Okay, I’m going to jump right in since I am talking about one of those dangerous topics: Religion. Now, I do not want this to come off as me trying to push my beliefs on anyone, it is to provoke thought on a concept and belief and how that translates to writing. I’m going to give you a little background on me and then move on. I am a Christian, but before you cringe and close the window, hear me out. I am not one of those “fire and brimstone” kind of Christians. My faith is something that is personal and unique to me, it is a relationship with Jesus—that’s it! Now you know where I’m coming from, so I’ll move on to the meaty part of this.
So I’m a Christian writing books are set during the zombie apocalypse. Are you starting to see my dilemma? If not, keep reading. The books follow two brothers as they set out to rescue their parents. As they’re on the road they inevitably face worse things than just zombies and people trying to kill them, for one reason or another. The brothers respond by killing them to survive. They are faced with more hard choices and walk the line between surviving and taking proactive measures to survive. There is a difference there. As the story continues they come face-to-face with some true horrors (especially in the second book).
Now, the problem I have is twofold. First, how do I portray an honest, gritty, authentic look at the apocalypse while still staying true to my own beliefs? And how do my characters show their faith when faced with the end of the world and the things they not only see, but have to do? Well, I don’t have a right answer to this, but I do have what I’ve found so far and what I think is true.
The first answer is to be honest with myself. I have the same opinion as Stephen King when it comes to writing, in that I am not really creating a story as much as I am uncovering something that is already there. In storytelling, I do my best to stay true to the story I uncover. I want to portray a realistic view of the apocalypse, so there is plenty of violence/gore and even cursing. Now, none of my books are strictly “Christian books”, but they do have a faith-based undertone. But how can I write the violence and language and still make it known that I’m a Christian and so are the characters? Easy, have I ever cursed? Hell yeah! What would I do in a situation where I had to defend my family? Simple, I’d end the threat, one way or another. See, I am not worried about writing this stuff because I would be willing do to those things and I’d curse in those situations. By staying true to the story it might not be seen as “Christian”, but I can still tell it from a faith-based point of view, because real life is not full of rainbows and roses. Life is full of pain, heartbreak, violence, murder, cursing, and a whole lot of other things. So I write the world as I see it, real, flawed and, at times, evil.
The second question is much easier to answer. While the brothers, James and Connor, have their faith, it’s a constant struggle to believe, especially for Connor. They go back and forth, and finally James begins to just believe in spite of everything, and that belief is tested at every turn, while Connor sort of gives up on his faith and does what needs to be done. This question is much easier because I have struggled in my faith throughout a normal life, and while I have retained that belief it has been hard at times. So I can only imagine if the zombie apocalypse did happen, how hard it would be at times. After seeing or doing the things I’d have to do to survive, I’d ask: How can I still have my faith after this? How can God be real with all this going on? Well, it actually poses something that is really interesting to write about, while also being tough. I get to dive in and say well, I don’t know (even as the author), but I think it would be this way or that way. I found those responses to the character’s questions are founded in my own belief but I cannot say anything with certainty because I am not God. But I feel like, and I hope this is true, that my answers are at least somewhat close to reality. Either way, it’s fun to write because having characters that have faith during the apocalypse is really intense with their constant inner struggles.
My point in all this, and I hope I articulated it well, was not to try and convince you about my beliefs. My goal was to show you something that can be challenging as a writer: staying true to not only the story, but myself as well. Because these are not just random stories, they are all a part of me—a part of who I am, who I have been, and who I want to be. I hope that gives you some food for thought. As you dig into more stories try to look for those small things that show you a glimpse into the heart and soul of the author—you can tell a lot about an author from their stories. But that’s all for now, until next time!
