Who Shapes the Shapers?

Writers can make a difference.

Writers have always been at the forefront of social change; of challenging the status quo; of asking “why not” instead of just “why”. Walter Wangerin, Jr. has a wonderful essay on the origin of poets. The “shapers” of medieval times. These shapers as they were called took the events of the day -- mostly tragedies such as a failed battle -- and spun the words and the names into song and verse. In so doing, the shapers fashioned a story that carried remembrance and truth. These stories changed those who heard them. That legacy has been passed down to us.

Let’s face it. If you are reading this blog, then you are most probably a Christian interested in writing. Creating. Art. Those of us who write these blogs have the privelege of being “published authors”. It is also a burden and can be a curse. But, to whom much is given . . .

How then should we as Christians react to the recent events in our culture? How do we respond to the gay marriage decision by the Supreme Court? Or, the abortion debate in the Texas legislature? Or, the recent decision in the Zimmermann trial?

I wrestled with some of these issues in my own blog but my son, Sean, age 28, wrote a piece that moved me so I wanted to share it with all of you who are creative; who shape truth into story. For, our stories point to a Kingdom and a King!

Here are my son’s words:

"You place your vote, misplace your hope in men

Who will let you down with empty dreams

And broken promises

It's hard to keep from giving up

It's easier to just fold up your arms" - Derek Webb

For some people of faith, this week has been a week full of bitter disappointments. They see a moral arc of their universe bending towards corruption and ruin. They hear wars and rumors of wars on the borders of everything they hold dear. They feel threatened, neglected, discounted. 

They feel like the world that created and sustained an environment amenable to the presence of God is passing on, and they worry that the world coming has little room for Him, much less His people.

They fear the consequences of a world that rejects their Savior so fully.

I don't think they're wrong to be concerned, because salt and light has always been challenging to the systems of the word and men have always rejected light for their love of darkness. To the people of Jesus, these things are not new. They rejected Him andthey will turn away from us, too.

However, I believe that the above is only part of the story. 

Christianity has always operated in an uneasy truce with the empires that govern the world around them. Throughout history, the people of God have lived as strangers and sojourners among the kingdoms of the mighty men of old, and to varying degrees found peace and coexistence with them. Very rarely have they been a kingdom of their own, and the times of kingdoms were marred with infighting and born of a desire to be like the other nations surrounding them. The kings frequently struggled to preserve their reigns, and the most prosperous kings in Israel's history were judged by God for doing evil in His sight. God eventually led them into exile, a defeat of such magnitude that it forced  His chosen to be a people again, set apart and strange. His subversion extended even to their well-meaning messianic dreams, which embellished God's deliverance into a military conquest and return to the kingdoms of old. When God finally fulfilled the kingdom restoration they dreamed of, He hung their mighty ruler to die on an empire's cross. The victory of God was not over His people's temporal enemies but their final enemy: death itself. God's messiah changed the calculus governing the affairs of men, their rules for authority and kingship and power. Jesus inaugurated a kingdom of open peoplehood, a culmination of the promise that God would be King over His people, and they would grow to gather from and convey blessing to the whole world.

There is an uncomfortable truth at the heart of God's story that we must reckon with now: we long for kings when we believe that God's headship is not enough.

The American church of the last 100 years has often flirted with political power. America itself has always been a land of immense promise in our imagination, a place where the divine right of the old kingdoms was democratized, where divine blessing manifested not as enforced rule but as a popular consensus. In the 20th century, full of technology and war and the energy of the Great Awakenings, the church was a place of common cultural grounding, a shared quasi-nationalistic identity. Religious belief was a guiding consensus element of national identity, expected of men of influence and injected by government fiat into currency, classroom and national pledge.  Jesus became the border guard of our kingdom, separating us from the Axis and the godless Communists and the Muslim powers of the East. 

In the last 35 years, the American church has become particularly aware of its power as a voting block. People of faith have gathered to voice their opinions on a number of social and political issues that have been reshaping the cultural and political landscape of the country. We especially oppose the pluralism inherent in the shift in national consensus identity from Judeo-Christian Enlightened Man to inclusive, post-religious Enlightened One. We have become a potent voting bloc and a fervent and well funded special interest group in American political life.

I believe that is wrong.

What I fear is that in the course of our political engagement we have started seeking kings so we can be like the other nations. For every David we find (if we find him at all) we are plagued with ten Sauls, men disingenuously consulting ghosts and forging bad pacts to win victories in conventional terms, hoping to be retroactively blessed because they pursued it in the name of God's kingdom. We align ourselves with political leaders who claim to be like us, but who all too often exploit our fear and discomfort to accrue power to themselves and to pursue their own political ends. 

We do it because we believe that we have no choice. We do it because we are convinced that if we don't follow the rules of presiding empires then we will be cast aside or persecuted. We want to protect what we love and store up the rich blessing that God provides  and we see no other way to do it but through a king.

The trouble with Jesus is that His kingdom, a kingdom of people, transcends nationhood and call us to radical love and sacrifice. God's Messiah is the fulfillment of Saul and Solomon and Caesar — the God-king whose kingdom is one of wholeness and unity and everlasting peace. He speaks of purchased fields and mustard trees and unfair wages and forgiveness, and He does not idly assent to defend the political fortunes of particular nation-states. His kingdom and people overcome by story and blood, not might or power, as He patiently asserts His reign over the world. When the end comes, He will conquer with a sword in His mouth,  it His powerful right hand, and He will judge the nations alongside and through His people.

What temporary power we might hold to enforce our faith through political action is tempting because we believe that we will exercise it fairly. We see our political will as a rare blessing from God to legislate His kingdom into the world, not as a political enshrining of His redemption but as its agent of enforcement. While the government plays a role in protecting from evil and promoting justice and general welfare, we hope it to go further to enforce the particular ethics of our peoplehood on others. We hope that governmental enforcement of the outcomes of our transformation will somehow lead people, in reverse, to their Cause.

We become convinced that we must act because our way of life will be dismissed otherwise. And in defense of conscience and of kingdom, we relive the sins of Saul and David and all the kings who trusted in their own power above the Lord's, even when they thought they were acting in service of His work. We count our armies and ask Him to bless that work while He beckons us to be His people and desires to be our King. He jealously guards His loving dominion over us, and He shares that dominion and worthiness of worship with no one but His Son.

At our best, at our most true, we are a peculiar people in the world, people who have no home apart from the one we create together with Him and with each other. He works through us to preserve and shape our communities and our culture through radical, sacrificial love. His kingdom work transcends social morays and political boundaries. He is not limited by the boundaries of our expectation and He does not take kindly to the notion that there are places He cannot go. His Spirit wind blows where it pleases and He does need us to take Him there by force. 

Ultimately, we are His and He is our king. Ours is the task of loving and serving and living out — His is the finished-but-still-finishing work of His kingdom's rule. The kingdoms of this world are becoming the kingdoms of our God and King, and  we are His children when we like Sarah call Him lord and do not fear anything that is alarming. We persevere through love not into violence and scarcity but into abundance, rest and victorious peace.

When Jesus walked the earth, He resisted the temptation of Satan and of the crowds and even of His disciples to fulfill the militaristic, messianic Kingdom dreams of His day. As His servants-turned-friends, we should expect no less a temptation, and no less a calling, for ourselves.

“One day you'll wake and the curse will break

And even you won't be the same.

Your hope is not wasted on a day when everything will change.”

What do you think? How should we as Christian writer’s engage our culture?

Awards and Rewards

Jillian gets her Selah Certificate for Chameleon

Awards are few and far between for most writers. They are fun to receive as you can tell from the smile on my face, but it's not something you can expect and if you put all your hopes and dreams into receiving awards you are bound to be disappointed. Yet it's hard not to hope. 

I think there may be writers out there who don't enter contests because they don't want to be crushed. It can feel like another form of rejection when you don't final or win. I like to look at it from another perspective. In fact if you're going to enter contests you have to have another perspective other than winning.

When you enter a contest you are doing several things:

• You are putting your published or unpublished work in front of others. Whether the reader likes your work or not it is getting read and discussed and evaluated. Not everyone will appreciate your words. Just like reviews on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc. You'll have critics and fans. 

• You wanted to be a writer and this gives you the opportunity for feedback. That's good!

• Even if you don't final or win you are marketing. Contests are a form of marketing. Yes, you have to pay to enter contests if your publishing company doesn't do that and the dollars can  add up, but if you want to market this is one reasonable alternative. There are contests all over the country and if you strategically pick places you want to get others to read your novels you can do that by entering different contests throughout the United States.
   

      So how do you find these contests? Do your homework.

Most of the big conferences have a contest. 

The Selah Award is sponsored through The Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference. Here's all the festivities at the Awards Banquet if you care to watch. 

Romance Writers of America has a contest for published and unpublished writers.RWA 

If you are unaware of them and you write romance you might want to visit the page. RWA has many chapters and different chapters offer different contests. I'm thrilled that Chameleon also made it to the finals for the prestigious Daphne du Maurier Award this year for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense. You can learn more about the Daphne and the Kiss of Death chapter at RWA Mystery and Suspense. There are contests for both published and unpublished writers.

The Christy Awards  recently took place.You can read about how these awards work and just how special they are for authors.

The 2013 Carol Finalists have already been announced and the winners will be announced at conference in September.

That's a start for you and there are many, many more but I'll let you do some more footwork. Remember to develop a good attitude about awards. Be happy for others when you don't win. There will always be other opportunities. Try not to fall into the trap of the green-eyed envy monster. It's not always easy. I found this article that you might be interested in if envy is a trap for you. It's called, Killing the Green-Eyed Monster  I've never read this book. I just Googled envy as it relates to Christians.

Okay, so what do I do if I don't final or win in a contest? I pray that I can be a good sport and that's not really a problem anymore. In my earlier writing days before I had gained some self-confidence it was painful when I got those critiques back, and hurtful when I got rejected. I used to think, "What is so good about this or that book?" I learned that I had to be honest with myself about my skill level and that skill and awards don't necessarily match up. Bottom line is don't let awards go to your head, but enjoy the moment and look for a way to help others in their writing careers. 

Keep a healthy attitude and perspective and then go ahead, enter a contest.

What do you think about contests? Have good news you want to share?

The 3rd book in The Ravensmoore Chronicles

Want to connect? You can reach me at these places.               

www.jilliankent.com

Twitter @JillKentAuthor

https://www.facebook.com/JillianKent

I also write and coordinate The Well Writer column here:

http://www.christianfictiononlinemagazine.com/

This Summer Read Realms!

Later this month the winners of the IRCAs will be announced. IRCA stands for Inspirational Readers Choice Award and it's sponsored by Romance Writers of America's inspirational chapter, Faith, Hope & Love (FHL). I'm so honored that my novel Threads of Faith (book 2 in my series) is a finalist in this year's competition.

What makes this contest different from many others is that entries (aka Christian novels) aren't judged by authors' peers. The books are judged by real readers of inspirational fiction. 

Readers like you!

So what are readers saying about Threads of Faith?

 "I like the way Ms. Boeshaar writes. She is an accomplished author who knows how to deliver true to life dialog and create characters that you fall in love with. The love story between Julianna and Daniel is a lot of fun and this book is filled with plenty of action to keep you turning the pages. This is an excellent read! I recommend it." VicG

"I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and am excited to find a new historical Christian writer." Jodie A Wolfe

"This was a wonderful book that takes readers on a journey from England to America, and invites you to witness the adventure that is made to get there. This was my first book by Andrea Boeshaar, and I was very pleased with everything about it. Her pacing is done well and she has a knack for really making her readers care for the characters they are reading about!" Chelsey Lynn


Book 3 in my series Threads of Love is now available also. Out of all the 30 novels that I've
written, Threads of Love is one of my favorites!

Many of us Realms authors have had our fiction final or we've won awards which says that the authors posting on this blog are top notch. This summer read Realms. If you can't find the title you're interested in at the bookstore, ask a clerk to order it for you. Or purchase the book online. 

As a reader, you won't be sorry.

Celebrating The Independent Writer

Image courtesy of feelart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

If you're a writer or know someone who is, you've probably heard the clichés describing the creative personality type: quirky, moody loners, head-in-the-clouds daydreamers, take your pick. Some of those descriptions may apply at times, but more goes on behind the notebook or computer screen of that lone figure you see at Starbucks. In light of the upcoming 4th of July, let's take time to celebrate the independent spirit of the writer.

For those drawn to the pen, independence can represent:

I- Individual

Writing is similar to track and field. You have to run your own race. No matter how much help or feedback you receive, no one can write your story for you.

N- Necessity

Whether they write for others to read their work or keep it to themselves, writers have a deep and profound personal need to express themselves through this medium.

D- Dedication

Books aren't written in a day. That finished manuscript represents months, if not years, of plotting, researching, drafting, and critiquing. Not to mention sweat, tears, and countless pots of strong coffee.

E- Effort

It's easy to find alternative things to do besides writing. However, very often on sunny weekends, free afternoons, or quiet nights, writers make the decision to park themselves in a chair in front of the laptop. Could they be doing other things? Always, but the desire to bring words to life somehow trumps that reality show premiere or that basket of laundry. That's why DVR was invented. Now maybe someone could make a robot to do the chores...

P- Patience

There is no such thing as an overnight success in a writer's world. Even authors whose books hit the bestseller lists during the first week of launch will tell you that the road to success had its twists and turns.

E- Endurance

Drafting. Editing. Querying. Waiting weeks or months on publisher responses to submissions. It's enough to make any sane person tear her hair out. What does a writer do? Start another book. Figure that one out next time you hear Einstein's definition of insanity.

N- Never Say Never

Rejection slips show up in writers' inboxes all the time. Publishers report lagging sales. Doom and gloom reports come flying in. Yet writers go on, believing that one day their book will find a home.

D- Daring

Throughout history, people have used the written word to do away with conventions, expose lies, and change society for the better. Or at least regale us with tales to make the world we live in that much more genteel to inhabit.

E- Entertaining

To venture into the inner world of a writer is to explore the depths of human imagination and emotion. If you've ever read a book and were swept away by a hero's knowing smile, held captive by an army's siege, or escaped from a pursuing villain, then you understand the lasting impact of a good story.

N- Novelty

Writers constantly come up with interesting and unusual ideas. Those themes of love, vengeance, justice, or redemption may be classic, but that doesn't mean they can't be given a new coat of varnish and displayed in a new light.

C- Character

It sounds scary, but writers have multiple personalities. Just read their WIP. Chances are, the protagonist, bad guy, love interest, ally, nemesis, etc., all bear one or two traits of its creator. This is one of the few vocations where switching identities is accepted and, dare I say, very often encouraged.

E- Excel

Stagnation is unacceptable. Good writers strive to improve upon their work, no matter what their goals for writing are.

Bottom line? Writers have discovered a freedom that is inexplicable and hard to find. I'm willing to risk the occupational hazards to take part in this journey. If you're a writer, I hope you also remain steadfast. Friends of writers, stay supportive. We may be independent, but that doesn't mean we don't love you or cherish your company.

Happy Independence Day!

How will you celebrate your freedom this July 4th?

Making a Living as a Writer

I'm always amazed by the fact that some people assume all published authors are rich, live in mansions, have chauffeurs, travel to exotic places, and can take as much time off as we want. People have actually come right out and asked me how much money I make. I try, in the nicest way possible, to let them know I'm doing fine, but it's really none of their business exactly how much money I make. I think there's something about putting our work out there for everyone to read that gives them the impression they have the right to know what color underwear we have on.

One thing I will admit is that I do more than just write novels. Granted some people are able to make a nice living doing nothing but writing one book a year, but I'm not one of them. Fortunately, I've managed to string together a bunch of things to generate an income close to what I made working a regular day job. One of my gigs is being the Etiquette Guide at About.com. Do you see the irony in this? I actually wrote an etiquette article about how to answer rude questions. 

I know quite a few authors who are also editors, publicists, agents, and professionals in other publishing type jobs. I've done a little bit of freelance editing, but it's not something I enjoy. Some of the writer friendly jobs I can think of off the top of my head include mystery shopping, freelance data entry, medical records coding, and e-book design and formatting.

What are some other things writers can do to generate enough income so we can continue to pursue our passion of telling stories?

Book Clubs

I have found that visiting book clubs as a guest author has been, in a word, fun! It's rewarding to get face-to-face feedback, and the club members have enjoyed getting a sneak peek into the book publishing industry. Invariably, the members are surprised how much work goes into taking a book from inception to completion.

My presentation is divided into two parts. In the first part I talk about the process of writing, editing, and rewriting. I show the club members the galley proofs and the changes I have made to the manuscript after the editing process is supposedly finished. For example, with my latest book (The Return of Cassandra Todd) I made changes right up to the last possible second. I tweak obsessively and finally have to stop reading the manuscript for fear of finding more changes I want to make.

In the second part of my presentation I discuss the book and invite comments and questions. One of the questions I'm often asked is this: How do you know when your manuscript is finally finished? I answer: A famous artist was once asked the same question regarding his paintings, and he replied, "I know a painting is finished when I walk away from it in boredom." I can relate to that.

 How many of you have attended book clubs as a guest author? What has worked well for you? Any suggestions?

Vive La Difference: A Writer for Every Reader

Celebrating my 77th birthday tomorrow, and it reminds me of how good God has been in my life. So, I'm celebrating not only another year, but also a God who has given me my dream.

Authors are such unique individuals. We all may think alike as far as our writing skills and knowledge are concerned, but when it comes to topics and styles, we all have our own way of doing things. Some are plotters, planners, and organizers. Others of us are Pantsters and don’t know the whole story until we write it. Those who write mystery, suspense or thrillers have their own way of thinking and keeping their readers on edge until the end. We have gentle, sweet, romance writers who have conflict, but it doesn’t blow up in our face. We have a limited number of true plot ideas from which to draw, but how we present that plot is as varied as the personalities of the authors who write them.

I envy those who can write mystery, suspense, speculative and fantasy. That’s just not me, but I enjoy reading those genres. Perhaps that’s because I don’t feel I am competing with them for a reader base. I want my stories to touch the hearts of my readers as they watch the lives of my characters grow and evolve in their relationships with each other and with the Lord.

The libraries and bookstores are full of books for every kind of reading tastes. If you can’t find something you would enjoy reading, you just haven’t looked hard enough.

Each of us writes with our own style and voice, and that’s how it should be. Being true to ourselves in our writing is what makes our writing sincere and keeps it moving. It also builds our fan base if we strive for excellence in our writing. When the quality of our writing stays true to our voice and style, our readers won’t be disappointed.

So many times we may wonder if that first book was a fluke and if everyone will hate the next one and the one after that. As long as God is helping us write, and we rely on Him to supply us with the stories, we will not disappoint.

With eleven books under my belt and three more contracted, my greatest concern is that the quality will diminish the more I write. I’ve seen it so often in the secular world, but only a few times in CBA authors. Later books by well known, best-selling authors sometimes lose the pizzazz of the first few and the plots and outcomes become much too predictable. That’s what I hope I can overcome and write so that each book keeps getting better rather than predictable.

With my newest release, Love Stays True, I drew on genealogy research into my paternal grandparents and great-grandparents all because of a few letters my father gave me. One love letter from my great-grandfather to my great-grandmother became the catalyst to learn more about their story. The result is the first book of my new series, The Homeward Journey.

Of course in romance there has to be some predictability in the hero and heroine resolving all issues and coming together at the end, but the journey to that end must be exciting and keep the reader turning the pages to find out how the two will finally be together.  

What do you do to make sure each book is as good as or even better than the previous one, especially in a series?

Book Covers

Don't you just love the day when you get your book cover? I am especially happy with this one, the cover artist did a great job!

Do you have a favorite? If so what made it stand out?

A Fiction Writer’s Purpose According to Debby Mayne

Every fiction writer has a reason for sitting down at the computer every single day and pounding out the words that eventually come together to create a story. One writer may want to use story to share a biblical message, while another may want to make readers laugh, tremble in fear, or sob.

Don’t laugh, fellow authors, but I know a writer who does this so she can get rich and never have to go back to her day job. She hasn’t sold her first book yet, but according to her, she’s this ( ) close. And once readers discover her, she’ll be able to give notice at work, buy the house she always wanted, and travel to exotic places that will inspire her to write even more interesting books. Her husband will quit his banking job and be her agent and business manager. (Yeah, right, let me know how that goes.)

I’m often asked why I chose to write novels and what motivated me to keep going after five years of not selling a thing. After all, it isn’t something I wanted since I picked up my first crayon. I enjoyed English classes—particularly those that involved diagramming sentences—and P.E. I also liked math just fine, until we got past Algebra I. After high school, I went to college and majored in recreation with a minor in English. 

Writing was something I did on the side, but I never expected to see any rewards other than an occasional check for doing a little ad copywriting I did on the side. Then when my children were little, I started writing articles for regional parenting publications after a neighbor made an off-hand remark about how there were probably other “clueless” parents out there who needed some helpful tips. I enjoyed (and still enjoy) writing nonfiction, so I had fun picking up an occasional check for my articles, but I still didn’t see myself as a fiction writer.

Then one day my husband commented on how much I enjoyed reading novels. He pointed to a stack beside my chair and said, “You’re a writer. I bet you can write one of those.” At first, I laughed and shook my head, and then I started thinking about it. Maybe he was right. Books had always been my escape, and I absolutely loved romantic stories.

So I sat down and started pounding out a story. Someone at the library told me about the Writer’s Market. I perused the listings until I found the publishers that might be interested in the type of book I was writing. Long story short, that book didn’t sell and neither did the next one. It took me five whole years to write something that editors deemed publishable.

After I got to know my first editor, I asked why she chose my book over the hundreds of others she had in the stacks on and around her desk. She said that my story pulled her out of her world and into the lives of the characters. With a hint of a blush, she added that she'd fallen in love with my hero. That got me thinking about how I finally wrote the type of story I enjoyed reading, and only then was I able to sell a book. When I tried to teach through fiction or give a message that didn’t come natural to me, I flopped. That obviously wasn’t “my thing.”

That was almost 15 years ago. Since then, I’ve discovered that my purpose in fiction writing is to entertain readers with characters they can relate to or fall in love with. As I write each book, I’m entertained by my “friends” who just happen to be the characters in the story. In fact, I’m often sad when I finish my book, which is why I love writing series.

All published authors have their own reasons for their chosen path. Christian fiction offers all sorts of stories, including those that teach biblical lessons, some that make you laugh, and others that might even have you nervously glancing over your shoulder. My fiction writing purpose has developed into entertaining readers with a fun story and a spark of a message that will leave readers thinking about their own walk with the Lord. Most of the time, the message is very subtle, but it’s there.

Readers, what types of stories do you like to read? Fiction authors, what is your purpose in writing?

Just the Story, please!

For my post, I want to feature something my son, Sean Hennigan, recently wrote to me in an email. It was in response to all of the uproar over the announcement of the new Xbox game console. Oddly enough, his words, reflective of the twenty something generation, are right on the money as to where we are today in our world of instant content. For me as a writer, it is particularly insightful so I want to share it with this blog:

"every great thing that ever was, was small on the day before it became great" Michael Hyatt

The biggest problem we're facing in the modern world is not hunger or disease, government overreach or corporate ownership, shifting global industries or climate change (though believe me, all those issues are important and vital to address in one way or another.) No, the biggest problem facing our generation is this: what do we do with the time we're given?

We live in an unprecedented season of human history where technology, social development and worldwide prosperity gives an increasingly large portion of the world more free time than they know what to do with. Access to tools for information technologies and public information create a world where secrets can't hide, and if they can, they can't hide for long. Information access is the great socially destabilizing force of our time. When combined with the reshaping of world socio-economic systems, a larger population of the world's population has access to a larger pool of comfortable free time than at any other point in human history.

Like Clay Shirkey points out in Cognitive Surplus, we've spent the last 50 years trying to reckon with this enormous shift in social and cultural life around the globe. Shirkey asserts that like the gin craze of industrialized London, society has coped with our influx of free time by investing in something easy and palatable (though by no means healthy): the television. We befriend characters (fictional and "real") and we live vicariously through them, letting producers and writers take our nigh-genetically-encoded hunger for story and shared experience and transform it into a multimedia, multi-national conglomerate entertainment complex. For many years, television viewership was like a national religion - the shared set of stories and cultural understandings that grounded us in modern life.

But (and this is a really, truly crucial but): the world is changed. Ironically, the information access that created this coping mechanism's key systems is also slowly dismantling it. With the advent of personal computing, interactive entertainment and affordable mobile electronic devices, people have more opportunity than ever to actively participate in and sometimes even co-create the media they consume. Smartphones enable users to photograph or record any event they choose; games like Minecraft and even Mass Effect allow users the opportunity to custom-tailor their story experience and tell stories of their own; and digital hosting like Youtube or Instagram allow for easy and free distribution of created material. We have participated in stories because we must be involved in shaping our understanding of our world; we have consumed them passively through commercial media production because previously we have had no choice.

That has changed. Reality has shifted, and media creation (and participatory media consumption) is now within reach of (if not already a reality for) a vast majority of people in the developed  world (and a good portion of the developing world too.) Humans have always had a nigh-infinite capacity for creation and self-realization; technology now allows our created works to finally catch up with our imaginations.

Most people realize that this change has come about on an instinctive level. They share photos and videos of their lives on Facebook; they post pictures to Instagram and keep up with far-flung acquaintances through digital audio and text. The capacity for deliberation and deep, honest engagement with people of like mind has never been greater. Therefore, for most people the television has become the new household god, a marker of cultural identity maybe, and a presence to which people feel great affection or deference, but not the overwhelming, monolithic driver of human existence and identity that it once was. It's an old god in a new world, having the appearance of power but slowly losing any of that power's realities, not by outright defeat, but by a slow fade into irrelevance.

It's an old god in a new world, having the appearance of power but slowly losing any of that power's realities, not by outright defeat, but by a slow fade into irrelevance.

There's a secret to that god, one that its fondest worshippers diligently spend millions of dollars a day to obfuscate and disguise. The secret is this: the god was never real, and was of our own making from the beginning. Before television, before commercial radio, we created: we told stories, we laughed at bars, we wrote songs on our porches. Sure, there were always consumptive media (and interactive experiences like games, incidentally), but we have always actively engaged them: we have gone to the theater, we have cheered at games, we have sung together in church. One of our human prerogatives is to create, and no amount of media consumption has ever fully suppressed that compulsion. We've consumed because we've been trained to; we create because we have no other choice.

So that's my invitation to you: create. Make something. Do something; do anything. There is no amount of cultural gatekeeping that can keep you from creating. The tools are there; the desire is there. You need only to act. Michael Hyatt says every great thing that ever was, was small on the day before it became great. You have no idea how important your stories are: to you, to your loved ones, to me, to the world. You just have to tell them. If you do, if we create and share, then the world will never look the same again.