Christian Writers' Reading Challenge Day 9

Welcome to Day 9 of the Christian Writers' Reading Challenge! I'm so glad you've joined us for the third book in our exciting 60-day journey. If this is your first visit to Quilltree and you're wondering what's going on, here are the links to the first and second days of the challenge:

Christian Writer's Reading Challenge

Christian Writers' Reading Challenge Day 2

Now that you're all caught up, let's take a look at our next book, Adorning the Dark by Andrew Peterson.

Days 9-16

Quick Guide

Required Material: Adorning the Dark by Andrew Peterson

Reading Guide: You have eight days. That's two chapters a day plus the preface. There are also lots of goodies in the back you might want to take a peek at.

Notes: Take notes as you did for Walking on Water. When you get to the eighth chapter, "The Black Box," pay close attention and write down the following: "Art is resonance." You will need this later. I'd also like to point out that Peterson defines imagination and creativity as different, and he explains it in a single sentence at the top of page 78. Not only is this an example of good writing, it's also a feature I've never seen in any other writing book. Kudos, Peterson, for making the distinction.

Deep Dive

About the Author: Andrew Peterson is a singer-songwriter (check him out on Spotify, he's good) and author of the Wingfeather Saga (which I also recommend). Growing up, Peterson found joy and escape in fantasy novels, where he "could duck through the trapdoor of my book and emerge into a world of real beauty and real danger, which meant real heroism and the possibility of real purpose." He shares more of his personal history in the book.

Hard Words: Andrew Peterson is a modern writer, evidenced by the fact that he is still alive and is currently in the process of turning the Wingfeather Saga into an animated TV show. He writes in language that pretty much everyone can understand--though it helps if you're familiar with some songwriting jargon. Adorning the Dark has great readability, and that is in itself a writing tip: make sure your audience can understand you.

Notes for Christians: Guess what? I gave you a head start on this book by having you read Walking on Water first. Peterson highly recommends it--indeed, he orders you to read it before continuing with Adorning the Dark. You're welcome. 😉

Peterson lists six essential principles for Christian writers on the back of the book: serving the work, serving the audience, selectivity, discernment, discipline, and community. I'm going to narrow that down into three: service, focus in your craft, and community. If you get only those three things out of this book, you've learned something important.

In the third chapter, "Scared and Sacred," Peterson discusses courage in writing--how he fights the fear that one's thoughts aren't worth saying. Maybe the answer to fear isn't necessarily courage, or at least, doesn't look like courage upon first glance. It looks like motivation. We start and, more importantly, finish writing because we can't bless others with our work until it's done. And why are we, as Christian writers and compassionate human beings, writing, if not to bless others? "Bless" can sound arrogant here, but it's not supposed to be: "My work is so excellent that it blesses you lowly peasants simply to gaze upon it." No. It blesses other because if we're doing our jobs right, God is working through us, so that those who needs our stories, our poems, are anecdotes, receive them at just the right time.

(I actually don't have a ton of Notes for this book, because so much of Adorning the Dark is composed of anecdotes from Peterson's personal life and musical career. This is a strength of the book--it reads like a story. Humans do learn their best lessons through stories, after all.)

You should be seeing lots of echoes of Madeleine L'Engle by now. Dying to self, for example, and serving the work.

Like Tolkien and L'Engle, but form yet another angle, Peterson talks about the reconciliation of fairy tales and fantasy--the imagination--to Christianity. But instead of the sub-creator/co-creator angle, he brings up one of the foundational concepts of the Christian faith: forgiveness. Through Christ's sacrifice, the wonder of imagination is united with the everyday, just as we are reunited with God.

We have now reached the ninth chapter, "Serving the Work." (Remember L'Engle.) Peterson adds to her discussion of what makes good art. He says that art and agenda can co-exist. I'll go a step further and say that all true art has agenda. The artist needs a reason to create, and that reason is his agenda, even if it's not a political or cultural agenda. And your agenda will shine through your art, no matter how subtle you think you've been. If your agenda is self-serving, your readers will know it. If your agenda is to glorify God, readers will see a glimpse of that glory--assuming you've done your job well. Don't pretend you don't have an agenda. You do. It's what gives your art purpose, and purpose is a short step away from meaning.

Excellent, excellent writing advice that can get you out of just about anything: "Write it like you would say it." For me, this means typing as fast as I can, having a conversation with an invisible person. Tip: ALWAYS have an audience in mind, even if that audience is your imaginary friend. Why do you think people write diaries? Because it's the illusion of conversation without the terror of a real person. It's confiding in someone you trust, even though that someone doesn't technically exist. Write like you're talking to someone who understands you, who won't criticize you. You can worry about quality later. Right now (I keep accidentally typing "write now," I feel like that's a Freudian slip of some sort), just get it all down. When you're talking to someone, you get to the heart of the issue. Add the blood vessels and cut out the fatty tissue later.

Peterson also recommends Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. This might surprise you when we actually get to Bird by Bird, but hopefully his endorsement of her work will reassure your tender sensibilities.

In the twelfth chapter, "Discipline," Peterson quotes a passage from Roald Dahl, an author whose whimsical children's books I will praise until my dying day. Dahl's description of a writer's hardships "might sound as awful lot like complaining." You've prob'ly seen a lot of similar complaining in various books, quotes, and memes about writing. Here's the big secret: It's not complaining. It's bragging. It's a really weird, counter-intuitive form of bragging, and I can't explain why it's bragging, but every writer does it. Maybe we're trying to impress people with how hard our job is--though from the outside, our job looks a lot like sitting in a chair, occasionally scribbling something in atrocious handwriting. I doubt anyone knows why we do it, but it's one of the most relatable parts of writing.

"Good work means good rest." Yes. This is amazingly important. Rest. Reward yourself for your hard work. (Chocolate, anyone?) Take care of yourself. Just because you're working on the Great American Novel or a chapbook of poetry doesn't mean you get to stop eating and sleeping. Nor does it mean you get to forfeit time spent in God's creation. As soon as I finish typing this post, I'm going outside to climb a tree, because it's 85 degrees and sunny. Texas doesn't know what January is, and I thank God for it. Seriously, though--refresh your soul. Humans are meant to work, but we're also meant to play, and if we don't take breaks, we'll burn out. God doesn't like to see us suffer.

Chapter thirteen, "Discernment." The anecdote about Peterson's daughter is pure gold. And what does it remind you of? Madeleine L'Engle: "Bad art is bad religion." And good art is good religion. Almost any song can be a Christian song. One of my favorite songs is "Born for This" by The Score. It is a very Christian song to me, an anthem for my writing, even if it wasn't written for that purpose. We all get something different out of art. We all see Jesus in different places. And don't forget it.

PSA: Find a writing community. Seriously. There are all sorts of online writing communities--Jonathan Rogers has The Habit, Story Embers has the Christian Writers Manifesto. No matter your niche, be you a Christian or a student or whatever, there is a place for you on the Internet. Even better, make real-world friends who are writers. People who will read your first drafts, who will show you their own first drafts, who you can ask for advice and give advice to. There are few things more satisfying in this life than working out a difficult plot-point or rhyme with a friend. Reading others' drafts is not only a good way to serve others, but also a growth tool. It is always easier to see the problems in other people's work, and when you help someone else, you also learn how to spot issues in your own writing and think like an editor.

In the fifteenth chapter, "Community Nourishes Art," Peterson talks a little bit about "Mythopoeia." Hopefully his discussion in the context of creativity sheds new light on the poem.

Adorning the Dark ends perfectly, with a reminder that Heaven is our ultimate home as Christians. So I'll close with these words of Peterson's, which helped me survive a cross-country move: "Homesickness is the way home."

Study Questions: How can we, as artists, live our lives as heroes every day? How can we live "in defiance of great evil"? (This ties in with purpose.)

In the seventh chapter, Peterson speaks of "imaginational segregation," and the tension he felt in his youth between fairy tales and Christianity. How has what we've read in Tolkien and L'Engle shed light on this dilemma?

Why do you read the books you do? What are your criteria? If your granny were to ask you what kind of books you read, what would you say?

Think of a song or a piece of writing or art that resonated with you. What effect did it have on you, and why? How does your own writing resonate with you? In what ways could it resonate with others?

Are you more eager to tackle the big projects, or the small ones? Why might this be? (Learning about your writing style and the reasons behind it is an important part of increasing your productivity.)

Okay, a couple of deeper questions now that I've asked all the personal surface-level stuff: What does it mean to serve the work? To serve the audience? And finally, as Christians, we know Heaven is our true home, but what are the implications of this for Christian artists?