Touching Readers Through Story

Author: Denise George, Christian Writers for Life

Stories are magical! Stories touch readers as individuals, providing them with different levels of meaning. They touch readers right where they are in life, providing a different level of understanding to each person, imparting truth to that person’s individual measure of meaning, maturity, and intelligence.

For instance: The Chronicles of Narnia (by author C. S. Lewis) might seem like an adventurous and exciting series of fictional, fun stories to a six-year-old when his parent reads The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe to him. The child sees Aslan as a strong and good lion who protects the young and vulnerable English children. The child gets caught up in the suspenseful plot, and enjoys the action-filled story.

But the child’s parent will understand a totally different story as he reads the book to the child. He will understand Aslan as a Christ figure, and will comprehend and appreciate the deeper meaning of the story—God’s love, salvation, atonement, and redemption.

People understand story on different levels—according to their age, situation in life, past events in childhood, emotional and spiritual maturity, etc. Stories touch readers in many different ways. That’s one reason they work so well to communicate to readers—yesterday, today, and, no doubt, tomorrow too.

Know that, as a writer, the story is your greatest tool! Craft it with skill, use it with wisdom, and give it as a generous gift to your reader.