Weekly Learning Journal – 18/10/21

The Cathartic Process:

Last week I created a plan for a confessional poem in the style of Sylvia Plath, outlining the sort of emotions I wanted to explore and how I would incorporate them into my writing. Since I take a lot of inspiration from the genre, I thought of integrating horror elements into my poem – using it as a device to personify the themes I used. Specifically, I looked to stories structured like Grimm’s Fairy Tales and other classic childrens books; such as Little Red Riding Hood and The Three Little Pigs. Before actually moving onto writing the poem, I presented my notes in my sketbooks with doodles to match these ideas – similarly to the work I did on Plath’s poems.

Research and Comic Books:

In my other class I started another research project, this time on some of my favourite characters from media. I mentioned archetypes, story arcs, how they fit into their worlds and what stereotypes they both uphold and break. I then went into some of my own characters and the sort of stories they belong in. Like my previous work, this was helpful in that it gave me a chance to get my ideas onto paper and flesh them out bit. I also went back to my work on writing styles in comic books, adding a couple of paragraphs that go over comics from 2000ad’s “Future Shocks.”

Audio:

During my Audio lesson, instead of working on my audio book I went to Dizzy Ink to create a Zine. Picking the antonyms bravery and fear, another classmate and I created illustrations representative of these ideas and strung them together with a poem. To create the zine we first had to create multiple plans before eventually pressing them onto card. It was a fun and new experience that gave me a chance to experiment with a medium I’m not familar with.

Weekly Learning Journal – 10/10/21

The Cathartic Process:

This week I finalised some of my work on the poems I had been analysing, before adding them to my sketchbook in ways that I think stylistically fits them. 

Our workshop with Sophie Sparham was also a very insightful experience, as I got to learn about a full-time writer’s routine, inspirations and how she started out as a poet. The session also was also reassuring as Sophie shared her experience with creative blocks and other difficulties she faces as a writer. Of course, in the workshop we also wrote our own short poems which was interesting as I got to exercise some writing muscles I don’t normally use. While I may have analysed them, actually writing my own poems is not something I usually do as I am more comfortable working in different styles – such as traditional prose for example. One of the poems I created during the workshop was a short acrostic poem using my name:

Dawn peeks through the curtains,

Yellow light slicing the veil of night.

Long have I waited,

And long have I endured these twisted,

Nagging thorns.

Since I had been taking notes her work prior to the workshop, I took inspiration from Sylvia Plath’s poem: Insomniac.

Research and Comic Books:

This week I read and picked apart a number of graphic novels in preparation for my research task on writing styles in the medium. Besides generally enjoying the process of re-reading some of my current favorite comic books, I found the task to be an interesting experience as writing style is not usually the first thing that comes to mind when reading a graphic novel. I learnt about different script structures, conventional techniques used in contemporary comic books and what is now considered dated, layout and descriptions of panels, how writers adjust their work to fit certain genres and the relationship between illustration and scriptwriting. My research also provided an opportunity for me to begin brainstorming ideas for my own five-page comic that I will eventually have to start working on. 

Weekly Learning Journal – 04/10/21

The Cathartic Process:

Last week, after finishing my notes on my previous work, I took a look at another Sylvia Plath poem but this time it was one that I picked out myself. I decided to go with Insomniac as I personally connected with its themes more than the other poems I read while doing my research for this task. We also watched and took notes on Sylvia (2003) that, like previous exercises, helped develop my analytical skill through the sharing of ideas. 

Research and Comic Books:

Similarly to my last project, I discussed genres in class and then went on to write an in-depth analysis of the conventions of horror. I covered various sub-genres and then picked one to explore further – using clips and images from a specific franchise to explain why it fell under my chosen sub-genre. The final part of my work (a synopsis of my own story in the style of the genre) was helpful in giving me new inspiration for my writing and finally getting some of my ideas ‘onto paper.’ 

Audio:

Carrying on my work from the week before, I expanded on my initial ideas and began planning an introduction to my audio book. I made note of what sound effects I wanted to use and then began collecting a few sound bites as practise. I also started working on the audiobook’s logo, compiling a moodboard before creating a few sketches. 

A general area of improvement for this week would be in my time management skills as I started to let work pile up, causing myself to become slightly overwhelmed towards the end of the week. 

Weekly Learning Journal – 27/09/21

The Cathartic Process:

Last week we spent some time going over Sylvia Plath and her poem, Lady Lazarus. I didn’t create a original piece like I did with the photo review, but I did make annotations on the poem and later presented my work in my sketchbook. I valued discussing peoples’ interpretations of Plath’s work as it gave me an opportunity to look at the poem from a different angle and note down ideas I otherwise wouldn’t have thought of. In future, I believe I would benefit from reading up on more poems in general to better my understanding on the art form as a whole.

Today I also received feedback on my Cathartic piece, that’s simultaneously boosted my confidence and help me mould a couple targets for myself.

Research and Comic Books:

In my other class I worked on another research project, this time on Gothic Literature. I covered it conventions, archetypes that commonly appear in it and then began exploring Gothic characters in graphic novels. Similarly to my last project, this allowed me to better appreciate the topics I was researching and better understand certain nuisances in the Gothic genre. Speaking of my previous project, I went back to my work on character archetypes and expanded on a few ideas I had only briefly touched upon.

Audio

In my audio class I started brainstorming ideas for my very own podcast. I decided to go down the route of creating something more reminiscent of an audio book, coming up with the idea of writing a few short horror-stories and then having them read by various people. I would include a variety of sounds effects to compliment the writing and maybe include a moody music track to help conjure a creepy atmosphere. All I have to do now is get to work.

Weekly Learning Journal – 20/09/21

The Cathartic Process:

Last week I created a cathartic piece based on a photograph that I really liked. I enjoyed the process of getting my thoughts onto paper and then further expanding on them through the short prologue I created. While coming up with an idea for my work, I was inspired by a video game I’ve been playing recently called Returnal. The general premise of the game is about an astronaut trapped in a Groundhogs day-esque loop on an alien planet. The concept of a continuous loop – cycle – in a hostile environment is what helped me come up with the plot of my prologue. While I was happy with the language I used, I feel that I could have been more descriptive of the setting, characters and certain concepts. I also believe that I could have added more in general to make the piece feel less cryptic and more distinct. Next time I think I could benefit from spending more time plotting my story and fleshing out my ideas.

Research and Comic Books:

In my second class I spent time researching some common character archetypes present in various pieces of media. It provided me with a better understanding of the character creation process and the structure of stories in general. I compiled my findings in a post partitioned by different archetypes, including information about them and examples. The structure I used was inspired by the different articles I had been using for my research. I was satisfied with the bases I covered, however I believe that I could have gone into more detail about the examples I used.

Audio:

In preparation for my class on creative writing in audio, I listened to the Dead Meat Podcast – a podcast orientated around the horror genre. In class I began writing a review for the podcast, covering its content, sounds and hosts. I valued the process as it allowed me to better appreciate podcasts and inspired me to seek out more. It also gave me a chance to brainstorm what I could do for future projects in audio. I do feel however, that I could have gone into more detail about certain aspects of the podcast.