Saturday, July 29, 2017

NEW VIDEO: All About My Novel | #OliviaJisPublished

"Sometimes you find yourself in the middle of nowhere, and sometimes in the middle of nowhere, you find yourself."

Haven't made one of these videos in a while . . . mostly because I'm pretty bad at them, and my editing software went kaput on me. 

But the video I made is all about my novel, obviously. It's a take on my original blog post I made about it here


This is the updated version with some more info about my novel.

Ideally, there wouldn't be a massive WeVideo watermark, but, like I said, I was using Windows MovieMaker, and that had worked just fine for my last two videos. But once I realized it was discontinued, I had to come up with something else. 

So the free version of WeVideo is all that I got. 


follow me on Instagram @olivia.j.the.wordshaker


Get ready for an onslaught of #OliviaJisPublished posts. September isn't that far away, people. 

~The WordShaker

Saturday, July 22, 2017

The Stifled Arts (and Karitos)

"The only writer you should compare yourself to is the writer you were yesterday," -David Schlosser

After every conference, most notably the Christian Arts Conference, Karitos, I always feel a bit conflicted. 

Part of me is inspired, ready to take on my artistic projects with valor. 

But the other part of me is exhausted and resists coming back into reality. 


check out Karitos here: www.karitos.org
And I think that's kind of a beautiful thing. 

Since I'm hard at work on my novel, and since it's a Christian novel with some prickly content, I've realized something, and it directly pertains to Karitos. 

*Context: to understand where I'm coming from, check out my blog post where I define Christian art.  

One of those is that because I live in such an art-saturated world and mindset, when I come back into reality from Karitos, whether it be work or school or even my own church, things seem . . . wrong. Off. 

And this is because the arts are stifled. Everywhere. And since they're not stifled at Karitos, I have this notion that everything else should be like Karitos. But unfortunately, it's not. 

I can only imagine the healing and restorative power that would go through my church if we had live painters during worship and the sermon. If only we had more space and resources so that everyone who wanted to dance could have a garment and more than enough elbow room. 

Yet, you might argue, that the average church - even a charismatic church - doesn't have the artistic manpower to have professional painters and dramatic sketches and such. 

But I vehemently disagree. There are creative people everywhere - you just have to look a little harder.

This begs the question: why, in even the most spirit-filled churches, are the arts being stuffed down? Why are the arts, and to a larger degree, the Holy Spirit, never allowed to blossom to their full potential? 

The simple answer is that we're afraid. Or, rather, they're afraid. 

But I believe the answer can be more complex, and it can't all be pinned down on the "them" in this equation. 

There's all too often this disconnect between artists and . . . normal people, even in the secular world. 

And this is because the artists, too, are afraid. Everyone's afraid of the arts. 

The key is for the artists who understand their place, and their work, to take the first step in introducing the "normal people" to the Christian arts, so they aren't afraid of them anymore. 

And sometimes that involves putting ourselves out there, even to the people who we think will judge us, think we're weird, not take us seriously. 

Because none of that will matter if even one person is touched by the love and message of Jesus Christ in our especially avant-garde art. 

Which brings me to something Randall Flinn, one of the main stage speakers at Karitos, said, loosely:


"As a Christian artist, if you lose your relevance in the culture, your art loses it's redemptive power."

Christian art is not something to be afraid of. As long as it stays in check with the Holy Spirit, Christian art should be accepted and celebrated in the many forms it takes.


~

I could go on about this for years, but I digress. The arts in the church is an infinitely complex discussion, and I can't cover it all in a simple blog post.  

But a jumping point is this:  the artist must first understand themselves and their place in the church before trying to explain or share it with others. 

Leave your thoughts down below! I'd love to continue this conversation!

~The WordShaker

Saturday, July 15, 2017

Tom Holland was Born to be Spider-Man | Homecoming Review


"Writers live twice," -Natalie Goldberg

I almost had to disown my family at the end of Spider-Man: Homecoming. Because they were pretty disappointed with it. 

And I believe I've determined why: They expected a traditional superhero movie/origin story featuring someone in their late twenties. 

But alas, onto my thoughts. 

The Bad

1. Aunt May



Aunt May is an incredibly important relationship not only in the comics but in the other Spider-Man franchises. The movie attempts to make her cool and attractive, but it falls flat because this new interpretation of Aunt May has no depth. If she did, the movie didn't give her the time to grow into the character she should have been. The relationships that matter to Peter Parker are some of the strongest drivers in the story, but they missed the mark on this one. 

2. The Love Interest



Liv . . . Liz . . . whoever the love interest was, was terribly uninteresting. They had no chemistry together, and the only thing that would change about the story is that the villian would be less interesting. Liz wasn't a character - she only served to add conflict to Peter and add depth to the Vulture. Maybe the point was that Liz took a backseat, but she was terribly bland and only utilized as a plot device. 


The Good

1. Tom Holland



This man was born to play Spider-Man. He's got the innocence and youth of Tobey Maguire, and the humor and depth of Andrew Garfield. Not to mention he's the best actor of all three of them, with Garfield a close second. 

2. The Setting



Homecoming nailed the unique atmosphere of Spider-Man, which is high school. My mom didn't like it because she thought they focused too much on that in the beginning, however, I found it entirely engaging and realistic, because we rarely see superheroes in a setting so mundane. It added to the appeal and the realistic feel of this movie. Of course, these would be the challenges Peter would have to face. 


3. The Comedy




Unarguably the funniest of all of the Spider-Man movies, this is the most obvious improvement over the other franchises. The humor is never shoehorned in either, just to make sure the audience is paying attention. It's smart and arises directly from the plot and characters. The humor also fits the context of the characters and setting, albiet making it not exactly kid-friendly. The most poignant thing about it, though, is how much it pokes fun at the world they live in. Seemingly mundane things are hilarious to us because it takes place in the MCU, namely Cap's amazing cameos. 


4. The Tone




The tone was also appropriate, unlike many other Spider-Man films. The first tended to be corny and garishly colorful, and the reboot was almost too gritty and dark. However, this film has its moments of humor and its moments of intense grit and its moment of heart. The tone never felt unbalanced or unfitting with the context or the genre. 

5. Peter's Character Arc



Spider-Man: Homecoming is a genre-bending movie, but one that also knows and appeals to its core audience. Peter's character arc is something new to be seen in superhero movies. It's less about Peter trying to prove himself worthy of being an Avenger - what it might seem to be on the outside - and more of Peter trying to find himself inside and outside of the Spiderman suit, and trying to fit in. It truly fits the film and the context of the character. 


~

I could talk forever about the great parts of Spider-Man: Homecoming. However, if two elements were changed, this movie would be a 10/10.

~The WordShaker

Saturday, July 8, 2017

On Not Feeling Good Enough | #OliviaJisPublished

"Don't write until it's perfect, write until it's right," -Ryan Reudell

Yes, you read that right. #OliviaJisPublished 

However, this isn't what this blog post is about. More on that hashtag later, because this is only the first of many posts about this wonderful topic. ;)

I've been hard at work on the last draft of A Cactus In the Valley, my work-in-progress. Read about that here. 

However, as I edit and format and edit some more, I always get worried that it's never enough. 

That my work - including my art - will just get lost in the noise of the never-ending stream of content that is the internet (and the publishing industry). 

That no matter how much work I put into my craft, that it will never be up to the standard that I want it to be. 

That no matter how good my work is, no matter how much I advertise and push people to look at my stuff and read my books, I still won't be able to reach people. 

I'm not sure that this post has a point, other than to get the dialogue started for #OliviaJisPublished. And to let out my feelings, as per usual. 

Follow me on Instagram, @olivia.j.the.wordshaker and Wattpad @oliviajthewordshaker if you're feeling adventurous. 

~The WordShaker