Catching Idle Butterflies

Parables vs Sermons

In "Making me think"  I talked about how I was looking forward to tackling my next CWG lesson. Well, I just received an email from my mentor with his comments. Following is the assignment along with his comments (italicized).

Lesson 1:

The lesson required me to write a parable similar to the ones Jesus told.

"I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark." (John 12:46 NLT)

What farmer or gardener plants his seeds in shadow? None, for if he wishes a good and healthy crop, he plants in areas with plenty of light. Should he plant in the dark, the seed opens up and tiny leaves peek out of the soil. But with no light to nourish them, they soon weaken, whither and eventually die.

Nice illustration. I suppose I knew this, but it's a good reminder, I think other readers would like to be reminded to this truth, too.

Lesson 2:

This lesson required me to write a letter to an imaginary reader who is unlike me in every way, including my beliefs. I had to explain to that reader what I hope he would do as he reads, and what I hope to accomplish as a writer. I was then supposed to examine that letter for any signs of superiority, and revise.

Letter 1:

Dear Reader,

         I pen this letter, not to preach or to beg, but in an endeavor to have you read the things I've written. I write what love, and that includes writing about God. But I also want to make you laugh, cry, perhaps even cringe, but above all, I want to entertain and hopefully impart a nugget or two of wisdom. All I ask is for you to keep an open mind and give me a chance to show you the God I know through the characters in my stories, both the antagonists and protagonists. I, in return, promise to make my story and characters believable, and to never tell you what you should do or believe through them.

Nice letter, but a bit unnecessary I think. It sounds too much like you're begging the reader to read on, when your writing should do that anyway.

Letter 2:

(I had my husband help me out with this one to get a different perspective, because what might not seem condescending to me may be condescending to someone else.)

Dear Reader,

         I write to you, not to preach or to beg, but in the hope you will read the things I've written. I write about what I love, and that included writing about God. I want to entertain you, to make you laugh, cry, perhaps even cringe. But I also want to leave with you things to consider thinking about. All I ask if for you to keep an open mind, and give me a chance to show you the God I know through the characters in my stories, both the protagonists and the antagonists. As for me, I promise to make my stories and characters interesting and believable, and to never tell you what you should do, or what you should believe, either subtly or in your face.

(I liked this lesson a lot. It forced me to think of my reader and how my writing might be perceived. I think when you return this with your comments, I will print it out and display it in a prominent area where I do most of my writing so I won't forget.)

I think this is a good exercise, but framing this in the form of a letter I'm not sure is the best way. You should not have to coax the reader into reading your material. They should read your first line and be hooked enough to read on. The first paragraph leads to the next paragraph and so on. That's the process you want to use to get your readers hooked into a story, book, novel, whatever.

I don’t disagree that my first letter sounded like begging. I also think he is absolutely correct that my stories should grab the reader, not any letter I may write to them. I certainly have no intent to add this to any manuscript as a prologue. Eww! I wouldn’t read any book that had such a letter!

However, I was a bit frustrated with the statement “framing this in the form of a letter I'm not sure is the best way.” What else was I supposed to do since that’s what the lesson called for? Or was he merely stating that he disagreed with how the lesson was framed, not necessarily how I completed it?

Irregardless (or is it regardless?) of how my mentor responded, I still enjoyed the lesson. The intent was to always keep in mind to never preach to my readers, especially ones that have different beliefs than I do (and that could be 99.99% of the human race). Jesus imparted much of His wisdom by telling stories, adding at the end, “He who has ears let him hear.”

Sometimes the roundabout way to make a point is the best way, because it turns the reader into a seeker. If they miss the point, that’s okay. Hopefully, they at least enjoyed the story, and liked it enough to read more of what I’ve written. Perhaps they will see what they need to see later on. As a writer, I can only do so much. Only the reader can decide what to believe and what not to believe.