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(From the March 1983 issue of
Christian Bookseller Magazine, years before the Left Behind series!)
An
interview with Jerry Jenkins
by Stephen R. Clark
The
author of the popular Margo Series, Jerry Jenkins has a lot to share about
writing, the fiction market, and his goals.
Where do you get the ideas for
these books? Do you usually have the plot all worked out, and do you know right
where they are going?
No, not totally. With Margo
the first chapter was a short story that I had written years before. I didn’t
give the characters names. All I did was have a guy talk a girl out from the
window. He shuts the window and that’s the end of the short story.
Then I wanted to do a book
about a judge who tries a man for murder that the judge has committed. To give
it a twist I made the person being tried a woman, and I made her the mother of
the girl who had been talked out of committing suicide and made the trial the
reason she was going to jump.
That’s all I had when I sat
down to write. I’m often surprised by what the characters say and do, within
reason. But I also have found that if I sit down with no direction and just say
I’m going to write whatever comes up. panic sets in about the three-quarter mark
be cause you have to have a satisfying story line and development before you can
get to the finals.
So now I make sure I have a
basic plot. I know what the twist is and I know what the climax is. It may not
be writ ten down, but I know where I’m going with it.
How did the idea develop to do
this type of a series?
Well, I had done Mar90 as its
own book. It was just going to be a single volume. Then Moody Press wanted me to
write books for them and we weren’t getting together on anything. So they took
the initiative and said, “Well, why don’t we get the rights to the first book
and have you do a Margo series. Let’s do six.” They got the right to the first
one and I did two more, They released those three, then one every so many
months for awhile.
But I think 12 is going to be
it unless there is a real demand, because I’m burning out on Margo. I enjoy it
and like it, but there are other fiction series I want to write.
How long does it take to do
one of these books?
They vary. I write in sort of
vicious blocks of time where I just go crazy. I’ve had times where I write more
than a chapter a day and just slug it out.
I write very fast, but I
always make sure that if the book sounds like it is knocked out fast. I go back
and change it because I would feel swindled if I bought a book that looked like
some body just batted it out.
It also depends on the
complexity of the book and the length. Most of these are pretty much the same
length. But I spent an awful lot of time on the fifth book, which I think stands
out in the series as a totally different kind of book. The other ones I just
blocked the time off and sort of served time until they were done.
Do you have a tough time
juggling pressures of your work at Moody Monthly and your writing, your family,
and everything?
I think I would if I didn’t
have them in the right order. I consider my job at Moody my full-time
occupation. If I have a Moody Monthly emergency it takes first precedence over
my writing at home because I can’t say, “Sorry. I can’t. I’m writing a book.”
But my family is my number one
priority. In fact, that’s the reason I have a full-time job. That’s why I go to
work. But from the time I get home from work to the time my kids go to bed,
family is the number one priority.
Some people will say that your
books are not literature, and shouldn’t be around in the Christian market.
Well, they are right and they
are wrong. They are right that my books are not literature and they are wrong
that they shouldn’t be around. I have no allusions about where I fit into the
spectrum. I am not a classic writer. I think those books are as good as I can
make them. And If I didn’t think they had messages or a ministry I wouldn’t
write them.
There are people, even some of
my peers from college, who kind of snipe at the books. They think I should be
doing more with my talent, that I should be another C.S. Lewis. But I’m not an
allegorical type writer. I like stories with beginnings, middles and ends. I
like excitement, page turning.
Now it doesn’t mean that just
be cause they sell they need to be in the market. I think there is a lot of
stuff on the market that sells well and is garbage. But you’re not going to get
me to say that I don’t think my books should be in the Christian market.
And I think you can see from
each subsequent book that I’m growing as a writer. My characters are stronger
and they are interacting. They deal with important issues. They have real
problems. Even though at times it sounds like a soap opera. I think it could hap
pen. I grew up in a family of all cops, so I know that that part of life is
real.
So I say yes and no. No, it’s
not literature, but yes. it does deserve to be in the market.
What audience are you writing
for, the Christian or the non-Christian?
I would say that lam very
aware that I am writing primarily for the Christian market. But I try to write
in such a way that it wouldn’t embarrass a non- Christian. In fact many of my
wife’s friends in our town read them just because “Diane’s husband writes
books,” and they are not embarrassed or shut off. In fact they talk about it.
They say religion is in there but it is not offensive, And I think it is very
clear in some of the books what we’re talking about.
I do have a dream to write for
the secular audience and I’m talking to a secular publisher now about a series.
But the Christian content will be different in there. The audience has to affect
how you say it.
Which do you have more
difficulty with, non-fiction or fiction?
I’ve never had a real struggle
writing either one. I like to write fiction a lot better, basically because l
don’t have to worry about the subject. People I’m writing about in fiction are
mine, it doesn’t mean they do what I say. They often surprise me in good ways.
But non-fiction is harder work for me. With a fiction book I can go to my little
word processor and just sit there and enjoy. And I enjoy the stories myself. If
they bore me I start over and do something else. I really got tired of
non-fiction after awhile, and I may get tired of fiction too. But I haven’t yet.
And I’m doing another fiction
series for Victor Books. It will probably be very similar to Margo, but with a
whole new setting and different characters.
Will these be for women or
young people?
Well, we’ve found fans of the
Margo series down to age 12. And though I wrote Margo for a general audience, it
has become a women’s series.
But men who read them like it.
At least they say they do. And they warit to see more. One of the things I want
to do in the secular series is not just have a male narrator, but a male star. A
detective probably.
Men are mystery readers. Even
Agatha Christie had a lot of men readers. So that’s another goal. I would like
to write the kind of fiction that reaches the more general audience, not just
women.
How many books will there be
in the Victor series?
We have contracted for the
first two and the plan is to do at least four. It all depends on demand.
Any non-fiction books in the
future? Westminster Press is doing a series called Bridge Books, which is for
the Christian/secular market and I’m doing a book with Pat Williams for that
market. Tentative title is “The Power Within You.” It’s sort of a success, self-
help type of thing. But I don’t do too much non-fiction.
Do you think that Christian
books have gone up in quality?
I do. I am impressed at the
level of most publishers, and I believe there is a better level of publishing
right now than there ever has been.
Do you think the readers are
demanding a better book?
Yes. For one thing they are
demanding a lower cost book. There aren’t too many cloth books that are selling
any more unless they are heavy text reference, lifetime books. But readers also
want the quality. If they are paying $5.95 for paper, they want a good book. So
I think the customer is more discerning and more demanding, especially in this
economy.
When you sit down to write a
book, fiction or non-fiction, as a Christian, is there one overriding thing that
you want to accomplish with all your books? Something that drives you to put out
one book after another?
I enjoy writing. There is a
fascination of reaching people that you never see. And when you do see them,
that’s a thrill too. When people come up and say. “I’ve been reading every Margo
book and I know the characters,” that’s a kick. I can’t beat that.
As far as an overall design or
plan, my one goal in any book is to keep people turning the pages. If they get
bored, that’s the cardinal sin. From page one I want them to keep going. And
that means when I’m writing it has to keep my interest.
But as far as an over-all
philosophy I don’t know that I think about it every minute or that I sit down
and say, “Now I’m going to do this again,” but a long time ago I decided that I
was called to serve God.
There’s plenty of money and
fame to be made in the secular writing field. And I’ve done some secular books,
but I don’t do any anymore.
The older you get the more it
seems like time is rushing you and you just want to do books that matter. I’m
writing books because of my belief in Christ and I want to glorify Christ in
what I do.
How does your family feel
about you as a writer?
My oldest boy, who is seven,
is just starting to catch on that this is some thing different. That people are
impressed if they find this out. To our four-year-old, it’s no big deal.
My wife likes the uniqueness
of it. We all like to be different or have our little thing. But she’s not
obnoxious about it. She doesn’t go around announcing it. She just gets a kick
out of it. It’s tough on her though, because I get a lot of vacation days but
three-quarters of them are chewed up by writing. We really have to plan
carefully. The burden often is on her. When I usually could be helping her with
the kids, she will take them someplace for a big stretch and that helps a lot.
She has been very supportive.
And I always tell her that
anytime it gets pressured, and we say, “Boy, I don’t have time to do what I need
to do or want to do with the family.” We just talk about it. Should I not do
these books? Should I tell the publisher, “We’re contracted but we’re going to
have to set these deadlines back.” We’ve never had to do that but I would be
willing to do it, and she would tell me if she felt I should. She’s perfect for
me.
Is there anything you want to
share with Christian bookstores?
I don’t know how to articulate
it, but I feel like I know the constituency of the Christian bookstore. I grew
up in it. I grew up in a good old Bible church and I know these dealers and
these people. I feel like part of the big family and that’s a great feeling.
Book dealers are in the best
ministry there is. God used the printed page for His message. We have no better
example than that to follow. I’m excited about the new things of video and film
but they will never replace the printed page. There’s nothing like the power of
the printed page.
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