I read, on average, about 208 books a year—give or take. Only about three of those books ever find their way into my heart and resonate in my soul. The other 205 books may have been good, but they won't be classics. They were ordinary. And I don’t know about everybody else but I want more than ordinary.
I want extraordinary.
Fantastical.
Something I can remember forever.
Most every author I have read has not striven for enough.
But amazing fiction—saturated in Biblical principles—takes an amazing author saturated in Christ.
Most Christian authors I know are good writers, but not amazing. And to be saturated in Christ means to give up things that most people are not willing to give up. That can be a painful—though cleansing—process.
Like every voracious reader who writes a review after reading the book, I compare each book I've read to all the ones I've read before. What stands out? What is different? What makes this book unique and separate from all the books I've ever read and am ever going to read? In essence, to be a good writer I need to know how a reader thinks and how he will feel when reading my work. That is why so many famous writers are such great readers. It is the best way to learn how their readers will think and feel.
Why was C.S. Lewis such an effective writer? He read literally thousands of books in his youth. Also, as a boy, he and his brother had a world all their own. This world was the place where the seeds of Narnia were planted, though he didn't know it yet. Imagination as a child is important--though not in all cases essential--to the future of an author. C.S. Lewis said, "You can make anything by writing."
And he's right.
You can.
It's just that most people don't have talking lions, or fauns or hobbits, and orcs running around in their heads. And if they do, they aren't brave enough to write about it.
Did you know J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis were friends? Just something to think about.
So...do you have a story in your head that you are simply burning to write but are afraid to because it's so...different?
Then write it!
I dare you.
I know there is more to most authors then what I am reading.
If C.S. Lewis can have talking lions and J.R.R. Tolkien can have hobbits, then so can you!