I firmly believe that writers were put on this earth to bring hope. We do it in our novels, our non-fiction books, our short stories, our poetry, our magazine articles, and our blog entries. We are lights, shining in dark places, offering flickers of hope to people who often feel they have none. A heavy obligation, this calling to write. And yet, we are up to the task!
So, what exactly is hope?
How do we go about infusing our writing with it? I love this scripture in Romans 8:25: “But if we hope for what is still unseen by us, we wait for it with patience and composure.” When we have hope, we are expectant. We can’t see what’s coming, but we have the uncanny sense that it’s going to be good.
That’s how we want our writers to feel after they’ve read our pieces. Expectant. Like the best is yet to come—both in the pages of our book and in their own lives.
Perhaps you’re writing a magazine article—a personal experience piece about your mother’s struggle with cancer. Make sure you leave the reader feeling a glimmer of hope in the end, even if the story doesn’t have a happily-ever-after ending.
Maybe you’ve written a non-fiction book for people who are grieving the loss of a loved one. Your book has to hit a nerve, yes, but it must also extend far beyond that, offering a sense of expectancy about the future.
The same is true in our novels. Even if things don’t wrap up perfectly in the end, we mustn’t steal our reader’s hope. Why? Because, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick.” Proverbs 13: 12a.
Words are powerful things.
They have the ability to change how readers live. (All the more reason why we have to carefully guard what we write.) We’re responsible for every word. Those words must light a candle in dark places.
Infusing your story with hope is much the same thing as adding sugar to a cake or pie. It just wouldn’t taste the same without it.
You don’t want to dump it in by the bucket-load, though. A little goes a long, long way. We learn how to get the measurements right with time. As we grow in the writing craft, our opportunity to offer hope to our readers grows, as well.
When our characters experience emotional healing, their experience transcends the page, convincing the reader that he, too, can be healed. When a story makes the reader laugh, she is transported out of her doldrums, and her spirits are elevated. When a personal experience piece ends with a hopeful slant, the reader sees this as a potential ending for her life story, as well.
We share the message without a flashing neon sign that reads, “Hey, did you get it? You can have hope, too!” The reader will get it, as long as the piece is well written. Remember, you can share the good news in a way that brings not just momentary hope, but life-changing, eternal hope, as well
