The list of assignments for your blog/portfolio

The following is a list of assignments you should include in your portfolio for grading: 

1.  The rap/song/poem/ about your creative self

2. A short writing with photos and/or Canva meme about The War of Art

3. Do a new faces to places and write a short narrative to go along with it about how you have taken better pictures than before. 

4. Include your mid-term assignment about books, then write a short narrative describing what you have learned since reading that book.

5. On your branding blog include three blog posts. The posts should include all of the requirements from the blog assignments. One of the blog posts needs to be an interview with someone who is pertinent to your blog. 

Finally, you will record yourself reviewing this material - you can reference what you have already written as part of your script. There is no time minimum; it needs to be as long as it needs to be. 

Interviews for your blog

Why Interview?

• Interviews are extremely beneficial because:
• It can raise your level of authority simply because of the public association that you have with the interviewee.
• You build a relationship with the person you are interviewing which could possibly lead to other growth opportunities for you and your brand down the road.
• You can generate unique and refreshing content for your audience. You don’t need to be the expert to deliver expert advice.

What do I want from a an interview on my blog?

1. What do you want your audience to take away from the interview?
2. How are you benefiting the interviewee?

How do I find someone to interview for my blog? 

once you have your wish list of interviewees, do the following:

• Follow them on the social media platforms where they’re most active. Notice what they’re posting and sharing.
• Subscribe to their blogs and read a few of their most popular posts.
• Read their About Pages to get an overview of their background and current focus.
• Familiarize yourself with their current projects – for instance, any courses or books they’ve recently created or written

“Great reporters are great listeners,” 

says Carl Bernstein of the Woodward‑Bemstein reporting team that exposed the Watergate cover‑up that led to President Nixon's resignation.

1. Don't conduct an interview, have a conversation. One of the biggest mistake people make in the interview setting is to conduct it like it appears in a magazine (question and answer). Don't make that mistake. Forget about the questions and just have a comfortable conversation. Keyword: comfortable.
2. Do your homework. The only way to avoid getting stuck asking questions is to do so much research that you don't need them. Know your subject, know the issues and know what the public would want to know if they could sit down with the subject matter.
3. Don't stick to your agenda. To make matters worse, most interviewers follow the questions that they have lined up in the order they wrote them, instead of letting it flow based on what the subject is saying. I've seen many great follow-up conversations and side-tracks lost because the interviewer was following their flow instead of the flow of the conversation.
4. Have notes, not questions. It's ok to have some notes about concepts you would like to discuss, but don't hold it in your hand and look down at it - that will break the conversation and turn it into an interview.
5. Ask open ended questions. Always start your questions or commentary with words like "how" and "why". Those two words can never be responded to with the words, "yes" or "no". If you want something more than one or two word answers, use words like "how" and "why".
6. Open arms. Do your best to have nothing blocking you from your subject matter. This includes objects like recorders, pens, coffee tables, etc... In an ideal world, keep your arms open and your heart aimed at the subject matter's heart. I do not know why this works, but it does create a much more human connection - let nothing get in the way.
7. If you're going to record it... start training yourself now to not say things like, "ummm" and "ahhhh." While it sounds natural in everyday chitter chatter, those little vocal stumbles sound extra annoying if you plan on publishing the audio file, and it's even more frustrating if you have to transcribe the audio to text. It's one of the hardest things to do, but be conscious of it.
8. Don't say anything. This is an old journalism trick, but it works wonders. Many people have been interviewed many times and they know the questions they are most likely to be asked, so their answers are practiced and canned. If you want to get a little bit more out of them or something original, wait for five seconds after they finish their last sentence and do not say anything. More often than not, that moment of silence will get them thinking and they'll start speaking from their heart (and with a whole other perspective than their standard canned answers).
9. Watch the clock. Try not to go over thirty minutes. You should be able to capture everything you need in fifteen minutes or less.
10. Be the ambassador for your audience. Don't forget that your role as the interviewer is to ask the questions that your mass public would want the answer to if they could be in that room. They can't be there. You are. Be their ambassador. Ask the questions they want answered.

I have an idea - now what?

When you write a post ask yourself "What will my readers gain from this post?". As a blogger, every post you write should meet one or more of the following goals.

• Answer a question
• Solve a problem
• Teach a skill
• Empathize with the reader
• Be open to feedback
• Be easy to read and understand
• Be friendly
• Be encouraging and engaging
• Appeal to the reader's emotions and entertain by boosting confidence or making them laugh etc.

5 Hacks to Exponentially Improve your Blog Writing Skills

Time to start putting words in images together - Blogging

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

                                                                                                                  – Mark Twain

Blogs have become powerful vehicles to develop digital professional profiles, and they have become a space where professionals can explore issues, connect with colleagues, and make deeper impacts on their fields. Writing a blog post is a craft that can be developed. Think about creating a blog  that is not already well-covered on the internet. Compelling, widely read blog authors approach critical topics in niche areas and avoid broad topics or jumping between disparate topics. Well-developed blog posts offer new content, new ideas, and critical discussions.

(Don't let the idea of "critical" throw you. Think opinion that is grounded.)

So why do this?

23 Essential Elements of Sharable Blog Posts

Assignment:
Develop a Single Blog Post  
1. Topics will be based on your academic and/or professional interests.
 2. The post must cover new topics related to your field of study (e.g., analysis and discussion of new technological advancements in the forms of theories, practice, or tools). 3. The post must be no less than 200 words and no more than 400 words.
4. Must include five links to other information
5. Must include three to five visuals (Some can be your and others can be found at free photo sites.)

Structure your blog like this:

1. Opening Paragraph – The first sentences should overview the topic and draw the reader into the discussion. Make a case for the issue and explain why it is relevant and important for your readers to engage. (5-8 sentences) 

2. Supporting Paragraph – In this section, you should provide detail about the topic/issue being discussed. (5-8 sentences) 

3. Conclusion Paragraph – Wrap up key issues, point toward future concerns, call to action for community, call for comments and blog interaction

Here are some of my favorite blogs. They are all different and that is the point.  

A View From The Wing

Seth Godin

Reading without Walls 

To the Best of Our Knowledge (My favorite) 

You assignment:
This is a three part assignment:

1. Go look for 4-5 blogs that will interest you. Goggle your favorite topics (the more obscure the better for some) and get an idea of how other bloggers work. If you like travel, you will see a big list of bloggers. Check out 5-6 before moving on to another topic. Make notes about what you like and don't like about the blogger's style, how they put information together, who advertises, what you would add or change if you were doing it. Get to know the genre of blogging. 


2. Develop an idea for a blog - not just a post but an a blog idea you can run with for the rest of your professional life. It can be on anything but you have to justify your ability to do it. For example, my husband knows how to build a nuclear bomb. He has taught be the fundamentals of what it means to make one. We talk about nuclear issues all the time -- but I still don't have enough expertise to write a blog about nuclear issues - get it? 

Do a 20-minute puke about what you think you could talk about with some authority week after week. What do you feel like you know about better than most people? 

2.  Make a practice blog post. Use the criteria set above for your first. You can you stock photography but it is always better when you can use your own. 

This assignment is due Thursday, Oct. 26 by noon. You can write each section in a single Google Docs, put it in your folder and share it with me or in Word and move it into your Google Docs folder and share it with me. You do not need to include the puke. That is your own research work. 

What you need to know to create a story with photos and ideas

Thinking about visual storytelling

Soak in the details of complicated situations



10 rules of photo composition

Don't know what to shoot?

Becoming a better photographer 

Pet’s Eye View. Pretend that you are your pet. How would you see the world if you were a dog? A hamster? Shoot a series of images from the perspective of your pet’s eye level.

A Day in the Life of… This is a great project to document a particular occupation. For example, you could take photographs of a nurse at work to show all the various aspects of his or her job. It may take you more than one day of shooting to capture a representative set of images.

Get to Know Your Neighborhood. So often, we never really take a good look at our own neighborhood. Make it a point to walk around, and shoot ten images of the area where you live. Do this once a month, or even once a week, if you really get inspired.

A Collection of “Somethings.” Whenever you’re out, carry your camera, and be on the lookout for whatever “something” you choose. It could be feet, garbage cans, vegetables that look like faces, bicycles – you name it! Get creative, and pick a theme that you don’t usually see in pictures.

The Park Bench. Take your camera and a tripod to a park, and find a busy park bench. Set yourself up some distance away with a long lens aimed at the bench and pre-focused. Settle in, and for the next few hours, take images at fixed time intervals, say every ten minutes. This is really an exercise in time lapse photography. I think the resulting images would make a fun photo essay. The setting stays the same, but the subjects change at random.

Evolution of Construction. Find a nearby construction site, and take a picture every day. If you choose the same vantage point each time, you’ll end up with a series of images that show the building in progressive stages of completion.

Through the Seasons. This exercise is similar to number two, but is best done in a less urban environment, and over a longer period of time. Find a landscape that you can shoot in Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. The works especially well if you live in a place that receives snow in Winter, and where the leaves on the trees turn color in the Autumn.

Self Portrait. The concept of this is simple: take a picture of yourself every day. It helps to use a tripod and shutter release, rather than limiting yourself by trying to shoot with the camera at arm’s length. You are the most patient subject you could ever work with, so use this to your advantage. Get creative, overact, dress up, and use props. You decide how you want to show yourself to the world! If you do an internet search on this topic, you’ll find related Flickr and Twitter groups, where you can share your images.

Think about your pictures and what is the story that they tell.

You need to think of five things:

Who?   What?   Where?   When?   Why?   How?

Any good story provides answers to each of these questions. You must drill these into your brain and they must become second nature.

For example, if you wish to write a story about a local sports team entering a competition you will need to answer these questions:

• Who is the team? Who is the coach? Who are the prominent players? Who are the supporters?
• What sport do they play? What is the competition?
• Where is the competition? Where is the team normally based?
• When is the competition? How long have they been preparing? Are there any other important time factors?
• Why are they entering this particular competition? If it's relevant, why does the team exist at all?
• How are they going to enter the competition? Do they need to fundraise? How much training and preparation is required? What will they need to do to win?

Start with topic or genres that you love

Use websites to help you

• WhatShouldIReadNext.com: start with an author or book you love, click the closest match from the list that pops up, and then this site will generate a list of books you’ll probably like based on your initial author/title. Pretty cool.
• GoodReads: This is social networking for readers. Join (you can use your Facebook credentials) and then find friends and see what they’re reading, find interest-based groups, search book lists, or join a discussion.
• BookBrowse.com: The “Read Alikes”  service here is similar to WhatShouldIReadNext but the lists of comparable books is handpicked by other readers.
• WhichBook: Choose your book by mood or other fun factors, like Happy or Sad, Beautiful or Disgusting, Conventional or Unusual.

Make the time to read. Make it important. Make it a priority.

• Read in the bathroom
• Read in line
• Read while you are waiting for . . . anything
• Read before you go to bed
• Read in a favorite chair on a rainy day
• Read outside on a sunny day

Use the 50-page rule

If you are not into it by the 50th page there is no sin in saying that this book is not for you.

Start a reading notebook

It could be a Pinterest board, a note on Facebook, a list on your phone, a folder of photos, your GoodReads account etc.

Find your reading spot

• Make it comfortable
• Where you cannot be disturbed
• Turn off your phone
• Have a good light
• Have some tea or some other beverage of your choice
• Maybe eat the food you might be reading about
• Read with someone else who appreciates reading (fun to read to each other)

How to become an avid reader (and why)

For your mid-term assignment 

You will document, over the next two weeks your relationship with reading a book. You will take pictures and create a narrative for presentation on Monday, Oct. 16. 

This will include: 

• Pictures of you finding a book that works for you (minimum of five photos)
• Documenting when and where you read the book plus how many pages at a time you read (minimum of five photos)
• Take five photos the explain the plot of the book (This is the really creative part - minimum of five photos)
• Write an extending puke (plus you should be doing this the whole time in order to write about you are documenting) about how you felt about the process of the course of time you have read the book. Again, this is an opportunity to get really creative. Last five photos. 

Create a slideshow in Adobe Spark Pages (We will go over this in class.) 

Here is one of the best examples from a couple of years ago. 

How and why photojournalism makes an impact — photographs stop timHow and why photojournalism makes an impact — photographs stop time, giving the viewer a moment to think, to react, to feel, to soak in the details of complicated situations.e, giving the viewer a moment to think, to react, to feel, to soak in the details of complicated situations.

More Photography

10 rules of photo composition

Don't know what to shoot?

Becoming a better photographer 

Pet’s Eye View. Pretend that you are your pet. How would you see the world if you were a dog? A hamster? Shoot a series images from the perspective of your pet’s eye level.

A Day in the Life of… This is a great project to document a particular occupation. For example, you could take photographs of a nurse at work to show all the various aspects of his or her job. It may take you more than one day of shooting to capture a representative set of images.

Get to Know Your Neighborhood. So often, we never really take a good look at our own neighborhood. Make it a point to walk around, and shoot ten images of the area where you live. Do this once a month, or even once a week, if you really get inspired.

A Collection of “Somethings.” Whenever you’re out, carry your camera, and be on the lookout for whatever “something” you choose. It could be feet, garbage cans, vegetables that look like faces, bicycles – you name it! Get creative, and pick a theme that you don’t usually see in pictures.

The Park Bench. Take your camera and a tripod to a park, and find a busy park bench. Set yourself up some distance away with a long lens aimed at the bench and pre-focused. Settle in, and for the next few hours, take images at fixed time intervals, say every ten minutes. This is really an exercise in time lapse photography. I think the resulting images would make a fun photo essay. The setting stays the same, but the subjects change at random.

Evolution of Construction. Find a nearby construction site, and take a picture every day. If you choose the same vantage point each time, you’ll end up with a series of images that show the building in progressive stages of completion.

Through the Seasons. This exercise is similar to number two, but is best done in a less urban environment, and over a longer period of time. Find a landscape that you can shoot in Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. The works especially well if you live in a place that receives snow in Winter, and where the leaves on the trees turn color in the Autumn.

Self Portrait. The concept of this is simple: take a picture of yourself every day. It helps to use a tripod and shutter release, rather than limiting yourself by trying to shoot with the camera at arm’s length. You are the most patient subject you could ever work with, so use this to your advantage. Get creative, overact, dress up, and use props. You decide how you want to show yourself to the world! If you do an internet search on this topic, you’ll find related Flickr and Twitter groups, where you can share your images.

Submit Your Work To Avalon Literary Magazine Today

Avalon is now accepting submissions of poetry, artwork, photography, short stories, and more. The deadline for fall submissions is Friday, Oct. 13. Please send your submission to avalon@su.edu with text attached as a Word document and artwork in high quality JPEG format.

If you would like to join the Avalon literary magazine staff, come by the weekly meeting on Wednesdays at 2:45 p.m.in Henkel Hall, Room 111. If you cannot make it to the meeting but would like to join, please email avalon@su.edu. And, view the Spring 2017 Avalon iBook.

Sarah's Glen Drone, Video and Stills