The purpose of Christian books is to convey a powerful Christian message through story, but readers will not receive that message if the writing turns them off. Heavy-handed preachiness is one of the fastest ways to lose readers.
So how can you convey a Christian message without being preachy? I asked Tim Shoemaker. He is the author of 14 books, with two more under contract. He writes for Focus on the Family, Clubhouse Magazine, coaches writers, and is a popular conference speaker.
How did you go from unpublished writer to published author?
Tim: I ran a one-hour photo lab and studio. As you know, those shops disappeared. But I had been writing on the side because I loved telling stories to my kids, nieces, and nephews. They always said, “You should write these stories down,” and I had no interest until one day I tried. I discovered I absolutely loved writing. I kept working at it and eventually started getting short stories published. It all began with telling stories to kids and finally deciding to write them down.
Thomas: That’s a classic beginning. Many authors started out telling stories to children. What I love is that storytelling with kids is interactive. They essentially vote with their attention. It is almost like a role-playing game where you immediately know if you are boring them.
Tim: You watch their eyes. When their eyes get wide, I know I may be pushing things too far and scaring them, so I pull it back. That interaction was so much fun.
Thomas: When my toddler loses interest in a book, she straightens her whole body and slides off my lap.
Telling stories to children teaches you quickly what works and what does not. It helps with writing novels for adults, too, because if you can keep a child’s attention, you have learned a lot about keeping an adult’s attention.
Tim: It’s a great training ground. Shortly after my wife and I married, we began volunteering with high school students every week, and we still do. You know immediately whether you have their attention or not. Speaking to teens forces you to adjust your approach, and I try to bring those same techniques into my writing.
What happened after you started writing down your stories?
Tim: I kept working at the photo business and hoped I could eventually hire someone so I could write more. That did not work out. Business got tougher until we had to close in 2004. By that time, I had written and published several nonfiction books.
I had several unpublished novels, but the nonfiction was out. Interestingly, I went to a writer’s conference ready to pitch my fiction. The editor said, “We do not really do that. What else do you have?” I was shocked. I told him about what I was doing for our family devotions and how I had been writing those down. That interested him, and that became a series of books. But fiction was always the goal.
After we closed the business, I thought, “This is God’s nudge. Now is the time to go all in.”
Thomas: How many books had you written when you finally sold a novel?
Tim: I think it was the third or fourth novel that finally got picked up. In my Code of Silence series, my agent and I were pitching book one. I had already written book two. We had interest but no contract. I went to a writer’s conference and pitched book two. They grabbed it. I said, “Incidentally, there is a book one. Would you like to see it?” They said, “No, we like how book two starts.” I could hardly believe it. That first book became the lost book in the series. But honestly, it was part of my training. My writing had improved, and that improvement made the difference.
How did you improve your writing from book to book?
Thomas: There is a huge difference between almost good enough and good enough. At high levels, that small difference takes a great deal of work.
Tim: When I coach writers, I often say, “This paragraph is almost there. It is the best paragraph in the chapter, but you can take it a little further.” That extra work makes all the difference. When I am editing, I try to find three things on every page to improve. A word, a sentence, tightening something. Across a novel, that adds up to a thousand small improvements that make the book stronger.
Thomas: I love that craftsman mindset, constantly improving, making each book better than the last.
How do you include a Christian message without preachiness?
Thomas: One challenge Christian writers face is how to work a Christian message into a story. You cannot just tack it on at the end. How do you make your books Christian books?
Tim: This may sound strange, but I gave up the idea of writing a “Christian book.” I focus on writing a great story with great characters. One of those characters happens to be a Christian.
Readers want a compelling story and characters they can relate to. If one character is a Christian, I can portray that faith authentically. I am not writing a Christian story so much as a story about a Christian living among people who are not necessarily Christian. That creates a natural dynamic. The key is avoiding common pitfalls in Christian fiction.
What are some pitfalls of writing Christian fiction?
Tim: There are three: predictability, plausibility, and preachiness.
Predictability
Tim: Predictability happens when the story feels forced, unrealistic, or agenda-driven. Readers sense early on, “Oh, this is about abortion,” or “This is about racial reconciliation,” or “This is about salvation.” Those topics are important, but the story becomes about the agenda rather than the characters.
Plausibility
Tim: When I was younger, I had a few Ripley’s Believe It or Not books. The stories were outlandish, yet I believed them because of how they were written.
You can write unbelievable things and make them feel believable if they are done well. Fiction about werewolves or time travel works when the writing keeps readers inside the experience. Anything that pulls readers out, whether an action, a reaction, or off-key dialogue, hurts plausibility.
It’s like when you’re at Disney World. You never see signs reminding you about bills or problems waiting at home. They keep you inside the experience. Writers must do the same. Truth can be stranger than fiction, so we must write fiction in a way that feels true.
Thomas: There is a fantastic essay on plausibility by Mark Twain, The Literary Offenses of James Fenimore Cooper. Cooper wrote The Last of the Mohicans, and Twain thought he was a terrible writer because his stories were implausible. Twain breaks it down in a scathing critique. Many famous Twain quotes on writing come from that essay. It is a great read on how to make your stories more believable.
Preachiness
Tim: Preachiness usually comes from having an agenda. Writers try so hard to insert a message, such as the plan of salvation or a pastor’s sermon, and it feels forced. I would be very careful about including the plan of salvation in a novel. Christians skim it. Non-Christians think, “It’s a trap.” You almost cannot win. It can be done well, but more often it’s done poorly. If you must include it, put it in an author’s note or on your website. In the story itself, you just bring readers the truth. Truth draws them closer to Christ.
Thomas: There is room in the market for polemics, like Uncle Tom’s Cabin, The Shack, The Harbinger, and The Oracle. These books sold millions because they were powerful arguments, not because they were great stories. But for every successful polemic, there are dozens or hundreds of successful “normal” stories. Most fiction readers want compelling characters and an engaging narrative, not a sermon disguised as a novel.
If you write a polemic, do it on purpose. Do not slip a little polemic into an otherwise good novel. It is like putting ketchup on ice cream.
Tim: That is a good comparison. The key is to write and tell a good story. Think of how Jesus taught in the Gospels. He rarely presented the formal plan of salvation. He told the truth and corrected misconceptions about God, Scripture, life, priorities, and how the kingdom works.
We should focus on telling the truth with our stories.
Thomas: The gospel is about more than a salvation prayer. That prayer is not even in the Bible, and it did not exist for the first 1,900 years of Christianity. There is far more to the gospel than one moment of conversion.
Tim: Salvation is essential, but there is a whole life to be lived afterward. Our stories can show how faith makes a difference. Good writing can reach the heart the way music does. I am no musician, but writing is the closest thing to music because it can evoke deep emotion. I may not be able to play an instrument, but I can make a book sing.
How can writers make their books “sing”?
Thomas: Give us some tips for making writing pop off the page.
Tim: First, make your story believable. If something seems unbelievable, take a note from It’s a Wonderful Life. George Bailey openly says, “This is crazy. This does not happen.” Sometimes your character needs to acknowledge the implausibility. If the protagonist admits it, the reader will go along. As George accepts the bizarre truth, the audience accepts it too.
Second, stay tightly in your character’s head. Consider their personality, perspective, predisposition, and emotional state entering a scene.
Thomas: You’ll also want to include what they’re smelling, tasting, and hearing. Get visceral and close to the action. Readers will suspend some disbelief, but only up to a point.
Different genres allow different levels of disbelief. Fantasy and science fiction readers will accept a whole new world, but once you establish your rules, you must keep them.
In screenwriting, calling attention to an implausible detail is called “hanging a lantern on it.” You can break two or three rules if you hang a lantern on them. In Captain America: Civil War, Spider-Man says, “Your shield does not obey the laws of physics at all.” That one line makes it work.
What do you wish you had known when you first started writing?
Thomas: If you could talk to your younger self while he was grinding away at those early novels, what would you say?
Tim: I thought writing was a gift. I believed you either had it or you didn’t. I went to a writer’s conference with an early novel, got a critique, and it was ripped apart. I left the session embarrassed, convinced I did not have what it takes. I was about to walk out of the building when someone stopped me and talked to me. Through that conversation, I realized writing is a skill. You can develop it and get better. It sounds basic, but it is so important.
Thomas: It is crucial. If you think writing is a gift, criticism crushes you, and you do not believe you can improve. But if writing is a skill, you can grow. I
I had an epiphany recently while watching my daughter. She loves music and wants to sing along, but she is terrible at singing because she is a toddler. No one is born knowing how to sing, talk, or write. These are learned skills. Some people learn faster, but that does not mean the rest cannot learn. Sometimes the slower learners become better teachers because they understand every step along the way.
Tim: That is true. Teaching forces us to make things clear because we struggled to learn them ourselves. If there is a gift in writing, I think it is simply the desire to write. That desire keeps you hungry and working. Writing is a craft you develop, but the desire fuels the long process. That is the gift I thank God for.
Thomas: Enjoying the process is key. A musician becomes great because they enjoy making music even when they are bad at it. They practice because it is fun. The same applies to writers. Sometimes we get destination fever. We want to be published so badly that we fail to enjoy writing, editing, pitching, and promoting. If we enjoy each step, we persist long enough to reach excellence.
Tim: That is right. A couple of times, I have been working on a story and called someone just to say, “I am having so much fun. I had to tell somebody.” When you enjoy the work, whether writing or editing, it shows on the page, and readers enjoy it too.
What final encouragement would you give to writers?
Tim: One thing that helps me is plugging into the creativity of God. He is the most creative being. I often take a walk before writing and ask for thoughts and ideas, then work with whatever He gives me. Psalm 43:3 says, “Send forth your light and your truth. Let them guide me.” I want to bring light and truth through my writing, and staying plugged into Him helps. Sometimes you get an idea that you know did not come from you because it is exactly what the scene needed.
Connect with Tim Shoemaker
Website: www.TimShoemakerSmashedTomatoes.com.