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Give ‘Em The Hook

A hook isn’t so much a trick to ensnare a reader as an invitation for them to enter the story. · Fred Warren

Spec Faith Shredding, Round 2

Now comes the “shredding” part. In the comments tell us why you made your selections, or why you did not find a submission compelling. Please make your remarks constructive, but at the same time be honest. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Advice From “The Story Of My Heart” Part I

Okay, so my last six articles have been about aliens. Maybe I should explain why a Lutheran pastor has little green men on the brain so badly. · John Otte

Let’s Look At Openings – Round Two

Back in September we gave five different writers the opportunity to have the openings of their work posted here at Spec Faith and to receive feedback from you, the Spec Faith community. It’s time for Round Two. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Dark Is The Stain: Suspense.

Sunday morning Fred posted a lovely series of Advent readings and Scriptures, and yesterday he posted on Hope ( I swear, we didn’t plan this). Now, I gotta say, just as over the last decade I’ve grown incredibly fond of […] · Kaci Hill

Dark Is The Stain: Hallow’s Eve

I began this series because I wanted to explore the dark themes of Christian fiction. I don’t want to just discuss it; I want to touch it. I want light so bright that anything dark distracts, and darkness so black […] · Kaci Hill

Why I Wrote The DarkTrench Saga

Now that I’m done writing The DarkTrench Saga (from Marcher Lord Press), I’ll talk about it. The three-volume futuristic series has had some interesting criticisms, but surprisingly, the strongest reproaches have come from the Christian community. · Kerry Nietz

Beyond Story Battles 1: Living For The Fight?

Christian visionary stories are not merely a means of fighting Christian novels with shallow themes, or without cusswords, violence, or dungeons and dragons. They are a means of worship, to praise and personally enjoy our Creator. · E. Stephen Burnett

Speculative Love, Part 5: Father Issues

Our barn-burner discussion of the non-spec-fic movie, C0urageous, reminded me (thanks, Stephen) that I haven’t talked about another sort of love (or lack thereof) we often find in speculative stories: parental love. More specifically, paternal love. Fathers are most often […] · Fred Warren

Are You Hooked?

Not long ago, I discussed the “It Factor,” that intangible something that sets a work of fiction apart and gets people to notice and talk and read. One thing most writing instructors agree on is that a novel opening needs to hook readers into the story. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Randy Alcorn on Story, Courage, and The New Earth, Part 2

Author Randy Alcorn explores how he wrote the contemporary novel “Courageous” (adapted from the new film), and how anticipating the physical New Heavens and New Earth can change a Christian’s life forever, starting now. · Randy Alcorn

Why We Should Write Fiction For Christians, Part 2

Amidst the cries to emphasize only subtler Christian stories, let’s not forget that Christians also need to see themselves and their beliefs simulated as only fiction can, and that some in the Church are genuinely confused about stories and need novelists’ love. · E. Stephen Burnett

Why We Should Write Fiction For Christians, Part 1

Many voices encourage Christian novelists to aim for secular audiences, and that is surely a worthy calling. Yet less frequently do we urge storytellers to explore the Gospel more directly in fiction that is by Christians, for Christians. · E. Stephen Burnett

Five Reasons You Should Write Contemporary Fiction

I love speculative fiction. The first movie I remember seeing (at about age three or four) was the movie Them. I had a Darth Vader poster looming over my bed, and glow-in-the-dark vampire teeth on my bedside table. The first […] · Matt Mikalatos
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