There is a tension that I feel every time I think about writing. Part of me says, "I want to do this as a Christian, for God's glory. I want everything that I write to point to Him." Then another part of me says "No you don't." The first of these I understand and embrace. Here's what I mean by the second.
By identifying myself as a Christian writer, I run the risk of instantly being marginalized or lumped into the same category as writers of Christian pop fiction. A lot of the fiction that is being written by Christians has to do with heavy-handed preaching, loose copying of secular fiction (except that someone gets saved at the end), or ineffective attempts write good prose. It's kind of like Christian radio in that sense. What ends up happening is the power of the gospel is watered down or completely lost, and the only people who end up reading it are Christians who buy it because it is a 'Christian thriller'. I don't want to be thrown into that group by announcing my intention to write Christian fiction/poetry. To be perfectly honest, I am hesitant to tell people at my church that I am interested in writing because so often they ask me if I have read the newest novel by Frank Peretti. To be fair, I have read some of his novels and they are not bad. They are just in no way what I am getting at. I want to write fiction that will invite those who know nothing about Christianity to read along. I also want to write stories that will invigorate Christian readers. Hopefully it will be stories that will make people think, and maybe even squirm a bit.
