: Re: Writing in a Christian voice I'm Jewish. My middle-grade fantasy novel is very Jewish. Most of my characters are either Jews or converts/future converts or people with at least one Jewish

@Rambettina586

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What's the voice of an African American woman raised Christian, who married a Jew and moved away from her home congregation and community to be with him?

An interesting question for this white retired Lutheran minister who's moved around a lot!

My African American preacher acquaintances (sorry for the stereotype) have a distinctive cadence of speech. I took a seminary class from such a man called "The Jazz of Preaching." It's hard to describe in words; you have to hear it.

Is this woman doctrinally rigid? Probably not. It probably would be out of character for her to rant about heaven and hell. Does she know the power of prayer? Yes. She's almost certainly not a Southern Baptist (hey, she's not white!)

Is her speech informed by the language of the King James translation of the Bible? Surely it is. Is it informed by the Nevi'im, the prophetic parts of the Hebrew Bible (prophetic meaning "speaking truth about God's justice and mercy" not "the end of the world is tomorrow"). Probably it is.

So, take a look at the epic rant of Isaiah in chapter 58. Imagine how that would sound to a preteen African American girl in church, being read out by a very demonstrative preacher. Same dealio for Ezekiel 37 (the valley of dry bones). Another interesting passage might be the account of the man born blind in the Gospel of John. The ideas in these passages probably helped form her character.

Listen to some of Dr. King's recorded speeches to get a sense of the cadence and use of language.

Now, your character is no preacher. Most of the time she probably speaks modestly. But if she's riled up she may speak a bit like Dr. King reading Isaiah. Probably she says things like "thank Jesus" once in a while. But she probably avoids overdoing it.

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