I read an interesting meme on Face Book this morning, originally posted by Jennifer Powell.
Fiction is fake!?
How often have you heard that, or something like it?
“I only read true stories.”
“Fiction stories are lies.”
“I don’t read fiction, I only read the Bible.”
I’ve heard all of these at one time or another, and I heave a sigh. Some of the above quotes have come from people who will then go home and watch their favourite fiction program on television.
I’ve been writing Christian Fiction for twenty-five plus years, and have often felt the need to apologise to the truly spiritual people who come to see my books, and find that there is nothing of substance there. I preach at churches around South Australia, and often have the privilege of making my books available after the service. I’ve come to accept that there are many people who don’t believe there is any value in Christian fiction.
So when I read this meme this morning, I was encouraged. In the past, I have cited the example of how Jesus used fiction to communicate principles. Nathan the prophet used a fiction story to get through to King David when confronting him with facts would not have been accepted.
So, the statement: “Fiction = learning through imagination” is not only true, it is supported by Biblical examples.
Most of us who write fiction, and those who love to read fiction will add a hearty, “amen” to the statement.
As a writer of fiction, I often learn through writing. I imagine characters and situations, but for authenticity, I then have to research. For example, my novel “Over the Rainbow” due for release early 2024, has a main character who is living with an acquired injury from a car accident. To be able to represent Arianne, I had to listen to TED talks, podcasts, read blogs, read medical websites and submit what I wrote to readers who live with disability. I learned a load just in the writing, and I hope that my readers who have little or no experience in this area will learn vicariously from reading Arianne’s story. Yes, she is a character from my imagination, but I’m hoping that when the reader’s imagination engages with her story, they will begin to understand her world.
To learn more about Arianne’s story, click here.
What have you learned through engaging imagination in fiction that you possibly wouldn’t have learned through ordinary text books?
I know that I have engaged with history in a much deeper way by reading historical fiction. Authors like Bodie Thoene, Michael Phillips, Francine Rivers, Tessa Afshar, Linda Chaikin and others, who have written historical Christian fiction in saga form, have impacted my passion and insight for modern and Biblical history.
Our own Australian historical fiction author, Amanda Deed, has also impacted me through her well researched novels on the Gold Rush era in Australia.
Contemporary Christian fiction is often lighter, but good authors will always challenge you by use of imagination, to expand our understanding of people – hopefully increase our empathy for situations we are not familiar with.
Tell us about fiction you have read that has impacted your understanding.
How true. I’m sure my interest in places widely scattered across the globe, and my glimpses into the lives of people so different from myself, began in childhood through reading fiction. Fiction can break down barriers of culture and time, and give us empathy and understanding. So can nonfiction, of course, but it has almost been in our human DNA from earliest times to be captured and filled with wonder by a good story.