Inventing a Genre
The Origin Story & Purpose of Lexi's List
Click. With one press of a button, all my dreams went up in smoke. More than forty manuscripts, some of them nearly finished, went into the trash with a single keystroke.
No, not the trash.
They were already in the trash. That was the “empty trash” button. There was no going back.
I was sixteen and a half and had just made the call to wipe the slate clean of nearly three years of constant work on books I planned to publish. Being a published author had been my dream since I was at least eight years old and I had focused my schoolwork and hobbies on that ultimate goal.
My books were going to make a difference in the world, sell a million copies, and prove to everyone that a book didn’t have to be inappropriate to be high-quality.
Honestly, I would still love to see that goal met; even if the second point is a little far-fetched, it would be cool if it happened.
But my motivation has changed since those days.
When it changed, I metaphorically lit the match that sent my dreams up in flames . . . or at least seemed to at the time.
Just that one click . . .
Everything
Was
Gone.
I wouldn’t write fiction for another two years.
But, why?
What Prompted Such Drastic Measures?
Back in 2019, I went through a massive spiritual reality check when I began the journey of studying the New Testament through the lens of the Old. After all, the law and the prophets were all the early believers had as they wrote the New Testament. Studying the bible in context, I began making changes in my lifestyle to better reflect the ancient faith of the people of Israel—for as the apostle Paul pointed out, we Gentile believers are branches grafted into the root of Israel.
“But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them, and became partaker with them of the root and of the richness of the olive tree; don’t boast over the branches. But if you boast, it is not you who support the root, but the root supports you.”
Romans 11:17-18
One of the things that changed was how I approached my writing . . . or didn’t. In January of 2020, I deleted every book I had in progress, along with the lists of ideas, titles, and writing prompts, and I left the book clubs and writing groups I was a part of. I sent my friends an email explaining these actions, and that was the end of a lifelong dream for a long time.
Deleting everything was wrenching and thrilling at the same time. I was shaking with giddiness and dread as I pressed that button. It was not an easy decision.
As confident as I am that I did the right thing, there are still days that I wonder, should I have kept some of those books?
No. I’m glad I didn’t. Even if some of them were great stories or could be reworked now, I needed that break. I needed to stop, pull back, and take a better look at what I was doing with my writing, with my life, and with my faith.
I didn’t write fiction again until around the middle of 2022 when I began writing with a purpose.
For more on Torah Observance, check out my theology blog, A Piece of My Mind, and the following post there ⤵︎
Writing with Purpose
As believers, we have a responsibility to teach and instruct people in the ways of God and to be an example for them of what it means to walk out our faith.
I want my books to be thought-provoking and to have an underlying theme of characters studying and keeping the faith, but I also don’t want them to come across as a sermon. I write nonfiction, I love reading nonfiction, but I don’t want my fiction to be a repackaging of nonfiction.
So, I want it to teach the truth. I want it to have purpose and inspire people to keep pressing on in their faith, in their everyday struggles, and when things get really tough. I want my characters to show Torah in their daily lives and what honoring God really looks like.
But I am a drama queen on the inside.
I grew up on adventure books, mysteries, historical fiction, and a bit of fantasy. I read books with quality English, complex plots, vivid detail, and deep characters.
There is no way I am going to settle for less.
»»» THE FOLLOWING IS NOT FOR YOUNG OR SENSITIVE AUDIENCES «««
But what gives a book those qualities?
Magic? Romance? Violence? Foul language? Relationship drama? Smut? These are all common factors, and often glorified, in secular writing; sometimes even in Christian writing.
Do you need to have these common elements in your books to have something interesting?
No. Especially when it comes to smut. I write young adult fiction. Young adult fiction should not have smut at all. I believe no book should, but YA in particular should be clean. The amount of young adult fiction with s*xual garbage, cursing, or graphic descriptions of violence and horror in it these days is insane.
I don’t write trash.
No magic, no obscene language, no smut, no overly graphic violence. (I do my best not to be too vivid in the action there, but I’m not saying it’s for every reader. Most of my writing is action/adventure and historical fiction. I have characters in war and whatnot, which can only be softened to a certain degree.)
That doesn’t mean my writing is for all audiences. In my books, I have traumatized characters, I have death, I have extremely dramatic and tense situations that characters get into, I have persecution and pursuit, and deep emotional turmoil. In some, I reference heavy themes such as suicide, abuse, or historical events that are not child-friendly.
My approach is careful.
I don’t do close-ups of abuse, suicide, etc. and they aren’t themes or core tenets of my books when they are referenced.
I avoid s*xual sin/abuse in my books entirely, even references.
I don’t get into the villains’ heads. *Shudder.*
I am careful to do my best to not only condemn evil in my writing but also redirect the reader’s thoughts to victory and righteousness. Acknowledging a harsh reality and giving a character something to fight against doesn’t mean we need to zoom in on it in our writing and examine the how-to of evil. It’s unnecessary and more harmful than good. Even if the book is technically a story of redemption, to give evil so much “screen time” (to borrow a term from the film industry) is to unwittingly glorify and teach evil.
I don’t want to do that.
»»» SENSITIVE READERS CAN PROBABLY RESUME READING HERE. «««
I’m not trying to deny reality, be unrealistic, or not acknowledge the very real struggles that real people go through. However, I want my writing to direct readers to look for solutions, press through hardships, and hold onto hope. I don’t want to bog them down with grief, plant temptations in their mind, or discourage them in their walk with God.
Personally, I believe that any negative or sinful thing referenced in a book should be used as a springboard to lead into encouraging and God-honoring growth and discussion. The focus in writing should always be on building up in righteousness and overcoming evil, not on the evil itself.
It is possible to give a sense of the magnitude of what the character is conquering without giving readers nightmares.
Bad stuff happens. Evil exists. But in life and in our writing, how we respond to it is what determines whether we are victors or victims.
I don’t write victims, I write victors.
Some Things You WILL Find In My Writing:
Loyalty
Friendship & Family
Perseverance & Determination
Courage (even in the face of fear and death)
God-Honoring “Romantic” Relationships (I put that in quotes because while I have a lot of characters that end up in relationships and get married, I break the stereotypes for the romance genre often, and romance is not the focus of the books)
Complex Characters
Complex Plots & Subplots
Action & Adventure
History, Culture, & Languages
Deep Reflection & Beliefs (without it being a thinly-veiled sermon. If a section is preachy, it’s preachy openly, not for too long, and advances the story. There isn’t any sermonizing for the sake of it.)
Strong morals and character development
Clean Humor
Music & Poetry
. . . And that’s only the tip of the iceberg!
Ultimately, my goal is to inspire virtue and endurance in every aspect of life and offer perspectives that allow my reader a space to ponder the deeper things of the heart and soul while providing wholesome entertainment.
As believers, we want to grow in our walk with God and be an example to others. We want to show the truth in every word and deed, in trial be faithful, and be blameless when accused.
Most of all we want to hold onto the truth until the bitter end, because beyond the bitter end is a blessed eternity.
I find the tales of the martyrs deeply compelling and inspiring, and want to infuse my life and writing with the same level of courage and dedication to God that each fallen brother or sister in Christ has borne before me. That is the spiritual depth you can look for in my stories . . . but without the Foxe’s Book of Martyrs level of gore.
Truth is sadly stranger and more heartwrenching than fiction.
OK, but where did the name Lexi’s List come from?
The short story is that I have a slight addiction to alliteration and List seemed to go with Lexi. Besides, my WIP (Work In Progress) list is long.
But my name isn’t Lexi, it’s Abigail. Where in the world did my pen name, Lexi T. Walker, come from?
Well, I’m the person in my circle that is always researching things, is kinda obsessed with words, writing, and language, and has an arsenal of facts, synonyms, and other words that are somewhat pestiferous and a prime example of floccinaucinihilipilification. Better yet, I like using these words, which is a little agathokakological, but which I find absolutely splendiferous and amusing. (For the record, I am much more pauciloquent in person, being actually an introvert.)
Sorry. 😁
Anyway, if you made it through that paragraph (or skipped it), one of my friends dubbed me the walking dictionary.
Which got swapped out by my lectiophilic self with The Walking Lexicon.
Which then became Lexi T. Walker.
It’s a pun name.
In Conclusione
Should I post it, should I not?
You know what prompted that question this time? Pure aesthetics. 😂 The list format of what I do write looked goofy. Anyway, this has been written for awhile and just hadn’t been released yet, so it’s now a bonus post this week!
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Crumbling Castles
He was a child when he saw his home crumble in the flames. Now he’s come to reclaim it.
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Until next time,
Blessings!
~Lexi.
Psst! Check out my other publications! When I’m not posting over here, I am usually posting over there.
I like the idea of reading TO fiction, but I'm definitely not a young adult. Is YA your only target audience? Do you have printed versions of books?
Though I haven't read any of your stories, it sounds like you're doing great things. Keep it up!
Ok this looks nice, I will subscribe. I read it because my name is Alexia, and I go by Lexi. 🙂