Writing for the soul? Writing for entertainment? Writing for the PG crowd?

Twice a month I attend a webinar on writing. Which is awesome. Tonight's was great. I found it very informative.

However, I also found it incredibly disappointing. I won't lie. I asked a question of the presenter which was answered at the end. As you can see from a post in April it is a topic which has been on my mind for a while.

I wanted to know what a Christian author could rely on besides overstating a character's physical attraction to make a "despicable" character likeable to their love interest. The answer in a nutshell was "it's risky to try making your character anything less than physically attractive because readers don't want unattractive characters."

We'll leave aside the fact this webinar was geared towards the Christian fiction writer which means the Christian fiction reader should be unique from the non-Christian reader.

The beauty of books is you can't "see" the characters. I can name attractive actors. I've gone to see movies just because an actor is in who I appreciate. Some actors I see their movies because of their talent. Some actors I see their movies because of their looks. Some actors I see their movies because of a balance of looks and talents. Let's be honest though not every good-looking person is a talented actor; not every talented actor is a good-looking person. I've found a good balance of both is rare. You don't really have to be a good actor to fight machine aliens shirtless though. You just need to clock decent time at the gym.

Beyond the fact you can't see a book character though, why does one have to be physically attractive for us to relate to them? I can't root for the slightly pudgy girl to get the guy? I can't hope the balding guy won't be turned down by the girl he's crushed on forever? If a writer has to rely on a strong jawline, perfectly ruffled hair, deep blue eyes, and a six pack to make the character our hero, I'd suggest they find a new line of work.

Why support Hollywood's presentation of a love story? We all can't wait for our Noah (Ryan Gosling) to sweep us off our feet. We all aren't Allie Calhoun (Rachel McAdams) choosing between Noah and Lon Hammond (James Marsden). Most of us will find our Fin (Kevin Connolly), a guy who next to Noah appears plain. It doesn't make him any less the right man for us.

I read Nicholas Sparks. More than a few of his books are on my shelf. However, when I read his books I can cast the inevitable movie. In the end his books are just longer versions of the movie script. His books are like eating rice cakes. They are an easy hour and a half away from daily life, but they don't satisfy the hunger.

The reality is we are all beautiful. The truth is we are all ugly. There are beautiful people with ugly souls.  There are unattractive people with beautiful souls.

I guess it isn't really writing for the soul. It is writing PG-rated love stories for the Christian reader.

There are so many thoughts running through my head, I'm losing coherency. I'm sure we'll revisit this topic. In the meantime...

"Excellence matters." Brandon Webb

FWIW the last guy I found ridiculously attractive, let's just say his character caught my attention first. My eyes eventually caught up but it was the person he is which I first noticed.

Christian Authors and the Dilemma of Physical Attraction

A favorite blog writer of mine recently asked a question concerning things in books as a reader you don’t like. She mentioned describing the male lead as devastatingly handsome. It immediately brought to mind one of my top three pet peeves – overselling the physical appearance of characters in a book.

Unlike movies and television where you can actually see the characters, books offer a chance to imagine the characters. I don’t need an excessive amount of details for a literary character. My mind will sketch the characters as I see them. I’d rather read about their hands shaking in anger than the color of the skin covering those hands. Tell me about the excitement in their eyes before you wax poetic about the ocean being the same shade. I’d rather have an abstract picture of a character in a book than a paint-by-number portrait.

God gave us sight and created each and every one of us to be wonderfully made. Physical beauty is neither a curse nor a blessing. Society has defined what is attractive and asks us to all conform. God asks us to view others not with the eyes of the world, but through His eyes.

Where does the responsibility end for a Christian author who is setting the scene and describing the fictional world they have created? I have stopped reading more than a couple of authors because their emphasis on physical attractiveness is nearly worldly. I’ve become tired of reading about silky hair, long legs, strong arms, flat stomachs, and beautiful faces. I need more than physical attraction to believe two characters are going to commit to each other when they are written as though they can’t stand to be in the same room together.

In TV and movies I believe there is a direct correlation between the quality of writing and the nudity of the characters. The more poorly written the story line is the more likely you are to have nearly naked actors on screen. In the literary world there is actually a designation when this happens on paper – PWP, porn without plot. PWP lets the reader know there is no story here just written porn. Christians authors more than likely aren’t writing PWP, but they need to find motivation for attraction between their characters to be more than just physical. Physical beauty fades or can be taken from us in an instant. The beauty of a God-fearing heart and the fruit of a Godly life lives forever.

Christians can’t ignore the physical traits of the opposite sex. I can list for you the physical qualities I find attractive in a guy. God designed us with eyes to see and brains to process what we see. We have to take care we don’t emphasize the physical over the traits God has outlined as important. While we all can’t poke out our eyes to prevent being physically attracted to someone, we can guard our minds with the Word of God.

I believe authors have a responsibility and should be held accountable. I won’t read an author anymore if I believe their romantic storylines are led with worldly views. 

Throw Away Lines

I've often told one of my friends that she is too smart. Her knowledge handicaps her in some ways. My goal as her friend has always been to loosen her up. When it comes to writing, I've been soaking up as much information as I can. I'm driving myself to learn more, read more, observe more. I fear this is hindering my level of enthusiasm for reading.

I started a new book the other day. The first few chapters had what I call throw away lines. Information that you need that may or may not be pertinent to the story later down the line, but they appear to be three or four lines that could have been thrown away. Character introductions that include a paragraph of how the person relates to the main character from previous books.

They annoy the crap out of me. First I find that a few lines can't cover an entire book's worth of history. Second this particular author presented most of the information as factual with no emotional connection. It caused me to not care and also to think the editing of the book was poor. Mostly though the flow of the story came to a halt. The book took on a technical feel instead of an emotional connection. I didn't care about the main character or the people in her life because she didn't appear to care.

"Ms. Smith had grown closer to John Doe a few months ago when they'd gone through a traumatic time together. They'd remained in touch despite going their separate ways."

I'd have probably written it this way.

Ms. Smith smiled at John Doe. Her gratitude for him hadn't lessened as the days passed since the trauma they'd endured together."

I'm struggling to finish this book because I just don't care about the characters. I'm doing my best not to just skip to the last chapter to see how it all ends. Although I have no doubt that it has a happy ending, I'm just not sure I'll be invested enough to care.