The Paradise Trap

It’s been interesting, over the last few years, to see how the climate of JW fiction has evolved. Before I wrote All Things New, I’d read some short stories by other Witnesses about paradise and the resurrection. Some were only a page or two, while others went on for a few thousand words. (To my knowledge, there were no full-length paradise novels available prior to 2013, but if I’m wrong about this please feel free to comment below.) Since 2013 however, a whole slew of JW authors has emerged, each with their own take on what life in the new world might be like.

Despite the increase in authors, though, it seems that many paradise stories fall into a similar pattern. It goes like this: a character shows up in the new world (the Guest) and is introduced to  various aspects of paradise life by a personal guide (the Mentor), who explains why and how things are the way they are.

The reason for setting the story up this way is obvious: the Guest becomes a stand-in for the reader, who has been thrown into this fictional version of paradise, and whom the writer assumes must be curious about each aspect of life, and thus the writer goes about explaining things as carefully and as detailed as possible, doing so through the Mentor.

Yes, this is precisely what I did for my first novel. Mitch Hanson was the Guest, and the various characters he met and interviewed along the way became his Mentors. And no, there’s nothing inherently wrong with this premise. In fact, you’ll find the same set-up in much of popular and classic fiction.

But there is a trap, so writers beware. Because if the author isn’t careful, the book can easily turn into a lengthy exposition about their version of the future. Instead of a story, it reads like a series of small essays in which the author explains why he or she feels paradise will be a certain way. Instead of focusing on the story, the characters, and the underlying themes, the writer finds himself or herself contriving all sorts of scenarios in order to shoehorn in various conversations about why the resurrection has occurred in a certain way, or why technology does or doesn’t exist, or why some other element of paradise life has defied common expectations.

Again, I speak from experience. When I wrote All Things New, I knew that there were some ideas I really wanted to talk about, and so I went about squeezing them into the story via dialogue between the Mentors and the Guest, or debriefings, or found documents, or whatever else I could think of. And at the time, this felt novel and exciting. Looking back, I realize this is pretty much the go-to for stories set in paradise. But can these lengthy forms of exposition be sufficient to hold up the framework of the stories they are trying to tell? Sometimes.

This isn’t to say that these stories won’t find readers; I believe they will. I think Witnesses will always enjoy reading about various versions of paradise, regardless of how compelling the stories at their cores are. However, it’s my suspicion that many readers have begun to tire of novels and novellas that are beginning to feel a bit like soapboxes for the authors’ personal visions of the future.

I think one of the most difficult challenges of writing is not knowing what to write, but what not to write. Over-exposition is the demise of many a budding author. It can be painful to cut and trim and edit out beloved chunks of dialogue, explanation, background info, and all those other bits that spent so much time marinating in the author’s head. But for real, grounded stories, cutting and trimming is exactly what must be done.

So if you’re writing a paradise novel, here’s my challenge to you: just tell the story you want to tell. Refrain from explaining and defending every aspect of your version of the new world. Try not to build your story around explanations.

Remember, even though this is all based on future realities, we’re ultimately writing fiction.

FLEE novel download now available

Just a little update to let everyone know that the digital downloads for FLEE are now available. You can grab the links (mobi, epub, and PDF) at: www.fleenovel.blogspot.com Enjoy!

For the musically inclined...

Hello again!

So... as it turns out, this new project (see my last post) is actually taking shape much quicker than I had previous envisioned. While I'm still making progress on the new novels, I'm also starting to carve out a bit more time for this new project (sorry for being so secretive, it's simply too early to reveal).

In preparation for going into production for this project, myself and the other brothers managing this thing (it's a bit too big for any one person to handle), are looking for a music composer. Ideally, we'd love to find someone experienced in composing acoustic/digital music who is a brother or sister.

(Obviously, we're not looking for freebies, we know music composition is hard work!)

Anyhow, if you fit the bill and are interested in possibly collaborating, please contact me at allthingsnewnovel (at) gmail (dot) com.

If you know of someone who you think might be interested, tell them about this post and encourage them to email me for more details. (Please don't send me the email addresses of people you know who make music; I'd rather they take the initiative so I know it's something they're actually interested in.)

As always, thank you for your support! The last time I asked for some help (regarding prison witnessing experience), the response was pretty overwhelming.

Thank you!

P.S. I should probably mention here a bit of what may come as bad news to some of you… I'm no longer pursuing the audiobook option. To be fair, I looked into it quite a bit. I even borrowed a bunch of professional recording equipment from a friend, built a tiny recording area in my office, and did some online tutorials for learning how to use audio editing software. Alas, just to record and edit together a single chapter in one of my books was a mammoth project, and there's simply no way I can afford to hire out the work. (Typically, I found through my research, audiobooks are recorded over several-week sessions by a team of professionals including a voice actors (or actors), a proofreader, and an audio technician. But I'm just one guy!) Anyhow, I apologize to those of you who were hoping to listen to audiobook versions of my work, but it doesn't seem to be a likelihood anytime soon...

The last two months

…Have been busy! So busy that I haven’t had a chance to post to this blog (or even check the comments). For those who’ve commented recently on my posts, thanks very much. I especially appreciate the support regarding the post I made about updating “All Things New”. The book is still available on Amazon but I’ll be removing it shortly to work on the revision.

As for STAY, the second book in the FLEE series, it’s coming along nicely, although it’s been a bit slow going the last couple of months due to me getting tied up in another side project. (Regarding this project, I’m very eager to share with you all what I’m working on, as I think it’s something that will appeal to many readers (though it’s not a book), but it’s too early now to talk about it, so I’ll just leave it at this.)

If I’m being completely honest, this side project (which is spiritually-themed, but very different than anything I’ve worked on before), has sidetracked me a bit because it’s very involved but has me creatively engaged in a way completely different than writing a novel. However, as with so many things in life, I’m finding many connections between it and my writing, and constantly learning new things that I think will really improve the way I approach my books in the future.

I got a good reminder from a friend, though, who knows about this project I’m working on but is also a reader of the books. It was pretty straightforward: “Finish the books first!” So that was a good wake-up call, and I’m back on track with writing on a daily schedule. Feel free to badger me in the comments to keep me on the ball and get this series finished!

That said, I think you all are going to enjoy the second book. It’s been a blast to write so far. :)

Sneak peek at book number 2

I might be jumping the gun a little here, but I thought it would be fun to share the cover for the next book in the FLEE series, appropriately entitled STAY. If you've already read the first book, the cover should immediately make sense.

I'm roughly at the halfway point in writing this book, so it'll be several months still before the book's release. If all goes well, it should be available mid-Spring, 2018.

Stay tuned!

Keeping up with the times

When I first began work back in 2010 on what would eventually become my first novel All Things New, my goal was simple: to create a fictional piece of literature that could serve as an entertaining, thought-provoking glimpse into the New World. The response to that book, which was released in 2013, was beyond anything I’d imagined, which led to the release roughly a year later of The Unrighteous and then Critical Times back in 2016. I’ve always been careful to present these books as nothing more than fiction, but I’ve found over the years that this does not make them free from criticism or claims of inaccuracy.

Of course, none of us knows exactly how things will unfold during the Great Tribulation, at Armageddon, or just after that as we take out first steps into the New World. Some believe that we will more or less immediately transition into a paradise Earth, while others subscribe to a more lengthy process, perhaps spanning decades, as pictured in All Things New. Of course, it’s all guesswork at this point, and debating either side of the argument could become a distraction that I’ve done my best to avoid. (I wrote recently in a post that I’ve tried in recent books to focus more on the lessons learned from characters’ decisions and attitudes, rather than on specific events, and this is one of the reasons.)

That said, I will admit that at the time of writing All Things New, some ideas made it into the book more for the sake of dramatic storytelling than for plausibility. Although these portions likely made the work more memorable, in the years since the book’s release I’ve come to realize that they’ve also caused some consternation, something which I certainly never intended. Additionally, the last few years have seen further information released on the events leading up to and during Armageddon, an event which is featured extensively through the interviewees’ stories in my book.

In past years, my stance about my previous work was one adopted by most secular novelists: don’t look back, ignore the critics,  keep writing new stories. The problem, of course, is that these books aren’t purely secular. Although they are fictional works, they delve into spiritual topics that are close to my readers’ hearts–readers, I do well to keep in mind, who are also my brothers and sisters.

Thus, I’ve come to the decision to remove All Things New from my catalog of books as of January 2018. If all goes according to plan, this will be a temporary move until I can thoroughly revise the book and re-release it (possibly as a second edition, possibly under a new title). I understand that this may be difficult news for some readers, many of whom have written with positive feedback for that first book. However, the words of the Apostle Paul at 1 Corinthians 8:13 really stand out to me:

“That is why if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat at all, so that I will not make my brother stumble.”

If Paul was willing to give up meat for the sake of his brothers, I can certainly refrain from promoting a fictional piece of literature. And besides, I’m sure with the writing experience I’ve gained in the last few years, "All Things New 2.0" will be a much better read than the first!

Research Needed

Hi all! In preparation for a future project (unrelated to my current FLEE series), I've begun doing some preliminary research. Unfortunately though, the information available in online sources only goes so far, so it looks like I'll need to talk to those with some actual experience in order to delve deeper into the subject matter I plan on exploring.

Without giving too much away, I'm looking to make contact with experienced publishers who've engaged in prison witnessing. I'm particularly hoping to talk with those who've studied with prison inmates.

If any of you readers out there fit the above criteria and would be willing to let me pick your brains, please email me via the "Contact" link on this page. (Please only contact me if you personally have had these experiences, as I wish to get firsthand information. If a brother or sister you know  has had such experience and would be willing to communicate with me, please encourage him or her to write me directly. All correspondence will be handled via email.)

Thank you in advance!