“In so-called primitive societies there are two words for power, mana and taboo: the power which creates and the power which destroys; the power which is benign and the power which is malign. Odd that we have retained in our vocabulary the word for dangerous power, taboo, and have lost mana. Power always has both of these aspects, as the storyteller knows. The sex drive can make love and babies, and it can lead to divorce and murder. The power lines which give us electricity are mana when we touch a switch in the dark and the room is lit. They are taboo when a fireman on an aluminum ladder slips . . . and he is electrocuted. It is this double aspect of power which the artist must be brave enough to explore.” Madeleine L’Engle, Walking on Water
Writers must keep it real. Readers won’t stick around to hear the moral of the story if, along the way, our characters don’t ring true. How does this play out as a Christian writer that may want to sanitize sin? We must avoid placing our characters in either an insulating bubble or raw sewage. It’s like a well placed step on a tightrope, being careful not to tilt one way or the other. 
Looking to the Bible for guidance, we find that the Greatest Story Ever Told doesn’t shy away from humanity with all of its sinful tendencies. From murder and adultery, to starvation and war, God did not try to pretty up all of the warts and filth of mankind, and neither should we. The reality portrayed in its pages help us to rely on its validity (most religious writings try to pretty up their religion as much as possible). The stain of sin stands in contrast to the holiness and love of God. As the brutal, bloodthirsty murderers taunted Jesus, he asked his Father to forgive them. That’s a beautiful example of how sin can work to our advantage as writers.
The advantage is authenticity.
That’s not to say that we give in to the mainstream trend and go into great detail . . . but we also do a disservice to our readers when we merely suggest there are consequences, then stray to other topics, glossing over the fallout. Neither should we throw in a dash of sideline problems merely to give our make-believe world more real-world flavor. We must be willing to put our characters (whom we love and care about) into precarious circumstances, allowing the brokenness that naturally ensues to play out.
I love that ML’E felt it important to make this point in her thoughts on the creative process. To be honest, it doesn’t come naturally to me like it does some people (*cough* Abby Jones). Part of me wants to believe that a happy ending is part of a happy story. But that’s just not how it goes down on our planet, and it shouldn’t be any different in our fictitious ones.
The difference between mana and taboo are both great and small. The same action can be beautiful or devastating, depending on the motivation behind it. Seems like the word “power” is one of those English words that results in loss of depth in meaning, like “love.” There’s so much more to it than what’s on the surface and the way we throw it around in society . . . we need to be willing to explore those layers with our characters.
As my second book is taking shape, I am learning to allow my characters to suffer in greater ways than I was willing to in Book 1. Though all of the strife and pain doesn’t flow naturally from my fingertips, I’m learning more about my characters as they are being stretched. In turn, I’m learning more about myself as a writer.
Pretty good trade off.
What mayhem have you put your characters through? Was this an instinctive part of your story-weaving or did you have to wade through (and pray through) bringing it to life while keeping it in balance?
I have put my characters through imprisonment, loss of parents, torture, battle wounds…..and still plan to do more horrible things to them! I think that kind of “mayhem” comes more instinctively to me as a writer, personally – but what comes harder is showing realistic reactions to that torment (for example, characters who lost their parents at an early age will have many “issues” still as grown adults…it took me until this current draft to realize that and implement it with my protagonists and their growth arcs).
I am also not good at showing the sin in my main characters, especially sin that would cause them to be at odds with one another. I hate books with petty disagreements between the main characters, so my tendency is to make my characters “above” petty disagreements…but we are human, and we do fall out over ridiculous things and misunderstandings. That’s just the way it is in this world! I’m going to have to work harder at going with what feels natural and realistic, instead of tidying it up.
Please don’t make me a character in your book, LOL! Sounds very dangerous 🙂 It also sounds like you have worked hard to get the nitty-gritty in the fiber of your story, and are continuing to learn how that plays out in the long run. Do you find that hard to do, since you have lived a fairly safe and innocent life? I think that is why it doesn’t come as naturally for me…I”ve been blessed with relative normalcy and stability. (On the other hand, my dear friend Abby is a sadist and has been raised in a stable, loving home–so who knows!).
However, the sinful tendencies are there regardless of circumstance. They just take a more subtle form and a “good” girl like me can learn to hide them, even from herself. God is faithful to reveal the truth though and so I continue to try to learn from it and apply it in my writing.
I think it is hard, having lived a safe and happy life so far, to show the realistic fallout from things like torture, loss, and so forth. I am growing more adept at handling these as I interact in the “grown up world”…it’s really just one of those things that even an intuitive person like me has to have more experience to imagine well.
I agree! Takes a concerted effort.