OK, so I’ll admit, I don’t have a master’s degree in literature from any of the country’s most prestigious universities. But from the time I was a baby, I’ve been listening to stories from the best selling book of all time, and have read that Book over enough times to develop a sixth sense about what makes a great book. I’ve been taking private lessons from it’s Author for many years, and I would like to share some tips I have learned from getting to know the Book and its Author.

1. Truth sells. While part of the world is going farther and farther down the road of fake reality, many more are actually searching for something real. Even Jesus’ parables were about situations that were true to life.
2. Books need to start with a big bang! (not to be confused with the not so scientific big bang theory) Catch the readers attention without a lot of wordiness.
3. Create tantalizing hints right from the start about what is to come. “God saw everything that He had made and behold it was very good.” But there is a tension there. Will it stay good? You can sense without being told that something is going to happen to mess things up.
4. Get to the conflict without a lot of preamble. A warning was issued. “Eat this fruit and you will die,” the possibility of death in the midst of the most beautiful life imaginable.
5. Even the best characters make mistakes. Adam and Eve sinned. We all make mistakes, even the best of the Biblical characters had their flaws. None of our characters should be portrayed as infallible.
6. Hint at hope. Don’t leave your reader in total despair for any length of time. Be kind, hint of a coming solution without completely giving it away.
7. The climax has great impact because it is unexpected even with all the hints we have offered. The disciples couldn’t really fathom what was happening until it had happened. And the first time we read God’s Book or heard the Story, we were blown away by the enormity of it. An amazing climax!
8. Only the true Hero of the story is able to solve the problem. The willing death and then the resurrection of Jesus Christ was the one and only way to right the wrongs that started near the beginning of the Book.
9. The conclusion lifts a heavy weight and creates tremendous happiness. No other book in existence can give us anywhere near the lift that the Bible can, but with God’s help, the joy in our books can help spread that happiness.
10. Epilogues are wonderful additions to books. What happens afterwards? We all want to know. The Bible gives us the best afterwards anyone can imagine.

This list may sound as though it applies only to fiction, but if you are a nonfiction writer and you think carefully about it, I am sure you will find ways to incorporate many if not all of these tips into your writing as well. After all, the Bible, that greatest book of all times, is definitely not fiction!

For more writing tips for Christians see the previous post: Ten ways for “Feeding the soul through Stories”