Context

This project portfolio is a report of my extended project for my first-year UAL Diploma in Creative writing and Journalism pathway. The project is a multi media magazine targeted at young people, in particular, Gen - Z.

The context page of the project portfolio presents the background of my project starting with writing about myself, what I learned on my course and who or what inspired me for my project.

This is followed by explaining what my project is about and why it is important.

The context page concludes with my project proposal.

WHO AM I?

Below details some brief imagery/descriptions that describe me, alongside my ideas, inspirations, and passions. I have also referenced the work that I am most proud of from this semester.

My name is Polly Foster and I am currently studying Level 3 Creative Writing and Journalism at Canterbury College.

I have had a passion for reading and writing ever since I was young, and have pursued it throughout my life. This course has been a great opportunity to pursue something I love whilst learning new skills and acquiring a range of fantastic opportunities.

During this project I aim to display the skills I have learnt through a medium of my choice.

My Mum and Grannie are two people that I wanted to include in this 'about me' section as they are two people in my life that have constantly inspired me and pushed me to do my best and follow my aspirations, especially when it comes to writing. A pivotal moment in my life was when I got diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 13, which affected my attention span in school and motivation to write. Despite this, my Mum and Grannie supported me throughout this stage and did everything they could to assist my learning so I could pursue what I love. They have also been an inspiration for my writing, especially when it comes to feminism as having two strong women as role models sparked my passion for women's rights and creating work around that.

Things I like include reading and writing, as I have been passionate about this from a young age and it is an interest that I have carried with me throughout my life, and has become a form of escape and pleasure for me.

I also love visual media such as fashion magazines and catalogues.

I also enjoy social activities such as hanging out with my friends, going to parties and going on holiday. This is because I believe life isn't all about work and school - you should enjoy yourself and have fun whenever you can because life isn't that serious!

I have included a picture of the beach in this collage, as it is one of my favourite places and I have found it inspires me in all areas of my writing. I find that peaceful and serene places like the seaside are important to have access to as they can inspire creativity and a writing location.

Finally, music is one of my strong passions, and inspires me to write and create. I love music that focuses on lyricism, especially lyrics that tell a story. Some artists that I like include Taylor Swift, Lana Del Rey, Harry Styles, Fleetwood Mac, David Bowie, Elliot Smith and Jeff Buckley.

WHY I WRITE

I write to express my ideas and fantasies to many people all at once. I find writing to be a dazzling method of sharing my own joy with others, whether it be to hundreds in a writing competition or an intimate entanglement of words to a few of my closest peers. Writing is a way of communicating to others, a transmission of ideas that perhaps I find myself unable to vocalise, yet when displayed physically, riddled with thought and emotion, it seems like the easiest thing in the world; a great pleasure in which I often indulge in when I am low. Writing has the possibility to be anything and everything all at once. It is a sporadic event in which my inspirations become a chaotic frenzy, spewing endlessly from my brain, ideas sparking one after the other, faster than I can write or type. However, frequently it can be quite the opposite, a blissful aid in organising my thoughts when I feel a lack of control, a reminder that I have the power and accessibility to create any world I want, however I please. I suppose that writing is a way of loosening the tight grip that the stresses of my real life have hold on me, an escape from reality in which I can always turn to. Writing is an old friend, a parent, a lover and a mentor all at once, reminding me that I am human. I find peace in the serenity of conveying my thoughts and feelings to others without judgement. As a more concise example, writing is losing myself and finding myself at the same time, a beautiful way of expression. I have been writing for my entire life, and plan to do so until the day I die, as it is one of my greatest passions.

Travelling; Travelling around the world is something that I love and something that I can see myself doing as a future journalist/writer. Exploring different cultures and parts of the globe allows a different perspective on life and how you look at those around you, which also acts as a powerful insight for writing in all forms. Some of the favourite places that I have been so far Include Italy, Croatia, Holland, Greece, Belgium and Spain.

Women's Rights; Equal rights for women has been a passion of mine since I was young, and I have continued to support the cause and learn more about it everyday. It also acts as an inspiration for my writing, especially poetry and feature articles. I am particularly proud of an article that I wrote for the Canterbury post about sexism in sport as it revolves around misogyny in the sports industry and how feminism can help fight back.

Reading; Reading has been a source of entertainment and a way of escaping for most of my life. Starting with reading fantasy books such as works by Enid Blyton and Murder Mysteries by Robin Stevens to a range of classic literature and poetry, my love for reading has been a constant reminder of why I love writing so much. Seeing stories and ideas that other authors have created has inspired me to write stories myself, and hopefully be someone's favourite author in the future. Below I have attached some images of my all-time favourite books.

This is an image of me on my first day of primary school. As much as the debate that school can 'kill' creatives and not encourage creative freedom can be true, I found that my early years of school were prominent years that began my love for reading and writing, due to having a space to express my interests and wonderful teachers that encouraged me and pushed me to pursue my creative side.

Links to my favourite pieces of writing I have created this year:

Link to 'Why I Write' Week 1 Lecture

Why I Write

SKILLS

Throughout semester 1 and 2 I found myself acquiring a variety of skills that have helped to craft and improve my writing. Below I have listed three skills from each semester as an example and how they have improved my work. I have also included links to the relevant blog posts.

SEMESTER 1 SKILLS

Skill 1: Showing and not telling

Showing and not telling is a way of describing a scene, without describing exactly what is happening. It is an efficient way to convey the thoughts and emotions of a character as it is usually by implication, human-centred. It is a slower, richer more expansive way to communicate. It is the opposite of efficiency as it highly revolves around detail. Showing something in a story can often place the human subject right at the centre of things, and as a consequence can often stir the heart. It can also include switching from an adverb to a strong verb.

This skill from Semester 1, week 6 particularly helped me as it allowed me to get my point across when telling a story without using excessive descriptions which are often self explanatory. It has also helped me focus on the theme and tone of my writing, rather than boring the reader with unnecessary details.

This skill can also transfer to journalism writing, especially when it comes to decluttering an article and conveying important information.

Week 6: Specificity and Show and Not Tell

Skill 2: Plot Structure

Plot structure is another skill that has helped to improve my writing, mainly by mapping out the key elements of a story's plot and the key events. Almost all stories have a similar narrative structure. They follow what is called the 'Save the Cat' beat sheet template. This structure is helpful to understand how a story is written and to write better stories ourselves, by organizing the outline of the story. It helps an audience to understand what they are reading and stay engaged. Templates such as this and the 'Hero's Journey' helped me understand what drives the characters needs and wants, and the key events that help put these in place.

Week 4: Character, Plot and Setting

Skill 3: Decluttering

Decluttering is a skill that we learnt during Semester 1, Week 2 when we focused on Journalism. Decluttering is the act of removing extra words and phrases that are not needed in a piece of writing that make a story harder to understand. This skill can be used in both newswriting and fictional writing as it helps focus on the important details and quality of the writing, rather than concealing good work with unnecessary words or information. As I have a tendency to overwrite, this skill has aided me in only focusing on what I need to write instead of writing 'fluff' which can overcomplicate a piece of writing.

Week 2: Journalism

SEMESTER 2 SKILLS

Skill 1: Software Skills

One of the key skills I learnt in Semester 2 was being taught how to navigate different editing software's, such as Adobe InDesign and Adobe Audition. These eventually helped me to create a cover and sound effects for my audio drama, although these skills have transferred on to other areas of my work, such as visually displaying things I have created and enhancing spoken stories with sound effects and music. It gave me an insight into the world of editing and the importance it holds when promoting my work, and enhances the reading/listening process for my audience.

Week 3: Audio and Radio Drama

Project 2 Final Recordings

Skill 2: Knowing your Audience

Another key skill I acquired during Semester 2 is Knowing your audience.

Knowing your audience is crucial when writing anything, as it allows you to tailor your theme, tone, and style of writing effectively to meet the needs and expectations of your specific audience. It is also essential for creating impactful and effective communication. By considering who your readers are and what they need, you can tailor your message to resonate with them and foster engagement. This has personally helped me to adjust my style of writing/language in my work in order to relate to the demographic I am aiming for and keep it interesting for them.

Week 1: Knowing Your Audience

Skill 3: Synopsis Writing

Finally, a crucial skill that I learnt during this semester is Synopsis writing. A novel synopsis includes a brief summary of your story's main plot, subplots, and the ending, a few character descriptions, and an overview of your major themes. Practicing writing a synopsis for my own work has allowed me to effectively communicate the essence of my work and generate interest, helping to attract a specific audience. It has also helped me to be able to determine the strength of my plot, helping me to craft my work and decipher from an overview of my work if it is worth reading and if the plot makes sense.

Week 2: Listen to Me Words and Synopsis

INITIAL IDEAS

SWOT Analysis

IDEA 1 - Multi Media Magazine

Targeted towards Gen-z

This idea came from the fact that when I was deciding what to create for this project, I had trouble choosing just one medium. I feel confident and interested in writing a range of articles, poetry, short stories and reviews, which is why I came up with the idea of a magazine that includes all of these different types of writing.

STRENGTHS

Journalistic writing
Creative writing
Uses a range of media
Improves organisational skills
Can use teen's mental health as quantitive research

WEAKNESSES

Time management
Less confident using InDesign to create a cover and graphics
Layout and organisation
Lots of writing

The target demographic for this magazine would be Gen-Z and young people, including topics such as mental health and this generation's culture. This is something I am passionate about and I feel like I could express my ideas through a range of writing types. I also think this is my strongest idea and is what I am most confident about.

OPPORTUNITIES

Inspire creativity and explore something that I have not tried before (magazine)
Expand knowledge using research on a range of topics
Connect with a specific audience and spread awareness

THREATS

Could run out of time when trying to complete all the writing and producing
Potential to spread misinformation if incorrect information is used.
Design software could malfunction and lose progress

IDEA 2 - Poetry Collection

Surrounding Feminism and Women's Rights

The second idea I had was to create a collection of poetry about a topic I am also passionate about - Women's Rights.

I wanted my poetry to speak to women of all ages, races and backgrounds, and use my writing to speak out about misogny, feminism and what it is like being a woman. I would plan to have around ten poems all together, each one focusing on a different topic.

Combining a style of writing with a cause I am passionate about would inspire me when practicing other skills, such as the use of research in Journalism.

STRENGTHS

Improve my poetry and creative writing skills.
Expand my knowledge of the topic I am writing about
Allows me to improve my primary and secondary research skills

WEAKNESSES

Poetry is not my most comfortable style, as I struggle with the structure
A more creative form which could affect my time management
May be repetitive

OPPORTUNITIES

Delve further into the world of poetry and discover more writers I like through research
Strengthen my skills
Spread awareness and an important message

THREATS

Sticking to just one style of writing could limit my ideas and what I want to portray
Stigma surrounding feminism could upset certain audiences.
Software malfunction

IDEA 3 - Radio Drama

Scripting a short horror story into an audio form

For this idea, I would write a script for a short horror story into a radio drama, alongside sound effects and music. I would use software's such as Adobe Audition and InDesign to help me create this. I would ant my script to have the conventions of the horror genre and the premise of the story would revolve around ghosts and the supernatural.

I would also design a cover for the audio drama using InDesign.

STRENGTHS

Improve my script writing skills and audio production
Expand my knowledge around the horror genre and how to write it
Use research skills

OPPORTUNITIES

A bigger introduction into the world of audio dramas and how to create them
Create a more accessible form of storytelling
Interesting research

WEAKNESSES

I don't have that much experience with script writing and struggle with the format
Could be hard to portray the themes I want through audio

THREATS

Audio software could malfunction and lose my progress
Could not appeal to some audiences due to the format
Could run out of time when using all of the software's.

EVALUATION

After I had evaluated the strengths and weaknesses for each idea, I started to think about the strongest idea out of the three and what would be the best production for this project. I decided on Idea 1, a multi media magazine targeted at Gen-z. This idea allowed me to have more creative freedom due to the different styles of writing within it and I felt like it would give me the opportunity to develop and improve my writing in a range of different ways. I felt like it would also allow me to experiment with mediums I have not explored in depth, such as photography and articles that revolved around a specific theme.

PROJECT PROPOSAL

TUTOR FEEDBACK

[15:10] Greg Lawrence

Looks great - clearly some effort has been made to make this aesthetically pleasing.

That said, I'd like more information about the things you like etc. - elaborate and tell me why you like music and what kind of music, who etc. Same for Reading etc

Your Why I Write is quite wonderful, effectively and powerfully written - this line for example is mature beyond your years: Writing is an old friend, a parent, a lover and a mentor all at once - brilliant!

Proposal all approved

Some more feedback for FMP Context:

describing a scene, without describing exactly what is happening. This isn't quite right - you are describing what is happening juts you are giving it more detail, perspective, emotions, and allowing the reader to see the event happening, connect with the event rather than saying Fred was happy - we see him jumping for joy, smiling his head off, his soul dancing and signing etc.

as it highly revolves around detail.

Ahh - you say yourself in the next line.

without using excessive descriptions

i think you are referring to using strong verbs (word choice),not weak ones and definitely not adverbs, and not too many adjectives that get in the way of the story and the scene:

they follow what is called the 'Save the Cat' beat sheet template - yes, many do, but some also use other plot theories such as Freytag or the Hero's journey...

Decluttering

we also explore this in Listen To Me Words when sharpening our writing through word choice

A useful and purposeful reflection on many of the essential skills we have looked at this year.

You may also want to refer to the shorty story session when you begin Pre-production

I think your idea for a multi media magazine is wonderful and will be a great challenge to your developing writing and crafting and storytelling skills - the only reservation I would have is the time limit, so it will be essential to set yourself targets and deadlines and to check in with me regularly to help in some decision making -