Testing my Faith | Olivia J

"If you can tell stories, create characters, devise incidents, and have sincerity and passion, it doesn't matter a damn how you write," -Somerset Maugham

Life's a ride, and I'm just here to tell you about my section of the long-ass, sweaty, cramped line waiting with an uncertain probability of getting on that roller coaster. 

But maybe that line is filled with great people. 

Life, actually, has been great. Partial homeschooling has been successful - in the academic sense and in the social/stress sense. I got a part in my school's musical. A cute boy asked me to homecoming. I've got more freedom than I've ever had before, and I've learned to throw myself into it headfirst. 

But my writing life has suffered. I've been trying to throw paper airplanes into the stratosphere - no story is sticking, no story is flowing out from me. And I hate it. 

Though it sounds stereotypical, stories - having a story to write - makes me feel alive. It's why I'm here, and without that, I feel aimless, like I'm wandering through life. 

But maybe I need to wander. Maybe I need to walk through the labyrinth of life, meet more people, process all that I am experiencing, hit rock bottom, fill myself up, so the words can come freely - so the story just explodes out of me. 

And so I wait. So I just live. I don't plan ahead, I don't over-analyze, I don't plot out everything so it all wraps up in a nice, little bow. I just live. 

Live, so that another great story can come out of this season of my life. 

Because seasons change. Things will get worse. And I don't say that to sound pessimistic, I say that because we have trials and tribulations - the storms will come again, but a story will blossom from it. It always does. 

In youth group a while ago, we read a passage in 1 Peter about how the bad stuff shows our character, brings out our real faith in God. 

And the whole time, I was just conflicted. Convicted, maybe. Because at my lowest point, through every struggle and strife, I felt more sure of God than I ever have. I always knew that God was the eye of the hurricane in my life - that He was the lightning rod I clung to no matter what. 

But now that life was good - I found myself on 'autopilot'. There were always other things that needed to be done, that I could or should be doing than taking care of myself mentally, spiritually. I am learning to hold onto God in the good times. Because the good times are the times we are more prone to selfishness, distraction, everything that could draw us away. 

Because how we act towards God when life is good are the real tests of our faith. 

And so, every day, I try and take a step back from all of this external good, and thank God for every thing - big and little. 

~The WordShaker

Smoke and Mirrors | A Poem

"The difficulty of literature is not to write, but to write what you mean," -Robert Louis Stevenson

Wrote a thing. Hope you like it. Photos are not mine.

White lines dragging into the glowing distance

Red dots blinking in unison

Perched on invisible towers

Fingers clenched in the sheets
Dreary eyes and cold sunrises
Everything always expires

Blue streaks across the roads
Cutting across the sacred space
Bee-lining across a dead-end highway
with no destination in mind.

Peeled back lips and grimaces alike
There must be something
That doesn't expire

White headlights cutting through the mystic darkness
The ghost of life in the mere distance
Shadows morph and shift around me
Changing with each uneasy step

We are painted in silver linings
That can only shine in the absence

The meaning of this crazy world
Is as clear as my thoughts
Smoke and Mirrors

How can I make sense of this mess I've made

I grasp onto threads of reality

Creating the fabric of truth

That encircles me like a sweater

The stars aglow

Look down on us

And see the beauty

We yearn to escape

Those eyes aglow
Look up to the heavens
And see the beauty
We yearn to reach

The meaning of this crazy world Is as clear as my thoughts Smoke and Mirrors

How can I make sense of this mess I've made
I grasp onto threads of reality
Creating the fabric of truth
That encircles me like a sweater

~The WordShaker

Corduroy Road | Adam Young Score Review

"I can shake off everything as I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn," -Anne Frank

Like life, my opinions on Adam Young's scores fluctuates, and it looks like we're on the uphill climb. 

I loved this score. It's comparable to Omaha Beach as well as Project Excelsior but in ways you wouldn't expect. While both Omaha Beach and Corduroy Road are about war, their tones are so incredibly different.

Corduroy Road seems to be in the perspective of the South, and possibly even from the eyes of a slave. What makes this score so powerful is not its beautiful and uplifting vibes, but its impactful and well-delivered message, which is something I found that Project Excelsior lacked. 

Another aspect that makes these scores so captivating is their ability to transport you to another world, to create the image in your head, and while this is another thing that Project Excelsior lacked, Corduroy Road comes in strong with beautiful imagery with sound and a theme and aesthetic that runs through the score like a bloodline. 

Listen to Corduroy Road here. 

artwork by James R. Eads

1. Country Hymn

Kindred and humble, this track establishes the sweeping beauty of the South before the war with the clear piano and strings.

2. Georgia Boys

Musically unique with some vocals by Adam himself, this track boasts with cheerfulness and culture of the South with twanging guitars and drums, despite the impending horror. 

3. Up With the Stars

Mournful and beautiful, this song comes in with a strong piano to distract from the darkness  of war.

4. Sherman

Strong with the sounds of nature, this track builds on the strength and determination of William Tecumseh Sherman with guitars and pounding drums.

5. Kennesaw Mountain

Solemn with piano and rain sounds, this track transforms into the hesitant and bloody cry of war with a lonesome horn line throughout. 

6. Atlanta

Deep with acoustic strings, this song tells of the perils and hard work of the desolated city, as Sherman knows they must move on.

7. The Deep South

This song tells the story of the Union soldiers building their 'Corduroy Road' with unique blends of strings, acoustic, vocals, nature, and mechanical sounds, and hitting home with the men seeing the beauty they've tarnished.

8. How Sweet The Sound

Encouragement for both the North and the South, this track, simple with acoustic guitar, tells of grace even through the worst. 

9. March to the Sea

Strikingly beautiful, this track starts of with heartbreakingly familiar melodies and bringing it home with ethereal piano, even with the sounds of crackling fire as the state burns, but bursting with beauty in the second half with synths representing the stars. 

10. Fall of the Confederacy 

Hard hitting with snippets of previous songs, this track shows the new South in the regretful light of the man who led it all. 

~

Overall, the theme and mood of this score is fantastic. Perfectly polished music that is transformative to listen to, he aesthetic of this score portrays a heartbreaking story and message of beauty in the tough words, the happiness in wartime, and the culture and world of the 1860's. 

10/10, Adam. 


~The WordShaker

PEOPLE not Plot Devices | Tip #1 To Writing Dimensional Characters

"Stories are just data with a soul," -Brene Brown

One of my biggest pet peeves (and I have a lot of them) is when a character is a plot device. And I don't mean when a character is used as a plot device, meaning that there is a specific instance when a character is used to further the plot instead of an event, etc. 

This most often manifests itself in the form of a manic pixie dream character. 

If you've ever seen any media ever, then you probably know what a manic pixie dream character is. It is defined as:

a idealistic character, usually a female, whose sole purpose is to show another character the good in life and to teach them lessons on how to 'live"

*sigh* Now, I've found that this applies to male characters just as much as female characters. Some examples include:

Augustus Waters from The Fault in Our Stars, Alaska Young from Looking for Alaska, Will Traynor from Me Before You, Margo Roth Spiegelman from Paper Towns, Sam from The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and Theodore Finch from All The Bright Places

And these are just examples from YA. 

Even if you have everything else that makes a good character, but are still struggling with the character's sole purpose being a plot device, I have the one trick that will turn your quirky and likable love interest into a dimentional, stand-alone character with a purpose. 

1. Give them a GOAL. 

Not only this, but a goal that doesn't have to do with the character they're trying to 'change'. 

A goal will give your character a purpose in the story, a purpose to solve the case or to make it out alive or to fight the dragon. 

This is important because after said character is done being a plot device, they usually die because they've served their purpose.

However, if you give this character a goal, they'll have a reason to keep living, they'll have a storyline outside of the main character. 

And this is super important - it allows the character to stand on their own, like any actual human being. 

Because art imitates life. 

Or is that the other way around?

Enjoy writing your purposeful and dimensional characters, friends!

~The WordShaker