Write About Now

The Last of Mark Bertrand

Becky Miller has optimistically titled the final installment of our dialogue at A Christian Worldview of Fiction:

"The Last of J. Mark Bertrand"

She attributes the fact that no one has flipped out over the sentiments I express in the interview to her belief that I haven't said anything "controversial." The real reason, of course, is that everything I say makes sense, which is not quite the same. Then again, my Worldview Academy colleagues have pointed out that no one every comes up to argue with me after my lectures, not because they agree but because they aren't sure exactly what I said.

Worldview Thinking with Mark Bertrand: Part 2

The second part of my conversation with Becky Miller is up at A Christian Worldview of Fiction:

Worldview Thinking with Mark Bertrand, Continued

Today, I answer questions about how worldview thinking influences writers -- and how it doesn't. A little slice:

"...I think artists tend to see either though a wide angle or a zoom lens. Some are trying to capture the big picture in their work, and others focus on a single thread. C. S. Lewis fits in the first category. His best novel, if you ask me, was Til We Have Faces, which is an elegant re-working of the Psyche myth that ends up saying something profound about the nature of holiness and our self-deceiving rebellion against it. But can you imagine Flannery O’Connor writing that book, or Graham Greene? They were also influenced by Christian theology, but it came out in different ways."

The Shoe's on the Other Foot: Becky Miller Interviews Me

If you enjoyed last week's dialogue between me and Becky Miller, you're in for a treat. Not content to have me asking and her answering, Becky decided to jab the microphone in my face and ask some questions of her own. The result, I think, is an excellent exchange. The first part, which talks about the nature of worldviews, is online today, and there is more to come as the week progresses.

A Conversation with J. Mark Bertrand | Part 1

I think this one will be of particular interest to authors hoping to "write from a Christian worldview," a concept we'll explore throughout the conversation.

A Dialogue with Becky Miller, Part 2

This is Part 2 of my conversation with Becky Miller. Check yesterday's post for the first part.

JMB: Believe me, I appreciate the difficulties, but I think “staying with generalities” is one of the things that makes this discussion so frustrating for writers who agree in principle with the goal you’re setting forth, but don’t know how to make it work in practice. Maybe we could approach the question differently. What sort of things might a writer do, in practical terms, in order to bring a greater measure of truth to the page? What have you found beneficial?

RLM: First and foremost, I’d recommend spending time in God’s Word. I know some people will balk at this, thinking it is a dodge of your question or even self-righteous presumption. Let me say right away, I am not suggesting other authors don’t spend time in the Bible.

I can only answer for my own experience here: it is in the pages of Scripture that I come to see and know God more intimately. Reading and studying God’s word gives me a passion for making Him known. And it also gives me ideas how to accomplish it.

A Dialogue with Becky Miller, Part 1

One of the things I hope to do at Write About Now is talk to other writers about their unique approaches to the theory and practice of writing. Over the years, I've found myself involved in a number of set battles -- er, conversations -- about the usual points of contention: literary vs. genre writing, the great books vs. the bestsellers, art for its own sake vs. writing for the market or the message. Some people see these as tired old debates, but they've helped me figure out what's important and what's not.

A writer I've enjoyed going back and forth with over the years is Becky Miller, an evangelical Christian at work on an epic fantasy trilogy, who has taken time out from her own writing to champion her genre and other writers. She blogs regularly at A Christian Worldview of Fiction, where she has both praised me and raked me over the coals. So I asked her if she'd be willing to be my first dialogue partner here at Write About Now, tackling a subject important to us both: the "problem" of Christian fiction. Here's the first part of the conversation . . .

J. Mark Bertrand: When most of us talk about "what's wrong with Christian fiction," the answer revolves around the limitations placed on authors. We can't use certain words, can't include certain types of scenes, and so on. But you take a different approach to the question, one that I think is worth exploring. So let’s begin with a simple question: what's the real issue with Christian fiction?

Rebecca LuElla Miller: There are so many parts of the answer to that question—from what’s happened to true education to how involvement in World War II changed American culture—but I don’t suppose you have those aspects in mind.

To be honest, however, I believe the real issue with Christian fiction is also the real issue with our culture.