You make so many good points in this piece. I was especially interested in your notes on propaganda and how Jesus calls “listeners to abide in a holy mystery.”
Thanks Susanna! I'm glad you found it interesting. I'm never sure what parts of these reflective essays will strike a chord with others, but they're certainly helping me sort out my own thoughts.
In the end it seems to me a simple matter. Preaching and being preached to are part of the human experience, and therefore an appropriate subject for fiction. The question is, in any particular case, does the preaching exist for the sake of the story, or was the story concocted as a vehicle for the preaching? Given reasonable storytelling skills, the former will not feel preachy, but the latter always will.
I enjoyed this very much. Your points about propaganda add a lot to the discussion. I haven’t written a story since 8th grade, but the reading and contemplation of stories has become a source of wonder and joy for me in recent years. I’m always fascinated by skilled authors and love to learn more about how they do it.
I was recently revisiting Dietrich von Hildebrand's "Art of Living" and the idea that the reverent man does not try to plumb the depths of the world of values immediately but gives them the necessary "space to unfold themselves" resonates very much with the ideas you lay out here. A very insightful read, thank you!
Also the quote from your previous article, The Dark Before Dawn was too good not to restack.
So true, Nadia -- writers should challenge themselves by writing characters that may be abhorrent to them -- and a great addendum to this essay. You often hear folk say 'write what you know' but a more useful piece of advice I've heard is 'write what you're learning'. When we write flawed or repugnant characters into a story, we challenge ourself to learn about them, get to know them and even to love them in a way -- and, like you say, this can inspire a similar reflection in the reader also ... Thanks so much for your encouragement, and I'm so glad you enjoyed the essay!
You make so many good points in this piece. I was especially interested in your notes on propaganda and how Jesus calls “listeners to abide in a holy mystery.”
Thanks Susanna! I'm glad you found it interesting. I'm never sure what parts of these reflective essays will strike a chord with others, but they're certainly helping me sort out my own thoughts.
In the end it seems to me a simple matter. Preaching and being preached to are part of the human experience, and therefore an appropriate subject for fiction. The question is, in any particular case, does the preaching exist for the sake of the story, or was the story concocted as a vehicle for the preaching? Given reasonable storytelling skills, the former will not feel preachy, but the latter always will.
I enjoyed this very much. Your points about propaganda add a lot to the discussion. I haven’t written a story since 8th grade, but the reading and contemplation of stories has become a source of wonder and joy for me in recent years. I’m always fascinated by skilled authors and love to learn more about how they do it.
Thank you! May the wonder never cease.
I was recently revisiting Dietrich von Hildebrand's "Art of Living" and the idea that the reverent man does not try to plumb the depths of the world of values immediately but gives them the necessary "space to unfold themselves" resonates very much with the ideas you lay out here. A very insightful read, thank you!
Also the quote from your previous article, The Dark Before Dawn was too good not to restack.
That one's on my list to read; thanks for the reminder!
This is very insightful! Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts on this 🙂
Cheers Ben!
So true, Nadia -- writers should challenge themselves by writing characters that may be abhorrent to them -- and a great addendum to this essay. You often hear folk say 'write what you know' but a more useful piece of advice I've heard is 'write what you're learning'. When we write flawed or repugnant characters into a story, we challenge ourself to learn about them, get to know them and even to love them in a way -- and, like you say, this can inspire a similar reflection in the reader also ... Thanks so much for your encouragement, and I'm so glad you enjoyed the essay!