s talk about Christian romance. What I like about writing romance is the alternating viewpoints. It’s fun to get inside the heads of both the man and the woman to see what and how they’re thinking. And you know they’ll get together. You just don’t know how.
Then there’s women’s fiction, which I also write. There it’s more of a story of a woman facing a particular challenge in her life. Typically, it’s just her point of view, but there’s almost always a romance woven in. My book, Circle Back Around, is a good example of that. Hailey Anderson faces the challenge of running her family’s business, a struggling textile mill. She’s a woman in a man’s world.
Other examples are books 2, 3, and 4 of the Later-in-Life Second Chance Series (Julia Redesigned, Sydney Rewound, and Eden Redefined), where each woman has her own challenge, though all the women are long-term friends. (Book One, Marissa Rewritten, has more of a romance format.)
One thing is true of all my books. You’ll find a timeless message in each one. Though I strive not to be preachy, the message for us is clear through the lives of the characters. You’ll find varying amounts of Biblical truth in Christian books. I try not to err on the side of vague.
If you read widely, you’ve seen the differences, even if you love the variety of reading all kinds of genres. There’s nothing wrong with that, of course. But there is a difference in how it feeds your soul. Or not.
Be inspired!