Faith in our books

» Posted on Jul 23, 2006 in Blog | Comments Off on Faith in our books

An inspirational romance must deal with the faith journeys of its hero and heroine and occasionally a secondary character. Each character can be in a different place in that journey, often at odds over where they stand in their relationship with the Lord. That doesn’t always have to be the case, though. A writer can show how the hero and heroine’s faith helps and guides them through their problems, the doubts that assail a character when he deals with a conflict that test his faith. The faith element should be intertwined with a character’s goals, motivation and/or conflicts. When coming up with your hero and heroine, don’t forget to think through and develop their faith and how it will affect your story and interactions with the other characters as well as each other. You can show the faith journey in your story through conversations and internal thoughts. But be careful to not be too preachy. Make it a natural and realistic part of the character’s life.

Questions to ask your character when developing him/her:
1. Does he/she believe?
2. Has he/she ever believed?
3. Why doesn’t he/she believe?
4. What made him/her lose faith in the Lord?
5. What makes him/her turn to God for help?
6. When did he/she give himself to Christ? Why?
7. How does he/she practice his faith?
8. Does he/she have doubts about his/her faith? Why?
9. How does his/her faith help him when he falters?
10. What kind of temptations has he/she dealt with?
11. What kind of questions does he/she have about God?
12. What kind of faith does his/her family have?