Narrative Audio Blog
This assignment from start to finish has been a pain in the butt for some reason. I wasn't able to really think of a topic to write on, then it was too short and barely made the minimum word count. Then it took me hours to find the right music file I wanted to use. Then it took like 5 tries to get my audio right without stuttering or flopping around over my words.
The topic I ended up settling on that I thought was Eh was when we did the writing assignment where we wrote on one of the titles from the list that was handed out. Once I wrote it down I realized it was still too short so I looked for places to expand but barely found one, which I only wrote only like two sentences on. I feel like if I focused more on the assignment at home I could have come up with something better but with how everything at home has been it was not gonna happen.
I will say I am pretty excited for the doc assignment we are doing next, I had the topic for it in mind saved since I first learned about it.
Overall I do like the whole creation of the audio assignments, normally it is enjoyable and I do think I am going to at least do a few more of these after this semester is done just for the fun of it. Writing in such a casual way for this class has been refreshing.
-Britt
The topic I ended up settling on that I thought was Eh was when we did the writing assignment where we wrote on one of the titles from the list that was handed out. Once I wrote it down I realized it was still too short so I looked for places to expand but barely found one, which I only wrote only like two sentences on. I feel like if I focused more on the assignment at home I could have come up with something better but with how everything at home has been it was not gonna happen.
I will say I am pretty excited for the doc assignment we are doing next, I had the topic for it in mind saved since I first learned about it.
Overall I do like the whole creation of the audio assignments, normally it is enjoyable and I do think I am going to at least do a few more of these after this semester is done just for the fun of it. Writing in such a casual way for this class has been refreshing.
-Britt
Britt
ReplyDeleteI am in a very similar place with you on this one. Finding a topic was way more challenging than I had expected and then trying to expand that to work for the assignment proved trying. I hope the doc project treats you well, its great that you already have ideas for it.
-Lilly
The doc project can be really engaging, though technically it can get pretty complicated. It's interesting that you struggled with the finding a satisfying story to tell, Britt. Did the writing prompts just not produce ideas that inspired you? A larger question that interests me is how--especially when we're given free rein to choose writing subjects--we go about finding material. Do you simply think on it? Do you do any writing? Brainstorming? Talking? Listing? Journal Work? In general, aside from the obvious (you are initially interested in a topic), how do you make the judgment that a topic is "good," that it's worth going to the trouble of drafting?
ReplyDeleteI'm not entirely sure, honestly. I did the writing assignments in class to generate ideas and came up with two or three, including the one I chose. I know it isn't much of an excuse, but I have a lot of stuff going on at home as well, an acting group that camps in my house every weekend, general "I have two kids" excuse, and going to the doctor two weeks ago and being stuck in this dumb sling for another two weeks has not been very idea producing.
DeleteI am better at poetry writing than any other medium and this is the first real time I am writing non fiction based in my own life outside of the poetry. I think another roadblock I was having with myself is how my last assignment I had one of my kids at the center of it, and I think I didn't want to put them in this one as to avoid being repetitive in my subjects. I can talk about them all darn day to family and friends though and I have tons of little stories about them. So, maybe part of my issue was that I don't think much of my life is very interesting so I have trouble finding stories about my life worth telling.
Again, this is all just silly excuses, just meditating on the questions you asked. :)
I agree that trying to find a topic has been one of the more challenging aspects of class. I personally think that you should feel fine to tell multiple stories about your kids; while I understand the impetus to show different sides of yourself (which is why I told stories from different parts of my life), at the same time, I think we've seen that passion and honesty are the traits that lead to the best of these essays in class. Nobody tells Sherman Alexie to stop writing about Native Americans; it's more about looking at your kids as a source for multiple points of reflection.
ReplyDeleteThat said, it's still hard. It's hard to find things long enough, or short enough, or with broad appeal not just in topic but in takeaway.
I am also looking forward to playing around with this format after class ends to see what other directions I can take it and what skills I can polish.