My Goals For This Project
I have many, many goals for this project. Without goals, I don't think I would have much of a project. Heck, I don't think I would have much of a project without obstacles either, because if there wasn't a project, I wouldn't need goals, and if I didn't have goals, then I wouldn't have any obstacles to overcome. Overcoming obstacles and creating goals for yourself are the biggest, most important, and most challenging parts of the project. Here are my goals:
- Become a better formal writer through the use of blogs- I do pride myself in being able to communicate through writing, but I know when it comes to formal writing, I do struggle a bit. I am great t informal writing because that is the style in a lot of my poetry. Using my blog, which you can access by clicking here, has allowed me to become more accustomed to using the type of language that is common in the real world.
- Become better at efficiently researching and identifying reliable sources- I am not the world's best researcher. I am the type of person that will just type a few words into Google and click on whatever web page seems good. I used to have no clue what was a reliable source and what wasn't. Now, because this project has required me to have to look deeply at my sources and where my information is coming from, I am realizing how to make sure I have the most credible source I possibly can. I still need to further develop this skill, and I hope to be able to do that through the rest of this project.
- Create better communication skills, both verbal and written, through the use of blogs and contacting authorities to help me with my project- I am not a people person. I will not go and seek out some stranger just so I can have a conversation. I find it hard to relate to people both in an over the phone conversation and a face to face confrontation. However, throughout this process, I have had the chance to contact authorities via email and phone call, and I think it has helped me tremendously with my fears and problems with effective communication. I hope to keep developing this crucial skill as the project progresses because it is a skill I will definitely need later on in life.
- To become a better writer by experimenting with different poem types- I think I am an exceptional writer for my few years of experience, but I mainly only write poetry in free verse and it almost never rhymes. I feel that experimenting with different styles, such as villanelles and perhaps even a sonnet or two, while creating some out-of-the-box rhyme schemes may help me to further develop my writing skills and give me that edge that I have ben lacking all this time. I am very willing to jump at any chance to better my skills in writing because it is such a big passion of mine.
- Gain better critical thinking and problem solving skills- this is a huge one for me. If I don't have the ability to think critically and problem solve, then I am going to be in big trouble later on in the future when I get stuck in a rut and need to get myself out. If I can't problem solve to find a way out of that sticky situation, the only thing I will be able to do is dig myself a deeper hole to sit in.
What I Have Learned So Far
Throughout just the very beginning of the process of writing this book of poetry as well as searching for an editor, a place to be published, and someone to maybe even create a cover for my book has taught me a lot. Here are just a few of the things I have learned along the way:
- Technology crashes, but so do people. After about the first week, I had already had a few minor glitches with technology and using the email system to contact a potential editor. After technology stopped crashing (finally), I had an editor. But only for about two and a half days. She ended up getting in a car crash and was fatally injured by a drunk driver. The moral of this story: people crash too.
- Just because you left a message doesn't mean they listened to it. After leaving quite few messages with a publishing company's secretary, they finally returned my call, only to ask me why I kept calling them. After explaining that I had said all details in my previous seven voicemails I left, the secretary proceeded to tell me she deleted all of my voicemails because they didn't do business with people who had yet to see the real world. Needless to say, I never contacted them again.
- If they hang up on you in the middle of a conversation, they most likely aren't interested in you or your work. During one conversation over the phone with somebody who I was very excited to talk to in hopes of actually getting somewhere with my project, the person on the other end of the line hung up. And it wasn't in a polite way either. It was right in the middle of a sentence. Apparently they do not know the meaning of customer service. I tried calling them back to see if they had an issue with their phone system or if there were some other issues, but they never returned my calls. It turns out that people aren't interested in those who they hang up on mid-sentence.
- Asking for help is hard. There was one point in my project where I had absolutely no idea what I was doing or where I was going. I just refused to ask for help. I didn't want to ask for assistance because I thought that I new what I was doing. Asking for help is hard, because it means you are finally admitting that you are no longer dominating the situation where you are supposed to be in control. I finally convinced myself to ask for guidance when I realized that my project would become total chaos if I did not figure out what on Earth I was doing. So, as hard as it may be, asking for help is an essential part of the whole process.