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I write Christian fiction. I know there r going to be characters who will be Christians and won't be. How do I decide which ones become Christians and how do I realistically convert my characters into Christians, especially if they r the antogonist

The passage of time detail is something that I'm currently grappling with, I established that the characters have a week to escape before their demise. However, that deadline was set by the antagonists for their goals and now I'm stuck trying to figure out how to stretch the protagonists escape plan, so they escape near the deadline. For my reference, here are Niki's tips: 1) Characters need to eat and drink. (In situations where it won't automatically be assumed. If they are not eating, then consequences should be shown.) 2) Characters need to sleep. (If they aren't able to get sufficient rest, then consequences should be shown.) 3) Wounds need to heal, and should impact a character's ability to do things. 4) Keep track of passing time. (This could be done via a simplistic diary for the main character.) 5) Keep track of what items each character has. 6) Weather should change, and it could impact the characters. Weather can also be used to reinforce the mood via pathetic fallacy. 7) Geography: map out the path between locations and decide a scale. NOTE: All of these rules can be bent, but it should be acknowledged, to establish that difference from reality with the readers. 8) Mentioning characters going to the bathroom is unnecessary....

I recently wrote a scene where the POV character is struggling with a recent experience and it was difficult to find a balance between the character's anxiety and analysis of the event without it becoming too much.

"Some people are afraid of how many darkness you can put on your (good vs evil) story". I have had some comments like that before. In my church they were actually so discouraging that i ended up making up a pen name and i don't tell my brothers and sisters in faith that i write. But here's the thing: I never had the courage to say this, but i always thought "Does your God need to be protected from a too strong evil? ¡Because i looked for Jesus because i needed Him to protect ME from my demons, and those were Lovecraftian size! He doesn't need me to protect Him from going into the ring with the absolutely worst my mind can imagine. He actually laughs at it and says that if He can redeem me from my absolute worst, then ¡He already defeated the worst my mind can come up with!

Kaladin leaping off the bridge, inhaling stormlight from the gems woven into the Parshendi beards, and then speaking the first ideal is the scene that has the most emotional impact on me out of every story ever. Hundreds of thousands of words were building up to a broken man committing himself to protect his friends, a simple concept amplified by the fantastical elements. For me, reading masterpieces boosts my self esteem because it validates the power and impact that stories can have; an impact that as you mentioned should be used to glorify God.

Making mistakes is honestly the best way to learn. 🎉

This is exactly the type of romance that I’d love to read! Two buddies realizing they’re in love but its a gradual and genuine relationship rather then the dramatic, all-consuming love. Trying to write one similar to this and it’s damn difficult (I’m trying to find a subplot plot structure and I can’t find anything!). But I love this specific type or direction of romance subplot because of the realism and just…the power couple potential. 😍 Also love the fact that you mentioned priorities! That often gets forgotten in the middle of a romantic subplot (the world’s about to end but we’re worried about this romance? WHY? 😂)

This is such an interesting topic for me. I am 70% through a screenplay based on a story idea my production partner had. In his original version, the bad guy was redeemed (or at least there was a path forward toward redemption at the end of the story), but I did a take in which "the wages of sin is death" for the antagonist and the redemption was not through the him but through a secondary character who was connected to the antagonist romantically. The debate (friendly debate) between my production pal and myself is whether to illustrate the end point of sin and have the antagonist die for taking the dark path, or redemption for him. In our case, I think it is my job to serve his story vision, but it is an interesting problem for Christian authors to consider. - As I write this, I am reminded of CS Lewis's "The Last Battle" in which the antagonist Rishda Tarkaan was not redeemed, but Emeth was. In some stories, perhaps the answer is two antagonist characters taking different redemption paths to show the contrast.

I watch videos of this channel. Your video is very nice but I see some problems in this channel. Analyzing your channel, I found that your channel and video are not doing any kind of SEO. "Without SEO, the channel never grows. So first of all, 90_99% of your channel and video should be SEO.100% guarantee that your channel will start growing after doing SEO

It was interesting to hear that you regret publishing your book. Your reasoning makes sense but I've beat myself up for several years because I haven't published anything - even knowing that I wasn't quite prepared for it. Thank you for sharing, it certainly helped encourage me to keep pursuing my dreams!

Happy birthday to Heir of Ariad! (I enjoyed reading it!)

Thank you so much for the review! I love what you brought out about the story and its messages. It was hard to identify what age to target. My 2 and 5-year-olds loved it, but they were far from being able to read or really get it. Maybe 7 to 9 would be just right.

Really enjoyed this video. We all have “first books” in life. Sounds like you have success on the horizon!

9:10 I would respectfully disagree: There IS a book that is for everyone, and it's called the Bible. The fact of the matter is that Satan has a grip on many people on earth, and makes them turn away from the way, the truth, and the life.

Yes! Conveying emotion in subtle ways is so magical! I love the lessons you brought out.

I never read any of the books. I saw the first movie in the theater. My impression was that the characters were flat and uninteresting, and that the plot easily could have been trimmed down to a 90-minute time. This put me off any desire to see the others. At that time, I was not doing any writing, so it is interesting to hear your perspective so many years later, as fresh eyes on the series.

I often say that twilight book to movie adaptation is one of my favs because of Breaking Dawn Part 2! I was in the theatre at the midnight premiere and when the big fight scene starts happening (and that *thing* with Carlisle) everyone in the audience audibly gasped freaked out saying this isn’t in the books what is happening?! It was the best movie watching experience I’ve ever had because we were all completely surprised but then it stayed true to the books in the end 😂

You KNEW what you were doing with that thumbnail 😂 I'm getting ideas again! 😅😅😅

Just throwing this out there as an idea for you: I don't often see them done, but I LOVE a good 'failed redemption' arc! You've got a villain who suddenly gains some motivation to be better, and genuinely goes for it. Have a great exploration of the difficulties that come with trying to radically change your live or your perspective. And of course, in the end, have the poor guy be unable to let go of whatever misbelief or flaw that drives them to villainy. Obviously, they would still be a changed character by the end of the failed redemption, and likely the nature of their villainy may have changed as well, thus not making the whole process 'wasted'. What's more, they might ultimately fail to save themselves, but that doesn't mean the good they tried to do would not still leave an impact on the world and on other characters! Might be too dark or disappointing for some, but if you are looking for a marriage between tragedy and redemption, this might be a fun idea to think about. To tie it into a Christian angle as well: How often do we get to hear stories of people really trying to find truth and live virtuous lives, but ultimately missing the mark? It is certainly a reality for some, and there might be value in tackling such a tragic truth with a Christian lens.

I’m trying so hard to find any current information… I love this author and his book. Hope he is well

I absolutely relate to what you said about the people pleasing struggle while reviewing. For me, it helps to put my review in the perspective of an editor. So instead of saying, "I didn’t like this. It was bad," I say, "This didn't work because ..." And I usually state any content warnings but don't let my personal feelings effect the rating.

There are so many good things I could say, but I'll just keep it simple: the more of your videos I watch, the more I love and appreciate your channel. Keep running, sister!

In that context, imagine doing a book review of Numbers 31 or Ezekiel 23. I would not go out of my way to be explicit for no reason, but I think God values, purpose and teachable lessons and truth over ignorance and blind censorship.

I've struggled with the concerns about enjoying stories that contain some negative aspects. It's nice to hear that other Christians have also weighed the uplifting parts against the sinful parts when deciding when evaluating stories.

Thank you for not wanting to cause any brother or sister to stumble! I can totally relate to not feeling sure whether or not to share what you like and dislike, especially of modern books, movies, and TV. As an example, there is a show that I like (mostly) that is produced in Canada, police/detective/mystery kind of thing; there is a bit of cussing but not a lot, and some characters tend to have a looser view of what 'dating' means, resulting in times where numerous hints are dropped about what happens next in the chronology of their world, even though it is not shown (I still cringe; get MARRIED for goodness sake!). However, though a few episodes may need to be skipped as a result of homosexual content (I skipped) the mysteries are good, the character relationships are better, the jokes make sense in the context of the show, and each individual is developed very well (to the point that some of those who make my favorite characters list only appear in a few episodes). A good show, but tread carefully. Let me know if you want the show name.

Very nice video, Nicky! I thoroughly enjoyed it. I particularly found part 3 to be quite interesting. I've also come to the conclusion that cleanliness of books, movies and other arts is more than simply the content they entail. That has to be the case, because the Bible contains plenty of "R-rated" material, yet it is the foundation of our spiritual growth and morality as Christians. For me, I find it helpful to look at cleanliness of content, through 3 different lenses. 1. Is the content appropriate for the intended audience in the stage of life that we expect them to be at? (you touched on this - s*x in YA fiction for fifteen year-olds is usually a no-no). 2. Is the portrayal of said content, done so in a manner which submits to God's standards, and seeks to uphold what is good, and condemn what is evil? I think you touched on this pretty well too. 3. Assuming both of the above criteria are green flagged, does the individual reader find the content of the book helpful or unhelpful for them personally at that time? (This one is more subjective and based on the conscience of the individual reader than the content itself - for example, one unmarried couple might find Song of Songs helpful in reminding them what s*x within marriage is for and encourages them to abide by God's standards. Another unmarried couple may find that it tends to awaken desires that tempt them into sin, and so they may make the conscious choice to avoid it for a time)

I write Christian fiction i do worry about what people will think of me and my stories I'm first book was a bout a teen boy having to deal with the lasting affect of S abuse as a young boy and how GOD helps him though it giving other hope that you can work though it this topic is really important but rarely talked about no one has ever read any of my work so i do wander how would books like this be received

I have done a couple of book reviews on my channel 😅 Oh and Nikki can you do a video on High fantasy vs low fantasy? I'm having trouble knowing if my book is high fantasy or low fantasy.

Hey nicki. Where is your video on legalism and writing fantasy?

I should put traffic controller robots for your speech so you may decrease the speed because you're really really faster than a Ferrari🤣beautiful content by the way. Why don't you read popular books? That's a good peer pressure.

🙏

You went for Barbie movies for inspiration, and I went for Bear in the Big Blue House 😅 Nice to know that im not the only one using childhood stuff for inspiration!

I don't like reading popular books when everyone else is either. I don't want to be influenced by what everyone else thinks.

lol my husband sent this to me joking that you and I are basically the same person and I’m cracking up because he was right 🤣 I recently read Rebecca Ross’s A River Enchanted and A Fire Endless (duology, highly recommend) and have been planning to pick up Divine Rivals sometime this year! I read hunchback about a decade ago and I agree that it’s kind of a letdown…BUT! I was so impressed with Hugo’s ability to write the perspective of his characters because whomever’s perspective I was reading from, even if I hated the character, I was still in a way kind of rooting for them? That’s not really the right phrase but for lack of a better term. Like obviously I don’t love Frollo. But when it was written from his perspective, he was convincing in his reason for why he was doing what he was doing, even though it was messed up and wrong. Idk, I just found that aspect fascinating. I *do* remember I skipped the whole portion where he describes Paris in excruciating detail. 😅 Also also, I did karate for most of my childhood into adulthood. Anyway, you’re my personality doppelgänger and I thought you should know 🤣

What exactly is too dark for you?

Thank you for the joyous and inspiring update! Gotta keep writing!

Lending books is such a risky business 🤣 I don't venture into that territory very often -- some books were never retrieved and I still bear those wounds!

My book is intensely unpopular at the moment. Just throwing that out there.

Catholic Christian here. I write historical fiction (and historical fantasy) mixed up with mystery and murders. I know I don't want to write "christian fiction" or something like that, but I also know I can't get rid of the Catholic undertones my writing may have, since religion is a basic part of my identity. My novels focus more on exploring the moral complexity of our human nature. Since faith is in a large part rational, the definitions of morals are very much a mix of philosophy and revelation, and through philosophy you can get to the existence of a God that's good, so it comes off more as a quest for what is good instead of a sermon-like brick about Catholic morals. Great video!!!

I just wish Helen was a little bit more useful😅 i love the Christmas theme, it was great. I love that the charecter lives in Canada!

This encouraged me! Thank you for sharing!

I've heard art teachers use the expression, "You have 1,000 bad drawings trapped in your pencil. You have to set them free before you can get to the good ones." I believe the same is true for writing. Your first draft is never going to be perfect, but that doesn't make it worthless. There will almost always be SOMETHING worth keeping. Bits of dialogue, the way something was described, or the sequence that the events took place, etc... Never completely throw away a draft, even if your next draft goes an entirely different direction. You can always learn something by looking back at your previous work. Maybe something you wrote will fit in somewhere else down the line. Maybe when you come back to an idea you'll be experienced enough to know how to fix what wasn't working before. Never let it go to waste. Neil Gaiman's writing Master Class compares this concept to "composting", and I've found that it's a very good approach.

Another important thing to remember if you're doubting yourself, questioning the necessity or validity of your work as a "Christian fantasy writer" is that Jesus used STORIES to communicate ideas to people. While the biblical parables are not necessarily "fantasy", they are about people and places that only exist in the hypothetical (with the exception of The Good Samaritan, because y'know... there was a more specific point to be proven 😅), and yet they still prove a powerful point. Getting in someone's face and flat out telling them, "You need to be a better person!" isn't going to be very effective. Giving them a story with characters who inspire them to grow and change is much more subtle and potentially long-lasting because the good stories (like Hook) stick with us.

It is so hard to let go, but so necessary. 😅

OMG yes!!! Mentally massaging the plot bunnies, mapping and editing in my head while I'm driving is one of my favourite things! I also act out and edit dialogue in my head in the car too. I even use character voices lol.

I really liked the idea of writing down the major problems and analyzing them individually. A reminder that scrapping ideas can still be progress is always necessary from time to time for us novice writers. Thank you.

This was very good and timely for me! Glad to know the struggle is not mine alone lol. Thank you for the encouragement and comradery! <3

if i know something is wrong i will go back and fix it before moving on sometimes it's the small things like forgetting a description of a character or something like that i want my first draft to be as good as possible

I struggled for a couple years trying to force myself to write a third book in a series. Finally, I realized the series needs to stop as a dulology. I feel so free and am now nearly done the first draft of my sci fi!

You are a Godsend! I have been "stuck" for a few months. Unable to even write the Blahblah (1st) draft of this story. I have two chpts.... and what seems to be a brick wall that delights in smashing anything that looks like progress. Perhaps I just need to try rewriting those two chpts in different ways, all the ways they could possibly exist, to find the solution my uncommunicative mind is trying to hint at with its cruel brick walls. Maybe, maybe, maybe.....