Week 8 Reading and Writing

Reading

At the beginning of the semester, I really was not super sure how to take notes for the readings. I knew that I would be using the notes to write my stories but I had never really written notes over stories before, usually just textbook kind of things for school. I played around with different methods and went back and forth between formal and informal a lot. I also couldn't really decide whether including a significant amount of detail was good for notes or not because I didn't want to come too close to copying the original story. However, I've found a way to include all of the information I need to write the story so I remember everything that happens while also keeping it short enough to where it doesn't consume too much time and I don't come too close to copying the original story. So far, I've really liked both the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. However, at this point, I feel like I have a better understanding of the Ramayana. I think part of this is because I'm a huge visual learner, and although there are tons of links and things to help while reading, the language and the number of characters involved in the stories can make it kind of confusing. Sita Sings the Blues helped me understand everything that I needed to know about the story a lot more.

Writing

Writing the stories and the process of doing so has been so interesting for me. On the first story I wrote, I kept going back and forth between my story, my reading notes, and all of the instructions pages to make sure I was doing everything right. In the back of my head I knew that I was the author and I needed to be creative and at the end of the day what I was doing wasn't wrong or right, but it definitely took me a little while to get the hang of things. Sometimes I get stuck trying to think of an idea to twist and change the original story into my own and sometimes it comes super quick. I guess it just depends on the content of the story. I found that my last story I wrote was relatively easy to write, and I only had to google a few things to add detail. I'm glad that I chose to do the portfolio for my project because I personally love the process of revision. I am the kind of writer that writes to get my ideas out and then constantly goes back to try and make it better, whether it's a story like these assignments or a research paper, so I have enjoyed getting feedback on mistakes I've made and what I can do to make the story stronger.

Blog/Website Layout

I actually have played around with the layout of both my website and my blog a lot. Like I said before, I am a huge visual learner, and this carries on into other things. The way that my blog and website appear visually and how it is set up matters a lot to me so I have played around with the layout/colors/pictures/fonts a lot. I am very content with how they both look. However, I don't have a lot of experience with creating my own website and such so with practice and time I'm sure I could improve more.

Looking Forward

Like I explained with my story writing process, I am a huge fan of revision. I understand that starting something new and unfamiliar is difficult and it can take a little bit of time to get the hang of things. I feel like I am starting to get a good grip on the flow of how this class works as well as my skills for reading notes and writing stories. There is always room for improvement though, and I definitely can see places where I can improve a little. I think that taking a little extra time to do extra research on a topic I don't understand, something in a story that I am unfamiliar with, or a character that I don't remember would help me both in the reading notes and writing processes. I also feel like sometimes I take a long time trying to find the perfect detail that goes into the story so that when I'm finished I rush through reading the story and I don't revise as thoroughly before publishing as I should. I think that taking a little extra time would definitely be beneficial in the long run.

Rama and Sita: Wikicommons

I chose this picture because it was the picture I used in my initial draft of my story "Ron and Tammy."  This was my first story that I published on my website for my portfolio and I have revised and spent so much time on it. I definitely feel accomplished by this story, and it makes me excited for my other stories on my portfolio.