Theme Articles

By Gabrielle PollackThe core of story is conflict. If your story contains no struggle, it’s just a tale about nobody important who never overcame anything. Conflict takes many forms; physical, mental, and spiritual conflicts are all crucial, and even necessary....

By Sierra Ret“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a hero in possession of reasonable talents and good looks must be in want of an arch nemesis.”Although the above statement is nothing more than a bad Jane Austen paraphrase, every writer knows that a story is...

By Josiah DeGraafFew flaws can kill a story’s theme and message as much as blatancy.We’ve all read books that constantly hit us over the head with the author’s beliefs. Afterwards we resolve never to do this as authors.But then we sit down to write and realize how...

By Josiah DeGraafI have a love-hate relationship with Christian fiction.On the one hand, the genre has immense potential, because it transcends what it means to live as a human being to explore what it means to live as a Christian. When these stories are done well,...