In your final post discuss what you accomplished, whether you plan to continue your efforts or start over, and what you learned and maybe wish you had learned.
It really is amazing what you can accomplish in 7 weeks. I never imagined how much can change, how much thought goes into everyday, and how much is out there in the world to learn. This class not only taught me how to write better, it has opened up the world of writing and online media for me. I guess you can say I had a limited and traditional vision about what writing was. Bob did a wonderful job of showing me how impactful and vast the writing world is, and how much communication changes our lives. Writing is a skill I hope to continue to improve upon and utilize as much as possible in the future.
Accomplishments:
This was the first time in my life I ever created a Flash presentation. I just learned Adobe Flash a little over a year ago and was surprised at how much it can do. I really enjoy animation and I had a great time doing my executive presentation - but realized how time consuming the program is (especially if you pick apart your work like I do).
The storyboards were also a first for me. It was a logical choice for me considering I love to draw. I wish I had a little more time to flesh out some more scenes, which I hope to do in the near future. It was interesting to learn how to write using images and sounds, and how film can open up and transpose writing in a unique way.
My biggest accomplishment was writing about my experiences with Irene. I had to let the demons out and face a terrifying memory. In a way it was a form of therapy, and I am glad I stuck with my topic and wrote outside of my comfort zone (tough!). There were times I struggled with my writing identity, and felt unsure about how to attack the content. I think I would have been comfortable writing as myself (without the pen name), but then again it helped to have a new and fresh voice that is still my own.
Starting over:
Even though I do want to continue my story/script/film with that dreadful day during Irene and the days that followed, I want to get back to improving/promoting/designing my freelance business CED Design and its online presence. With what I have learned in this class I hope to go back and tidy up the content that is there and continue to expand and develop its possibilities. My first step is to finish hand coding the site (which is now just a blog) and create pages within it to display my many multimedia interests. Ideally I would like to have a page for each endeavor (portfolio, video, audio, writing, poetry, and of course the blog). I would like the site to be a business site as well as an artist's page. So in a sense I am not really starting over, I am just continuing where I left off. I want to review all the connections to this as well, and strengthen the links to it through LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Google+.
If There Was More Time (and there will be):
From what I stated in my proposal it is clear I did not get around to all I said I would. Within the time given I pushed myself as far as I could within the means and wish I could have found time to do a bit more. I wanted to interview some people that had their homes destroyed by Irene, but found the task a little daunting. For some reason it was hard enough to deal with what I went through personally and found just writing and thinking about it very difficult. I also wanted to get some statistics on Irene through FEMA, but could not find the time. Although this did not happen, I found what I did accomplish to be quite heavy, and by focusing on the story it seemed efficient in the angle I originally wanted to take. Like I mentioned earlier I still want to flesh out the story of my experiences with the storm and someday turn it into a masterpiece. I will never forget that day and particularly what my step mother said. "This is something you can tell your grandchildren about." And someday I will, but it started right here. Hopefully, more than just my grandchildren will know what happened that day, I guess that is the reason I choose it for a topic. It is an ongoing story and someday will be that tale of a man who fought against nature. I did find many layers of meaning through that troublesome day and realized how important each and everyone of us is, how we are all struggling against (our) nature and looking for answers within the world we live.
I am very thankful for having been able to participate in this class. Bob - you are a fantastic instructor and I appreciate everything you showed (us) me. You have a unique and inspiring way of teaching, it is like a friendly slap on the back - which pushes us into opening our eyes and minds to the amazing world around us - even if it is just about being a better writer/communicator. I hope everyone in the class realizes it is more than just that. I hope everyone had an eye opening experience like I did, and I wish the best of luck to my colleagues in their travels on the road of interactive communications.
Thanks again to Bob, Amie, and Sadie - I enjoyed reading and experiencing your work - kudos to you guys!
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