Reading Reponse 10-30

Don't Make Me Think! has been a very helpful source throughout this class. It's an easy read because it is so conversational and cuts out any wordiness. After skimming through it for the best section, I decided that Chapter 4: Animal, Vegetable, or Mineral? would be the most applicable.

This chapter's main point is that users want something easy to navigate. They don't want to have to think about what they're doing. As the author calls it, users want mindless choices. A web presence like this can be created by repetition. Nearly every website has a search bar at the top, additional links at the side or bottom, and ways to navigate the page across the top. Keeping this general template creates an "I've been here before" feeling for the user, thus eliminating uncertainty. In addition to easy navigation, everything you create must be easy to understand and clear to your user. No one wants to search around a page and click a thousand links because they don't understand where each one will take them. I have definitely been that user! I'm applying for study abroad and the website of the school I want to attend is very confusing. I've clicked my way between tens of hundreds of pages, not sure where each goes exactly, and never able to find my way back to the original page, or the right page once I found it. Users want mindless choices. My group and I can use this information to make a user-friendly web presence. Our audience is college students, and no student wants to spend hours trying to get more information on traveling. By making the websites simple and easy to navigate, students will find what they are looking for faster, and therefore staying interested longer.

Reading Response: Storify

For this reading response I explored Storify. Storify is basically a way to tell a story through existing social media. You can combine stories from all over the internet to create one big picture. I'm really surprised that I had never heard of this tool, considering it uses Facebook, twitter, and tumblr. Not to mention the craze to find the newest and coolest socia media tools that should've led me to this site.

One of the benefits of this tool is that it is an involved story-telling method. Because you draw in stories from all different media, this means you most likely aren't the one writing these stories. This gives you the opportunity to use a full spectrum of opinions and perspectives. This also means that the owners of the stories you incorporate can be involved in your story, or as Storify says, "part of the bigger picture." We could use this tool to show what other college students are saying about traveling.

The downfall of this tool, as I mentioned, is that you aren't writing the stories yourself. Depending on how you think of it, this might mean having less of a creative freedom. For one, you aren't creating the stories to include. However, you can still be creative in which ones you use. Additionally, since you are pulling from media to tell a story, this means the story can end up very one-sided if that's the direction you choose to go in.

Running as it is in the Media and Social Media

Articles 
Why Run? The Benefits 
Why Run? A Reason for the Rest of Us 
Why Run? What Running Does for You 
Why Run? The Running Bug 

Social Media 
Facebook 
Running (7.4 Million likes) 
This is Why I Run (2,394 likes)
Twitter
Real Runners @Running Quotes (102,430 followers) 
Runner's World @runnersworld (438,696 followers) 
Cool Running @Cool_Running (51,960 followers)

Unit 3 Xtranormal

Unit 3 PWS-- Running
by: cposey4

Unit 3 Tutorial

It's time for Unit 3, which means you're halfway through the semester already! For this unit production you'll put your story back on screen and give it a voice, using the narrative tool Xtranormal.

First you'll want to brainstorm ways that you can tell your story with different characters. (Here's your chance to change up your audience if you want.) Think of different situations in which your topic could be addressed effectively.

Next, familiarize yourself with Xtranormal and start writing your dialogue. Make sure to take time out to listen to what you've written. You may have to publish your work in order to do so quickly. Work with camera angles and gestures to make your presentation more interesting.

Important things to remember:
-Keep your presentation simple. Cut out "happy talk" and include only things that are vital for your audience to know.
-Some words in Xrranormal require a little tweaking. You may need to spell some out phonetically.

Good luck!

How to Write Dialogue Response

After reading these two articles, there are a few things I learned about writing dialogue. You can make a conversation more interesting by being creative with characters. By giving characters a background story, which includes geography, age, eduction, etc., you can give a character "life." Playing around with these different characteristics will make a conversation more engaging. Next: keep it simple. Even though a simpler conversation isn't exactly what happens in real life, it is easier for an audience to read an comprehend. This also relates to the previous reading by Krug, in which he states to cut out all "happy talk." I can use this tip to cut out any details that aren't important to the story, which will keep me from babbling on in my writing as I tend to do.

In part two, a few tips changed my mind on writing dialogue. For example, the article talks about dialogue tags and interjecting them wherever necessary. This is something I can understand, however I was surprised at the tip "don't get too colorful with tags." Here, the thesaurus idea is shot down. I originally thought that using different words to spice up writing, even in something as small as the dialogue tags, would be useful, but here I see that this just distracts from the story. I will be sure to follow this guideline in my Unit 3 PWS. Additionally, I also like that this article stated that technically you can do whatever you want with your writing because it is called creative writing. I have always been hesitant about how certain things should be written and never realized until now that it's my choice-- it's my writing.

Both of these articles were helpful in pointing out the do's and dont's of dialogue. I learned tips I can use in Unit 3.

Xtranormal

I reviewed Xtranormal as a narrative tool. To be completely honest, I am not a fan at all. I think it's painful to sit through presentations made on Xtranormal because of the monotonous dialogue. I don't think this tool gets the point across because it doesn't hold attention for more than the first few sentences. It's more like sitting in a 200-person lecture hall during a philosophy lesson than listening to an engaging speaker.

The only good thing about this presentation tool is the use of characters as narrators rather than words on a screen. This allows the writer to set up different situations in order to tell the story, and therefore can make it more relatable to a certain audience. I could use this tool to tell my story by setting it up with a variety of characters. I could use the scenario of a gym teacher and students or gym teacher and parent relationship in order to stress the importance of running as an exercise to better the students' health. I could make my characters two busy co-workers having a conversation about how they don't have time to go to the gym. One could inform the other that running is an easy way to stay in shape without having to invest in a membership or equipment. Another option would be between two busy college students that no longer have time to stay in shape because of busy class schedules and extracurriculars. I feel like this would be the easiest way to relate to my audience because this is my age group.

 The benefits of this tool are that I could connect more with the audience by setting up an actual scenario rather than creating text that targets a more general audience. However, I don't feel that this new audience would understand my point because I couldn't keep anyone's attention for long due to the monotone speech.

Unit 2 Tutorial

Unit 2 Tutorial on Prezi

Unit 2 Prezi

Unit 2 on Prezi

Reading Response 9/18

I think it's safe to say that if I take anything from this class it will be that everything I learned in high school about writing was wrong. Reading from Krug's book was really interesting because it dispelled, yet again,  another writing habit. Before college, and even in some non-writing oriented courses now, I have been assigned a certain length for writing. I often found myself falling just short of that requirement and having to add tons of unnecessary words and statements. Krug's writing teaches that if it isn't necessary, it shouldn't be there. I will keep this idea in mind with my PWS to make sure it is full of substance and not empty words.

I also learned something new from the handout. There have been plenty of times I've been prompted to be persuasive in my writing, and this paper shows the best way to do that. Although your argument is typically focused on what you need or want someone to do, you can't make it about you. Rather, you have to show your audience how the situation will benefit them. Luckily, my call to action really does nothing for me other than getting people to see my point. My topic of running for health is purely beneficial to my audience, which makes persuasion at least a little easier.

The final handout talked about CRAP, which I didn't realize I had violated until now. For example, I have changed my alignments around in previous writings to make a page look more interesting. As the article went on, it talked about repetition, which I now realize is one of those characteristics of all web pages that you never really realize. For example, search bars, links, titles, etc. I will use the information from this reading to design my PWS to be interesting and to the point, all while following the general guidelines of CRAP. 

Presentation Tools Response

For this assignment, I used Bookr, a tool used to put pictures into a photobook with flickr. I could use this presentation tool to communicate my PWS by showing pictures of me running, others running, inspirational quotes, and non-typical runners. The pictures of myself would be used to illustrate why I run and how long I've been doing it (even though I have a love/hate relationship with running). I could use pictures of other people running to show that anyone can do it. For example, pictures of grade-school-aged kids running, college runners in uniform, middle-aged runners in marathons, and older runners. Inspirational quotes and pictures of people you wouldn't normally see running would help to motivate others. At the end of my PWS I included links to Cliff Young and Ben Comen, two incredible stories of unusual runners. Pictures of runners who have prosthetics or disabilities would show people they can do it, too.

The benefits of this tool would be the use of images, because pictures tell a story more quickly that words. However, just using images might not tell the entire story or prove my point as well. It would take away from a lot of the narration I have included.

Unit 1 Tutorial

Welcome to Unit 1—Professional Writing Story

So you want to be a writer, huh? Or maybe this class is just a requirement and you’re just trying to pass. Either way, wouldn’t it be easier if you had someone to walk you through it? I know you’re probably swamped with homework, a job, or “extra curriculars" so I’m here to help!

• Start with a sheet of paper and a pen, or your laptop and Word document for you tech-savvy environmentalists.
• Jot down the first three things that come to mind when I say “What Do You Care About?”
• Got ‘em? Now, ask yourself “Should others care about these topics as well?” All topics that receive a “no” answer should be crossed off the list, and you should pat yourself on the back for being so unique in your interests!
• Take the remaining topics and make a list for each answering the following question: “Why should others care?” You’ll probably find that these are the same reasons why you care.

Pretty simple so far right? Take a moment to shake it out and get focused; it’s time to tell a story.

Now, if your first thoughts when you saw “story” involved anything along the lines of beginning… middle… end or Hansel and Gretel, go back to that shaking and focusing thing.

Ready for real now? Ok, pick one topic from your list to write about.

The number one thing to keep in mind is that, despite how talented you think you are or aren’t at storytelling, you do it daily, multiple times even. Remember that crazy night last week? Did you tell someone about it? What about the next day when you told your professor or boss you were “coming down with something” and wouldn’t make it in that day? See? You are a great storyteller! (And liar.)

Number two is that no one wants to listen to someone who knows everything or only talks to hear the sound of his or her own voice. Be creative, don’t be afraid to sound stupid, and, most importantly, be a good listener! Stories come from experiences and you’ll never experience anything worth telling if you think you already know everything.

So, make up a story that draws your audience in or recall a personal experience. The idea is to give your listeners an experience as if it were their own, in order to motivate them to care about whatever it is you’re writing about-- all in a story that can be told in two minutes or less. Get those juices flowing and don’t forget to post to your blog!

Once you’ve completed your story, it might be beneficial to have someone read it over—be it a friend, classmate, professor, whomever. Feedback and constructive criticism are huge elements of writing so review carefully and update your writing accordingly.

Now comes the fun part! This is multimedia writing so you need to transform your story from the boring essay format it’s currently in to an engaging experience. 

• Add picture, videos, and links. 
• Play with font sizes to create a hierarchy of importance within the story. 
• Add color, special characteristics, whatever it takes. 

Make your story something that you would personally be interested in at least skimming through!

Throw everything you’ve written in this process into a folder to submit, including a printed copy of the final PWS.

Congrats! You made it through Unit 1! 

Run for Your Life-- Unit 1 PWS Final

How do you spend the majority of your day? 

Sitting in class? Watching TV? Staring at a computer screen in a cubicle? Do you spend more time brushing your teeth than exercising? Is the most you see the outdoors the walk from your car to the door of your home or workplace? One last and more serious question: How do you think this is affecting your health? 

When I was 11-years-old, a friend of mine convinced me to join our middle school’s cross country team. At first I ran because my friends did, but later I developed an interest. I never came in first, or even tenth, I rarely won a medal that wasn’t merely for participation, my name was never in the sports section of the local newspaper, I hated going to practice every evening, and I certainly wasn’t a star athlete. But running did something for me. Every Saturday morning, instead of sleeping in, I’d put on my hideous uniform, pack my bag full of granola bars, water, and fruit, and drive nearly an hour away just to cross the finish line in the rear of the pack. I had to talk myself through every single race. You can do this, I told myself, one more hill, pick up the pace, pass that girl, only one more mile. I hated every single minute of those races: beforehand, when my friend (who was actually very good) received a personal pep talk from the coach, during, when I was always three strides behind the same girl, and after, when awards were being handed out and I was still just trying to catch my breath. Yet every single evening I went to practice, and every weekend my scrawny legs somehow carried me over three miles of hills.

So why did I do it? To be honest, I have no idea. Fall after Fall I showed up at the local park for conditioning, never understanding why. One by one, my friends all left. Except for the one I was constantly compared to, that was more amazing that I could ever hope to be. It wasn’t until my senior year, seven years later, that I finally appreciated all the sport did for me. That same friend had a stress fracture and was in a boot. The regional meet came up, and she wasn’t going to run until our rival team discovered that, without her, there wouldn’t be enough girls competing for them to place. She surprised us all when she decided to tough it out, over three miles in the rain. But I surprised myself that day. I crossed the finish line nearly eight minutes faster than usual, and about ten minutes ahead of her. When I saw her heading through the chute, I met her at the beginning and ran the 200 meters to the finish by her side. I still didn’t win a medal— the most I got was high-fives and pats on the back from my teammates and coach—but I learned that I wouldn’t be me without having run three miles every Saturday, not including practices, for a quarter of a year for nine years. Now, I know what it means to persevere through the most difficult of situations and how to manage my time efficiently.  I eat healthy and exercise at least three times a week. And most of all, I am in the (slow) process of training for bigger races, with the hopes of completing a marathon someday.  Looking back on all that time I thought I was wasting in “misery,” I am truly thankful that I stuck it out.

The team before the Regional race in 2009

I live for the mornings when I can lace up my neon-pink shoes and hit the pavement, but what does that mean to you? Get out there! I dare you to run a lap around the nearest high school’s track, or for ten minutes on a treadmill, or even just one mile. You will hate it, every second of it, especially if you’ve never run before. But when you finish, and you see that you’ve reached your simplest goal, you'll see what running can do. You’ll eat healthier, even if just to assure your run wasn’t in vain. You’ll feel more awake, more focused. Your legs will become stronger, your arms more toned, your lungs fuller, your heart more efficient. All you have to do is run for thirty minutes, three times a week— time that you would’ve spent in front of the TV or computer anyway.

Think you can't?

Ben Comen-- Living Without Limits

The Cliff Young Story

Cliff Young 1983

Why I Run

“The Legend of Cliff Young: The 61-year-old Farmer who Won the World’s Toughest Race.” Elitefeet.com. 30 Dec. 2007. Web. Elitefeet.com. 29 Aug. 2012.

Reilly, Rick. “Worth the Wait.” 20 Oct. 2003. Sports Illustrated 99:16. Web. Sportsillustrated.cnn.com. 29 Aug. 2012. 

Story and Billboard Design Response

"If you are breathing you are a storyteller..."

I've heard multiple times throughout the past two weeks that a story isn't what we have been taught it is throughout our pre-university education and the handout really cemented this concept to me. The beginning section about curiosity made me think. The author states that you must be curious about the world around you and you must be a good listener to be a good storyteller.

I like that the author states the entire idea of a story is based on experience, which brings me to understand that storytelling is how people communicate. If you need something done to your computer, you tell the IT guy a story about why it isn't acting properly and if you miss work, you tell your boss a story about why you weren't there. As the author states, if these people could be in your place they would understand the situation much better, however, since this is impossible, it is your job to write a story well enough that your experience is real and understandable to your listeners.

I will use the information I have gained from this handout to address several types of stories from experience in my Unit One PWS. I have already used my personal story of why I run, but I must now use others' experiences for support. I will do so by finding multimedia stories of unique runners, as well as how running has affected others.

Furthermore, Chapter 3 put writing and multimedia in simpler terms. I have learned that the design must be simple enough for the general audience to understand, yet bold enough to capture attention. Also, a hierarchy must be present for the audience to navigate throughout the page. I will use this information to assure my blog and writings engage my audience and get my point across.

Unit 1 PWS

When I was 11-years-old, a friend of mine convinced me to join our middle school’s cross country team. At first I ran because my friends did, but I later developed an interest. I never came in first, or even tenth, I rarely won a medal that wasn’t merely for participation, my name was never in the sports section of the local newspaper, I hated going to practice every evening, and I certainly wasn’t a star athlete. But running did something for me. Every Saturday morning, instead of sleeping in, I’d put on my hideous blue uniform, pack my bag full of granola bars, water, and fruit, and drive nearly an hour away just to cross the finish line in the rear of the pack. I hated every single minute of those races: beforehand, when my friend (who was actually very good) received a personal pep talk from the coach, during, when I was always three strides behind the same girl, and after, when awards were being handed out and I was still just trying to catch my breath. Yet every single evening I went to practice, and every weekend my scrawny legs somehow carried me over three miles of hills.

So why did I do it? To be honest, I have no idea. Fall after Fall I showed up at the local park for conditioning, never understanding why. One by one, my friends all left. Except for the one I was constantly compared to, that was more amazing that I could ever hope to be. It wasn’t until my senior year, seven years later, that I finally appreciated all the sport did for me. That same friend had a stress fracture and was in a boot. The regional meet came up, and she wasn’t going to run until our rival team discovered that, without her, there wouldn’t be enough girls competing for them to place. She surprised us all when she decided to tough it out, over three miles in the rain. But I surprised myself that day. I crossed the finish line nearly seven minutes faster than I'd ever run, and about ten minutes ahead of her. When I saw her heading through the chute, I met her at the beginning and ran the 200 meters to the finish by her side. I still didn’t win a medal— the most I got was high-fives and pats on the back from my teammates and coach—but I learned that I wouldn’t be me without having run three miles every Saturday, not including practices, for a quarter of a year for nine years. Now, I know what it means to persevere through the most difficult of situations and how to manage my time efficiently.  I eat healthy and exercise at least three times a week. And most of all, I am in the (slow) process of training for bigger races, with the hopes of completing a marathon someday.  Looking back on all that time I thought I was wasting in “misery,” I am truly thankful that I stuck it out. 

I live for the mornings when I can lace up my neon-pink shoes and hit the pavement, but what does that mean to you? Get out there! I dare you to run a lap around the nearest high school’s track, or for ten minutes on a treadmill, or even just one mile through your community. You will hate it, every second of it, especially if you've never run before. But when you finish, and you see that you’ve reached your simplest goal, you’ll see what running can do. You’ll eat healthier, even if just to assure your run wasn’t in vain. You’ll feel more awake, more focused. Your legs will become stronger, your arms more toned, your lungs fuller, your heart more efficient. All you have to do is run for thirty minutes, three times a week— time that you would’ve spent in front of the TV or computer anyway.

Professional Writing Story Response

Reading the short stories in Tuesday's handout helped me get a better idea of how to write the Professional Writing Story. First and foremost, the most memorable part of the reading was the passage about Disney World. This  made me realize the actual meaning of "story". A story is not simply a beginning, middle, and end, used to describe what happened to you yesterday or to ease a child to sleep. It is a message you want to portray and revolves around a central theme. I came to this realization because of the statement that even maintenance workers at the amusement park are called "cast members" and are expected to communicate with children by coming down to their level, as any princess or character would. Furthermore, a friend of mine was lucky enough to intern at disney (as a princess nonetheless!), and she always had to say she was a "friend" of her character in order to maintain the "magic". I will use this knowledge and realization to maintain my theme throughout the story I write.

The next article that really sticks out in my mind is "Bang the Drum Strategically". This piece taught me that choice of words can make or break your story. I myself am guilty of using the Word thesaurus to spice up my writing, and I'm sure that it's been quite apparent in some of my papers. This article takes it further than that. I've learned that you must be a "wordsmith" and the words must reflect the theme, not just "intellect," even the kind that comes from your computer program.

Finally, "What Babies Know" was really interesting to read! I took a course on linguistics last semester so this article is very memorable for me. While the class taught me all about how words and sounds are made and why we say them that way, I never realized that certain letters and sounds are used intentionally, as in lullabies. I learned from this that if I am writing a mellow piece, I should use terms with soft letters such as "s" and "l," and when I am writing dramatic, harsh stories I should use harder-hitting consonants, such as "t," "p," "f," and so on.

Introduction

Dr. Gouge and Classmates,

Hi! My name is Corie Posey. I am a junior, but only a second-year student in interior design (it took five majors to get here!).

I am taking this class because I have a minor in Professional Writing and Editing. The job market is tough, especially for designers, so I'm doing everything I can to make myself more marketable. Because of my attempts, I feel lucky to have several options after graduation. I plan to either 1) attend graduate school for architecture, 2) obtain event planning certification the The International School of Hospitality (TISOH), or 3) work for a design and/or architecture publication. Either way, I hope to end up down south in a big city like Charleston, Savannah, or Dallas.

One interesting fact about me is that I am a busy-body! I currently hold the position of social chair in WVU's chapter of American Society of Interior Designers, am the design lead for the Solar Decathlon team, a Gold and Blue student ambassador, and was recently promoted to Lead Brand Rep at my job in retail. As you can tell, I juggle a lot but I wouldn't have it any other way. Because of these experiences, I feel that I have learned more about my field of study than I could just sitting in a classroom, have developed a better understanding of where I'd like to go with my studies, and have had the opportunity to interact with a lot of great professionals!