Theme Guidelines Details
This page offers a fuller explanation of what we're looking for, expanding on the requirements of the theme.
Theme Guidelines
- We are looking for speculative stories that meaningfully engage with Christianity.
- Your story doesn't need to teach a moral or cleave closely to an approved theological position.
- Your story doesn't need to be pro-Christian. We're unlikely to publish anything that insults us, but we do want to read stories that challenge us. Having said that, there are tropes we see too often in stories critical of Christian faith and tradition: evil preachers, theocratic dystopias, Christians abandoning their faith because something inexplicable happened, crazy Christians trying to bring about the apocalypse by doing something in Israel, an unambiguously evil God. Any of these will be a hard sell.
- There are tropes we see too often on the pro-Christian side, too. Stories where the plot resolution hinges on one or more characters becoming Christian, apocalypse stories based on a literal reading of Revelation, rapture stories, spiritual warfare with angels and demons as characters, retold Bible stories, allegory, theocratic utopias, anything that reads like C.S. Lewis fanfic. You'd have to do a very unique take on one of these to get anything other than a quick rejection.
- We both like stories with complex and interesting characters. Donald prefers stories that have a fast-paced plot with plenty of twists, Kristin likes stories with elegant prose and a compelling emotional arc. Either of us can veto a story.
- Save the preaching for church. We're more interested in the questions than the answers, the challenges than the solutions. If your story contains theological explication, you're doing it wrong.
- Avoid one-dimensional villains. We shouldn't be able to spot the villain by their politics or religion. Making sure they have a real, human motivation goes a long way toward making the antagonist real.
- Speaking of politics, Donald is an American conservative and Kristin is a Canadian liberal. Remember what we said about veto power? You can write about politics, but we'll be most impressed by the stories that leave us with some uncertainty about yours.
- Feel free to use sex, violence, and profanity as needed. All three appear in the Bible, after all.
- We're especially interested in stories that show us Christians from cultures beyond those of the United States, Canada, and Western Europe. Unfortunately, we can only consider stories submitted in English.
- For more information, see our posts on what we want: Why We Reject Stories, Why We (Mostly) Don't Like Retold Bible Stories, Stories We See Too Often, and Stories We'd Like to See More Of.