The Power of Story, Part II: The Impact of Themes by Annette M. Irby

fanned book on aged cabinet*

Last week, I talked about how story can impact lives. Here’s an example:

Hidden away in the corner of her bedroom, she read a historical novel by a Christian author and found a respite from reality. Reality included odors coming from the heat ducts and cold wind leaking through drafty walls. At least in this room, she could fire up her space heater and find comfort from the frigid living room where winter’s wind snuck in and heating bills taunted.

In the pages of this novel, she found a verse that fit so well into the story and into her life. She’d read books where verses were thrown into the narrative in a preachy way, but not so with this novel. The verse gave both the heroine and the reader hope. These words lit up the page:

I called on the Lord in distress;
The Lord answered me and set me in a broad place.

Psalm 118:5 NKJV

As the verse came alive, she stopped everything to earnestly pray that God would do the same for her. The story touched her and changed her life, because a few months later, after a journey of trust, she was out of that situation and into a larger space with hope and joy. She’d survived, by God’s grace.

Story can change lives.

As an author, when I sat down to write Liam and Shea’s story (Finding Love on Bainbridge Island, Washington), I knew Liam would be on a journey of choosing forgiveness. His dad abandoned him and his mother when Liam was four years old. Since then, he has spent a lifetime feeling he had to hold a grudge because anything else would mean dishonoring his mother, who stayed. 

A writer must understand her subject matter. So, I pondered (as we writers are wont to do, yes?) the concept of forgiveness. Jesus gave us the truth about forgiveness with this verse:

For if you forgive [others] their trespasses,

your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 
But if you do not forgive [others] their trespasses, 
neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Matthew 6: 14, 15 NKJV (with inclusive language)

I’ve pondered this truth all my life. What exactly is Jesus saying here? Then, one day it occurred to me: Jesus came to take away the sins of the world, so believers are definitely forgiven. For Jesus to imply that His once-and-for-all sacrifice wasn’t enough would be untrue. So He’s not saying that we aren’t forgiven, period. But it hit me: what if He’s saying that we won’t experience the full freedom of God’s forgiveness if we don’t forgive others? Then, I looked up the Message paraphrase of this same passage to find this:

In prayer there is a connection between what God does and what you do.

You can’t get forgiveness from God, for instance,

without also forgiving others. If you refuse to do your part,

you cut yourself off from God’s part.
Matthew 6:14, 15 MSG (emphasis added)

Cut ourselves off from freedom?! This is the truth I wanted to portray in my story about Liam and his relationship with his father.

By including deeper story layers, in a natural way, we writers might affect someone’s life. Perhaps a reader also wrestles with what it means to forgive, what it may cost. Without downplaying the sinner’s mistakes, I attempted to portray forgiveness as the key for releasing the captive. If you get a chance to read the book, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this thread (or any others).

Your turn: What types of themes have you seen handled well in novels? What themes have you yourself written about? Have readers ever come back to you and said your work changed their lives? If you could write about any Scripture, which would you choose, and why?

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Finding Love on Bainbridge Island

Finding Love on Bainbridge Island, Washington by Annette M. Irby

Just released 5/1/18 from Mountain Brook Ink. Kindle Unlimited members can read the first two books in the Washington Island Romance series for free. The Kindle version is also free if you buy the print version.

Neither of them is ready for a relationship, but love may not give them an out.

Jenna-Shea Brown considers herself a broken therapist. Years ago, she witnessed something that caused PTSD. She can’t let her boss or her patients know about her battle. Who would want to trust her to help them, when she can’t help herself? She’s finally able to find a fresh start in her family’s beach cabin, but the renovations aren’t complete. Her parents have hired her ex-boyfriend to finalize them, but his negligence led to her being in the wrong place at the wrong time all those years ago. 

Liam Barrett is trying to prove he’s nothing like his deadbeat dad. He’s working hard, yet still failing. Adrenaline and adventure offer him a diversion, but maybe he can’t escape his genes. He’d like to make things right with Shea, but he’s unsure if she’ll forgive him. Meanwhile, he’s challenged to forgive his father. He’s also worried about Shea and all these episodes she won’t explain. Now that they’re back in close proximity, he’s falling for her again. But can anything heal the past?

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Annette M. Irby**

Annette M. Irby has been writing since her teen years when she sat pounding out stories on a vintage typewriter just for fun. Since then, she’s joined Christian writing groups and launched blogs so she could share the joy of writing. She likes to say she’s addicted to color as flowers and seascapes inspire her. In her off hours, she enjoys gardening, photography, and music. She lives with her husband and family in the Pacific Northwest.

Learn more here on her Seriously Write Page.

Links to connect with Annette:

Website: www.AnnetteIrby.com

Twitter: @AnnetteMIrby

Facebook Reader Friends Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/252272708574760

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/annette-m-irby or @AnnetteMIrby

Amazon Author Page: www.amazon.com/author/annette_m_irby.com   

Book Review Blog: www.annetteirbyreviews.blogspot.com

* fanned book photo credit: Pixabay

** Author Photo credit: Sarah Irby at Irby Photos

The Art of Subtext by Betsy St. Amant

Betsy St. Amant

Hey readers, don’t you just love when a story’s layers and secrets develop into rich subtext—hidden meaning? We delight at the metamessages of the characters' dialogue or body language, and we connect. Author Betsy St. Amant is here today to offer advice on including subtext in our fiction. Enjoy! ~ Annette

 

  The Art of Subtext

by Betsy St. Amant

 

I’m an avid reader. Growing up, I read a lot of books. Most of them were good. Some were great. And rarely was there a book I found that I just didn’t want to finish. (I’ve only ever thrown one across the room. ::wink::)

And then there were novels that excelled above the rest. These were the novels I read that stayed with me for days, weeks, even months after The End. The characters and stories lingered in my heart and I could never place why—until I started learning the industry for myself and realized the magic factor. That secret ingredient that made those stories rise above the others and touch places in the reader’s heart that other novels couldn’t quite graze.

Subtext.  

By definition, subtext is “an underlying and often distinct theme in a piece of writing or conversation.” The use of subtext in novels changes everything, providing an extra layer of depth and richness of meaning that connects the character and reader in a unique way.

I’ve found the best way to learn subtext is in watching movies or TV shows. One of my favorite examples is in the popular TV show Friends, when Joey has discovered he has feelings for Rachel that go beyond friendship. But he won’t tell her; he’s trying to fight those feelings out of loyalty to his best friend and Rachel’s ex, Ross. There’s a really powerful scene in one episode where Rachel is curled up in the recliner, watching the horror movie Cujo. Joey comes in the apartment and sits down to watch with her, and Rachel insists he comes closer because the movie is freaking her out. At a particularly intense point of the movie, Rachel shrieks and burrows into Joey’s shoulder. He puts his arm around her and holds her and she looks up at him and asks “Aren’t you scared?” Joey swallows hard and says, “Terrified.”

I love that moment because they are talking about two entirely different things. Rachel is obviously talking about the movie, Joey is talking about his heart for Rachel and the proximity he has with her in that moment and how everything is changing.

It’s powerful and connects the “reader” (or viewer) to Joey (the character) because we know what he means, but Rachel doesn’t. It gives us a secret with the character that makes him (or her) more real and relatable.

That connection is what causes characters and stories to linger long after the book has been shut and tucked away on a bookshelf.

I try to use subtext in my novels in that way—be it relational subtext, spiritual subtext, etc—in order create a lasting attachment with my readers, and to provide them with an opportunity to go deeper than the surface level of the story.

The art of using subtext comes in remembering that subtly is key. You can’t beat your reader over the head with obvious subtext, or it becomes author intrusion. You have to trust your reader to get it—and trust your characters to share it appropriately. ::smile::

~~~~~

Betsy St. Amant has a heart for three things:  chocolate, new shoes, and sharing the amazing news of God’s grace through her novels. She lives in Louisiana with her adorable story-telling young daughter, a collection of Austen novels, and an impressive stash of Pickle Pringles. A freelance journalist and fiction author, Betsy is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and is multi-published in Contemporary Romance via Love Inspired and Harper Collins (Zondervan). When she’s not reading, writing, or singing along to a Disney soundtrack with her daughter, Betsy enjoys inspirational speaking and teaching on the craft of writing.

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All's Fair in Love and Cupcakes

Kat inspected rows of the same old cupcakes. They seemed to blink back at her, as if they knew she was capable of so much more.

Kat Varland has had enough of chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry.

At twenty-six years old, Kat is still living in the shadows of her family in Bayou Bend, Louisiana. Still working shifts at her Aunt Maggie’s bakery. Still wondering what to do with her passion for baking and her business degree. And still single.

But when Lucas Brannen, Kat’s best friend, signs her up for a reality TV bake-off on Cupcake Combat, everything Kat ever wanted is suddenly dangled in front of her: creative license as a baker, recognition as a visionary . . . and a job at a famous bakery in New York.

As the competition heats up, Lucas realizes he might have made a huge mistake. As much as he wants the best for Kat, the only thing he wants for himself—her—is suddenly in danger of slipping away.

The bright lights of reality cooking wars and the chance at a successful career dazzle Kat’s senses and Lucas is faced with a difficult choice: help his friend achieve her dreams . . . or sabotage her chances to keep her in Louisiana.