Author Confessions: Is the Story Realistic or Not?

When my husband and I watch movies or television programs, he is often looking for realism in the story and loves finding the things that couldn’t have happened. Now unless the genre is science fiction or fantasy, an author should make a story realistic. Yet as an author, I want to be able to surprise my readers. I don’t want my stories to be formulaic.

So many movies and television shows ask you to suspend reality as you get wrapped up in the story unfolding before you. Reading a book is no different.

But is real life always realistic? I remember when Covid hit and all the news anchors used the word unprecedented. But was it really? There had been plagues in the past.

How often have you or someone you know say something to the effect of, “You won’t believe this!” For those of us who are Christians, we should be living with full anticipation that God will be doing amazing things in our lives.

In the Bible you read so many amazing feats of God in the lives of people. Those really happened. We too should be living a life that defies logic at times.

I have many stories of when God acted on my behalf as I imperfectly sought to follow Him in my life. From barely escaping a car accident (and yes, I have had some in my past, one of them was my fault), to money showing up without me even asking God for my needs.  There are so many more! Two years ago when my husband’s hip surgery got moved up five weeks he was worried about how we would have enough wood for our stove to get us through the rest of winter. Before we left the doctor’s office, a friend, who knew nothing about the surgery or timing, was dropping off dump-trailer loads of cut firewood. All we needed to do was transport it to our home, which we did. We made it through winter with heat for our home and water.

As I write, I want to leave room for God work even on the pages of fiction. Sometimes the unbelievable happens because we live beyond just a physical, logical world. We live in a spiritual world as well, and if my stories are going to refelct a real and living God, it is good for Him to show up in the pages of my books.

Characters might occassionally act out of character. I have found that happening in my own life as God has led. I can look back on big and small decisions made that were out of my comfort zone. When God leads, we are to follow. My characters therefore might face situations that are out of the ordinary.

So far I’ve not had any reviews complain about those things. I did have one complain about a real life type of situation that they disagreed with but since it was a historical, I assume that time period was not something they were informed about and they were not my target audience.

We are amazed by many things in this world and if this world were realistic, we would cease to be amazed. That is not how the real world, with an amazing, holy, sovereign, all-powerful Creator God in control, works, does it? God delights in amazing us with sunrises and sunsets – perhaps depending on whether you are a morning or an evening person. He delights in showing off His glory in a variety of ways, sometimes big and sometimes small, if we only pay attention.

Do you remember a story you’d read where there was a unique, or perhaps surprising event in that story? Did it cause you to stop reading or did you accept it as part of the overall plot? How about in your own life? Where have you seen God show up and show off? Those kinds of stories become part of your testimony of His work in your life and should be remembered often as proof of His love and care of you.

Is your story realistic or not? I hope it’s not, because that means God is doing a work beyond what you are capable of. In my life that causes me to lean on Him and trust Him more and more. Keep your eyes open.