Thoughtful Thursday: Character Spirituality
Do you ever struggle with writing a character that has different religious or spiritual beliefs than your own? Secondary characters are one thing, but what about your lead?
Let’s say your heroine believes in reincarnation but you, the author, do not. In your story, the heroine tries past life regression to find an answer she seeks, but you are afraid to have her find it through this method because you do not want your audience to believe you are endorsing it. It is against your beliefs. What do you do?
If you read tarot cards and speak with spiritual guides during your daily meditation, are you able to write characters who believe that these practices are a sin against God? Are we able to fully step away from our own beliefs in order to fully express another’s?
As writers, we can create monsters, killers, evil doers of all kinds but we do so believing that our audience’s idea of right and wrong is similar to our own. We all know that killing is wrong, right? The readers don’t think the author is a killer just because they’ve written about one. But when it comes to religion or spirituality, can we assume that our readers will separate the views held in the book from those held by the author? Do we care?
When we create a fantasy world with a complete set of rules all its own, a different belief system raises no eyebrows. There is usually a war between good and evil in most fantasy stories, but the methods of producing either are up for grabs.
Many would say we should give our readers credit for being able to pick up a book, enjoy a great story, and leave it at that. Who says they’re going to receive a message from that story and apply it to their lives? Others would disagree and say we must be responsible for the message we put out there.
(Art by Elena Ray)
~ Pamela
Tags: author, character, responsibility, spirituality, story, Writing
What an interesting topic … I’m not sure that I’ve ever thought about it before even though it seems like an issue that must come up at some point or another in every writer’s work.
My immediate thought is that the most important thing in a case like this would be to make sure to do some serious research into the spiritual beliefs you’re writing about. I don’t think I’d have to agree with them to write as if my character did but I do think I’d need to feel like I understood them.