I have not read or heard about this when reading about character development (that doesn’t mean it isn’t out there) and yet it is such an important part of who we are. This is the spirituality or non-spirituality of a character. My own spirituality makes up such a huge part of who I am. It influences my morals and belief system. It is how I cope with things, both good and horrible. It influences the way I raise my kids, the way I react to situations, and the way I make decisions.
Think about the way religion has influenced you, your loved ones, your enemies, even the history of our world. The worlds that we create will have this component as well, or the lack of it will be a story in and of itself. Does the world you create worship many Gods? one God? is the God in your world good, evil or both? How does the religion/s influence the world you create? How does your main character react to that religion? How do others react to your MC if he belongs to a certain religion, is it positive or negative? Is there a true religion or is it all man made?
I TA (Teachers Assistant) for a Women’s Gender class and it has been such an interesting class for me to TA over. The reason why is because of my own personal religious beliefs and view points of the world. It has been a great opportunity for me to really get to know people that I normally do not have the opportunity to know, because of differing social circles. This has made me think about how my own characters react to differing social circles. I have not actually wrote this into my story, shame on me J. One of my characters is a human boy who eventually meets up with elves and dark elves. He has no reaction to the possible differences in belief systems. That would have been an excellent way to show the reader more of my character's personality.
I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormon). What is your first reaction to this? What are the emotions and thoughts that go through your head? What if I had said Catholic, Atheist, Jewish, Agnostic, Christian, Anti, Buddhist or any other of the many religions? These are some of the possible thoughts and emotions that go through your characters heads as well. These are internal questions only. Of course you can respond to them but they are intended more for you to think about.
So how do you use spirituality in your own writing? What are some of the thoughts that you had while reading this? What were the emotions you had when you read the heading?
Religion and spirituality play a large role in our day to day decisions even when we don't realize it. While I enjoy reading books that have religion in them, Brandon Sanderson's Warbreaker being one of my favorites, I don't feel quite so ready to add religion or spirituality to my stories. I don't feel comfortable adding a religion that we have today because I worry that I will get the facts wrong. I also worry about creating my own religion because I want it to be believable and consistent. I hope someday to add more religion but for now I am sticking more to other motivators.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy reading books that incorporate other religions because religion is such a large part of my life, I like to see how it affects other people's lives. But I don't like it to be such an overwhelming part of the story that the "story" is lost. Meaning, I don't want the book to have to explain religion SO much the story itself goes stagnant.
ReplyDeletethis is a very good point. I think i the past writers have avoided including religious views or spiritual pov because it was generally thought editors would automatically pass on it. I think this perception is changing. Adding spiritual depth adds a lot to building rounded characters.
ReplyDeleteThank you. Have a nice day.
ReplyDeleteGood point. I haven't written anything at an age level high enough for that to come into play yet, but I plan to so it's something to keep in mind.
ReplyDeleteThough I am a Christian I try to stay clear of spirituality in my novels because there are so many differing opinions out there. I don't wish my stories to be about pushing my beliefs onto someone else. However, having said that, I do adhere to the values of the Christian faith in my stories.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Josh, I really enjoyed it. I would describe myself as a very spiritual person; not religious just becuase I think that word conjures up negative responses. But it's vital that characters display a sense of spirituality. But also depending upon the story...
ReplyDeleteIt saddens me a lot that so many writers of faith feel spirituality has to be gutted from their work. I think it's perfectly acceptable even to nonbelieving audiences to see genuine faith in action. I'm a Christian, but a few summers ago read and really enjoyed a Jennifer Weiner's _Certain Girls_. It has lots of Judaism in it, which I thought was wonderful and fascinating. I also recall that Jan Karon's Mitford books were huge bestsellers--and they were about an Episcopal priest caring for his flock in a small town in North Carolina.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy writing spiritual struggle of characters dealing with crises that shake up their usual ways of understanding God. I've had a few atheists read my completed novel and they found it moving and non-preachy. It's really a matter of how the characters embody doubt and faith that make a story mainstream rather than niched for specifically religious markets.
again with this one i think you have to walk the line...let your characters have their spirituality without getting preachy about your own beliefs...cross the line and you pigeon hole your audience..
ReplyDeleteThank you for the wonderful comments. I appreciate the time you took to respond. I hope to see you all tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteWow... This post made me think a lot. Spirituality... hmm... I guess as humans, spirituality is what nurtures our souls. Without that, we're just walking and talking dummies. Well, that's what I believe. It gives us something deeper to own in ourselves.
ReplyDeleteReally good post, a lot of the time spirituality and perception of beliefs becomes a bit of a taboo topic, or can be one-sided. I like fiction that accepts the eclectic mix of people that are apparent in our society. It's also interesting to think about the elves beliefs and if they would all be similar or if there'd be several conflicting beliefs and many churches within the one elf colony. I've usually lived in cities which are very mixed in their representations of religions, but now live in a country town that is revealing itself to be a very catholic town.
ReplyDeleteWhat an insightful post, you've really opened up some deep thoughts :)
Wagging Tales - Blog for Writers
very interesting post. I write mainly chick-lit when i write longer form, and deliberately avoid religion in order to keep the book open and accesible to as wide a readership as possible. However -my current manuscript does include a certain amount of earth-based spirituality due as an absolute need for the plot-line to work.
ReplyDeleteLx
PS thank you for your wonderful comments, I love to receive them.
That is a very good component to have for a character. It reminds me of separation of church and state. If I recall right, one of the main reasons they wanted to have it was because they knew that religion was such a huge part of everyone's lives, and because there was so many different kinds as well, they wanted to create a way that we could still let it be a part of our lives withouth letting it be forced aswell through laws and government. With everyone I think we are inspired somehow, some way by something bigger than ourselves and it would be hard to aviod that about characters!
ReplyDeleteI like what aprilhoyt said about not having overwhelming explanations that take away from the 'story.' It is absolutely a factor in what drives my characters. My latest story has challenged me in this way because I am writing from a Fairy perspective and I'm having to make those decisions. Do my Fairies believe in the same God the same way that I do? Spirituality is such a driving force for me, of course it would be for my characters, too, good or bad. This should be mentioned more in "How To"s, but I can see why it's not. People have such strong feelings about it and it can definitely land you in controversial areas that take out some of your readership... or pull them in! Depends on your perspective, I guess! :)
ReplyDelete