This week: Weaving Spirituality into your Stories Edited by: Lilith of House Martell  
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Spiritual elements are important in order to create worlds and understand aspects of a story. Each nation has a form of spirituality that is particular to that culture. One might be hard-pressed to find a culture in the world that has no element of spirituality.
Spirituality might simply be discovering a higher power in nature or around us, something that is shaping the world of the novel. Maybe a chance event or encounter doesn’t seem so random anymore. Maybe spirits influence the life of people. Maybe there is an old tree or brook that delivers answers. It could be that all souls are linked in some way (telepathy, through nature, through rituals). It could be that the world has a system of beliefs that plays a role in the novel (there might be people in a position of power who check the morality of others, a little like the moral police or there might be rules everyone has to follow such as the way people dress). There might also be a society that governs itself based on spiritual laws. Finally, there might be a society that worships some kind of spiritual entity.
Spirituality is part of our universe.
It is part of our literature too. |
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Many people would agree that religion and spirituality are personal. Each person lives his or her faith/ spirituality differently. And not everyone wants to share. However, you might need or want to add some spirituality into your story, one that you share or one that you create. Here are some points to consider:
 Universal Theme
Focus on a universal theme that everyone can relate to as the main plot of the story. Do not make spirituality the main focus. Spirituality must fit within the universal theme.
Spiritual Practices
Describe spiritual practices only when necessary. Explanations help the reader understand and enhance the experience of the story and the characters. They add dimension. Adding some kind of spirituality adds depth and dimension to a story and might be the missing element that helps end the story, especially in the climax. Explanations support the story in strategic places. They deepen it. They help go beyond he did this and he did that.
Spiritual Growth
Each story needs some kind of spiritual growth. The main character needs to grow and change and this can only be achieved through a higher purpose.
Conflict
Place a conflict at the center of the story. The conflict should not come from the beliefs in the society. The conflict should come from the main character and what he or she struggles with personally.
A Different Perspective
Write about a subject people question or wonder about. Surprise your reader. Bring about a fresh point of view. You might write from the point of view of a group in order to explain or shed light on the actions of the group.
Broaden Your Subject
Avoid focusing on your readers. The reader is important because you need to know who you are talking to, but focusing on one type of reader, in particular, might make the story too specialized. Broaden your subject instead of restricting it. Make sure the story is relevant to as many people as possible.
A Personal Touch
Write a deeply personal story. Your writing will be more powerful if it’s not preachy. It’s not about telling your readers how they should live or how they would be better off if they did what you do or such and such does, it is about showing another way to live. Do not ever bring verses of any religious book to make a point. Illustrate the point your own way with your own heart and your own understanding. Reach for the heart, not the mind.
Show Contrast
Do not show your spiritual beliefs as the only route or only option. Instead, contrast your spiritual world with other worlds. In real life, there are many ways to live and to think. Do not restrain your story to one side. It is not realistic. Have people who think differently from the majority in your story and tell their story. Have the main character reject the ways of his or her spiritual world, making them question the path of their ancestors. That’s a way to let your readers judge for themselves. It accomplishes much more than a deep exploration of beliefs. Contesting rites or beliefs put them forward more, especially when explored as a place for conflict and dissension. It is easier for your audience to sympathize with a hero who goes against the teachings of his tribe because your audience is probably not part of your tribe and if the audience is part of the tribe, they already know what you’re talking about. Everybody wins.
Make the Reader Question Things
A good spiritual story is thought-provoking. It is a story that will stay in the reader’s mind for a long time. Posing questions instead of answering them will go a long way. Adding conflicts in the story is another way. Finally, giving personal answers or asking questions no one is expecting is the ultimate way. Make your reader think and question the world, “Oh, I never thought of that.” “How interesting. How shocking.” Or “What a lovely way to look at things!” Readers are smart. They are going to get it and if they don’t get the message, they will emerge from your story with questions they never asked themselves before, which is cool.
Ambiguity
Do not show life or the world or the events as being black and white. Add lots of shades of colors to your writing. Add some ambiguity on both sides. Show complexity. Show your world as a place of debate and leave it open-ended in the end.
More Important than You Might Think
Add what might look like little insignificant details that tell a lot about the world. Dream catchers and the way threads are added might tell a lot about the culture and the beliefs about dreams in some Native–American cultures. You don’t need to explain what it means, just show how these symbols or key objects are used day after day. The meaning will slowly become obvious and sink in toward the end of the story.
Point of View
Think carefully about the point of view. The narrator shouldn’t be the one with a strong conviction about a spiritual matter. The character should stay neutral or innocent or be raised in a group whose views he or she does not fully understand. I suggest picking a character that has the most to lose in the situation as the main character. It’s his or her story after all.
Finally, to write about spirituality is to reach out and invite. Invite the reader into your world, but do not impose any rule. Treat your reader as a friend.
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Spiritual: March 30, 2022 Issue [#11281]
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