Finalising Urban Landscape Project for Website

 After finalising the images and curating those that I would be using for my portfolio I then began putting this together as a collection using Photoshop 

I created a white canvas background by clicking on 'new' and then in the dialog box choosing 'print', I chose A3, 300dpi resolution and created the canvas.  I then opened the images I had already prepared and added the images and used tranform and move controls to place the image.  I then use the Text tool and added text I used Book Antiqua 30 pt font Italic and used a soft grey as this would fit into the look of the portfolio and the website.

I also wrote an introduction to go with the images that I have taken and I will put this in a gallery on my website.  I have chosen to use only the portrait black and white images for this through curation.

I opened Wix and went to 'Edit Site', I clicked on 'Menus and Pages' in the left-hand menu and then clciked on 'Add Page' and named it 'Urbanity Bites', the name of my portfolio. I then clicked into the page and added a title and short introduction.  I added a sliding gallery and clicked on 'manage media' to upload the images that I had prepared.

Once uploaded (my upload speed is the pace of a snail!) I went into each file and ensured I had added the title and that they worked in the gallery, I reordered them to make sure I was happy with the flow of the images and then once I was completely happy with the arrangement I republished the site.

I added a suitable introduction at the top of the page and added an introduction as part of the portfolio.  I liked the way that this looked and now I will finalise completely just by adding a button to the front portfolio page and a back to portfolio button on the top of the new page so that there is ease of movement round the site

I will test all this again once I have published other works this term.

Form in Writing

 

Guy De Maupassant The Necklace (1884)

The form my writing is taking for this small project is part of a short story, a narrative written with a God's eye view.  I also wrote a short essay, a little thought piece on knowledge and memory.  

The short story  'brief fictional prose narrative that is shorter than a novel and that usually deals with only a few characters. The short story is usually concerned with a single effect conveyed in only one or a few significant episodes or scenes. The form encourages economy of setting, concise narrative, and the omission of a complex plot'  (Short Story n.d) This is the perfect form for a chapbook and although I am writing this as half of another story I do think the first three chapters have the characteristics listed here.  

I am going to look at another short story here as an example of this form and compare how this is written to my own writing.  The story I have chosen is Guy de Maupassant's 'The Necklace'.  It concerns a young woman who is envious of the social status of others and wished to rise through society but in this small story her chance of this ever happening is blown when she steals a necklace to wear at a ball, then loses it and so to replace it has to spend the rest of her life paying off this debt, only to discover that the necklace was not worth anything really at all.  It is interesting to note that I have the book version of this and I also looked up the web version the web translation is poor by comparison so I will hand type from the book version as this is about writing well after all!  

So I will compare my opening paragraph with that of Maupassant.  Maupassant begins;

'She was one of those pretty and charming young girls who continue to be born from time to time, as if by a slip of fate, into a family of clerks.  She has no dowry, no expectations, no means of coming across any rich or distinguished man who would understand, love, and marry her.  She let herself be married to a minor civil servant in the Ministry of Education' (de Maupassant G. 2008:55)

Maupassant writes using literary realism and in my own work I will be doing the same, I want the characters and atmosphere to ring as true to life as possible.

My own first paragraph begins:

 '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. His PhD thesis was going well, his Professor at the University had agreed that he could go to England, and he really wanted this, no needed this for his PhD to succeed. 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 slightly long wavy brown hair, he should get clean and get ready for work.' (Van-de-Velde 2023)

In Maupassant there is a concise use of language that, like poetry has said much in very few lines, we may not yet know the girl's name in Maupassant but we know she is pretty, poor, with no prospects, and is she is married, probably not happily but there it is.  In my own piece, we understand that Honey is American, likes, Elton John, and bumming around but he has dreams about his PhD and going to England.  I have used a much more wordy and descriptive approach which is perhaps more acceptable in a longer novel,  I suspect that really I am trying to write a longer novel and really my three chapters do only just begin the story..

In Maupassant's tale, the girl is obsessed with social status and it pains her;

'Mathilde suffered ceaselessly, feeling herself intended for the delicacies and luxuries of life.  She distressed at the poverty of her pension. at the bareness of the walls, at the shabby chairs, the ugly curtains. All these things. of which another woman of her rank would never even have been concious, tortured her and made her angry' (de Maupassant G. 2008:55)

Here we now know how she feels inside, we are taken into her heart and to understand her, her anger at her poor status, laid out before her every day in the home that she feels is not good enough for her. Again here the text is concise yet still manages to convey depth of feeling through use of adjectives for her house and the use of alliteration such as 'suffered ceaselessly' and the depth of her anger is strengthened by how her own house 'tortured' her with its shabby appearance.

In my own story, Honey is also from a poor background which is alluded to throughout by the house, furnishings and his belongings

Honey Devlin had never travelled outside the United States, actually he had never travelled really in the United States, his parents were fairly poor working in menial jobs that just made ends meet.  Honey had stayed at home when he started university, and worked in the bar to pay his parents rent and to have just enough to go out occasionally.  Honey realised as he pulled the old suitcase out from under the stairs that belonged to his Father that really he did not know what he should pack.  After giving the suitcase a good clean, his Father must have used it back in the 70s when he was a young travelling salesman, he genuinely sold Bibles door to door, he always said it was the best job he ever had, until people stopped believing in God and started to believe more in MTV and technology. (Van-de-Velde 2023)

The fact that this begins that he has never travelled shows that he does not have the means, he comes from a poor background and he has stayed home to go to university so he can afford, here on his first trip he is using an old suitcase from the 1970s because that is what he has.  Here I have written less descriptively but this highlights more of his history and social status through his parents and his background. 

Here comparing my own work briefly to the work of Maupassant, I realise I am less consistent and in places, I do need to be more concise and precise.  I still have to go over my drafts again and I will rework some of the text as it certainly could be improved for the final piece. 

References

Short story (no date) Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/art/short-story (Accessed: February 14, 2023). 

de Maupassant G. (2008) first published between 1877 and 1891, On Horseback and Other Stories, forward by Anthony Guise, Capuchin Classics, London

Short stories: The necklace by Guy de Maupassant (no date) East of the Web. Available at: https://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/Neck.shtml (Accessed: February 14, 2023). 

The necklace (no date) enotes.com. enotes.com. Available at: https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-two-examples-alliteration-necklace-505935 (Accessed: February 14, 2023). 

Creating My Website: Homepage

 I opened Wix and I chose a template for my subject area, Photography.  I liked this template as it was clean with a single image. 

I then changed the text on the homepage by double clicking on the text and clicking 'edit text' and then used the dialog pop up box to change the font which i changed to Rozha One font and I used all capital bold letter for my name

I added text by clicking on the plus button at the top of the left hand menu and then clicking on text and added 'heading' and then I used the move tool to move the text box in place and then I double clicked to write on this and change to the same font as my name for the title on the homepage. 

I then sourced and image Pixabay and I clicked on the image on my homepage and then clicked on manage media and this opened the dialog box as below.  I then clicked on the blue 'Add Media button on the box and then I clicked on upload from my computer. 

After uploading the image to the galley, I clicked on the right hand menus 'crop and edit' and then clicked on 'Filters' and I used a Black and white filter and then I saved the image and added to the wix gallwery for the haomepage

I clicked on 'Preview to checked what it looked like - I did not like the slide gallery and will change this to a single image.

I then wanted to change the navigation menu so I click don the third icon down on the left hand side menu and clicked on Pages, I then deleted all pages I did not need and so I ended up with four pages I needed, Home, Portfolio, About and Contact page.  I then clicked on 'Save in the top right hand corner to ensure all my changed were saved correctly. I then previewed again and checked all the pages correctly and that the site was starting to look how I wanted it to in terms of the design.

I then changed my copyright to my own and the correct year by clicking into the text in the footer.  I checked then that it appeared on all pages and saved this to ensure my copyright always appeared

The last change I have made for my homepage, just for the moment, is changed the section background.  I right clicked on the section and then' 'change background'  I then clicked on 'colour' and changed this to the light grey and then saved this again 

My final completed design for today looks like this in preview

I am really happy about this design I think the grey and white colours work well and the font looks right on the site.  The image has impact and although this still needs work it is a great start to my website. 

Analysis: Mil Millington - Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About

 I wanted to write about Mil Millington as his story are also set in a university and are aimed at the same readers that I intend to capture with my own stories 

Things my girlfriend and I have argued about by Mil Millington (2011)

I chose this story to begin with as this story reflected somewhat the Story of Milk who also worked in a low-level job and whose life is not going well, Millington has a girlfriend who is German and there is the culture clash and in my own story Milk is Snglish and Honey is American, therefore, I wanted to look at the use of language and how this story has been written to inform my own work here.

I will begin by looking at a little extract here from Millington: 

'Nothing keeps a relationship on its toes so much as lively debate. Fortunate, then, that my girlfriend and I agree on absolutely nothing. At all.

Combine utter, polar disagreement on everything, ever, with the fact that I am a text-book Only Child, and she is a violent psychopath, and we're warming up. Then factor in my being English while she is German, which not only makes each one of us personally and absolutely responsible for the history, and the social and cultural mores of our respective countries, but also opens up a whole field of sub-arguments grounded in grammatical and semantic disputes and, well, just try saying anything and walking away.' (Millington M thingsmygirlfriendandihavearguedabout.com)

This is the beginning on the webpage (a weirdly terrible page, which I am assuming is meant to be like this as a joke*) I am referring to this only because my Millington books are happily sitting on my bookshelf at home and so I cannot reach out to quote from there at this present moment when I am sitting at my work, at my desk in my awful tin box of a building that has escaped being condemned several times.

t the beginning of the text note that it starts with a hook that set the tone for the writing, in two lines we know that he and his girlfriend argue. This is then strengthened by the next sentence, with the use of adjectives strengthening the writer's first person point of view. Then by using hyperbole ' she is a violent psychopath' works well to get the reader's attention, to get the reader to take the writer of the story's point of view, and to ensure they read on...more interesting the writer then states they are both responsible for their own countries history which is something that you discover upon speaking to those from another place that you discuss the differences and similarities and then find yourself explaining a strange idiomatic practice of your country as it really doesn't make much sense.  

the text goes on to listing items of annoyance..

'Examples? Okey-dokey. We have argued about:

Ahhhhhhhh

The way one should cut a Kiwi Fruit in half (along its length or across the middle).

Leaving the kitchen door open (three times a day that one, minimum).

The best way to hang up washing.

Those little toothpaste speckles you make when you brush your teeth in front of the mirror.

I eat two-fingered Kit-Kats like I'd eat any other chocolate bars of that size, i.e., without feeling the need to snap them into two individual fingers first. Margret accused me of doing this, 'deliberately to annoy her'.

Which way - the distances were identical - to drive round a circular bypass (this resulted in her kicking me in the head from the back seat as I drove along).

The amount of time I spend on the computer. (OK, fair enough.)' (Millington M thingsmygirlfriendandihavearguedabout.com)

This is a list which is devices that you can use in a story but it has to be interesting so here there is a description - the item on toothpaste refers to something that happened when brushing your teeth the majority of people can relate to this as this immediately brings to mind.  Throughout the writing uses similarities and the comfort of British humour and mannerisms to tell a story - the website is about himself and his girlfriend arguing however the book as Robinson point out is 'At thingsmygirlfriendandihavearguedabout.com, Millington details the ludicrous, colorful fights between himself and Margret, a German woman with whom he's had a longstanding relationship and two children. His novel features a similar couple–Pel and Ursula–who have similar fights, and it employs some of the same wry, dry, despairing, quintessentially British humor, but otherwise it's a separate entity whose title just happens to trade on Millington's small share of Internet fame.' (Robinson, 2003)

Millington does use humour, wit, and hyperbole throughout but he also tells a good story and created characters that makes the reader want more - this is what makes this book work and in my own story I have been working on the characters for some time but I do need to make the writing stand out much more to make this story compelling enough.  

I will be studying the text and use of language here further but mostly I will redraft and reraft again until I believe the words on my own pages are compelling. 

*;Things My Girlfriend And I Have Argued About, is a carryover from his hilarious (and hilariously ugly) cult web site. (Robinson, 2003)

References

Millington, M. (no date) Things my girlfriend and I have argued about. Available at: http://www.thingsmygirlfriendandihavearguedabout.com/ (Accessed: February 6, 2023). 

Millington, M. (2001) Things my girlfriend and I argue about, The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2001/apr/21/familyandrelationships1 (Accessed: February 6, 2023). 

Robinson, T. (2003) Mil Millington: Things my girlfriend and I have argued about: A novel, The A.V. Club. The A.V. Club. Available at: https://www.avclub.com/mil-millington-things-my-girlfriend-and-i-have-argued-1798198231 (Accessed: February 6, 2023). 

Chapbook: Timed Writing Exercise - The Story of Honey Chapter Two

Chapter Two: Professor Zimmerman

Honey, dressed in his best smart grey flannel trousers and his favourite white shirt, stood nervously outside Professor Zimmerman's office.  He resided in an annex of Bearback University that specialised in the Liberal Arts.  Honey suspected that the university had hidden the professor in this back corner as they felt slightly embarrassed by his presence in the main corridors.  Zimmerman was a middle-aged man of around 50 who dressed as if it were still the 1890s rather than the 2000s, he often wore a maroon worsted fitted velvet jacket with tails that flew behind him as he walked.  Zimmerman had quick little steps that sometimes made him look like he was floating along the corridors with his slight frame and long mop of grey/brown hair that looked as if it had never seen a comb.  Honey was wondering exactly what Zimmermann had in mind today when the door swung open and Zimmerman's voiced chimed out 'Ahh Honey Devlin, how wonderful, come in, come in'  The professor threw himself behind his desk and moved a large pile of books out the way so that he could actually see Honey on the other side. 'So Mr Devlin, what marvellous ideas do you bring me today, I do hope St Jude has been treating you well'.  The professor knew that St Jude was his pet subject and he had already been locating obscure documents for his thesis.  'Professor Zimmermann I wondered if I had permission to go to England to study this St Jude's church, I understand the monks there are most unusual and they have ancient documents dating back centuries, I know this trip would really get to the heart of what I want to explore here.'  Zimmerman laughed, 'Yes, the monks are indeed most unusual and I have personally been speaking to Matt the Monk, to discuss the situation.  I have very good news he has offered you a room in the monastery attached to the church and access to the documents you are referring to.'  Honey's eys lit up, this was fantasic new, 'Well this is great, I was hoping to go as soon as possible... .. I ' Honey stammered as he was embarrassed that now he would have to discuss the financial position he was in frankly otherwise his whole plan would go terribly wrong. 

This is the beginning of Chapter Two - it does need work and development, as does Chapter One and I also need to research further as I will be using Saint Jude and I want to ensure accuracy in this area.  I will also be researching catholic monasteries and the different orders to ensure that this also is correct in the story 

The Chapbook: Planning

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

I will be creating 'The Story of Honey' which is the other half of 'The Story of Milk' I created last year.  Honey is an American PhD student studying St Jude and is about to embark on a trip to England to research the Saint and the impossible!

The form of the writing will be prose/short story and I am aiming to create three chapters as I did with 'The Story of Milk' 

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

I will use text and image throughout and it will be in three chapters - the images will be my own and stock images (copyright free)

How many pages do you expect there will be?

Around 40 pages 

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

Yes, as above a mixture of my own and copyright free images 

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

Remember writing is something that you will need time and concentration without disturbance - you must make sure that you plan time to do this.

I plan on spending 16 hours over two weeks on the book and adding this to my blog with research 

What do you imagine the final book will look like?  

I imagine it will be a standard small book size with a hard cover, I would like to create this on Blurb 

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

Yes I will be using Blurb software and I will use Photoshop to create the cover page and to quality check the photographs that I use - they will all be photographs not illustrations to mirror my first book

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

I will use a spelling and grammar checker and I will get my partner to check my book for errors before final publication 

The target market for my book is millennial as they are the largest market and consume book hard copy and digital books so they can be reached in many ways through advertising and online and physical bookshops 

Creative Writing Project: Generating Ideas

 For the next two weeks we will be creating a chapbook, which a small cheap book that was popular between the 17th and 19th centuries in Great Britain, was then repopularised by the Dadists in the 1920s and now artists and writers use them and can easily create small hardback and digital books for sale.

Chapbook Workshop Examples (2015)

I wanted to use this time to write the other half of my story that I began in the Book of Lost Things

My original story was called the Story of Milk and I wanted to write The Story of Honey as a mirror and connecting story - I actually began this last year but only briefly worked on it so I wanted to go back to this and start again so that I could eventually have the completed version of the Story of Milk and Honey 

I created an ideas generation piece which you can view here

I will start to draft out my first chapter over the next couple of days as the Story of Honey will begin in a bar in America.  I created a first draft of Chapter One previously  - this is the direction I do think I would like to take.