Valerie Volk on writing faith stories well

Each year at Stories of Life we have one judge for each category. You might already have read about our 2022 judges Dr James Cooper (Open category) and Lorraine Marwood (Short category).

Today we publish the Judge’s Report by 2021 Open category judge Valerie Volk. We hope that you will find her comments and insights helpful as you work on your 2022 story of life, which you will be able to upload for feedback from 1 June 2022.

Stories of Life   2021      Open Section    Judge’s Report

by Valerie Volk

Reading the stories long-listed by the editors has been an interesting and rewarding experience.

            While they may have varied in literary merit, all were marked by a deep and abiding faith, and a genuine awareness of the goodness of God in the writers’ lives. Subject matter also showed great variety, though there was a common thread of disaster experiences, from boating wrecks, car accidents, flight problems, to natural events like tornadoes and bushfires, while several were set in hospital wards and Intensive Care Units.

            In a significant number of cases, they were ‘turnaround’ stories, where lives had been miraculously altered by a caring intervention of others, recognised as the hand of God at work. It was heartening to read of the new life that so many writers had experienced.

            There were some common problems in the writing. Worst perhaps was the tendency to recount events in a simplistic fashion, without much attempt at literary crafting or developing a story line to points of climax. These are meant to be ‘stories’ – not just accounts – and at times this was overlooked. The old advice of ‘Show not Tell’ was often ignored. On the plus side, the level of competent, accurate, grammatical writing was good, and reading the stories was not impeded by annoying literacy problems.

            Most stories made the faith experience central, at times to the point of overloading the material with Biblical texts. On the other hand, one very well-written story lost selection in the final short list by having only a tangential connection to spiritual support in a time of crisis. There were two important facets in this project: ‘story’ and ‘faith’. The two elements needed to be kept in balance.

            All writers should be congratulated on the willingness to witness in a meaningful way to the place of God in their lives and their deep gratitude for divine support in times of crisis.

            The three selected for the short list:

First place:     Jo Wanmer for Mum meet my mother    – a well-crafted story about an unusual situation, as an adopted girl is taken to meet her birth mother. This piece of writing featured convincing characters and mounting emotional tension, while underlying faith and dependence on God were at the centre of the story.

Second Place:  Jo-Anne Berthelsen for The Rainbow   – another story that had a clearly developed plot and strong emotional impact as a funeral celebrant looks for reassurance of God’s comfort for the grieving family and friends.

Third Place:  Lynda Wake for My Black Dogs    – a well-written interplay of two dogs in the writer’s life after the death of her daughter. The interweaving of the animal dog and the black dog of depression reflected well a realistic problem of today, focusing on mental health and the guilt a Christian may feel in this situation.

Thank you for the opportunity to be involved in this very worthwhile project. I look forward to seeing the final publication.

Valerie Volk

15 August, 2021

All the winning stories and many more are in The Labyrinth. Get a copy delivered to you today.