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@freedomwriter76 @whalekeeper @koshka @lightoverdarkness6 @theloonyone @loopylin @starofthenorth @Folith-feolin @ava-blue @arien @kathleenramm @felicity @esther-c
@Anyone!
And yeah I tagged some people I’m not friends with… hi! 🙂 want your opinion!
Ok so, this may be a controversial topic, but I want to know what y’all think. Since being on the forum, I often times notice people who write genre’s that personally make me wonder how they are still able to use their writing for God. I’m not accusing people of writing badly or anything, I just want to know some opinions. I’m not sure myself. I write dystopian, but it’s different then most. Like the earth has already been destroyed, and they are trying to start over and rebuild. What about having creepy stuff in books? I never put anything creepy in my book, but where is the line? It’s different for everyone, but where should it generally stand?
I think as christians we tend to focus on no inappropriate scenes, and no bad language. But I think darkness can reach into a not-ok category as well. we don’t want our worlds to be perfect, that wouldn’t be realistic.
Honestly, I’ve had different opinions and after talking to another writer, I’m not so sure how I feel about either way. For those of you who have written books with dark fantasy, creepy elements and such, what’s your opinion? I don’t need to know specifics, I’m a pretty sensitive reader. Part of why I want others opinions is just that, I’m really sensitive, and it’s pretty easy to judge other people’s work. I could find something disturbing, whereas somebody else finds it interesting. So I think it’s important to know what other’s think too.
🙂
"And so I left this world just as I had entered it. Confused."
This is an interesting topic that I’ve been thinking a lot about recently, too.
I’ve never written anything that I would call dark or explicitly creepy (though of course all books have some tension and maybe scary moments).
However I do write fantasy, and I know that some people wouldn’t agree that that is morally okay. I personally think it is, as long as there is nothing dark or satanic.
Just because a story is labeled as “fantasy” doesn’t make it automatically wrong. A “fantasy” could just be a story set in another world, without magic or dark elements.
There is definitely a line, though, between “fairytale magic” and the occult. Examples of fairytale magic might be a good fairy who grants three wishes or a bad fairy who turns someone into a frog. That isn’t real magic, and it isn’t believable. The occult is real and there are people who practice it. I believe that the occult is satanic and Christians should have nothing to do with it.
However, books like the Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings hint at the occult. For example, the White Witch in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and her band practice evil magic when slaying Aslan. But Lewis doesn’t affirm this in any way and it is not portrayed as good. And Aslan conquers the evil spells, anyway. I think how you portray magic is key.
I don’t think I would be comfortable with writing anything about occult magic, even if it is portrayed as wrong. Other people might have a different opinion.
As to dark, creepy elements in stories, I don’t like to read that stuff. My sister and I decided to stop reading The Keeper of the Lost Cities books just because of all the mind-control, etc. Also the characters kept breaking the rules and getting away with it. 😊
That was long, sorry. But interesting topic!
Dark is the Shadow, and yet my heart rejoices.
Realized I might want to tag you too 🙂
"And so I left this world just as I had entered it. Confused."
Interesting topic, and very important. I’ll look forward to what other writers have to say. =)
I don’t write or read anything I would call dark, or that feels off to me. (However, some of what I write could be done in a very sickening/graphic/dark way. I don’t want that, and I won’t read that, so I’ve thought about this quite a lot for many reasons.)
As humanity, there is a little part of us that wants to focus on evil, to make wrong not as awful as it is. Yet we were made to glorify God. Making abominations enticing not only takes the focus off our Maker, but gives that attention, worship, to our adversary. (Take a look at Eve in the Garden)
Yet the Bible talks about some pretty dark and sinful things; witchcraft, murder, adultery, ect., showing what is sin and what we need to avoid. The Bible is obviously good, so what is the difference?
The Bible glorifies and points us to God. Sin is shown as what is is, how ugly and revolting it is, not enticing. The Bible doesn’t dwell on sin, but rather makes the point and moves on. Glory and honor belong to God alone. Take a look at how the Bible portrays evil. Does this book do the same?
Last thought: If we give Him our words, our all, and let Him use us for Him purpose, then He will guide our words. The closer we get to God, the more our lives will reflect his light.
(Romans 1:32 and Philippians 4:8 are good verses to study)
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This reply was modified 1 year, 11 months ago by
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This reply was modified 1 year, 11 months ago by .
First Grand Historian of Arreth and the Lesser Realms (aka Kitty)
Fork the Gorkoh this topic is great
As an avid reader of dark fantasy and grimdark fiction (and also a writer of such fiction), I can definitely have a lot to say on this topic. (I have discussed this among other things extensively with my brother.) Also, I think I’m going to group some stuff like dark subject matters besides creepy things into this discussion if that is okay.
Not to feel like I’m making excuses but I currently have a history paper to finish at the moment (I should probably stop procrastinating) and then I’m going to go watch tv with my family. But I will most certainly come back to this with a lot more in-depth conversation tomorrow. (or later this night)
Np! Curious what your take is 🙂
"And so I left this world just as I had entered it. Confused."
Oh, I’ve been wanting to make a topic about this for a while but have never quite gotten to it. I’m glad other people have been thinking about this too! I actually have several dark/creepy stories that I haven’t shared on here. Also, I’ve been writing an essay for school that is about essentially the same subject (I could share it if you want).
I think it mainly depends on the theme of the story or the lesson you are trying to teach with the story. If you are including some violent monster in your story that is meant to represent something like the destructiveness of anger, then you are representing sin well. If you include the monster just because you want to write about someone getting eaten by a monster, obviously you are not glorifying God with your story.
God includes many dark and gruesome elements in His story (Judges is packed with examples of this), so I believe it is perfectly justifiable for a writer to include such elements in their own story. We should just make sure we are not glorifying the darkness but instead using the darkness to glorify God’s light.Also, I love and completely agree with what @koshka and @starofthenorth said.
“Nothing says autumn like slurpin’ apples.” -my uncle
Wow it says that I posted at 2:00 am. It’s only 11 here, lol
“Nothing says autumn like slurpin’ apples.” -my uncle
Great topic!
I’ve done fantasy before, but the thing that could be considered “magic” was each tribe having a supernatural ability gifted by their Creator. There weren’t any powers that they could harness on their own, (even though their gifts could be used wrongly). There is definitely a line when writing magic. I like what @starofthenorth said about it:
There is definitely a line, though, between “fairytale magic” and the occult. Examples of fairytale magic might be a good fairy who grants three wishes or a bad fairy who turns someone into a frog. That isn’t real magic, and it isn’t believable. The occult is real and there are people who practice it. I believe that the occult is satanic and Christians should have nothing to do with it.
However, books like the Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings hint at the occult. For example, the White Witch in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and her band practice evil magic when slaying Aslan. But Lewis doesn’t affirm this in any way and it is not portrayed as good. And Aslan conquers the evil spells, anyway. I think how you portray magic is key.
And the points that @koshka made were really great, too!
Darkness is necessary in books to properly portray God’s light. Now, we shouldn’t be showing sinful actions just to do so; it should be shown as wrong, only to show how God conquers that. It’s a balance that can only be found by studying God’s Word and knowing what He says about certain subjects.
Plus, don’t write what you’re not comfortable reading. I read my books out loud to my siblings who are eight and eleven; I also send it to my cousin and she’s a strong Christian. So that can help me make sure I’m writing something that does glorify God. And sharing my writing with you all! 😊
This is a really important topic to discuss. 🙂 I like hearing y’all’s opinions on it!
Write what should not be forgotten. — Isabel Allende
@everybody
These verses help to remind me why I’m writing and what I should be writing:
“The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth.”
Ecclesiastes 12:10 “My heart overflows with a pleasing theme; I address my verses to the king; my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe.”
Psalm 45:1 “I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter insightful sayings of old, which we have heard and known, what our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, but will tell the coming generation the praises of the Lord, and His strength, and the wonderful works that He has done.”
Psalms 78:2-4 Hope these encourage you as well! 😊
Write what should not be forgotten. — Isabel Allende
@mineralizedwritings @esther-c @felicity @loopylin @koshka @starofthenorth @folith-feolin
This is such a great topic, and I’ve been thinking about this lately too. I normally stay away from writing any kind of magic, but I believe that if you clearly show that it is wrong and evil, it’s okay to feature a little bit in your book, if you have to. But also, I wouldn’t write in extreme detail or frequent scenes with witchcraft, or something else evil. And if you’re ever unsure how much to include, pray about it. God knows. ❤️
#HugRikerSquad
@mineralizedwritings @esther-c @felicity @loopylin @koshka @starofthenorth
- Magic – When I think of magic in my fantasy worlds I usually think of it more in terms of the magic being something like physics or electricity rather than the occult. I find this can help explore unique worlds that work differently than ours and have different cultures.
- Darkness – I feel that darkness allows us to explore topics we cannot without it. I also feel that darkness within characters allows them to feel more human because in real life our human nature is sinful. I think that ultimately when it comes to darkness it is more about the message than the actual darkness (most of the time). This was mentioned earlier by some of you guys. I also feel that darkness can make a story’s message more powerful because when a character overcomes their sin it can be very inspiring.
- Tragedy – I don’t know if this would be a bit off topic but I feel that tragedies could be mentioned as darkness. I feel that tragic characters can glorify God by showing how someone could fall into sin and warring us what not to do. There are multiple bible characters (ie: King Solomon) who are tragic characters.
(This was typed up by my brother as I couldn’t keep up with everything he was saying so I just asked him to write it)
@esther-c Great verses, thanks for sharing! “I address my verses to the King” is such a powerful line.
@lightoverdarkness6 @starofthenorth @mineralizedwritings @otherpeople
This is interesting. I’ve never really thought of magic as being evil. Magic is probably what got me into writing actually. None of my stories are without it, and I only just recently learned to appreciate reading non-fantasy literature. The occult, on the other hand, I’ve only ever thought of as clearly worshiping the devil and getting magical abilities in exchange. I’ve never included anything that I thought was similar to it in my stories. There’s a clear divide in my mind between the two. So I’m wondering what you guys think?
“Nothing says autumn like slurpin’ apples.” -my uncle
@folith-feolin
Yes! I completely agree with what your brother said. He put it perfectly.“Nothing says autumn like slurpin’ apples.” -my uncle
I feel like magic is a term used very loosely. Most people have their own definition of it. But there should be a defining line between the magic God speaks against and fantasy magic in the mind of a Christian. Though some people are more strict on that than others and that is totally fine. 🙂
Write what should not be forgotten. — Isabel Allende
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