Fiction touches
lives. If you suspect otherwise, just visit an archery shop.
An article in the
Denver Post this weekend, titled “They're All Aquiver,” reports how
teens and pre-teens who've read The Hunger Games and want to be like
Katniss Everdeen are thronging to archery stores and ranges.
Whatever Suzanne
Collins's purpose in writing these stories, it likely had nothing to do with
prompting kids to learn about bows and arrows. But once stories are released to
the public, there's no telling the effect they'll have.
I suspect that in
1958 when Ian Fleming was writing Dr. No, he was simply providing a hint
of characterization when he had his character ask for a martini "shaken
and not stirred." Ever since, as Jerry Lee Lewis sang, there's been a
whole lotta shakin' goin' on.
A generation of
novelists later, recreational diver Clive Cussler invented a Bond-like
character whose adventures would take place in and under the water. Early in
the series Cussler had his hero, Dirk Pitt, check his wristwatch. Having a keen
eye for specificity, Cussler looked at his own left wrist, then typed that Pitt
was wearing an orange-faced Doxa diver's watch. Today if you attend the annual
convention of the group that collects Cussler's books, at least half the people
are wearing orange-faced Doxas. In an early novel, Pitt gets caught in a
rip-tide. Rather than struggle against it, Pitt swims perpendicular to it until
he escapes its grasp. In the decades since, the author has gotten multiple
letters from readers who got caught in a similar situation, remembered the
scene from Pacific Vortex, and swam to safety.
In many of his
westerns, Stephen Bly had a character rant about a situation to the hero,
whether Stuart Brannon, Tapadera Andrews, or Brady Stoner. Then Brannon (or
Andrews or Stoner) would say, “Are you bragging or complaining?” I remember
that not just because it's a great line, but also because I often hear it
quoted around my family supper table.
If you ask Jerry
B. Jenkins, he can tell you lots of stories about the origin of what was
envisioned as a single book (that might sell 50,000 copies) but became a
multimillion-selling series that thrust him and Tim LaHaye onto the cover of Newsweek.
But Norm Rohrer chronicled the most amazing consequences of Left Behind
in his nonfiction book These Will Not Be Left Behind, in which he
relates the stories of some of the thousands of people who read the books--and
had their lives changed eternally.
If you're a
writer and a Christian, no doubt that's your deepest desire for your readers.
Some aspect of your stories will affect people. You just never know who and
how.
5 comments:
Wow, this post definitely hits the bull's eye. The power of suggestion is strong. If Christian authors create admirable characters who love and respect God and value His Word, then that will impress many readers more strongly than a sermon. Thanks for good examples of fiction affecting real life.
Great post Andy. Fiction has influenced my life many times. One stands out though above the rest. In high school, during a devastating personal crisis, I entered the library to lose myself 'in story'. Looking for the thickest book on the shelves, I chose Taylor Caldwell's, 'Dear and Glorious Physician'.
The bible and it's people came alive to me in a way as never before and I think it was then that a desire to become a medical missionary was seeded in me, as well as a voracious appetite for study of the word of God that remains with me today.
Great examples. One of my goals as a writer is to touch people through my characters and their struggles/victories. Jesus excelled at this. For example, what parent doesn't hope to respond like the father of the Prodigal if given the same situation?
Wow, Andy. This makes it worth the work, doesn't it? But of course, Solomon told us so when he said, "life and death are in the power of the tongue," which we know is words.
I saw a young man wearing a shirt a few days ago that said SON of ADAM, and knew he'd read Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia.
Diana: I love your story! How sweet of the Holy Spirit to lead you to that one book...
So true! Your last paragraph is a great reminder - thanks for the inspirations.
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