Mentioning Religion http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/30117 KKriesel It can be very cliche to harp on religion, particularly Catholicism and therapy, and I'm wondering how many of you are including it (as soon as I decided to ask this on the forum, I saw the thread on viciously murdering a priest...*gulp*)? The thing is, each and every mention of religion in my NaNoWriMo book was a REAL EVENT! It can't be me butchering religion if I let the actual incidents speak for themselves, can it? Tue, 08 Nov 2011 11:20:40 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/30117?page=1#forum_thread_comment_576545 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/30117?page=1#forum_thread_comment_576545 Rowan-in-ruins Real events can be misleading ('butchering', if you prefer) if they are seen as representing something larger, as saying religion (or Roman C) is like this. Tue, 08 Nov 2011 12:15:57 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/30117?page=1#forum_thread_comment_577556 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/30117?page=1#forum_thread_comment_577556 Shem-the-Penman I'd be careful about alienating the sizeable Canaanite readership. -Shem Tue, 08 Nov 2011 12:22:41 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/30117?page=1#forum_thread_comment_577676 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/30117?page=1#forum_thread_comment_577676 KKriesel She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb comes to mind. And The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. I still have 44,000 words to go, surely some redeeming events could be crammed in there ;) Tue, 08 Nov 2011 13:42:46 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/30117?page=1#forum_thread_comment_579310 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/30117?page=1#forum_thread_comment_579310 iymcool Hey, the more I think on it, the more the pirest had to go. ;) I'm including religion as a strong focal point in my book given that the overall story is the existence of a religious understone in the varying schools of psychology. However, I'm only alluding to religoin instead of classifying it (i.e. Judaism, Christianity, etc.). Sure, I have priests, bishops, and nuns, but they're not part of a specficially titled sect of belief. I don't think it's considered butchering as, in my view, religion is a largely metaphorical and personal set of beliefs. How can you butcher something if it's so esoteric? It's all a point of view. Tue, 08 Nov 2011 15:06:34 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/30117?page=1#forum_thread_comment_581170 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/30117?page=1#forum_thread_comment_581170 anna scott graham I have no issues including religion; Catholicism is so full of mystery and symbolism, hard for me to ignore it and I'm not Catholic. A friend read one of my books and said, 'Wow, that's a lot of Christianity." Which made me smile as really it was about Catholicism, but religion gets swept under a few big umbrellas. So think of it as you're educating someone who might not know the differences. My novel is about bigotry, working its way into recent anti-immigration fears, but a strong layer of Catholic teachings underpins later issues. Just write and worry about the rest in the next draft... :))) Tue, 08 Nov 2011 18:31:11 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/30117?page=1#forum_thread_comment_585779 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/30117?page=1#forum_thread_comment_585779 CheshireKat The theme of Christianity/God/religion comes up a lot in my novel. FMC1's mother was a devout Baptist before she died of cancer, and her death plus the fallout made her essentially turn her back on organized religion. FMC2 was raised very stringently Roman Catholic by an abusive father, so she naturally associates religion with her abuser. Both characters will have to reevaluate their feelings about organized religion, unorganized religion, spirituality, God's presence, etc. throughout the course of the novel. I don't think FMC2 will ever fully reconcile herself to the Catholic church, but she will realize that God was not the justification for her father's beatings - she will finally see the dissonance between his professed beliefs and his actual behavior, and understand that religion does not equal beating women. FMC1 will have to have her own journey to realize that she hasn't stopped believing in God, she's simply very angry with Him, and there is a difference. Neither one will have an easy journey or a perfectly clean ending, because that's just not how life works, even for the most religiously devout, IMO. Tue, 08 Nov 2011 19:19:48 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/30117?page=1#forum_thread_comment_586729 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/30117?page=1#forum_thread_comment_586729 anna scott graham I completely agree... :))) Tue, 08 Nov 2011 21:34:03 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/30117?page=1#forum_thread_comment_589614 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/30117?page=1#forum_thread_comment_589614 JoNbOy See, I personally am a Christian, but I had to make my MC an agnostic because it makes him that much easier to write for. Wed, 09 Nov 2011 07:28:57 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/30117?page=1#forum_thread_comment_596251 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/30117?page=1#forum_thread_comment_596251 Dennis Jernberg I'm asking myself the question: How far can politics push religion (in this case Evangelical Christianity) before it snaps and turns into a cult? So far, in fact, that the resulting new religion of nation worship ends up clashing with the Christians. Basically, I'm extrapolating from the raging controversies over church/state issues in the US. Wed, 09 Nov 2011 08:42:58 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/30117?page=1#forum_thread_comment_597025 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/30117?page=1#forum_thread_comment_597025 finchgeam I don't really harp on religion ... I made my own religion(which I actually do believe to some degree...) I do however say that most religions haven't figured it out ... even the "true" religion is wrong ... since the universe is god ... but even people in my story that believe that are wrong since I am god .... *tries to not make inception joke* Anyway it can be a touchy subject, but I don't have anything against any religion which is why I made the vague cluster that is above. ^^ Wed, 09 Nov 2011 08:56:24 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/30117?page=1#forum_thread_comment_597193 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/30117?page=1#forum_thread_comment_597193 RionaDaidouji I might occasionally mention it... A lot of my character tend to be Agnostic, and for those that actually are faithful I'll keep it subtle. Like maybe mention something like "After church that Sunday" or something like that. But occasionally a scene will come up that I'll feel should get a mention of religion, or lack there of. It's rarely a focal point of the story, though. Wed, 09 Nov 2011 13:20:20 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/30117?page=1#forum_thread_comment_601553 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/30117?page=1#forum_thread_comment_601553 PowerUnit I butchered a bunch of religions last year. My catholic MC went to a new local worship based church where the bad guy in my story was the preacher. I made sure to bash the catholics along with the pentacostals and I threw in barbs at anglicans and baptists to balnce things. I don't have to butchering plans this season, but this thread will put the thought in my mind. Wed, 09 Nov 2011 13:40:08 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/30117?page=1#forum_thread_comment_601971 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/30117?page=1#forum_thread_comment_601971 bickles I'm including it. But I'm queer and grew up in a Catholic household, and one of my characters will have a similar experience with it, so nothing exaggerated, just my own personal experiences. My novel takes place long after the fact, however, so it's more about the lasting effects of such a childhood rather than the initial drama and rage it initially inspired. Wed, 09 Nov 2011 19:30:40 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/30117?page=1#forum_thread_comment_608646 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/30117?page=1#forum_thread_comment_608646 dsherman19 It's a recurring theme in my novel. My MC struggles with the meaninglessness his life, the problem of suffering, the contradictions of moral relativism, etc. In other words, the usual suspects. I imagine he will consider religion, but ultimately reject it as just another system of beliefs. He wants truth. He will find that truth is not found in religion, but that it exists independently from it. I'm also a Christian, so writing what I know makes it easy. Wed, 09 Nov 2011 23:15:28 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/30117?page=1#forum_thread_comment_612780 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/30117?page=1#forum_thread_comment_612780 BRuth primary theme in mine too - mc is Jewish/Buddhist, with Sufi tendancies. Uhhhhh, I know from this..... Thu, 10 Nov 2011 03:54:16 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/30117?page=1#forum_thread_comment_615662 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/30117?page=1#forum_thread_comment_615662 Misan My character is religious in a rather unique way. He actually believes that he knows God (and he's actually been employed by him!), that he used to live in Hell and knows what it's like there. I'm personally an atheist, so I find it quite challenging to write not just as a Catholic, but someone who claims it is definitely true and completely real, more so than the world he is in now. It's an interesting experience, though. I can't imagine writing a book which doesn't deal with the theme of religion, perhaps because I'm kind of obessed with it myself and I think that complex characters definitely have strong views on those things. Thu, 10 Nov 2011 13:09:46 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/30117?page=1#forum_thread_comment_622173 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/30117?page=1#forum_thread_comment_622173 molin84 Religion can be a dicey topic. I think If I were to bring it into my novel, say for instance my MC is religious, he/she would be realistically be level headed about it. The over the top christian is a bit of a cliche and the down right sinner who doesn't care about morals has also been over done. What about the level headed about it, however recognizing their sinful ways, but trying to cope with the reality of it. Again this character has probably been overused too so as far as a unique approach, maybe this isn't the best but certainly the most realistic and perhaps most the easiest to relate to if you're writing from a 1st person POV. I realized I just rambled a lot. Nothing new there. Thu, 10 Nov 2011 14:06:49 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/30117?page=1#forum_thread_comment_623138 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/30117?page=1#forum_thread_comment_623138 Laughing Turtle My story is set in the very distant future, and most religions as we know it today have vanished. I'm not sure if I really belong on this forum, considering that I believe my story to be halfway between literary fiction and straightforward science fiction, but my entire focus is what exactly makes a one a god. But I've been doing a lot of research into the basis and formation of religion in and of itself, and I get to watch mine grow from a small collection of tribal myths to explain nature and keep order, to a big organized church with doctrines and a priesthood, and a societal punishment for heretics. My narrator is a man from roughly our own time, just before an apocalypse, and in death he had returned to the people in order to help them, coincidentally dying in November and returning to the world (as a ghost) in April. He slowly wanted to help his people, but those who could see him misunderstood him, and made him out to be a god. And, through actions and his life, that eerily enough did mirror the seasons fairly well, I'm trying to keep it fairly ambiguous if he ever did legitmately ascend to godhood after all. ....So I suppose I'm the black sheep out here. :) Thu, 10 Nov 2011 22:18:15 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/30117?page=1#forum_thread_comment_632289 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/30117?page=1#forum_thread_comment_632289 KKriesel whew, almost the last mention of religion has been made in my novel. With all the details, the issues are more with people who abuse their authority (not necessarily clergy) rather than religion itself. My MC marches right into church to pray the rosary after her recently-ordained friend betrays her, to illustrate Tue, 15 Nov 2011 01:56:44 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/30117?page=1#forum_thread_comment_705302 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/30117?page=1#forum_thread_comment_705302 Shem-the-Penman Take <em>that</em>, organized religion! -Shem Tue, 15 Nov 2011 05:41:02 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/30117?page=1#forum_thread_comment_706450 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/30117?page=1#forum_thread_comment_706450 studentofrhythm My novel has a lot to do with religion, since the FMC is a priestess of her own sort of non-church. The MMC is from a Lutheran background, and there are mentions of Mormons, including a Mormon off-camera character. Tue, 15 Nov 2011 13:25:09 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/30117?page=1#forum_thread_comment_711276 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/30117?page=1#forum_thread_comment_711276 XVisiEX I briefly mention it but it doesn't come up every other page or anything. I do believe all four of my characters are of different denominations but generally believe the same thing. XDDDD I did not want to appear ignorant (and when talking about someones lifestyle can appear so) so I tried to "write" what I know having been raised by two parents of very different religions myself. Ultimately my family has become none denominational @.@ Mon, 26 Dec 2011 07:14:51 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/30117?page=2#forum_thread_comment_1001259 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/30117?page=2#forum_thread_comment_1001259