Prompt:

What for you is the difference between writing fiction and any kind of non-fiction–memoirs, persuasive social media posts, etc.? What is the mindset for each?

Reply:

With my writing, I like to ask “Why am I writing this?” To what goal, to what end?

With fiction, the goal is ultimately to entertain, but often to inspire the reader to fall in love with the characters. I want to share this love with others, and have them join me in appreciating these beautiful flawed people that have revealed themselves to me. It’s not much different from sharing pictures of your children on social media, “Come, love my kids too!” My characters are my children, and I want readers to adopt them into their hearts, as I’ve adopted many characters into my heart. It’s a full circle, giving back sort of thing.

The topics of my fiction also dictate the goal, whether to entertain, or to explore a concept, or to simply say “You’re not alone, someone else knows that really obscure feeling too.”

However, all of my motivations all stem from the ultimate “why.” If life is ultimately meaningless, if everything we do will fade from memory given a few generations, just like we rarely remember things from former generations. If all the effort I expend to building a reputation, or even an empire will fade to dust over time, then everything is all equally meaningless. Some can find peace and enjoyment in pleasure, and living in the moment, which too is also meaningless. Read Ecclesiastes, and you’ll find that king Solomon, wise and blessed, ruled and enjoyed all life had to offer, and came to the conclusion that death awaits us all, and everything else is meaningless. What is the point of life? Why do anything if it’s all hollow?

That’s where my faith in Jesus comes in. With Christ, this meaningless existence is suddenly given substance. What we do, what we say, can all effect eternity and the long portion of our lives. Everything will fade away, but God’s eternity, kingdom, and our renewed resurrected bodies will not fade away. Therefore, the answer to the question of “Why” is now “to serve, and to save.” If I can help in the process of bringing a soul into eternity, and prevent it’s destruction, then my writing has most certainly not been meaningless.

So with that definition of meaning in mind, my fiction books will carry this embedded goal to bring the reader to think about things that may cause them to seek deeper meaning, and hopefully come to Christ.

Unlike my fiction books, however, my non fiction books are more direct to that goal. Instead of entertainment, or falling in love with a character, my non fiction projects are to deliver a message, and to inspire thought. With the project I’m currently researching “Is God a hypocrite? : An Exhaustive Audit” I make sure to leave my opinion out of it as much as possible, and simply present facts and research to let the reader form their own conclusion.

With my social media posts, I find a short and sweet message can help someone along their way. As I live life and witness the world, I notice nuggets of wisdom, and in my excitement I enjoy sharing them with any that would listen. The goal is to enrich the reader’s life, and hopefully equip them better to handle the trauma of daily living. My philosophy stems from videogames. Once you know the rules of the game, and how the mechanics work, you can build your character, equip your assets, and dominate at the game at your specific role. If I discover a rule of the universe, and don’t share it, I’m negligent in my duty to serve. If by following this rule one can prosper, then I’ve done my job. “A single candle can light a thousand candles, but the life of the first will not be shortened.”

However my memoirs are a different animal from the research project, and the fiction works. Some of us, I’m sure, believe we’ve lived interesting lives. “People are like books; the stories tell themselves.” My life has been fairly interesting, and while I assumed everyone had an equally interesting life, I’ve come to realize that some folks lives are more dramatic than others. But why share this story and take someone’s time? Perhaps they’ll learn from my mistakes. Perhaps they’ll be entertained. Perhaps they’ll fall in love with the characters, as I have. Perhaps this will lead them to ask questions about their immortal souls. I want to tell the story about how the two most important things to me played out: how I found purpose in a meaningless world, and how I came to find joy in a world of darkness.

In the end, all my work should work toward service. Service to God, (Yahweh and Jesus) and service to those that God loves, you. This ignites my own selfish desire and base motive for writing. I take great enjoyment in helping others find enjoyment, and if my fiction, social media, memoirs, or research projects can do that, then I’ve selfishly served myself as well.