Welcome to the blog of author Tricia Goyer!

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Faith & Writing

Hebrews 11:1 says, "Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." I don't know about you, but this verse is easy to quote concerning things like heaven, and salvation, and God-with-us. Yet, I have a harder time with more pressing items such as deadlines, plot points, and thought like "with-this-book-my-editor-will-know-I'm-a-poser. "

Just as I sometimes wish I knew that triumph always prevails at the end of my trials, I also wish I could understand every plot point, character growth arch, and story resolution before I wrote the first word. Yes, as a girl who gets way too involved in historical research, I have a lot figured out before I start. I know which war battles my characters will be involved in, and I have a basic idea of how the book will end. It's the character growth and spiritual truth stuff that leaves me scratching my head.

But sometimes, as George Michael sang, "You just gotta have faith."

Like manna for the Israelites, God gives us what we need, when we need it. Yesterday, He dropped a plot twist on my lap. "Oh, God that's good," I said as my fingers began typing as fast as they could.

Then tears streamed down my face as I led my character through another heartbreaking trial! (Of course, this heartbreak will make the story even sweeter at the end!)

Yet, having that idea pop in my head reminded me of what Faith is all about--being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see . . . even in the case of fictional stories that bring us to our knees as we write them.

Especially in that case.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great post, thank you for this.

C.J. Darlington said...

Thanks for this great reminder, Tricia. I've had something like what you described happen once or twice, and I'm praying it'll happen more because it's so wonderful when it does!