Including God in Fantasy

Doug wrote this about his WIP: They have the same God that we do, not our God mapped into some other form.

I attended a one-day workshop with SCBWI last fall and got the opportunity to talk with an editor from Scholastic. We talked about including God in fantasy novels. Her advice to me about having God in the story is to make sure it’s a natural part of the culture, whether fantasy, sci-fi or futuristic. Don’t put God in your story simply for the sake of making it “inspirational” or Christian. The reader will know if you’re hitting them over the head with a message.

She also advised me to give Him another name – I was calling Him “The Most High God” in my story. That was too much like the Bible, and fantasy writers need to keep in mind that there are not fairies, elves, wizards or dwarves in the Bible. That made sense to me. So, I renamed Him, Celtar. I think it works.

I also included a book of “Holy Writings” which my characters quote from time to time, so I’ve paraphrased enough to keep it from being a direct quote from Scripture.

Should Christians include God in their story? I’d love to hear your opinion on this. Let the discussion begin!