The Difference Between Being "Too Preachy" & Staying Within Your Genre

If you love reading or writing Christian fiction, then you probably can tell when an author is being too "preachy". Or perhaps you've read a few CF books that were nice clean stories, but they lacked spiritualness. There are always many complaints about this matter in the CF genre. So I've decided to do a little survey.

I randomly searched five different CF books on Goodreads.com and found that three out of five books were reviewed at least once as being too "preachy". Two of those books had at least one person complain in the reviews that the Christian aspect of the novel was too "watered down". And out of these five Christian fiction books, eight people considered it being too "cheesy/corny".

Here are some of the comments made on these books:

• "I liked the story, but it was heavy on the religious side."
• "It’s an inspirational romance that at times is quite heavy on the religious aspect in my opinion. " Another person said (on this same novel): "I think the purpose of this book was overshadowed by the very dark subject matter. A lot of people have called this a Christian Romance, I find that very hard to believe... For the subject matter and details given I would have give it at R rating."
• "The writing is very heavily Christian; there's lots and lots of talk about God.”
• "This book is sappy and overly religious. (Some Christian, Evangelical type religion) "
• "First of all, this book was PG 13--which I didn't know when I purchased it... I probably should have mentioned this first--she takes her clothes off way too much... I would not recommend this book."
• "Christian romance novels are just not my thing--too cheesy too often."
• "But, honestly. Christian Romance Novels?!?!? Who wants to like those? They're so cheesy, so...naive."

As you can see, we all have different opinions and beliefs. So if you are writing for the CF genre, there will most likely be someone out there who will think that your book is too "preachy”, "cheesy” or "subtle" for the Christian market.

How can we draw the line between sounding too preachy and simply writing a Christian fiction story, but without having to water down the Christian aspect?

1. First of all, understand the principles of how to avoid sounding preachy

. However, there will still be those who will consider your book too religious - simply because it's labeled under Christian fiction. I wrote this post a few months ago explaining a few tips that I have learned on how to stay away from this.

Don't be afraid of mentioning God.

Your book is, in fact, labeled under Christian fiction. I believe that CF is powerful and authors shouldn't shy away from using this power just because they don't want to offend their readers. Yes, we should weave the book's message around the story instead of weaving the story around it’s message - but still be able to write a story that is inspiring, uplifting, encouraging.

Don't abuse the power you have in writing Christian fiction

by trying to "save" people. Instead, reflect God's love without coming out and trying to shove religion down your reader's throat. No one likes this. Be nice to your readers.

Don't cross the borderline of Christian fiction.

What I mean is, people read books in this genre to draw nearer to Christ. Give them an inspiring story that they can come away from feeling encouraged, not having to question whether or not it is labeled under Christian fiction. If you're going to write in this genre, you shouldn't just mention God every now and then. He must always be the main focus of your books.

Avoid sounding legalistic,

and instead be real. One of the things that scare non-believers away are Christians who are judgmental, have unrealistically high standards, and act that they are much holier than everyone. The best way to stay away from sounding this way in our writing is by using real people with real issues that others can connect with, even if they do have different beliefs. Show love, not legalism or "religion".

Last but not least, allow God to direct your writing.

It is, however, His story. We're only typing it for Him.
Keep in mind that you can’t please everyone, so don’t try to. If you have a story to tell (that happens to be Christian), then write it. Of course, you should know the tips to avoid on being too preachy and use common sense when deciding which details to expose to your readers; but most of all, write the kind of book that you would love to read. Who cares if your readers consider it cheesy, or if they think that it should be an adult rating. Your purpose in writing CF is to please God, not please people. So do it for him.

“You can present truth through fiction. People love a good story,

and if they can come away from it with a stronger sense of spiritually,

the writer has done a good job.”

~Teresa Gayle

~~~

What are some other ways that Christian fiction writers can try to add just the right amount spiritualness without sounding preachy?

What are some other ways that Christian fiction writers can try to add just the right amount of subtleness?

Do you mostly read Christian fiction or secular fiction, and for what reasons?

Are You a Writer or a Preacher?

"The simple story can bring you a new awareness that can eventually be the key to turning your life and heart around... It may change your life!"

~ Sandy Muller

How can your Christian fiction change someone's life without coming across as "too preachy"? Many writers struggle with this question, including me. It's hard to relay a message to your readers that has to do with Christ without turning what you're writing into a sermon. But this is very important, especially in Christian fiction for YA.

Here's another question to ponder. Are you being to subtle with your message? If you're in the Christian fiction market, there should at least be one lesson to be learned from your story. It irritates me when I read fiction that is supposedly Christian but the book only mentions God a couple of times. If you're writing for teenagers, this is definitely something to think about. These years are probably the most influential period. Us teenagers have a lot of pressure, temptation, and choices to make during this time of our lives. Anything we read eventually becomes part of us and helps guide us to life after high school. There needs to be more life-changing books for teenagers. But it all comes back to the same question... how can I avoid being preachy - especially since most teenagers rebel against religion and consider it annoying?

Here are a few tips that I have discovered through research and thinking about this question.

1) Don't write sermons, especially long ones.

They come across as boring, and obviously preachy. If you need to include a sermon, show a couple of sentence that the preacher says in the story.

2) Avoid shoving religion down your reader's throat.

...unless, of course, you want the reader to immediately drop the book and possibly burn it. Think about it: why do teenagers ignore instruction and seem to get irritated with authority figures? Your Christian fiction can lead people to Christ or lead them away from Christ. Be real, not religious.

3) Don't create perfect little Christian characters.

Once again, this annoys people. Reach teenagers where they are in their life, don't create "religious" role models that just gets on your readers nerves since they can't relate to them. Give your characters flaws. Make them also rebel against religion. Shove some hard situations in their lives - have them make wrong decisions and mistakes, but let them learn from them and experience consequences.

4) Avoid adding too many scriptures.

Of course adding a few Bible scriptures every now and then in your story is a great way to "feed" the reader - but it's also a great way for the reader to stop reading. Make them feel like they're reading a story, not the Bible. If you really feel like you need to add a scripture, include it through dialogue, not narration.

5) Write a story, not a sermon.

If your characters are flawless, your plot is dull, and your chapters are full of scriptures and beautiful times your protagonist experiences with the Lord - you aren't writing a story that will reach where people are in their lives. You're writing a sermon, which is obviously a red flag that you are being too preachy. Weave the message through your story, don't come right out and preach it.

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What ways do you avoid coming across as too preachy - or perhaps too subtle? Please share!

"You can present truth through fiction. People love a good story, and if they can come away from it with a stronger sense of spiritually, the writer has done a good job."

~ Teresa Gayle

Read Reviews Before Your Novel is Published

No author enjoys reading bad reviews on their novel. I've never had to experience that since I'm not a published author, but I'm sure it's not encouraging to have worked so hard only for people to give one star and say how much they hated reading your book.

If you watch American Idol, I'm sure you're familiar with Simon's cruel, sarcastic remarks. Although most people disagree with his comments, he's giving criticism for the singers to grow in their weakness. Yes, he often goes too far with his negative reviews, but I think that's what pushes those on American Idol to keep going and to prove him wrong.

We will never be able to please everyone. It's rare for all of the judges on American Idol to have loved the performance. The "idols" may have thought they did perfect in their performance, but Simon still says something like "it was like watching a cat die".

While you work on your manuscript, keep in mind that there are many Simons out there. Not everyone will give you a five star, but you have to give it your best anyway. I haven't had anything published yet so I don't have any reviews to read and grow by, but what I do is read other's reviews. Obviously it's not my work that they're judging, but many of the comments give detailed reasons on why he/she liked or disliked the book.

You can go to www.goodreads.com and type a book in the search bar that is within the genre you want to pursue and start reading the many reviews. While you're at it, add my new account that I just created: http://www.goodreads.com/tessawrites

Here are two reviews I found on Good Reads that can be useful for all authors. The first person gave this book four stars, and the second gave it three stars. They reviewed the same YA Christian fiction novel, but I will not give the title or the author of the book.

Four stars:

"All in all a beautifully written Christian novel that is uplifting and heartwarming with out being heavy handed. In fact the author is so subtle that I had to double check to see if the book was listed as "Christian fiction" which is great because sometimes kids think these kinds of books will be corny. They will never guess...they will just read a well written, very engaging, positive story about a teenage girl who learns to lean on God and her family when dealing with her problems. "

Three stars:

"This was an interesting book, but I wanted more details and descriptions. I didn't feel like I knew the characters very well and I thought the plot could have been more developed, it was a short book. I thought ___ was an intriguing character, but I never fell in love with her and her life, I wasn't anxious to see what would happen to her next. The book also could have ended better. I probably wouldn't recommend."

Now, pretend like those critiques were reviews of the manuscript you are currently working on. How can you use that criticism to polish what you're working on now? Are you characters developed enough? Are you being subtle with religion, or are you being a little too preachy?

The people on American Idol study the judge's comments and work hard at trying to use that criticism to grow as an artist. You can do the same even before anyone has a chance to give you a one star. So go and prove all those Simon Cowells out there wrong! Remember, don't try to please everyone. That's impossible. Just read the reviews, relax, and write!

~~

"I think you have to judge everything based on your personal taste. And if that means being critical, so be it. I hate political correctness. I absolutely loathe it."

~ Simon Cowell

For more funny Cowell quotes, visit: http://thinkexist.com/quotes/simon_cowell/ :)