Soul Searching by Nicky Wilkinson

Are you sitting uncomfortably? – some Halloween reflections

It’s Hallowe’en – have you noticed?! – and this blog month’s has been ongoing almost as long as the marketing lead-up. I know that some of my struggle with this time of year lies in having lived so long in Africa. In the UK we are amused by Hallowe’en paraphernalia: eating cupcakes iced with spooks and gore; trick or treating; scrolling for ‘scary films to cuddle up to’. In stark contrast, in Africa a pumpkin would feed a family for a week and they have a healthy fear of spiders — so why would you decorate with them? Witch-doctors cast spells and people drop dead. The fear around magic is real. 

I have always been wary of writing about the supernatural outside of God. Acts 19:19, for example, describes people burning their books on magic, though these would likely have been books of spells, rather than the 1st century equivalent of Harry Potter. As someone tried to reassure me recently, his powers came out of the love of his parents. Surely that is a good thing? Have I been naive?

All of this helps explain why I’m uncomfortable with ‘supernatural writing’. I know I haven’t got the writing credentials or skills to offer a proper critique, so all I can say is that the Harry Potter books bother me. I know you may not agree with me, given that they were an unparalleled literary success – and, of course, I can’t comment on why they were such a success because I haven’t read any of them! (My children will probably read them to their children, rather than follow my method of banning them, and hopefully they will have constructive conversations as a result.) Oddly, The Lord of the Rings doesn’t worry me. I will quote Gandalf quite happily. As wizards go, he seems quite Christian!

So what is my problem? We know that what works in good writing is the tension of a great story, perhaps with another world as its stage, excellently devised and incorporating characters who reveal truth through their interactions. We know that what wins the heart is the credibility of characters who are nuanced like we are, and not cardboard caricatures, so here’s the question: Does it matter if they take the bus or the broomstick? And are we wiser for having read the story?

All I know is that I can only be true to myself, asking God ‘are my motives pure?’ at regular intervals. I believe that truth should be at the heart of what we write, with God’s glory our aim, and with our readers edified. 

What do you think?

 Nicky Wilkinson lives in Sheffield, is the Administrator for ACW and part of the ACW Sheffield Scribblers Group. She lived abroad in the Czech Republic and Zimbabwe for 26 years. She worked for FEBA Radio in Zimbabwe, and taught at Chisipite Senior School in Harare. Lately she has become an adoring granny to four grandkids.