Writing religious characters when you're not religious

Write him as a person.

People of Faith are people first. They are just like everyone else. On writing things specifically about the Catholic faith and the associated cultural norms you can probably remember enough to get by, 11 years isn't that long ago. If you need more depth, talk to a Catholic!

What Helix said. Unless his only thing is to be Catholic and talk religion, make him a well-rounded person.

And also remember that no matter how long you've been out or how long you were in, you will never lose the urge to say "And also with you" when someone says "May ___ be with you." Doesn't matter if it's the Lord or the Force.

Worst case, just go to a mass and talk to people for a little.

I'm also not a religious person, but I find religions fascinating and most of my characters are deeply religious.

My advice is this: look for good points of Catholicism – in its ethics, philosophy, ritual, history, whatever interests you – so that you feel a positive connection, and go from there. Think what exactly works in that religion for your character, how it defines them.

Perhaps wise to avoid cliched stereotypes such as "catholic guilt".

or do so delicately, because in my experience the cliche didnt spring from nowhere but is much more complex than first glance.

I am guessing that if you have been Catholic you have been around plenty of Catholic people, so it should not be hard to use them as models?

I second the advice to speak to a current Catholic. The liturgy has changed a bit in the past few years.

One thing you will want to consider for your character is whether he's a "token" Catholic (basically going through the motions regarding church but follows the basic tenets and ethics), a devout Catholic (his religion means a lot to him but not overly in your face about it), or an over the top, evangelical Catholic. That will define how he views and interacts with the world around him. For example, does he go to prayer meetings? Is he part of the church choir, meaning regular practice nights? Does he volunteer at church related functions or even at non-related functions as part of his faith?

Also, think in terms of what the character would do in a particular scene, not what you, the author, would do.

Is this your POV character? If not, then you don't need to get inside his head, just log his actions from your POV character's viewpoint.

All you really have to do is understand that almost every person is a person of faith in some regard, even if it's not religion, and then transfer that faith over to a religious aspect. Some people have faith in institutions like their fellow soldiers in the military, others have faith in the inciting power of art/writing/music, others have faith in love, some have faith family, or friendship. All of these things are a basic choice to place positive trust and belief in something. Just take that understanding of faith you have in your life, or other people you know, and shift its focus to religion. In some respects, it's not hugely different.

Sat Nam! (Literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

As mentioned several times upstream, talk to a current practicing Catholic. And when you're done, be sure to get a Catholic beta reader.

Also as mentioned upstream, faith can manifest in various ways: ritualistic, sincere inner belief, sincere inner experience, fanaticism. And lots of combinations thereof. So asking how it will play out in someone's head is going to depend on your character's character. Are they usually open-minded? usually honest? usually aggressive? and so on.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

People of faith vary in the degree to which their religious beliefs inform the rest of their lives, and in what manner. Most of the religious people I have met (through the various churches that I have belonged to) aren't so much about the doctrine as they are about a general feeling of being attached to something larger and more powerful than themselves. It's usually not in the forefront of their thoughts, more in the mental background, an emotional framework that isn't really noticed unless something brings attention to it. I presume that your plot makes your character's faith relevant at some point--whatever it is, your character may then draw upon their religious background to try to make sense of it, but unless they are a member of a tightknit community that strongly reinforces the importance of being religious at all times, their faith probably won't be the only thing they draw upon. My advice is to write them up as a complex character without any religious faith at first, then add their beliefs and see what subtle changes occur.

It's helpful to remember that a person of faith is going to color their actions and their worldview/perception of reality as a result of that faith. If the person is just superficially involved in religion, going through the motions without really having a solid grounding, then it will be much harder to distinguish any difference between them and the people around them. And there are also chances that they'll have a focus on doing well in one part of their life, but be a bit weak/oblivious in other aspects of life, just like any other person, but the part they focus on is often different from the part others who don't share that faith background might pick.

The CA Forums are probably a good place to pop by and talk to current Catholics if you need to get a range of Catholic POV's on something, or get someone to articulate an idea so that you can accurately convey it.

Since you used to be Catholic, you're coming from a place of great experience.

Write your story, and some details from your Catholic days are bound to come back to you.

Do research. I am not a Catholic, but most of my characters happen to be Catholic and quite religious (given that I am writing historical fiction), so I have researched extensively.

satyesu said:

I'm writing a Catholic character (it's important to the story), but I haven't been a Catholic in 11 years. How do I recall that mindset and make him convincing?

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But is it important??? Meaning why can't your character be a person who has not been a catholic in 11 years? You know what that is like. Now, I could see it only really being important if the story is based on events from the bible, and if you have a need for that then you should know your bible good enough to write a catholic character.

Insert a fatal flaw or blind spot in their thinking, some past trauma that caused them to skew off into a tangent.

Recall your own experiences, draw on other Catholic writers and avoid anything that's too cliche.

satyesu said:

I'm writing a Catholic character (it's important to the story), but I haven't been a Catholic in 11 years. How do I recall that mindset and make him convincing?

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I was raised Catholic, became evangelical fundamentalist in my 20s and am an agnostic now.

To make a Catholic character convincing, write him from your point of view. You're no longer a Catholic, which means some of the doubts that led you to leave the faith were planted in you long before you actually skedaddled. Your guy will be convincing if he is honest.

The whole "mother of god" and transubstantiation things were what led me to kick the pope to the curb (although I really do like the current guy in the funny hat).

I'm not saying use those specific things, but if I was writing the character (and his faith was a big part of the story), I'd have him struggling to ignore his nagging doubts in favor of blind faith. The holy father is the spokesman of god on earth. How in the world could Bob's self-important doubts about Mary's immaculate conception and the idea that Jesus's flesh was literally being consumed in the Mass override God's chosen spokesman's words?

Doubt makes the character more relatable to the reader, because every sane person has doubts, even if they are still members of the faith. Doubt is one of the fundamental things that makes us human, even if that doubt flies in the face of the things we've been terrified into believing.

satyesu said:

I'm writing a Catholic character (it's important to the story), but I haven't been a Catholic in 11 years. How do I recall that mindset and make him convincing?

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Stick him in a small room with a/ his parents, b/ his school teacher, and c/his laundry service (if applicable) and force him to watch Woody Allen's early 6 or so movies.

Davy The First said:

Stick him in a small room with a/ his parents, b/ his school teacher, and c/his laundry service (if applicable) and force him to watch Woody Allen's early 6 or so movies.

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I started to unpack this and then my brain exploded.

mccardey said:

I started to unpack this and then my brain exploded.

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Mission accomplished.