Setting a New Creative Standard

Betsy's recent post really got me thinking about God and writing and how those fit together in our respective WIPs, so thank you for that, fellow Scribble Chick. :)

I'll be honest, sometimes I don't always love being referred to as a "Christian writer." Not because I don't love Jesus, of course, I do. He not only saved my life, but He's my best friend, and I've enjoyed my journey of walking with Him for more than 21 (!!!) years now.

But when it comes to art, specifically art with the word "Christian" in front of it, there's an undeniable stigma that goes along with it, and I feel it all the time...when I'm doing a book signing at Barnes & Noble or Borders and I'm relegated to the "Christian Fiction" section (where people are naturally afraid to go unless they already believe), when my books are reviewed in a publication that's not faith-based or when I'm describing my novels to would-be readers whenever someone asks me what I do for a living.

It's not always fun, but I'm always hoping to win people over.

Not only is there a lot of baggage with the word "Christian" because of the many ways we've all fallen short in the eyes of those who don't know Christ personally, but our art is often thought of as "subpar" or a mere copycat of something that's already popular (i.e. the slew of "Christian" vampire books that are releasing, thanks to the Twilight phenomenon or all the Donald Miller-esque memoirs that have popped up following the release of Blue Like Jazz). And I don't know about you, but I'm ready to put those assumptions to rest. For good.

Although I write chick-lit, or as I like to call them, romantic comedies in book form, I deliberately tried to switch things up and paint with a different brush if you will. I wasn't interested in simply being the "Christian" Bridget Jones or a "safe" alternative for believers looking for something fun to read. Instead, I hoped to tell an intriguing story with real, living breathing characters that resonated with people—all people.

Since I am a Christian, that worldview can't help permeate what I do. So no, you didn't find a string of expletives in my books. Or a push-the-envelope plot in terms of gratuitous sex or violence. But what I was intent on was creating genuine conflict where my characters were dealing with real-life struggles and pain. After all, Christians are also hurting people in a hurting world, so I didn't create a world that was all daisies and butterflies and Bible studies.

And I've found that's exactly what readers are looking for, too. In e-mails I've received the past couple of years, countless people have talked about their disillusionment with "Christian" art and thanked me for writing something that exceeded their expectations. Imagine that? Something a fellow believer created "exceeded their expectations?" I don't know about you, but I'm ready to rock their socks off, and I share that only to serve as an encouragement in whatever you're working on, too.

Let's continue to defy people's expectations of what Christian art can look and read like. After all,
we serve the Creator of the universe—the same God who created stars, rainbows, oceans and yes, even llamas. So if we've got a little of that Creator living inside of us, just think what we can create! It can lovely, unique and truly breathtaking because of God's influence and presence in our lives...not just something worth skipping over because it's "Christian."