Author Eric Wilson wrote a thought-provoking article at his website recently, one that I found rather thought provoking. Why not go over to his site and check it out? Don't worry, I'll wait.
In many ways, I agree with what Wilson has to say. Far too often, Christian writers seem unwilling or unable to engage with the sinfulness of the world in a realistic way. Those that try are chastised and forced out of the market. Now I'm not suggesting that we need to start letting the f-bombs fly or have graphic sexual descriptions in books. But at the least, can't we acknowledge that the world is a screwed up place and that we Christians help make the mess at times?
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John, you read more widely than I do, but I have to say, I'm just not aware of people being force out of the market. Are they not selling well? Or are publishers refusing them contracts because of the content of their previous manuscripts? Or are their contracted novels not being accepted?
I have a hard, hard time with these kinds of complaints. I mean, the Left Behind books crossed over from the Christian market to secular. If we write good stories, can't that happen to others? Why must we be "limited" by being published by a Christian publisher?
And why must "narrow" Christian content be seen as limiting?
Isn't it really about how well we write coupled with how good a story we tell?
I don't know. I'm a pre-pubbed author, so I'm operating on theory, not experience.
But I wonder about these kinds of complaints. I mean, Eric himself wrote a vampire series. And we have writers who expose abuse, human trafficking, abortion, drug culture, murder. What seamy thing must we write about in order to be no longer considered to be hiding from the world?
Becky
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