Completion of Chapbook & Reflection

 Much excitement as I have now completed my chapbook.  I have added this to Blurb as can be seen below 

I have made it sellable and created a preview so the book can be viewed in its entirety.  I have also ordered a hard copy to check it is correct if ordered.  The link to the book is here: The Book of Lost Things

I also updated my profile page here.

Overall I think in the given time this has been well executed.  What I have discovered is I can't write happy poetry but can write light-hearted stories.  This was a thoroughly enjoyable experience and writing The Story of Milk I really wanted to complete her journey and I am tempted to actually write the rest of her story.  I do think that I could have improved the language, syntax, and descriptions in places and if I did complete the entire story I would certainly go back and edit this again.  The poetry I enjoyed writing despite my gloomy outpourings!  I particularly enjoyed writing the villanelle as I do think this form works really well and is fun to play with.  I have noticed mistakes already though and again proofreading and checking still needed to be carried out, again and again, to improve on this.  

The photographs are a mixture of my own and images from stock sites but I have listed and credited all those that I could and I think the combination works quite well.  I will edit and publish this again to fix a couple of the mistakes and when I see the published copy I am sure there will need to be more that could be fixed.  The process here is important and it is worth the time it has taken.  I am looking forward to writing my next one!

Website Creation: Home Page/Template

 

This my site that I have been editing.  I chose a Photography template as this is my progression route.  I have changed the name and the title. I did this by clicking on the name and clicking on edit text.  I chose Palantino Linotype for my text this was 60 pts.

I then need to change the picture so I chose a suitable image and did this by right clicking on the background and I clicked on change background.  I uploaded the image and then added to the background.

I also added copyright at the bottom in the footer.  Again I clicked on the text and then edit text and changed the name and the year. 

I then checked my mobile view please see below

As you can see the background did not really work so I right clicked and changed the background by uploading a new image. 

This worked much better and so I also adjusted the title and name and made sure everything was correctly aligned before saving this and flipping back to the desktop view. 

Website: About Page

 

Zoe lives high above Leicester, looking down upon the ancient city.  Zoe spends her days reading about and creating obscure photographs. When she is not hiding behind her Polaroid, Zoe teaches Art, Design & Media.  She hopes one day that she will be able to move into academic obscurity by writing a PhD on the transformational image and invoking the spirit of Bataille in an act of sacred sacrifice. 

Zoe has a first degree in Media & English from DMU. She also has achieved an MA with Distinction in Creative Media Arts (Photography) from London South Bank University.  Zoe's film 'Let's Eat Hair' was shown at the Phoenix Cinema in Leicester. Zoe continues to make photographs and writes creatively. 

I have then added this to my website.  I did this by using the add image function and uploading my own image and then I clicked on the text and edited the text simply copying and pasting from my blog.  Please see below

I like the layout of this and the font and typography and general look of the page matches the rest of my website so I think this works well and represents me. 

I also edited my mobile view to ensure that this was correct and working - I did this by switching screens to mobile view and using the mobile editor.  I changed this so that the picture appeared at the top and I deleted irrelevant information. I ensured my copyright and blogger were visible at the bottom of the page. 

Research Creative Writing: Danny Wallace

 

'Daniel Frederick Wallace is a British filmmaker, comedian, writer, actor, and presenter of radio and television. His notable works include the books Join Me, Yes Man, and the TV series How to Start Your Own Country. As an author, Wallace's bestselling books have been translated into more than a dozen languages.' (http://www.freshfiction.com, 2022)

I am writing about Danny Wallace, as the first book I read of his was 'Yes Man' (2005).  He describes his childhood and walking around Loughborough, and this was very similar to my own childhood and he had walked the same streets, visited the same places.  Also in the interview above he was describing his entrance to university and again it was a very similar story to my own.  He went to Loughborough which was an old polytechnic and I went to DMU which also was an old poly.  We both submitted writing for entrance to university and I think had similar experiences at a similar time and geographically very close.  

Yes Man By Danny Wallace

Yes Man is simply a story about a man who decides to say Yes to everything. The concept he states is simply; “Probably some of the best things that have ever happened to you in life, happened because you said yes to something. Otherwise things just sort of stay the same.” Wallace himself does this and essentially writes the book almost like a diary of his experiences of saying yes. Wallace states in Yes Man: “I recommend keeping a diary. Diaries are cool.”   It is personal but obviously still created as a novel with those writing conventions.  In a way, it reminds me of Sophie Calle in that Calle uses her own life as art (highly edited and curated) and this is very similar in its conception and indeed its curation.  

Wallace writes in the first person and relates the story as if to a friend in the pub and this makes him instantly likable and very English in his sensibilities.  Also, he demonstrates a clear understanding of his audience.  The book is clearly aimed at people like himself, at a certain age and a bit lost in life. 

Wallace uses his amiable personality to really draw the reader in and become part of his story, we want to know he is okay, we want him to win. 

In my own story Milk (my own hero) is like many women in their 30s and lives an ordinary life where not much happens and she has essentially got into a bit of a rut.  This is very much like Wallace in Yes Man.   Milk in my story meets a monk and he promises to change her life, Milk in a way is the child of Yes Man and all she has to do is say Yes and her adventure can really begin.  

References 

Nast, C., 2018. Danny Wallace on his year in Hollywood. [online] British GQ. Available at: https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/danny-wallace-goes-to-hollywood [Accessed 8 February 2022].

http://www.freshfiction.com, i., 2022. Danny Wallace. [online] Freshfiction.com. Available at: https://freshfiction.com/author.php?id=30897 [Accessed 8 February 2022].

Chapbook: Chapter Three

I completed my three chapters and have laid them out in the book - the final chapter can be read here 

The layout I have used 1.5 line space, Century Schoolbook font for titles, and Arial font for the main text 

I then began to add the poetry section 

I have now just two more poems and the credits, and end page to complete before final proofreading and publishing 

So far I think that the text is working and within the time frame I am happy with what I have created here.  I think with more time I would have edited further to make the text tighter and worked on the pace more as I think this could be improved.

Chapbook: Planning - Book of Lost Things

 Planning Exercise

• What is your final idea?  Please explain in two sentences the theme and the form your writing will take.

I will create a chapbook that uses the theme 'lost things' or 'loss'.  I would like to write a small collection of poems and a short fictional story, using a God's Eye View.  I want to use Blurb so that I can have an online and hard copy book.  I used the trade book form to keep the spirit of the chapbook.

• Considering the form, how do you intend to layout your book pages?

The form will be poetry and prose and I will layout the book with the short story first with an introduction and then a collection of poems with a short introduction.

• How many pages do you expect there will be?

I expect the book to be 30-40 pages in length - the book is about 6 x 9 inches 

• Are you going to use images?  Are these your own images (illustrations/photographs) or copyright-free images that you will source?  

 I will use photographs to illustrate the story (either by myself or well-chosen copyright-free images)

• What is the plan of your time and how much you will need to spend on this?

I will spend between 8-10 hours creating the book, this will be completed over two weekends

Chapbook: Writing the Story

 I am writing the story using Google Docs, I began with my synopsis and in the first chapter, the idea was to set up the story, introduce milk, and start to develop character and place.  I am using a God's Eye View so we can see all that is happening as we follow Milk through her first day...

As I am writing, without an editor I wrote this and then edited and reedited on Google Docs, I then added the final draft to Blurb - below you can see what this looks like and images that I have added.

To read the final draft of the first chapter please click here.

I was happy with the direction the story was taking so I also wrote the second chapter - The Order of St Jude where the journey really begins.  Again I edited and reedited and add the final draft to Blurb.  I am doing this as I go along as there is a short time limit on completion 

The final draft of Chapter Two can be found here

I have started on the poetry and I have now only to complete the final chapter and two poems.  I will also add my further research to complete the process and development of my writing project