Saturday, June 14, 2014

Blog 11 A Writer's Perspective


            I read Thomas Fleming’s “Instant Novels? In Your Dreams”.  His take on writing begins in his dreams and thoughts in his subconscious.  This writing process is not unfamiliar to me.  Other authors I’m aware of have used this same process when working on their writing and I’ve had my own personal experience with this writing method.  Fleming is a writer of historical novels but he places his own twist on the stories by writing from a character’s perspective that the audience usually isn’t aware of; that helps to bring freshness to the stories.  This writer’s method of writing is not common.  Although he does put in the work researching the eras his stories take place; the foundation for his stories comes from dreams and unorganized thoughts.

 

My perspective about writing in the social media environment has not changed since beginning this course.  As a writer I feel that one has to be truthful when presenting a piece of work to the public; follow the journalist code of ethics or the bloggers code of ethics.  The most important aspect is that the writer needs to be honest, fair and do no harm.  A writer should perform due diligence in their research and verification tactics.  Regardless of deadlines, hold a story until the fact checking is complete; it could prevent a retraction and an apology in the future.

 

Resource

Fleming, T. (2000). Instant Novels? In your dreams. The New York Times on the web.
            Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/library/books/010300fleming-writing.html

 

Sunday, June 1, 2014

Blog 9-Mulitmedia Tools


Multimedia tools are very beneficial in the areas of business and education.  These tools are used to enhance presentations with interactive pictures, video clips and graphics.  Business presentations can be more effective with the use of PowerPoint (http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/powerpoint/) because PowerPoint has a variety of themes and functionality.  When using PowerPoint in presentations, the presenter has the ability to use text, photos, videos and other graphics in the same presentation; not having to switch between programs during a presentation makes things move along smoothly. 

 

There is a well-known theory that people learn differently from one another.  If the student is fortunate they have the ability to learn no matter how the information is presented.  Visual learners benefit greatly from presentations or lessons that include multimedia tools.  As mentioned above, PowerPoint is a beneficial tool when giving presentations.  It gives the students that learn better with something to look at a chance to read what is being presented and the graphics help to illustrate the points being made.  A helpful multimedia tool for music is GarageBand (https://www.apple.com/mac/garageband/), this application is a music studio; the application helps the user to learn, play, record and create music.   Once the user has created their music, they can choose to release it to the public.

 

Multimedia tools are used widely and will continue to be used and expanded on.  News outlets use them in their reporting, politicians use them in their speeches and multimedia tools help to make business presentations successful.  Being proficient in a variety of multimedia tools can benefit a user for future career moves and make them a more valuable asset for their employers.  Users should make sure that when a new tool is developed, to research and become familiar with its functions.