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@joy-caroline
Your welcome. Sorry I don’t know too much about that kind of thing. I mean I do usually populate my fantasy with ghosts, harmless ones. But I always kind of thought of those stories in the Bible, where a demon comes out of a person is kind of like finding Salvation in a way.
Like when the demon is in the person, it represents a person’s life before Christ, stumbling about and not knowing what they’re really doing. When the demon is removed, it represents Salvation and finally being free. And life after the demon is gone is like life after being saved, they’re free and can see things more clearly.
So yes, there’s definitely a sense of hope and the hope of redemption that can come from those scenes.- Rank: Eccentric Mentor
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Love these thoughts! I’ll have to think more about my exorcism scenes. They need more detail.
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@joy-caroline One thing you do have to remember is that demons are very much alive. When they’re being cast out of people, they’ll have some resistance, which could mean the girl’s body shakes or convulses as the spirit is called out. Sometimes the demons will speak, as they did to Jesus. And not all the time are they seen. Some people can sense the presence of the spirit, while others can physically see them. Depending upon how you want to depict Paul (since it’s not explicitly stated in the Bible if he were a seer or not), the scene could turn out many different ways.
If he’s not a seer, all you’ve got to work with is the physical–the girl’s eyes, her voice, the movement of her body.
If he is, then you can describe the actual sight of the demon leaving her (and demons can take many different forms, so you’ve got that to consider), the demon’s voice and his resistance against the Holy Spirit, what it does and where it goes.
I highly recommend reading Frank E. Perritti’s This Present Darkness and Piercing the Darkness. His books are extremely spiritual and go into detail about demon possession, the casting out of evil spirits, how they appear, etc. Plus they’re just good reading material!
@abigail-m That’s a great way to see things, from a more symbolic perspective! Possession is definitely a form of slavery, and once those bonds are broken, the power of deliverance is overwhelming and crippling.On that note, the girl could have multiple different reactions to being delivered. She could collapse on her face, convulse, weep, laugh, or even scream. Her mind would be so out of whack after being controlled by an evil spirit for so long, and her spirit even more so, so there’s no telling how she would feel or what she would do.
Anyway, I hope that helps! I applaud you for tackling these deep, spiritual scenes! I would love it if you’d share them with us!
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@gracie-j
Again, great thoughts! Have I ever told you you really know your writing stuff? XD
I believe Paul was a seer, since he did receive revelations of the second coming and heaven and stuff. I just never thought about that influencing his way of casting out demons, so that’s something super interesting to think about!
Ooh, I will have to check those books out. Actually, earlier today I was reading Roger J. Morneau’s Into the Supernatural (which is also about demon possession), and it all sounded super chilling. I guess that’s why you don’t mess with spirits.
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@joy-caroline 🙂 Thanks!
Yeah (totally didn’t think about that XD)! That will definitely change the deliverance scene (and possibly make it a little scarier…), so just keep that in mind!
Yes, you definitely don’t mess with spirits.
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@gracie-j
Nice! I’ll keep that in mind. Thankfully editing is possible.
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@joy-caroline No kidding!
You’re welcome!
I completely agree with you! And thank you for the encouragement <3
"It's easy to be caught up in stardust and whispers when reality is so dark and loud."
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Of course! 🙂
Hi @joy-caroline !
I love this topic, cause it’s something I get quite insecure about. That is, I want to write clean stories from a Christian worldview, but I don’t want my stories to be all about faith and religion. I just want them to be good stories, if you know what I mean — I write YA fantasy. My sister tells me it can’t be classed as YA cause there’s no dodgy content, but I think it’s a fearful shame that YA has to be defined by dodgy content, violence, and kids having parent issues and identity crises (that being said, one of my characters does have a bit of one of these, but that’s cause he found out he was a prince). Do you think it’s bad to want to bring light to both this genre and the fantasy one, without being overtly ‘Christian’ about it?
The end of a story, a beautiful picture; a feeling of longing yet hope~
That’s my wish to create.@joy-caroline
Ok, so I don’t know if you’re still working over miracles, signs, and wonders, but I thought I’d join in, if it’s all right.
I understand how miracle scenes can fall flat. God is so amazing, and our best writings are so inadequate to describe Him.
Then what to do when writing miracles? Well, what do we do when we see miracles? Do we take in every detail while rejoicing as the lame run? Do we catch what color the carpet is when we are surrounded in His presence?
Not really. While I have have not personally been instantly healed of an obvious malady, I have seen others who have, and if that wasn’t sufficient, the greatest miracle has been worked in me. The infilling of the Holy Ghost is so great that it’s likened to the manifestation of God in Christ (one of the Epistles). I can say quite safely, that when He’s at work, all one’s focus is rightly on Him.
So in writing, direct all the character’s (and reader’s) attention on the miracle and the Miracle Worker. What was done, and how do we praise Him. If a miracle is a gift, how does one say “thank you”?
Wow, I got carried away, didn’t I? Anyway, what will your characters see? How will they feel? The thing that was always cringy in these scenes to me was that either there was too much focus misplaced, or it was just not…right.
Once more, it is very hard to write a satisfactory miracle scene, and when it doesn’t measure up we feel like the attempt was worse than nothing. However, miracles are one of God’s fantastic doings, and they illustrate how powerful our God is, in a way completely unique. In other words, keep it up!
You have listened to fears, child. Come, let me breathe on you... Are you brave again? -Aslan
Oh, and I love this topic too. For my work to be good, I will want it to edify the reader in some way. Bunches of my stuff is to entertain, but I want to put lessons/themes in them too.
You have listened to fears, child. Come, let me breathe on you... Are you brave again? -Aslan
[quote quote=107747]I write YA fantasy. My sister tells me it can’t be classed as YA cause there’s no dodgy content, but I think it’s a fearful shame that YA has to be defined by dodgy content, violence, and kids having parent issues and identity crises (that being said, one of my characters does have a bit of one of these, but that’s cause he found out he was a prince). Do you think it’s bad to want to bring light to both this genre and the fantasy one, without being overtly ‘Christian’ about it?[/quote]
NO! The YA section needs more clean, quality stories. YA fiction is so, so, so important, because YA is where readers are trying to find out where they fit, and what to think, and what is important. They’re shaping their worldviews, and while our books won’t be the only voices shaping that (nor even the strongest, most likely), fiction is powerful and we need more YA fiction that shows hope and godly character and true love (in all its forms) and characters who stand firm in their values (even if those values aren’t explicitly Christian). What you write is important. Keep going.
Speculative fiction author. Mythology nerd. Singer. Worldbuilding enthusiast.
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I think what you’re doing is awesome! YA needs more stories like yours, as @r-m-archer said. I think that with fantasy, it’s especially important to include your faith – and it doesn’t have to be overtly ‘Christian.’
By the way, have you read Kara Swanson’s Heirs of Neverland duology? I think you would enjoy it, both the story itself and the way she weaves in faith elements without overt Christianity. I loved the first book in the duology, Dust. The second one, Shadow, was good too, though not quite as good. I think you should check them out!
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Thanks for joining in! You are more than welcome to do so. 🙂
I think I’m getting better at plotting out miracle scenes! I’m actually looking forward to writing the ones that will come up in my St. Paul Life of Sacrifice series. I really like your way of viewing miracles as gifts. That makes it seem less daunting to write. I think, too, that we need to remember to focus mainly on Jesus Who works the miracle, not on the person He chooses to do it through nor even on the miracle itself. Because like you said, He has already worked the most wondrous miracles in us by drawing us to Himself.
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