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“You enter the extraordinary by way of the ordinary.” ~Frederick Buechner
Reading for Craft
Quality inspirational romance requires the same credentials
as all romance novels: real characters, strong plots, relentless conflict, scenic
settings, and love’s heartbeat at the center.
These characteristics are expected regardless of sub-genre
or topic, which also mirror other romance sub-genres. Contrary to some
misconceptions, there are almost no forbidden topics in inspirational romance.
Life deals out harsh realities regardless of background or culture. Broken
relationships, strained finances, violence, disease, and lost dreams walk
side-by-side with new beginnings, birth, celebrations, and fresh opportunity.
The main difference in this genre is the “lifescape” lens that filters choices.
In addition, there are three extra attributes to
inspirational romance that draw and maintain loyal readers: fellowship,
insight, and hope.
Fellowship. When
any reader picks up their favorite genre they expect a certain return for their
time. A cozy mystery reader does not expect a grisly, psychological thriller.
Inspirational readers turn to long-standing authors such as Janet Oke, Francine
Rivers, or Lauraine Snelling because they expect to spend an afternoon or
evening with a trusted friend who will deliver the particular uplift or
challenge they need. It’s the one-on-one version of going to the local café to
offload some emotional shake-up with friends. When you leave the café or the
book, you feel soul-stronger, ready to take up whatever your next step might
be. It’s a fellowship that binds readers and authors because it’s built on
trust. They know from experience these friends will deliver. Then they’ll look
for other writers who write in a similar vein as their main friend, thus
expanding the circle.
What kind of fellowship do you want your character to offer
your readers?
Writing Prompt
Begin brainstorming your character’s heart.
1. What
is her go-to choice of movie, book, music, or food when she needs comfort or
courage?
2. Whom
has she trusted the most with her heart’s desires, past or present, alive or
deceased? Why?
3. Where
is she most discouraged right now? What would give her hope?
Share: One answer
from question number one.
Read deep, marcy
Thresholds as Crossings
 Here we deliberately make a choice to step into new stages,
probably never to return: a passage of some moment. It can include walking away
from a place, or a relationship, or choosing to no longer be who we were a few
minutes earlier.
In the novel, The Hero
and the Crown, protagonist Aerin made that crossing when she arrived at her
first dragon slaying. “Talat halted, and they stood, Aerin gazing
into the black hole in the hill. A minute or two went by and she wondered,
suddenly, how one got the dragon to pay attention to one in the first place.
Did she have to wake it up? Yell? Throw water into the cave at it? Just as her
spearpoint sagged with doubt, the dragon hurtled out of its den and straight at
them:”
In Phantom of the Opera, this moment comes for
Raoul, when he stands before the Phantom, prepared to die if he must, in order
to rescue Christine. His love is proven true and his courage stands up
regardless of the consequence.
Exercise:
1.
Review the most recent fiction you have read.
From memory only, can you pick out one or two threshold crossings in the story?
2.
What impact on the overall story did they make?
Was it a quiet decision or a major plot point?
Share: Can you
adapt the emotional cost to a character in your novel? Why or why not?
 “Three crucial aspects—who the story is about, what you show about the setting, and how everything feels to the reader—must be consistent in mood and reinforce one another. Your viewpoint character, like people in the real world, will interpret the setting through the lens of his current emotions.” Jack M. Bickham
Language=Communication The ability to communicate within their world’s setting will have a strong influence on the emotional safety or danger for our characters. Culture in world building has a vast array of influence in the arts, crafts, food, clothing, holidays, celebrations, mores, and attitudes towards each. As Bickham points out, the specifics for each and the influence they have will be a direct link to character. How does your character approach a new environment—ready for adventure and exploration, or with trepidation and confusion? Two main areas that produce strong mythic impact for a character to communicate are language and culture. In this next segment we’ll look at some ways these areas can be mined for possibilities. Communication is built into the fabric of everyday life. A family can spend a day without words and still know what another is feeling, or knows what needs doing because of the rhythms of the household. A glance, a gesture, and body language all speak volumes within a family unit with or without spoken words. Close friends have a private form of communication. And there are separate methods of communication within the workplace—vocabulary, codes, abbreviations that make no sense to outsiders. All of these areas have the potential to build tension and conflict to our characters. First we need to establish what the ‘language’ of the land is, and whether it is understood by your character or completely confusing. Exercise: Think of a day when you and someone close to you could not (or would not) speak openly to each other. List all the non-verbal actions you remember using to get ‘heard’. Share: Which incidence was the most difficult to experience? Which was the funniest?
 Personal, public and cultural memory have the potential to loom over current decisions and negotiations in either positive or negative terms. If the memory is old enough to be considered history, it can turn itself into a legend that may or may not have any bearing in reality, other than as a name or a place. And yet we often use these memories as measures against others and ourselves. That is, if we think one is valid. Or, if we consider it as impossible and only vivid imagination, we will make a concerted effort against it. However the legend may contain truth that unlocks hope. In the movie Avatar, Jake has lost all possibility of negotiating a peace. He has completely lost the trust of the people he now loves. Desperate for a solution he remembers the story of the Toruk, the mighty predator of the skies, caught by a leader at times when the people were in danger. The previous Toruk riders brought them victory, so Jake sets out to become one, not knowing whether the legend was real history or story, or a mix of both. But it is enough to give him enough courage to try. Journal Prompt: Under what conditions would your character be willing to turn and trust in a story, or legend, or person, that may or may not be true? Under what conditions would you?
 If memory holds our emotional reservoir, both personal and public, what happens if it is erased? There are many real situations that cause partial or permanent amnesia: trauma—emotional or physical, stroke, surgical procedures, and aging. Do we become a different person? Can one lost memory impact all who we are in our character? Why do we struggle so hard to hold on to them even when difficult or painful? Then as writers we can add in all the fantastical and sci-fi versions too. Think of Farscape with Scorpius chasing astronaut John Crichton across the universe to extract wormhole technology from his mind. One of the story threads for Season Five of Doctor Who is his realization of a crack in the universe. The Doctor began to recognize that if it reached a person they would no longer exist, as if they’d never been born. He tried to convince a young woman to hold onto the memories. If she could keep hold of them then the missing person would still exist in her heart. Journal Prompt: If you knew that a special memory would be erased forever, what would you do to hold onto it? Write a scene where your character discovers what you have done and reacts to it.
 Within the same day work, worship, chores, commitments, family, friends, all have the potential to bring a blessing or brokenness. But we keep moving at such super speeds that we forget our emotions, our hearts, and our wills need time to catch up. We must pause to map out the internal territory and make adjustments, before we derail. Or head in the wrong direction because of miscommunication and misunderstanding. It can require a quiet listening that goes far inward. And where do we find the time for that level of reflection? In the painting Automat by Hopper, the woman is alone, both physically and emotionally. Invisible questions flutter in the still moment. Did she choose this moment of isolation, or has it been forced upon her? Often we resist isolation because the silence can overwhelm us with a passionate barrage. Or we prepare one deliberately, because we know that the next step we take, the next word we speak to ourselves, or another, will result in life-changing relationships. Sometimes the solitude is painful. Sometimes it leads to a restored peace. But before we can take the first step we need to read the map. Journal Prompt: For yourself, or for a character, choose a heartfelt incident experienced within the past week and sift through all the feelings. Does acknowledging them allow resolution, or is a follow-up conversation required to confirm a decision? For a character, expand into both a positive resolution and a negative one.
In our writing, as well as on the roads we literally travel on, we continually need to read directions to understand where we are, to make sure we haven’t gotten lost. What does that sign say? Danger ahead, construction work in progress, slow down, curve ahead, slippery, speed limit. The story becomes as much a part of the journey as the destination. But there are other mythic maps to explore as well: cultural, psychological, spiritual, emotional, and personal. All have the potential to deepen our appreciation of the story we’re in. Our emotions engage in resonance as we hold our breath at the villain, sigh in relief at escape, and cry with happiness at reconciliation. Our hearts watch for the clues. In the movie, The Seventh Stream, we track the moral direction of the characters through their actions. Actor John Lynch portrays Dunhill, an embittered young man who controls Mairead, the selkie. Greed is Dunhill’s heart’s desire. Our first glimpse is his attempt to kill a seal. But he stops as he looks into her eyes. Why? Belated compassion? No, instead he has a glimmer of a greater bounty. Unlike Quinn, Dunhill does believe the legends and so he captures the skin of a selkie, forcing her under his power. He is desperate for a life of ease, for the respect of the villagers and for riches. Greed leads to murder. First he kills her spirit by imprisoning her. Then later he threatens to kill his own father. His choices and decisions are plotted according to his heart’s desires as clearly as a roadmap. Journal Prompt Choose one of the ‘seven deadly sins’ and write out a trajectory for its satisfaction, from the smallest impulse to final completion. Apply those steps to your antagonist’s career arc.
Metaphors help create ‘a holy curiosity’ by capturing our attention. They catch us up, we pause instead of racing past words. Like Moses we turn to see why the burning bush is not consumed. We allow the concepts to soak slowly into our emotions.
In the movie, The Seventh Stream, grief-laden widower Quinn is a man of logic. He believes in only what he can see and feel and “sometimes not even that.” When a mysterious woman appears in their fishing village he cannot accept that she is walking off the pages of a legend. However, he recognizes her inner turmoil instantly and her emotional pain strikes his heart. With her pure heart insight as a selkie, (a seal in human form) she discerns his loneliness and uses it to build a bridge of communication, a bridge of possibility. Gradually both Quinn and the audience begin to accept the truth of what she is. Actor Scott Glenn who portrays Owen Quinn says, “I hope the audience will feel the possibility of magic—if not real magic, then the metaphor of magic—touching their lives, and making them better for it.” Journal Prompt: For yourself, or for one of your characters, choose a painful emotion. Then write a short scene where another person bridges that pain with healing by use of metaphor. How does that touch make the pain better, or at least bearable?
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