Writers are kind of obsessive people. It’s actually one of the traits that makes us good at what we do.

But can I be honest with you? 95% of writers are wasting this gift in a really obvious way. (OK, I made that number up, but the point is—it’s a lot.)

If this article feels annoying to you, then you’re probably exactly the person who needs to read it. Stick with me, and it just might change everything.

Let’s be real: As writers, we’re fascinated by all sorts of stuff.

I’m fascinated by people. I am super guilty of being the weird guy in the corner not talking, just listening. I like to hear how people talk, what they think they’re an expert on (regardless of whether they actually are or not), and how they try to control their body language.

True confession: I actually have an easier time talking in a group of women than men, because women are typically more interested in people, and men are typically more interested in things. (This is a true fact, and one of the biggest divides in the psychology of men and women.)

Historically, the most successful authors are people that were borderline obsessive about certain topics.

Some obsessive authors you’ve heard of

Kurt Vonnegut was fascinated by anthropology and sociology—how cultures, people groups, and mythologies form. Do you see that in his work?

John Grisham is an expert at the legal system.

Tom Clancy was fascinated by the military and the CIA, despite never serving in either. (But isn’t that exactly what someone who was in the CIA would say?)

John Steinbeck was a champion of the working-class poor (despite definitively NEVER belonging to this class).

J.R.R. Tolkien was a scholar of British folklore and mythology.

Zane Gray couldn’t get enough of the American West.

Frank Herbert (Dune) was fascinated by ecological science and environmental engineering.

And we could go on and on. Throughout history, great writers have been fascinated by things. That’s what makes us tick.

That’s why we can offer insights and describe things in ways that no one has ever thought of before. We spend a lot of time thinking about niche things.

Of course the drawback is that our interests are usually fairly narrow. We’re not always great conversationalists in a general sense. Our knowledge and insight may be limited to very specific areas.

But most writers are blowing it

So how are we blowing it? Brace yourself, Effie…

Most writers are blowing their propensity for obsession on existing fandoms.

Whatever their favorite fandom is, they just can’t stop. Narnia, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Marvel, Jane Austen, Dune, Dungeons and Dragons, Manga, Harry Potter, LEGO, even Gone with the Wind (Windies).

Do you see yourself in that list? It is surely not exhaustive. (And there’s one more even bigger one we’ll get to in a moment.)

Too many writers are obsessed with these franchises.

You’re spending your life consuming someone else’s product. It “lives rent free in your head” as the kids like to say, occupying a tremendous amount of your time and attention.

God gave you this fully funded account to be fascinated. You’re exhausting the balance buying leftovers.

Don’t mishear me. There’s nothing wrong with liking these things. If a new Star Wars movie comes out, I would like to go see it.

But these things can’t consume us.

What you write will always be a product of what you intake. We only have so much capacity for study.

Professional athletes can’t eat Little Debbies all day and then expect to “turn it on” and perform when they need to.

You can’t either.

Jesus said, “From the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:45, my paraphrase) What you spend your time consuming and thinking about, that’s what you’ll talk about. Implicitly or explicitly, that’s what you’ll find on the page.

If in the quiet hours you’re contemplating and meditating upon Marvel, what do you think your writing is going to look and sound like? How deep and nuanced do you expect your themes to be?

If your fascination lies with these fandoms, you will only produce knockoff amalgamations of those fandoms. You will produce a slightly lesser version.

Christian writers are particularly vulnerable to this

Tell me if this story sounds familiar…

You gravitate towards some fandom because it was part of a very selective subset of pop culture deemed “safe” when you were a teenager and it was allowed in your household. Because your access to pop culture was limited, you exploited as much of that “safe” fandom as possible. Because wider access to pop culture was withheld, you binged what was allowed, and went as deep as you could.

And now that’s where you live.

So many Christian writers say that they want to change the world with their stories. But they don’t know anything about the world. All they can really reach are people with a high level of interest in similar fandoms.

You can provide more Lord of the Rings type stuff to people who have already consumed and re-consumed all of the LOTR material. But that’s it. That will be the limit of your reach.

And that pretty much sums up Christian fantasy.

It’s a copy of a copy

We have to get fascinated with the real world. People, places, things.

Why don’t Christian fantasy books break out to the secular market like Tolkien and Lewis did? Maybe it’s because those guys weren’t emulating themselves.

Maybe it’s because they both had big ideas about the real world that were distilled into their fiction.

Why has Andrew Peterson’s The Wingfeather Saga broken out? I’m certain there are many reasons, but maybe one of them is because he’s much more than a fantasy writer. Head over to The Rabbit Room (another project of his) and you’ll find a musician, an artist, a philosopher, and a theologian—a man fascinated by the real world.

But there’s another slippery fandom claiming new writers every day

One of the most egregious and slippery fandoms to steal our fascination: story itself.

How many aspiring authors include a line like this in their bio: I love stories…

Some writers become so fascinated in the art of writing itself, that they lose all context about which to write.

I’ve long called this “The MFA Effect.” Master of Fine Arts programs are notorious for turning out writers who can satisfy all the benchmarks of “good writing,” but have lost all connection to any kind of real reader along the way. What they’re saying might be beautifully written, but nobody cares.

We’re reading craft books, we’re honing our prose, we know techniques to evoke emotion…but we still don’t have anything worth saying.

BUT…this is not just a rant—there’s a simple solution

Get fascinated with the real world.

If you want your stories, fantasy or otherwise, to have real depth—use your powers of observation where they belong.

If you want to write about a hard and controversial topic (implicitly or explicitly), you need to know your own side AND the opposition. Become fascinated with the real people who are otherwise lovely individuals but hold a different viewpoint.

If you want to write a book that changes hearts and minds about abortion, you need to know that topic better than you know yourself. You can’t recycle a couple of talking points you saw on an infographic once and call it day.

Christian fiction is famous for strawman bad guys on important issues. I don’t think that’s bad faith, I think it’s that we don’t actually know. We haven’t really taken the time to observe and know.

What is it really like to live in a world without the hope of Christ?

Stereotypes and conjecture won’t cut it. Observe, learn, ask hard questions.

A bigger world awaits

Put aside the fandoms. Put aside the obsession with writing technique. Instead, get fascinated by real people, real places, and real things.

God gave you a gift…a gift to go deep. Stop allowing the enemy to absorb you with things that other people have created. It doesn’t serve you in the way you think it does.

The best fantasy worlds will be the ones that take some essence of the real world and put it on display.

The best characters will be the ones that are informed by real people and conversations.

The most impactful stories will indicate a naturally comprehensive depth to their own themes and subjects.

So put away the forums and the Funko Pops.

Consume and enjoy these great franchises, but don’t let them consume you.

God has gifted you with a tremendous propensity to care deeply, investigate exhaustively, and revel in hard and beautiful things.

Put that tool to work in a way that matters.

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