Christian Fiction: 10 Popular Tropes in Christian Fiction Books

When we think about tropes, the first two genres that come to mind are oftentimes fantasy or romance. However, Christian fiction also has tropes that can be identified within different kinds of Christian fiction books, each one having a unique mood and setting a memorable storyline. In this post, I'll be going over ten of these and how Christian authors can use and combine them in creative ways in their stories. But first, what are tropes? Let's find out what they are and briefly go over them below. 🔍

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WATCH THE EPISODE

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See episode 25 of season 2 of my Journey of a Christian Writer series, 10 Popular Tropes in Christian Fiction Books, or continue reading the blog post below.

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WHAT ARE TROPES?

Tropes are easily identified and recurring characters, plot themes, and other literary devices used in narratives. In essence, they're like stock characters and story elements. For example, a female character of the girl-next-door, or an enemies-to-lovers plotline. Whether you're a Christian fiction writer or other genre writer, story tropes are an asset to all writers in general. Why? Because knowing the popular tropes of their particular genre in the book market allows writers to write within the market. Hence, it helps authors write books they both like, what readers of their genre expect, and similar types of books that are actually selling in the book marketplace. Plus, it also allows them to choose the right keywords and categories for their books based on their competition and what is already selling well. Writers can research and evaluate this information by using a special tool by Amazon called Publisher Rocket. Okay, now, that that's out of the way, let's check out ten tropes in Christian fiction books.

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10 POPULAR TROPES IN CHRISTIAN FICTION BOOKS

Christian fiction has many different tropes within its novels and books and some depend on the subgenres books are categorized in. Nonetheless, there are ten specific popular tropes that can actually be found in all subgenres of Christian fiction in some way or another.

The following is a detailed bullet list of them:

1. REDEMPTION & SALVATION

2. FORGIVENESS & HEALING

3. FAITH & HOPE

4. PERSONAL TRANSFORMATION

5. THE POWER OF PRAYER

6. THE FIGHT BETWEEN GOOD & EVIL

7. THE "CHOSEN ONE"

8. LOVE RELATIONSHIPS

9. FAMILY DILEMMAS

10. THE MENTOR ARCHETYPE

Okay, let's dive in and check out each one of these.

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REDEMPTION & SALVATION

This first trope is storylines about characters who redeem themselves from their past failures and mistakes or make up for lost time after unfortunate situations. These types of plotlines have characters that consist of positive arcs and who typically reaches a stage of renewal or revival in their lives by the story's ending or closing scene. This is one of the most common tropes within Christian fiction books, as it's literally the epitome of what general Christian fiction books are all about.

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FORGIVENESS & HEALING

This second trope is another frequent one that shows up in Christian fiction books and can take on a few different angles. For example, maybe a character needs to forgive themselves for something they did wrong in their past, or maybe a character must forgive their father for childhood abandonment. Both of these examples can be woven together. Hence, what I'll talk more about later toward the end of this blog post when I get to combining tropes.

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FAITH & HOPE

This third trope is more subtle compared to the previous ones mentioned. After all, faith and hope are things we can't physically see with our eyes, but they are sensations or feelings we see and feel within our hearts and souls. Both of these can work as motivating forces in characters that guide and strengthen them to overcome challenges. Maybe a character is believing in a healing miracle, or perhaps a character is having hope to fulfill their biggest dream. These are two examples of faith and hope storylines.

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PERSONAL TRANSFORMATION

This fourth trope is for storylines about characters who go through internal or external changes while striving to overcome certain fears, insecurities, and weaknesses. Character motivation is crucial for these Christian storylines and works as the engine for characters to move toward their goals. These stories also often involve personal growth and spiritual journey transformations. For example, maybe a character has a spiritual stronghold of a personal addiction and works to live a healthier life, or maybe a character gets bullied and learns to defend himself and confront his oppressors, as in the Karate Kid movies.

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THE POWER OF PRAYER

This fifth trope is about storylines that revolve around prayer and the benefits of prayer in one's life and how with faith it can work miracles and cause blessings come. The Christian movie War Room by the Kendrick Brothers and the novelization by Chris Fabry is a perfect example of this storyline, in which an elderly woman Miss Clara mentors a young wife and real estate agent named Elizabeth Jordan and gives her the ins and outs of prayer strategy to help save her troubled marriage and family.

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THE FIGHT BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL

The sixth trope is about storylines about a conflict of positive and negative forces, which can be either spiritual powers, external forces, or people. Some examples could be evil spirits in supernatural or fantasy stories, or a powerful system of government that controls how a society functions within a community. It's also the internal conflict within a single character. For example the mental and spiritual warfare battle of an army soldier struggling with PTSD and his faith in God, as in the Christian drama movie, My Brother's Keeper. This storyline is about an internal battle within the lead male character Travis Fox and his choices between good and evil in his life.

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THE "CHOSEN ONE"

This seventh trope is about characters who are destined for a special purpose or mission and often with divine intervention. Maybe a character is the only one who can do a particular task or rescue a group of people, or maybe a character has a calling of some kind they must fulfill in their life. One example of this is the panda Po from the movie Kung Fu Panda (2008 film) who was selected as the Dragon Warrior. These types of tropes are also common in biblical fiction for kings, prophets, queens.

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LOVE RELATIONSHIPS

This eighth trope obviously is about romantic relationships, but also about Christian virtues and falls under the Christian romance subgenre. Christian fiction writers can take a number of different routes for this one, combining other tropes, such as an "enemies-to-lovers" or "friends-to-lovers" approach as the plot setup for these kinds of stories. Think Hallmark movie and use strategic planning for the obstacles and complications the characters must face before the final resolution and happy ever after. Maybe one or both of the characters has a haunted past they must overcome in order to move forward and build their future together. Decide on how you will maneuver the characters along the journey to a satisfying conclusion.

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FAMILY DILEMMAS

This ninth trope is for storylines about familial issues characters face within a story. These problems can range from martial and family secrets that get revealed, to sibling rivalry or adoption difficulties. There are a lot of books and movies the revolve around family dilemmas, such as Karen Kingsbury's the Baxer Family series, my Hallelujah Praise series about an elderly pastor, his three estranged daughters, and his attempts to rebuild his family, or the Christian movie Birdie, the story about an ex-convict who tries to reconnect with his eight-year-old daughter staying with her grandparents.

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THE MENTOR ARCHETYPE

Finally, this tenth trope is for storylines about wise and experienced characters that guides and supports a pupil or pupils on their spiritual journey. One Christian film that comes to my mind for this theme is Play the Flute, a story about a youth pastor who counsels and teaches a group of indifferent teenagers, inspiring them to have faith and believe the Word of God.

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HOW CHRISTIAN AUTHORS CAN COMBINE STORY TROPES

So, how can Christian authors combine story tropes in their books?

It's easy. For example, writers can have one story trope be the main plot, and another trope be the subplot of their book. Maybe the main plot has a personal transformation trope about a troubled teen who becomes a responsible, young man, and the sub plot has a mentor archetype, as the teenage boy gets supported by his school guidance counselor. To track these, writers can call one storyline Story A, and the subplot called Story B. From there, writers can write the main concepts and decide how to map out each storyline by a scene and sequel outline and whether they will intertwine and reach a midpoint during the complete story's arc or be parallel storylines.

Below is an outlined example:

MAIN CONCEPTS:

Story A: A troubled teenage boy gets sent to the principal's office and must complete therapy sessions and community service. (Main Plot)

Story B: A guidance counselor questions whether he's making a difference. (Sub Plot)

SCENE OUTLINE:

Story A

Scene 1 (action): The teenage boy sets a dangerous prank on his English teacher.

Sequel 1 (reaction): The teenage boy is sent to the principal's office to discuss his punishment.

Scene 2 (action): The principal offers an ultimatum to the teenage boy to complete community service and take therapy sessions or go to court for a juvenile detection trial.

Sequel 2 (reaction): Although he doesn't want to, the teenage boy chooses to complete community service and seek therapy from the school guidance counselor.

After the first couple scenes of the main plot, a writer can then weave in the subplot.

Story B

Scene 3 (action): A guidance counselor discovers one of his students has committed suicide.

Sequel 3 (reaction): He becomes depressed and considers quitting his job.

Scene 4 (action): The guidance counselor gets informed by the principal about the teenage boy student and asks him to give the kid a chance.

Sequel 4 (reaction): Unconvinced he can help, the guidance counselor gives it one more shot.

Then a writer can have the main and sub plots meet a midpoint where they cross, afterward leading to the story arc's reversal.

Reversal: The teenage boy changes for the better and gets his act together, restoring a new sense of purpose and achievement for his guidance counselor.

This is just an example of how writers can combine different story tropes together.

CLOSING REMARKS

Knowing the tropes of Christian fiction books or any particular genre is beneficial for all writers and allows them to have a greater chance of being a standout from among readers to have better book sales and reviews. While writing stories you like is important, it's even better to do so while within the book market at the same time. Therefore, take the time to do your research to stay ahead of the competition and learn the tropes and characteristics of your main and subgenres. I guarantee you will thank yourself later. For more writing videos or tutorials, subscribe to my writing channel Journey of a Christian Writer series. All right, that's it for this post. If you liked it, please, give it a (heart❤️), take part in the poll 🤔, and share your thoughts or comments 💬 below.)  

Happy Writing! 😊✍🏽💻

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Check out the mentioned books and movies in the list below on Amazon:

• War Room (Movie)

• War Room by Chris Fabry

• The Karate Kid

• My Brother's Keeper

• Kung Fu Panda

• The Baxter Family series by Karen Kingsbury

• Birdie

• Play the Flute

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