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| Melinda Viergever Inman |
Why
We Torture the Hero
I’m drafting a sequel while simultaneously launching and
marketing its antecedent. One of these tasks is right brain, and the other is
left. They pull me in opposite directions. As a result, I sometimes feel as
though my brain has been stretched far beyond its limits. You experienced
authors know what I mean.
Before I was published, drafting a novel meant my entire focus
was on the story’s emotion and rhythm. There was no marketing, only writing. Bliss! I could lose myself entirely in
another world. But now, after publication, I must keep my tiny empire rolling.
The sales stats must be watched, the social media prepared, the books promoted.
AND, I must simultaneously draft another novel.
Before you ever publish, experienced writers always tell you
to enjoy that phase. This is why. I’m going to say it again. If you’re still
waiting for that big break, look around you at all the frazzled published
writers. That will be you one day. Right now, however, you can frolic with your
characters, enjoying their lives and basking in their imaginary world. Once you’re
published, all of this changes.
Writing becomes your job. It’s a business. You will learn to
evaluate plot decisions with cold calculation. You will go for a walk with your
friend and ask if she thinks you should kill Tom and maybe also Joe. You will
wonder out loud how best to torture your hero. You will talk of methods of
suffering with detachment, your mental plotline wheels turning.
These same discussions happen before you publish, but then
it's more visceral and far more emotional. You weep. You lament the emotional
and physical carnage you must inflict on your hero's life. You lose sleep over
having to pull the plug. After publication, however, these plot decisions come
from careful and objective consideration. After publishing, you know it’s good
for sales when the hero suffers. Tortured heroes sell books.
Let’s consider why this is so. Let’s look at real life. Though
God is the Author of our real life stories, He doesn’t consider book sales when
He determines what trials He will allow into our lives. He considers our
spiritual growth, His plan for the world, and His good intentions toward those
He loves.
As we look back on our lives and see God’s plan unfold, we
will recognize the Master Storyteller at work. In those very times of hurting,
loss, and heartache, we have the greatest story of the growth of our faith. We
see Christ most clearly then. He is glorified as we comprehend more of His kind
and merciful nature, and our lives become a story of God's grace in heartache,
loss, and trial.
And so we, as Christian fiction writers, portray captivating
stories, not merely to entertain, but to illustrate the goodness of God in real
life trials and heartaches. We write these in story form, like parables, the
most potent way to teach a lesson and Jesus’ preferred format.
This is the real reason we Christian authors torture the hero.
Yes, it sells books. But, more than that, it draws the readers in, for we have
written a story that mirrors their own lives. They can relate. They buy these
books, because they too are hurting and confused, and in a story where the hero
suffers and God meets him in his suffering, our readers can find help in their
own trial.
So, dear writer, balance your writing with your marketing.
Both are essential. God will enable you to do it all, if you rely on Him. Tell
the stories that help others. And, yes, those tortured accounts will be the
books that readers beat down the Amazon gates to purchase.
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| Meme - Fiction: The Modern-Day Parable |
Manhood
arrived prematurely. At the tender age of fifteen, Prentis lost both his father
and his confidence that God loved him. He grew up fast after that day,
abandoning his education to take on the responsibility and hardship of
supporting his mother and siblings.
Now, in
Prentis’s twenties, Avery reenters his life. A Sunday School teacher with a
passion for learning and theology, she is intelligent with a captivating
spirit. Prentis finds her irresistible. The audacity of attempting to court
such a woman in no way weakens his resolve. He’s determined to win her heart. But
male competition, vicious gossip, Avery’s unspoken fears, and the ruin of his
livelihood hinder his efforts. How can Prentis win her? And if he does, how
will they overcome their differences, the hard life on the Oklahoma plains, and
a world at war?
Set in
1913-1916, No Longer Alone is based on a true story.
Raised on the Oklahoma plains in a storytelling family,
Melinda now spins tales from her writer's cave in the Midwest. Her fiction
illustrates our human story, wrestling with our brokenness and the storms that
wreak havoc in our lives. Find her at MelindaInman.com.
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