Fact and Fiction
Flannery kept peafowl on her land. She loved them.
“A story is a way to say something that can’t be said any other way, and it takes every word in the story to say what the meaning is.”-Flannery O’Connor
I love Flannery O’Connor. In my opinion, her short stories are legendary. She weaves words together in effortless rhythms and describes the world magically utilizing all five senses. She believed that stories, especially fiction, are valuable because they illustrate life changing realities and truths that benefit our lives. The first story I read by her was called A Good Man is Hard to Find. It shook me to my core. I didn’t fully understand why she would write a character who killed an entire family in the woods, yet I was drawn to her writing and wanted to read more of what she had to say. O’Connor succeeds at showing the depravity in the world through her stories. Her characters are painfully broken in horrific ways. They direct the reader back to their strong need to be saved from an ever disappointing and fallen world. They subtly point people to Christ and teach the reader about their own need to be saved from the emptiness in the world.
Like many people, I learn best through fiction. I am an imaginative person, so fiction fulfills my need for creativity while also imparting important facts about life. When I started writing the short story that became the novel Loving Naomi, I wanted to teach my children about OCD in a medium that made the most sense to me. Instead of describing every symptom of my disorder detail by detail, like what would be found in a psychiatry book, the fictional character Naomi illustrated those facts through her experiences. She came alive on the page. As I wrote, my own mental battles became clearer and more understandable, even to myself.
Fiction is good for far more than entertainment. Sure, there are some books written solely for a reader’s enjoyment, but there are countless others written with the intention of illustrating vital aspects of life. The possibilities are endless. Just as God created each one of us uniquely for His purposes, so too, creative stories we read and write are valuable to helping us understand the world.
I’ve known people who refuse to read non-fiction. I’ve also met people who refuse to read fiction. Whatever medium you’re most drawn to, I challenge you to read the one you are less inclined to pick up. It may feel pointless at first, but the payoff might just be worth the effort.
I cannot imagine living during a time when books were not only rejected but also burned; losing all that valuable wisdom is criminal. As we move into 2021, tired and exhausted from the past year, I pray we would choose to tap into new resources in order to learn more about the world around us. I hope the release of Loving Naomi will provide one such resource for the people who need it most. My prayer is that my words would plant seeds of hope in those who read my book teaching people about OCD and even more about Christ.
