The issue of honesty in Catholic fiction is one that has been weighing on my mind quite a bit lately. I don’t have a definitive answer, but I am hoping in this blog post to somehow promote a conversation.

Why do we write Catholic fiction (as opposed to another type of fiction)? We may write to educate, share the Good News, explore the human condition, or entertain. Most likely, the answer is some combination of the above.

Who is our audience? Do we write for like-minded Catholics – offering them an alternative to Christian fiction or mainstream fiction that may or may not respect our values? Or do we write for the world at large, hoping to evangelize and / or entertain a larger audience?

Part of the craft of fiction-writing is to write with honesty – “write what you know” as is often stated. Yet, in writing Catholic fiction, I find that advice somewhat difficult to put into practice. Why? Because life is messy, and doesn’t always work the way we would like it to, yet in Catholic fiction, it seems we are supposed to always have redemption and a lack of emphasis on (or even exploration of) our sinful nature.

As Catholic writers, we are devoted both to our faith and to our writing. We try to be the best people we can be. Because of this tendency, I think we try to create characters who always do the right thing. I don’t know about you, but I spend a good deal of my time fighting my demons, my temptations, and my sins. When I sit down to write, shouldn’t I create characters who also experience these struggles and sinfulness? How do I do that while keeping in line with what is appropriate for a Catholic reading experience?

As Catholic fiction writers, do we have to write a sanitized version of life? Can our characters experience lust, envy, pride, etc? Can they break the commandments? Can they ever struggle with being open to life? Can they use profanity? In other words, can we portray them as honest humans, with their share of faults and failings? Can we show human life as it actually is or do we have to show it as we wish it were?

A few years back, I reviewed a novel that was laced with profanity. The story was compelling and I stated that fact, but I wrote that the profanity detracted from it. The writer responded that he found it quaint that some people in the world still objected to that sort of language and that it would have been impossible to create an honest portrayal of the industry he was writing about if he did not include it. That is just how people speak in that environment. I still don’t like to read profanity, but this author may have had a point. When I go out into the world, I hear people using profanity and taking the Lord’s name in vain every single day. Is it honest to write a book intended for adults that contains no objectionable language?

What about sex? I understand not wanting to lead our readers into sin and being discrete in our descriptions, but the majority of the world engages in premarital sex. Once again, do we create fictional worlds in which that never happens? Or do we instead create a world in which it does and people have to deal with the consequences of those actions? What about issues concerning sexual abuse? How do we portray that in Catholic fiction?

How do we portray priests and religious? Should they always be living saints or can they be flawed human beings as well? Can they ever be a source of evil?

As I stated, I don’t know the right answer to these questions, but I think the questions are worth asking. I think that there is a place for Catholic fiction that tells a light story, provides some entertainment and offends no one, but there should also be a place for more troubling works that cause us to reflect, question, and explore life as it exists in our world in large.

What do you think about this subject? What do you think the standards for Catholic fiction should be?

 

Anne Faye writes from Western Massachusetts and is the author of The Rose Ring and Through the Open Window, and blogs at http://www.annefaye.blogspot.com/. You can follow her on Twitter at @AnneMFaye

5 Replies to “The Challenge of Being Honest as a Catholic Fiction Writer”

  1. Anne, thanks so much for this wonderful reflection. I agree that our characters should not be sanitized. All human beings struggle and it definitely makes for more interesting fiction. One reader told me that she was disappointed that two of the characters in one of my novels engaged in premarital sex. As the author, I had a good reason for including it, as I tried to explained. (All of my novels deal with sexuality but with no graphic content). I agree that we need to portray them as honest human beings with strengths and struggles.

  2. This blog really hit home for me. I am Catholic and a writer, but does that make me a “Catholic Writer”? My characters are beyond flawed, they curse, some are divorced, some have sex with people not their spouses (and in the cases of my paranormal titles, they even have sex with people who are not technically “people”). However being Catholic is part of who I am and so it infuses my writing. I deal with a lot of “good vs. evil” in my books. I deal with people going through crisis. I was interested in joining Catholic writers groups but they don’t seem to want to include Catholic writers who dare write about such flawed characters. I think that is really too bad.

    1. Bernadette,

      Take a look at some of Michelle Buckman’s Catholic novels. Flawed characters are part of the program. It’s not a question of whether the characters are perfect people (they won’t be), but how the writer presents their story. She does a good job at being authentically Catholic and true to her character’s problems at the same time. [She is also very readable, so she makes a fairly fun case study.]

  3. Does honesty require you to write everything? I once saw a war movie (Saints and Soldiers) without a single episode of cursing and it never occurred to me that it was missing until I read a review. The characters weren’t portrayed as saints by any means, but taking God’s in vain apparently wasn’t considered necessary to advance the story which was compelling. So, be honest, sure. Create realistic characters, of course. But you don’t have to show every nitty gritty of their rough side in explicit detail. There are plenty of great (and classic) stories out there without emphasizing the ugly and uglier.

  4. Valid questions, Anne. Personally, I find ‘sanitized’ Christian fiction to be as much of a fantasy or fairy tale as any sci fi/fantasy out there. Perfect characters are uninteresting. In fiction, conflict creates a great story. In reality, none of is perfect. Part of why we read stories is to see how someone else stumbles through difficult situations and triumphs.

    So this is my take on it. I write about characters who are flawed and struggle. It is very possible to write gritty, realistic stories without putting profanities on the page. ‘He swore under his breath’ or ‘He let loose a string of blistering curses that would’ve earned a mouthful of soap in his youth,’ for instance. It takes a bit more effort than typing a four letter word, but can actually reveal character or move the story forward.

    Sex can be addressed in much the same way. Emilie Richards does it beautifully in her novels. Never a graphic detail, and every encounter both reveals character and moves the story forward.

    About moral issues: I’m reminded of the bumper sticker that says Christians aren’t perfect; they’re forgiven. Everyone is human. About this time last year someone whose name I can’t pull out of my brain at the moment said ‘the world is not so much anti-Catholic as it is anti-bad art.’ There is SO much truth in that. If done well, flawed human beings can make their mistakes in fiction and either find redemption or reject it.

    That said, some audiences demand sanitized fiction, and if that’s who you write to, then you’d better keep that in mind or your sales will suffer. But that’s far from the only audience out there, and that’s why God has each of us writing differently. We are each to touch a different audience. The trick is to find the right venue and publisher!

    Great post, Anne!

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