/ New resources
/ SpecFaith / Topics: Writing

What Makes Fantasy Work? Part 2

I hope our readers here at Spec Faith are thinking about the Christian speculative novel–fantasy, science fiction, supernatural, or whatever–they would like to nominate for the Clive Staples Award. Let’s find the books that work and pick the best of the lot to honor. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

How Can They Hear?

A common complaint with Christian fiction is that it’s too preachy. Personally, I’m more apt to be dissatisfied because it’s not preachy enough. · Yvonne Anderson

Magic In The Story: Written In The Stars

Today we continue our series on Magic in the Story with a form of so-called “magic” I believe many are confused about. This post, entitled “Written in the Stars” is an exploration of the difference between Astrology and Biblical Star-Reading […] · Christopher Miller

Perseverance and Philippians 2:12-13, Part 2

If you are at all familiar with the difficult time Christian speculative fiction has had getting a foothold in the market, you understand our need to persevere—both as readers and as authors. · Robert Treskillard

To Trailer or Not To Trailer

. . . that is . . . well, it’s a question, anyway. Actually, it’s a question I wanted to ask all of you. As some of you may or may not know, Failstate: Legends, the sequel to my debut […] · John Otte

Magic In The Story: The Two Faces Of Magic

This week we delve deeper into the mysteries of ‘Magic in the Story’ and find ourselves confronted by the fact that there are two faces of magic in Narnia. · Christopher Miller

Magic In The Story: What’s The Big Deal?

Magic — just the mention of it can cause many a “good Christian” to draw dividing lines, take sides and ready for attack. Are we being discerning or just overreacting? Join our new series: Magic in the Story. · Christopher Miller

Fiction Christians From Another Planet! VI: Alien Love Slaves

Even in many speculative-novel subplots, the bad Christian-fiction romance is coarse, and rough, and irritating, and it gets everywhere. · E. Stephen Burnett

More About Characters

The subject of characters in Christian fiction has been coming up on this blog a lot recently. I’ve appreciated E. Stephen Burnett’s excellent series “Fiction Christians From Another Planet” — Patrick Carr’s guest post about writers using real people as […] · Yvonne Anderson

Fiction Christians From Another Planet! IV: Terror Of The Megachurchians

If we only ever meet in Christian novels pagan characters overcome by platitudes like “Really? There’s a God who loves — me?”, the author has gone beyond corny. Worse, our Hero and the Gospel look ridiculous. · E. Stephen Burnett

The Mystery Of Love and Writing

Writing a book, like finding love, is a sacred pursuit. No one can tell you how to do it any more than they can tell you how to fall in love. It just doesn’t work that way. It’s not a […] · Christopher Miller

Realism And Twenty-first Century Stories

If all characters are victims of disaster, I suggest readers or viewers stop caring and start looking for the “out.” Will the character die and come back? Have a narrow escape? Have a death that only looks like death? In truth, all the arguing and betrayal and refusal becomes–predictable and boring and unrealistic. Soon the characters seem more like caricatures because none acts with nobility or courage or hope. All display their flawed selves with so little inner struggle. And this, we’ve come to believe, is realistic. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

The Christian Writer and Fiction

Fiction is not very good fiction, if fiction at all, without ‘flawed characters and narrative.’ As such, the gospel-story (narrative) is the story of sinful men and women (flawed characters) coming to repentance and faith in Christ, the Redeemer, whose sacrifice atones for their sins. The narrative does not stop at the point of conversion but continues with how such persons struggle with the remaining sin within them (flawed characters, again) and the sin in the world around them. · Thomas Clayton Booher

Fiction Christians From Another Planet! III: Voices From Beyond

You want a Christian-fiction notion that makes pagan readers cackle and other Christians cringe? Then exalt voices-from-beyond as the only way God daily guides His people. · E. Stephen Burnett

The Sincerest Form Of Flattery

When we strum chords to accompany the song in our hearts, or sand a tabletop to release the wood’s beauty, or write a story that echoes God’s, I expect He’d call that the sincerest form of flattery. · Yvonne Anderson

The Christian And Stories

Should we seek to win the hard drinking and hard swearing jock by writing stories filled with drinking and swearing? Since real people do drink and swear and assault people and have affairs, since real people are prostitutes or frauds or terrorists, shouldn’t our stories show them in all their ugliness and need? · Rebecca LuElla Miller

On The ‘Throne Of Bones’: A Q and A With Vox Day

“A Throne of Bones” epic-fantasy author Vox Day discusses how he’s moved from columns to fiction, controversial novel content, and his criticism (not imitation) of “A Game of Thrones.” · Vox Day

Write In Pursuit Of Something. (A Blog Post and Pseudo Film Review Of Zero Dark Thirty)

I’m writing this post after having just returned from the theater for a late night showing of Zero Dark Thirty. It’s a film that has attracted a lot of attention for its portrayal of the events surrounding what is arguably […] · Christopher Miller
  1. Pages:
  3. 1
  4. ...
  5. 20
  6. 21
  7. 22
  8. 23
  9. 24
  10. 25
  11. 26
  12. ...
  13. 38