Journal Entry #9: Actual Proof that I’m Actually Doing Work

So, we’re supposed to post images that somehow prove we’re Actually Doing Our Personal Project. (Actually, we were supposed to do that first back in October and again recently, but I kind of didn’t do that. Woops.) But the thing is, it’s a bit hard to take pictures of a story, particularly an unpublished story that currently resides in my computer while awaiting its final stages of completion. It’s not a painting I can take snapshots of while in every stage. However, I came up with something, and this is what I came up with:

(note: I’ll only make one journal entry for this, since I’m making one so late. I didn’t exactly follow the journal entry order in the way things were supposed to be and added some extras. So I hope this is okay.)

Very, very brief list of places where I can submit it.

Basically, a website with a very detailed list of places to submit.

Another website with a list of places to submit that’s more detailed than mine.

I used some extra paper lying around to organise my story.

My own plot roller-coaster for the story in progress. Each number corresponds to something that happens in the story.

The organiser complete, I can now go finish the story.

A screenshot of how it’s going so far. Not the best thing ever, I know, but I’ll try to make it better.

I don’t have much, but this is a picture rather than a screenshot of what I have so far. I hope to work hard on it today.

The websites I used for my lists of literary magazines and places to publish are this and this.

Journal Entry #2: Reflections and Timeline (and I also changed my goal)

I had a meeting with my supervisor for the project this past September 11. It has been brought to my attention that I did the first journal entry in a different way than it should have been done. Also, I have changed my goal after guidance from my supervisor. I will not try to write a whole novel; instead, I will try to write a short story.

Considering that the project will have to be in its final stage by December, it will be quite hard to write a novel, revise it a million times, and make it good. Plus, my supervisor raised an interesting point and I agree with him: writing the book isn’t going to take much research and it isn’t going to bring much to my life. Since I’m considering a future career in writing, it is better for me to learn how to do something I’ve never considered doing: publishing a story.

So, instead of writing a whole novel and then saying to myself “now what?”, I’m going to be writing a short story and trying to get it published, learning about the publishing industry and what they want in a story that is going to actually be read by people. I’m very excited for this.

I’m also excited by the fact my coordinator/supervisor seems excited about the project too. Many times, the supervisors don’t care or don’t even look at the student’s progress; they just give their students good grades on their projects and that’s it. Thankfully, that’s not the way my supervisor is acting towards this project.

My goal is now a lot more specific, challenging and a bigger learning opportunity. Now over the next one or two weeks, I need to outline my project and start researching about potential publishers. (Also, I need to define the topic/storyline for the story. That’s sort of urgent and I haven’t done it yet.)

This is the timeline I’ve created so far:

Date it’s meant to be done	What needs to be done
Sometime in the next two weeks, before the end of September	Research short story publishing, research short story writing, have a general idea of the topic/storyline
Middle of October	Define storyline, maybe create a first draft & have a list of possible publishing places. Also, maybe interview an actually published author
End of October	Have a first draft. After that, begin editing process
Middle of November	The editing process must be done by the end of the second week, start sending it to publishers
End of November/First two weeks of December	Reflect on process, wait for acceptance or rejection letters, brainstorm/organize the presentation
Third week of December	If the story is accepted by anyone, reflect on feedback received; if it is rejected, also reflect on the feedback received. What could I have done better and what will I do better next time? What did I do right?

Journal Entry #1: Brainstorming

For the first journal entry in this process, I am to answer a few questions.

Do some brainstorming to determine the clearest topic choice for your Personal
Project.

Answer the following questions with more than one-word answers:

1. What do I like to do in my spare time?

The productive things I like to do in my spare time involve writing, singing and thinking critically.

2. What are some of the things I like to do really well?

I think the one thing I am best at is creative writing.

3. What would I like to learn to do better?

A few aspects in which I am weak at are social interaction and anything athletic.

4. When it comes to writing, what kinds of assignments do I most enjoy? Least enjoy?

I enjoy anything creative very much. Sometimes I also enjoy writing persuasive essays when the prompt is something I care about. I’m not that great with analytical writing if what I’m being told to analyse is not something very important to me or if it doesn’t relate to me too much.

5. When I am online, which sites / games / etc. do I spend most of my time on?

I spend most of my time on social networks, blogging platforms or sites in which I can listen to music.

6. Think about my community. What improvements would I like to make?

I would like to promote a social change in my community so people would be more accepting of each other. (Also, it would be nice if more people were interested in the arts or literature.)

7. If I could involve my community in my project, how would I do so?

I would get them to read my book, and I would want them to tell me what they think of it and what I could improve. I am also planning that, whatever I decide my book will be (a collection of short stories, a collection of poems, or a fictional fantasy/young adult novel), it will also somehow engage people to think about certain topics.

8. Which area of interaction most clearly matches my goals for this personal project?
Choose one: Approaches to Learning (1), Community and Service (2),
Human Ingenuity (3), Environments (4), and / or Health and Social
Education (5).

I believe it best fits Human Ingenuity, the third area.

9. Consider and then answer the following questions as I determine my area(s) of
interaction: What do I want to achieve through my personal project? What do I
want others to understand through my work? What impact do I want my
project to have? How can a specific area of interaction enrich my project?

I want to entertain people at the same time that I might make them think. I also want to write a good book for the sake of writing a good book, and I want to improve my creative writing skills.
I am still not sure on what my book’s themes will be, so later I will find out what I want to make the reader think about and understand.
I want my project to have a positive impact on the people who read it, obviously.
It may enrich my project because I will be focused on only one specific area. Things are easier to be done when there is a specific focus on something. 🙂