Writing Your Novel: Using the Bible as Your Guide

Are you struggling with the same old creative writing books?

It’s time to study storytelling through a different light.

Writing Your Novel Using the Bible as Your Guide breaks down the book of Genesis into comprehensive writing tools presented in an easy to understand how-to book. Written by critically acclaimed author, Jaimie Engle, owner of A Writer For Life editing, marketing, and coaching firm, this unique approach digs deeper than basic creative elements such as plot, character, setting, theme, arc, and plot. By going through each of the 50 chapters in Genesis, the manuscript focuses on specific elements such as foreshadowing, parallels, the nemesis, forcing change, names hold meaning, and even the truth of death and taxes.

Why the Bible?

The Bible uses the same literary devices in storytelling that most authors struggle with today. Foreshadow. Symbolism. The Power of 3s. The list goes on. And, even if you don't believe in the Bible, it is the longest running publication in history with more copies sold and more translations than any other book in the world. That holds merit as to the quality of the writing and is worth a deeper look.

Why wouldn’t you consider studying such a bestselling book from an author’s perspective?

Setting your novel apart from the rest is a choice. You must give your character’s depth, believability, & a connection to your reader and this doesn’t happen by reading and implementing a beginner’s writing book.

A few tricks include:

Plotting Coincidence – Coincidence happens in real life and it must happen in your story world. It isn’t too fantastic if you support it with believable story details and have the reader emotionally invested in the characters first.

Forcing Change – We change when the pain to stay the same becomes greater. Sometimes, you must craft problems that will force your characters to change their situation and propel the plot forward. Otherwise, your story can become stale and lifeless.

Motivation & Lies – We all see life through glasses tinted with our own biases, including lies we have told ourselves so often that they become truths. Use these same lies in your character’s lives to motivate their choices and create an organic plot line.

Tension – This doesn’t mean a chase scene. The tension as you plan for a vacation or Christmas or a test must be evident in each scene of your story. Tension keeps the reader invested and able to feel the ups and downs of the plot as you grow toward the climax.

Parallels – Showing the MC and other characters on similar life paths makes their decisions that much more important. Either they fall in the same way or are able to change history through a new choice.

Storms Before the Calm – You must lead your MC through gruesome storms, but afterwards, he (& the reader) must rest and recuperate.

Seeing the Story god – Sometimes, your characters fight back when they reveal flaws in you, the writer. It becomes necessary for you to wrestle them under control and gain back your own story.

Tell, Don’t Show – If your reader needs to know something that your characters don’t, the narrator must tell them or else you risk losing the reader, especially when the character’s choices seem out of character and frustrate the reader without the information.

Death and Taxes – Hey, they’re both inevitable. Sometimes, you have to kill off characters. The question becomes: when?

What are you waiting for? Start Writing Your Novel today!

"Jaimie Engle, author of Dreadlands: Wolf Moon, has entered the crowded market of "how-to-write-your-novel" field. Do we need another? Well, maybe, maybe not, but Jaimie has come of with an original premise for hers: Using the world's most read book, the Bible, as a guide to storytelling. This may surprise some writers, but the Bible is chock full of stories that embody the elements of storytelling: Conflict, Hero Journey, Change, Love Triangles, and dozens more. She mines the early chapters of Genesis and shows how these very human accounts can show writers how to weave their own worlds that will immerse their readers. No, this book isn't a Bible study or only for Christian writers. Think of it this way: Don't you think the world's most widely read book [Bible], that has inspired, informed and captivated millions for centuries, may have something to say about the human story? For more like this, see Word Pictures: Knowing God Through Story & Imagination and Myth Became Fact: Storytelling, Imagination, and Apologetics in the Bible."

"Fundamentals are important and this book presents fundamentals in an original and fresh way. I enjoyed Ms. Engles examples from the Bible. Whether you consider the Holy Bible scripture or literature or both, it's refreshing to see that the bones of good storytelling have been around a lot longer than the plethora of books on writing would seem to indicate. It's one thing to talk about a writing concept; it's another to show that concept in a piece of familiar writing. It's the difference between 'showing vs. telling, ' and I appreciate the effort that must have gone into the writing of this resource."