How do I plan a Christian fiction novel?
- Christian publishers have specific, written content guidelines that vary by imprint.
- Inspirational romance is the largest segment of the category.
- Faith should be tested by the plot rather than stated by the narrator.
- Christian fiction spans denominational expectations that affect content.
- The category has both traditional imprints and a large indie market.
Read the content guidelines of the imprints you are targeting, because they differ and they are specific. Then write characters rather than lessons: faith that is genuinely tested by the plot persuades, while faith asserted by the narration does not. The story has to work as a story first.
Chapter i·Why it matters
The category's weakest books resolve doubt too easily, which readers of faith often find less truthful than fiction that lets the question stay hard. Editors say the same thing: they reject manuscripts where the spiritual arc is a foregone conclusion delivered through dialogue rather than earned through events.
Chapter ii·What to include
- Imprint content guidelines, read before drafting, not after.
- A faith question the plot genuinely tests.
- Characters whose doubt is treated seriously.
- Denominational specifics handled with accuracy.
- A spiritual arc that runs through events, not commentary.
- Craft standards equal to any other category.
Chapter iii·Example
A writer's protagonist reached certainty in chapter twelve of twenty-eight, which left the rest of the book without tension. Moving the resolution into the final act, and leaving one question open, made the same story land for both her agent and her editor.
Chapter iv·Related questions
In WriteLoom
Everything this article talks about, in one project
WriteLoom keeps imprint guidelines and comp research beside the manuscript so the target market stays in view.
Not ready for a workspace yet? Get the free six-part series on winning the writing game: finishing drafts, editing in the right order, querying with real math, and launching on a runway.