Why should a Christ-following author write fictional or even fantasy stories?
Writing in general is a great way for anyone to help make sense of what they see, hear, and think. Look at the words of the famous British Poet Cecil Day-Lewis;
First, I do not sit down at my desk to put into verse something that is already clear in my mind. If it were clear in my mind, I should have no incentive or need to write about it. We do not write in order to be understood; we write in order to understand.
Cecil Day-Lewis
As Lewis so eloquently puts it we don’t write from a position of knowing all there is to know on a subject. Think of all the self-help books you have read and see it now in that light. None of those people were experts on that subject when they first put pen to paper, but probably grew in their knowledge of it as their drafts started to come.
But then there is the question of course why fiction or why fantasy? Is not fantasizing about something a distraction from the work there is to be done while on this earth? Isn’t it another form of escapism?
To answer this, let’s first see what the great professor had to say about fairy-stories and escapism:
I have claimed that Escape is one of the main functions of fairy-stories, and since I do not disapprove of them, it is plain that I do not accept the tone of scorn or pity with which “Escape” is now so often used: a tone for which the uses of the word outside literary criticism give no warrant at all. In what the misusers are fond of calling Real Life, Escape is evidently as a rule very practical, and may even be heroic. In real life it is difficult to blame it, unless it fails; in criticism it would seem to be the worse the better it succeeds. Evidently we are faced by a misuse of words, and also by a confusion of thought. Why should a man be scorned if, finding himself in prison, he tries to get out and go home? Or if, when he cannot do so, he thinks and talks about other topics than jailers and prison-walls? The world outside has not become less real because the prisoner cannot see it. In using escape in this way the critics have chosen the wrong word, and, what is more, they are confusing, not always by sincere error, the Escape of the Prisoner with the Flight of the Deserter.
J.R.R. Tolkien “The Monsters and the Critics – On Fairy Stories”
The question then becomes, “What are you escaping from, and what are you escaping to?” If you are escaping from responsibility, relationship, or obligation; then you should probably not use fantasy or any other media to do so (that would include scrolling something on your device, I’m preaching to myself here). However, this world is full of evil and hardships, and after a while, it can weigh a person down and the ability to process those feelings through a story can actually be very healthy. Especially if those stories have underlining tones of the greatest story of all (Jesus stepping into our world to redeem us) because that would help us see what we are going through with a different lens.
The next question that comes to mind might be, “Is telling fictional stories Christ-like?” And the answer, believe it or not, is yes. Jesus told stories, and even though a couple of them were actual stories that really happened, most were stories that did not actually take place in the natural as he told them. That is in no way saying Jesus lied or told falsehoods, he told stories, or as we call them, parables to help explain a point.
I found this on the website YourDictionary.com and was interested in their description of a parable:
A parable is a short, fictitious story that is presented to teach a religious principle, simple truth or moral lesson. Parables can be told in either verse or prose and commonly use metaphors as a literary device. They are often religious or spiritual, but the term can apply to any short story that teaches life lessons or principles including fairy tales and narratives from religious texts.
https://examples.yourdictionary.com/parable-examples.html
I am also reminded of God telling stories through His prophets that don’t even include a human as the main character. He told about a huge eagle in Ezekiel 17 and He talked about bushes and trees having conversations in Judges 9.
Telling good stories is just another trait of our Creator, if you don’t believe me on that then you have a lot more Bible to read.
Finally, I believe that God has spoken and called me specifically to write these types of stories. I have always been drawn to fictional stories while growing up, both fantasy and science-fiction. Especially those large epic stories that create an entire world with different peoples and languages. Looking back now all of that interest in stories was leading up to this where I get to write some of my own. Then specifically, one fateful day, seemingly out of the blue, ideas about this particular book series started to pop into my head. I know many people will still debate me over how and where and by what means God may speak to a human, but suffice it to say that I have good reason to believe this calling, and this story is not based on my own abilities but is something beyond me. And therefore if the Creator of all things has said I can and should do something then not doing it would in a way be a form of disobedience.
So not only do I believe it is Christ-like to tell good stories, but I think that in a time and a world where there are so many voices out there, so many things fighting for your attention, there is a huge need now more than ever to have good quality stories written by strong, Biblically-minded authors that help to continually point us back to The Father. And they do so by telling about the deep truths that Jesus represents because he IS the truth.