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Writing the Christian Western

Terry Burns

From Storyteller Magazine

Some of my western writing friends have said, "Our books are clean enough to go into a Christian bookstore, but don't have any luck getting them there. What's so different about a Christian western?" Good question. Those who frequent Christian bookstores buy books more for what IS in them than an absence of some things they might consider negative. They like a bit of inspiration in the stories they read.

However, my editor told me he didn't want me to be a Christian western writer, but instead he wanted me to be a Christian who wrote westerns. What does that mean? What's the difference? It means nobody wants to be hit in the face with a religious message when they read fiction, that the story must be paramount. Does that sound like I'm saying it both ways? To a degree that's true.

A western, or any other genre for that matter, has to stand on its merits as a story and keep the reader interested and involved in the plot. Any religious content, which these readers do want, should never be preachy and never compete with the main storyline, but rather complement it.

Is there a market for this? The larger Christian houses publish these, and the companion books that fly under the heading of historical or historical romance. In recent years the Christian market has been the strongest growth sector of the publishing industry. We're even seeing mainstream houses coming out with imprints designed to go after the Christian market, and we're seeing titles from the Christian market crossing over into the mainstream. One of the best places to get a handle on these markets is in Sally Stuarts Christian Market Guide. (http://www.stuartmarket.com/ )

Maybe it’s the times, September 11^th and the need to read something inspirational or hopeful. Maybe it’s the fact that those with faith are having a harder and harder time finding movies, or even broadcast television that they don't consider objectionable and are responding by turning it off and reaching for a book. Perhaps the tremendous influence of the Left Behind series or the movie Passion of the Christ is putting religion on people's minds. It'd take a pretty hefty market survey to see what's driving it. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining no matter what the reason is.

So the market is there, and we know it isn't a matter of how clean a book is but the specific content to interest Christian readers. What does that entail? It varies. The first book of my Circuit Rider Series has perhaps the strongest Christian content in it that I've ever written into a work of fiction. Beyond that it ranges from very little to being a major theme.

Let me give an example. I have a book where the protagonist kills a man by accident and the man's family comes after him in an old fashioned blood feud. Nothing new there, right? How about if the man has strong religious convictions and determines to defend himself but to never take another life even if it means dying himself? Secular houses said it wasn't a feasible concept, but Christian houses understand it.

It's a balancing game. No faith at all and it isn't a Christian market book and should be submitted to the secular houses. Too much faith and it may turn off readers who are buying a work of fiction, not a Bible study book, or may start encroaching on doctrinal differences diluting the readership base.

One way I accomplish this balance, is any moral lesson or faith component that might be involved is never aimed at the reader. It is strictly about the growth and development of the characters and how faith might play a role in how they are growing within the storyline. Readers are smart enough to draw any parallels they might wish.

I encourage people of faith to allow it to show in their writing whether they are shooting for the Christian market or not. It can be fairly invisible, but people know when it is there.