The Story of Honey: Bookcover Photoshop Process

 I began by opening Photoshop going to file in the top menu and then new to create a new canvas - I went into dialog box and I picked print A5 and the resolution was 300 dpi as I would like this high quality print.  and I chose a white background.  Now I have the canvas to start with.

I then opened my photographic image that I obtained from Unsplash for the cover.  I checked the Image size and rsolution and changed these to match my canvas as I wanted the image to fill the page

I used the text tool on the left hand menu to create my title and my authors name.  I used Felix Titling font at 36pts for the title and 24 pts for my name.  I changed the font colour and I used the move tool to change the position of the writing.

This is the final result, which I think would work on a standalone book of Hone but I am working on a joint book of Milk and Honey as well so I will be trying this again. I have saved it as a jpeg and psd.

The Story of Honey: Chapter One Draft

 So I have completed the first draft of chapter one of The Story of Honey.  The link is here 

I think I have found some of the elements I want to incorporate.  For this, I had to research the place, Miles City in Minnesota.  I also had to think about using the American style of English in speech and considered what would be drunk at the bar.  The Bob Dylan quote I used as the song is about home and leaving home and I think this is kind of the feeling I wanted to incorporate into this chapter.  

Ideal Customer Profile: The Story of Milk & Honey

 

My Ideal Customer Profile

Story of Honey: The First Steps...

 Honey sat on his dilapidated porch, in his house in Miles City, Montana.  He was just on the cusp of everything going in the right direction.  He had been accepted to Cambridge university, England to complete his PhD and he had saved enough money and had funding to complete the full three years.  So why when he sat here in his favourite pair of jeans and t-shirt with the legend Elton John did he feel like he would rather bum around Miles City with his mates for the next three years.  Perhaps he was afraid that this was the point life would get too serious. He would also have to fit in with all those stuck up English people who probably knew more than he did and even if they didn't with their posh British accent would sound like they did.  Honey ruffled his his slightly long wavy brown hair, he should get clean and get ready for work.  

Bison Bar, Montana

Honey worked in a small bar downtown called 'The Bison Bar', it was your average American bar, pretty busy at the weekend and with a wide range of people coming in from the young to the old.  Everyone wanted to kick back and relax and although it was busy, he found the work relaxing and not stressful compared to his studies which took up all of the rest of his time.  Also as the work was undemanding on his brain, he could use the time to think about his PhD. His PhD was going to explore the transformational effects of Saints and idols in the Catholic Church on parishioners.  This study would not be some wooly anecdotal stories from old biddies from church but more an in-depth study that measured brain activity, health, oxygen levels - real measurable bodily transformation. Honey wanted to 'prove' the saint's had power through belief.  Honey had been trying to work out how to find suitable candidates for this study, it was particularly different as this would be in a country he did not know and with people who might find his Americanness abrasive or that they would not take him seriously. 

'Hey Honey, what'll dreamin' 'bout, we got customer's' the owner of the bar Cherilyn was hollering at him from the other side of the bar.  'Yeah, yeah I'm on it' Honey, yelled over the rather loud group of women arguing over the check at his end of the bar.  

Creative Writing Chapbook 2: Planning 'The Story of Honey'

 

Honey Man

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 consists of the 'mirror' story to 'The Story of Milk'  so this will be 'The Story of Honey'  I will put the two together to create 'The Story of Milk & Honey'  Honey will be a story in opposition to 'The Story of Milk' running parallel and 'Honey' will probably be a man.  The story of Honey will be set in America and will, as the Milk story take a God's Eye View

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

I will layout the pages in chapters as last time with oppositional chapters for Honey and Milk 

How many pages do you expect there will be?

With the additional of the already written Milk story I expect the book will be approximately 60 pages 

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

Again I will use a mixture of copyright free stock images and my own images

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

This is a two week project so I will be spending 8-10 hours at the evening and weekends over the next two weeks to complete this.

What do you imagine the final book will look like?  

I will be using Blurb so that I have a completed published hard copy book.  I will use the trade book form and 6x9 size again

Have you considered the cover page/contents page/back cover with blurb?

I will have chapters and contents page and use photographic images for front and back covers 

Drafting and redrafting will need to be done?  Who would you get to proofread your work?

I will get a colleague or family member to read my work prior to completion.  I will add drafts and redrafts to my blog

Write down any other thoughts or comments related to your plan on your blog post.

I will need to organise the evenings and time to work on this well to ensure completion and I need to spend more time developing the story so that it can work with The Story of Milk

Creative Writing: Initial Ideas

 In Media Project I we are looking at creative writing and, again, I will be exploring ideas for my chapbook.  So I want to work on a theme that interests me and as I have done this previously I am tempted to do a 'mirror' book which would perhaps be 'The Story of Honey' and my first chapbook included 'The Story of Milk'.  The Story of Honey again might incorporate themes of loss but this will be an entirely new and different story.  Honey could be a man in this story and perhaps his life is in complete contrast to the The Story of Milk.  

 The Story of Honey - Image by Arwin Neil Baichoo

In terms of research and thinking of other authors, this time I really want to concentrate in the characters and the creation of characters. I may look at the author Barbara Pym as her characters really stand out;  'Barbara Pym, shrewd observer of a certain kind of middle-class Englishwoman, no longer young and not quite beautiful, whom society finds it easy to overlook.' (The Barbara Pym Society - Barbara Pym Society, 2022) I also enjoyed Pym as it is a time that I grew up at the end of, with the church at the centre of the community and the vicar coming to visit.  Times have changed now so much, but perhaps not so much in academic circles where rivalry and jealousy, funding and grants are still just as important.  

I also might look at much more over-stylized novels such as the work of David Cronenberg and his book 'Consumed' obviously most famous for movies like 'Crash' (Screenplay by Cronenberg - novel by J.G. Ballad and Videodrome. The Independent stated that: 'David Cronenberg's Crash, winner of the Special Jury Prize at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival, is one of the most sexually explicit and disturbing films ever made.' (Crash: The Uncensored Screenplay, 1996)

David Cronenberg Crash (1996)

The stylized language and look of the film create a cold and distant portrayal of obsession with car crash victims.  By looking at different styles of writing this should inform my new piece of work

References

Barbara Pym Society. 2022. The Barbara Pym Society - Barbara Pym Society. [online] Available at: https://barbara-pym.org/ [Accessed 26 April 2022].

The independent. 1996. Crash: The Uncensored Screenplay. [online] Available at: https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/crash-the-uncensored-screenplay-1351617.html [Accessed 28 April 2022].

Creating my Website: Home Page, Contact Page & Social Links

 Today I started to create my website on Wix.  I began by choosing my template.  Today I chose to create a site as if I was doing creative and journalism.

I then added my name and the title of my website 'The Joy and Art of Writing', I did this by clicking on the text boxes and clicking 'Edit Text' and I used Cormorant Garamond Light Font at 67 pts for the title and 54pts for my name. 

I then changed the strip background and replaced the image with an image from unsplash that is copyright free. I lowered the opacity so that the text box was more see through and did not detract from the image.

I then go to menu on the the left hand side and add a contact and portfolio page.  I did this by clicking on 'add page' and then choosing a blank page for portfolio and a template page for the contact page

I then set up the Contact page form by clicking on set notification on the pop up dialog box and making sure that the contact page was directed to my email.  I also added a picture to make this page more visually pleasing.

I added two social media links which I have placed in the navigation bar so that this will appear on every page.  I set up the correct links and tested these in preview. 

I then did a quick check of the mobile view - I adjusted my name just by clicking 'edit text' and reducing the size and I got rid of some white space.  I did the same for the contact page just checking this worked and the menu worked correctly to scroll through