This is the end of finals week. It has come and gone in a flash and this blog post is going to be my final for my English 318 class. Throughout the semester, I worked on a lot of platforms, learning about my e-voice and creating content on Wikipedia, this blog, and on a podcast. In this reflection, I’m going to focus on e-voice, both what I’ve learned about it and my definition of e-voice, and this blog and how I’ve expressed my voice through it.
Head on over to the link below to check out my video about my definition of voice, my personal voice, and what my next steps are, here.
Ok! Now that you’re back, I want to talk a little more about the different strategies I used to create content.
Over the course of this semester, I created multiple different kinds of content, however, I’m going to focus on this blog and the strategies that I used for writing post, designing the layout, and choosing the photos.
Some of the ‘small-scale’ strategies that I used (the strategies specific to the WordPress platform), were things like making sure my layout was clean, warm, and easily navigatable; letting all the font be correlated and flow; and making sure my photographs flowed, correlated with the text, and where visually appealing.
I did these things not only to create an inviting space for you, my audience to come to, but also to show that my content is of quality and value. For example, when I was picking the photos (which I did take myself), I was thinking about how they are going to be received by you, my audience, and how they impact and enhance my writing. The photo for my post, Yolk, Indianapolis, add meaning and value to the post because, since it’s a restaurant review, they show the food and its quality, the menu and some of the things they have to offer, and the surrounding area of the restaurant.
Some of the ‘large-scale’ strategies that I used (strategies where that can be used across different digital mediums), were considering my audience; considering the form in which I was creating content in and the rules for the form; and considering the topic I was talking about, making sure it was something I was interested in and passionate about.
In the Web Writing Style Guide it says “know why you’re writing and who you’re writing it for” (9). I found this advice helpful across all the platform that I worked on. If I knew why I was writing a piece, if I put interest and passion into it, it would become better produced and have more meaning and value. I also had to think about the rules and guidelines for each platform along with why I was writing it. Each platform has their own standards and ethics that you as a creator have to adhere to in order to produce content. For example, although Wikipedia is an open source sight and anyone can contribute, there is a strict set of rules and guidelines you have to follow in order for you to edit or add a page.
I had to consider my audience, as well. I had to know who I was reaching out to and, intern, what they were expecting from me in order to produce meaningful, good content that had value and worth.
Overall, I learned so much this semester and will continue to used what I learned as I move forward. I hope to keep up with this blog and explore many other platforms using my e-voice and what I discovered about it.
Barton, Matt; Kalmabcj, James; Lows, Charles. “Web Writing Style Guide.” Writing Spaces, Version 1.0. 2011. Print.
Megan Elaine 