themasteryjournalofally

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Got to see an amazing show last night with such a fantastic lineup!! And I got to meet and chat with the guys in @picturesqueband!!! Such nice people and so talented! I also got to snap some quick selfies with the lead singer of @slavesofficial and the guitarist of @escapethefate 😄😄😄 so many incredible bands in one night... I’m surprised I didn’t headbang my head off my body 🤣 but I definitely did get super into the music and it felt so awesome!! 🎶 (at The Webster) https://www.instagram.com/p/BoPHpEbnjfv/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=can2yj8sz0pp

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This is my final reflection post for my Full Sail University Creative Writing program. I'm very excited that we're graduating! Congrats to everyone and I can't wait to meet those of you who will be at the ceremony later this week! :D

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Celebration of my Experience in Full Sail University’s CWMFA Program (which I graduate from in a month)

I was not able to film this, but I went to a local supermarket and, in the parking lot, declared out loud that “I AM A WRITER”. It feels strange to say I am a “master” at something because no one can ever really be done learning and growing. However, as much as it was humanly possible for me to master something, especially in a year’s time, I have done so, and I will continue to hone my craft and polish my skills even beyond this program’s end. So, here’s to the journey that lies ahead! Whether I’m writing, editing, singing, acting, or something that combines various skills (they are sometimes very interconnected in certain types of projects), I have a feeling post-grad life is going to be full of some pretty marvelous adventures. I’m grateful to Full Sail University and its Creative Writing MFA program for helping me pursue my goals and develop myself creatively, professionally, etc. I’m also very grateful for the connections I’ve made throughout the course of this program. I think the connections I’ve made, the skills I’ve developed, and the degree I’m about to earn, in and of itself, will help me achieve my career goals-- as well as just live a more productive, inspired, and interesting life than I would have had without this program’s impact on me and my life. I feel like I’m in a good place, where I can be excited about what life has in store for me next!

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This is a Reflection Video for my Advanced Storytelling class for Full Sail University's Creative Writing MFA program. Here's the link to the video of my Short Scene, which is what the Reflection Video is about: https://youtu.be/iFLd8_Bcb6k Hope you guys enjoy! Thanks!

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Isn’t it strange that we talk least about the things we think about most?

Charles Lindbergh (via purplebuddhaquotes)

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Reflection video on short scene assignment for Advanced Visual Storytelling class. Full Sail University CWMFA 2018

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This is my Mastery Journal Video about our Director's Treatment Assignment for Advanced Visual Storytelling class in Full Sail University's Creative Writing MFA program.

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This is my short scene script for Advanced Visual Storytelling class in Full Sail University’s Creative Writing MFA program. I couldn’t figure out how to upload a document to Tumblr, but luckily the scene is really short, so I could just screenshot it and upload the screenshots.

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Here's my Mastery Journal post for this week's assignment.

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Writing my First Screenplay Adaptation for Full Sail University’s CWMFA Program

In my Multimedia Adaptation class, which is part of Full Sail University’s Creative Writing Master of Fine Arts Program, we were instructed to take a short story, either a specific one we were suggested or one we wrote ourselves, and expand it into either a short screenplay or a comic book style script. I chose to take a short story I wrote for a previous class in this program, which I had titled “The Stage is Set”, and adapt it into a screenplay format. The story is about a shy teenage girl who gets bullied, has toxic friendships that come to an end, enters a singing competition, and begins a new (healthier) friendship, all while finding her inner strength and sense of self-worth. I found the idea of adapting this story to this new format to be very exciting, as I had written an outline for this story that included MUCH more character development and additional scenes than what I was able to include in a short story with a very specific word count limit. This gave me a lot of material to work with as I worked on my outline for my screenplay, as well as the screenplay, itself. I really liked how, in the format of a short screenplay, I was able to much better develop my characters, define conflicts between characters, create dramatic plot points, and more, which I could not do in the short story. I think this ability to include these things really enhanced the story itself, as I had to really flesh out the story and it made the messages I wanted to convey with the story so much crisper in my mind, as they had to be conveyed in much detail throughout the script, as opposed to being left vague, due to the length confinement of the short story. I loved honing in on the different takeaways the story could have in terms of how to determine what friendships in your life are healthy, how to overcome bullying, how to balance having self-esteem and self-confidence with being humble and showing appreciation to those who have helped you, and more. These things all come across SO much more clearly in the new version of my story in screenplay format, than they did in short story format. It was a bit of a challenge to take a story that was basically one girl’s internal monologue and make it fit a format (screenplay) that involves NO inner thoughts and only visual actions or dialogue we can hear, nothing intangible like thoughts, unless they are narrated; but I did not include narration. I’m glad I didn’t rely on that device because, it can be useful, but I wanted to practice writing a solid script without it, so I don’t come to rely on it too heavily, rather than learning how to “show, not tell”, which is a vital skill in screenplay writing. I would love to continue writing more stories like this one, that appeal to a young audience, have uplifting messages, and can include exciting elements like music (which is featured in “The Stage is Set”). I also really enjoy the format of screenplay writing. I always fancied myself more of an editor than a writer, but writing this story made me rethink that and, if I do decide to make a career of writing, I could definitely see myself doing screenplay writing more so than writing for other mediums, especially short stories. I could even see myself writing a novel more than a short story; I just want the space to fully develop my characters, flesh out the plot, and convey the intended messages of the piece effectively, which is difficult, at least for me, to do in short story format. I could maybe see myself writing episodic screenplays, too, as shows give you the ability to create character and plot arcs and expand them over each episode, each season, and the entirety of each show. I’ll just have to figure it out as I go along and see what opportunities I am able to find and make the most of. Here’s an image of a teenage girl singing, since that’s what “The Stage is Set” is about, and we were instructed to include an image related to our story:

Photo credit citation: This 16 Year Old Girl Sings Whitney Houston's How Will I Know & Shocks Everyone. (2015, November 22). Retrieved March 26, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMH1h5Dyw7U

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Gamification of Exercise, Education, and Entertainment

Gamification is a term that can be defined as “the use of game design and mechanics to enhance non-game contexts”.

Gamification can be used to motivate people to exercise and/or enhance their exercise experiences, which is what the game “Zombies, Run!” aims to do. With over a million players, I’d say they’ve been pretty successful so far. I have yet to try the game myself, but I do want to. It’s an immersive gaming experience that makes you feel like you’re running away from zombies and towards safe zones or helpful resources-- what’s not to love? I’m very intrigued by this game, and definitely want to try it. I’ve just gotten excited about exercising, without even really realizing that’s what’s happening! Gamification can be a great way to make exercise fun and engaging.

Here’s a link to the “Zombies, Run!” website, which features more in depth descriptions of the details of the game, as well as a compelling trailer for it: https://zombiesrungame.com/ In addition to exercise, another experience that is often unpleasant, but very good for people, is education. This can also be enhanced by gamification, both in and out of the classroom. The following article explains multiple ways gamification can be useful in the classroom, such as gamifiying grading with “experience points” instead of letter grades, awarding badges for achievements, fostering healthy competition in the classroom, and more: https://tophat.com/blog/gamification-education-class/

Outside the classroom, educational games are doing what educational TV programs aim to do, but in a more interactive way. I remember, as an elementary-school child, playing many educational games on my Quantum Leap Pad. I was always a fan of learning, even as a young child, but I absolutely abhorred mathematics. The Quantum Leap Pad games even made learning math fun! To this day, most of the basic math I know, I remember learning more from PBS Kids shows and Quantum Leap Pad games than from what I actually learned in a classroom. When you make learning a fun, interactive experience, it motivates people, especially kids, to do it AND makes the material easier to process and actually remember. Here’s a couple pictures of what a Quantum Leap Pad and the math game I played look like: 

Another, more generally pleasurable experience than exercise or education, which can still be further enhanced and made even MORE entertaining is TV watching. Shows that include voting, such as American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, and more, have already included an interactive, game-like feature into the experience of watching TV. However, The Voice, a singing competition show, has further expanded on the gamification of TV watching by adding an element to their voting app which includes creating your own “team” like the coaches on the show do, in which you pick the contestants you think will make it into the finale and the longer those contestants are on the show, the more points you gain. There is even a leaderboard that compares your score to that of your Facebook friends. Here’s a link to The Voice app’s website: https://www.nbc.com/the-voice/exclusives/app-s13

The Bachelor/The Bachelorette is a show that typically doesn’t include a voting element, but has now also begun including a “fantasy league” element, in which you can try to predict which suitor the Bachelor or Bachelorette will pick to be their “final rose” (the person they end up with, and probably get engaged to, at the end of the season). Here’s a link to the Bachelor “fantasy league” website (which is sponsored by ESPN), which becomes the Bachelorette “fantasy league” website when a season of that show is airing: http://games.abc.go.com/bachelor-fantasy-league/en/ Unlike The Voice app interactive “team-building” game, which is just played for fun and for bragging rights, whoever wins the most points in the fantasy league game can win a trip for two to attend the live filming of The Bachelor’s “After the Final Rose” episode, which is filmed in L.A. That definitely incentivizes people to both watch the show and play the game!  Gamification can motivate you to do things you don’t enjoy already doing, or further enhance already-enjoyable experiences, which makes it useful for exercise, education, entertainment, and more!

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Effective Personal Branding

For my Creative Writing Portfolio class, part of my Creative Writing MFA program through Full Sail University, I was asked to pick three examples of effective personal branding and explain why it’s effective. I picked the websites of one of my favorite singers, Demi Lovato, as well as two of my favorite authors, John Green and J.K. Rowling. I just discovered, as I was perusing Rowling’s site, that she also writes in the crime fiction genre under the pseudonym of Robert Galbraith; therefore, I’ve included both of her professional websites (which are basically identical in format and only vary in the name and specific content).

http://www.demilovato.com/

http://www.johngreenbooks.com/

https://www.jkrowling.com/   and    http://robert-galbraith.com/ I find these websites to be particularly effective because they each give a very particular image of who this person is and what they do for a living (as well as their specific styles of doing it). There is personality in each of these sites, and a lot of insight into what makes these people stand out from the crowd of other professionals in their fields. They also have links to their creative works, merchandise, events, social media accounts, etc. It’s very easy to navigate each site and they are all aesthetically appealing sites, as well. Those two factors make you feel compelled to look through the site and continue to learn more about who this person is and what they have done/are currently doing, which is exactly what any good professional website aims to accomplish.

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Writing My First Web Series Episode, for Full Sail University’s Creative Writing MFA Program

I typically think of myself as an editor more than a writer. As a Theatre major in college, I had read, analyzed, and acted out parts in many scripts; however, prior to my participation in the Creative Writing MFA program at Full Sail University, I’d never written one. My Theatre background has been helpful in the process of writing scripts, as I can put myself in the shoes of someone involved in the production of the piece, especially the actors. While the episode of my original Web Series I had to write, for my Episodic and Serial Writing Class, is much different from a play in terms of formatting, I did find it useful to write from an actor’s perspective, especially in dialogue, to know what would sound natural to the character and make use of the scene’s circumstances the most. I had to make many cuts to my dialogue, because I’m used to plays, which allow for much more “monologue-ing” than a short Webisode does. However, I’m glad I learned to make necessary cuts and pare down to the most important details. I wanted both humor and drama in the episode, and do believe I still achieved that in the dialogue and action lines I did keep. I know I can increase the humor, since it is a comedy piece, but considering my lack of experience, I’m proud of myself for the humor I was able to manage to include. While I may have only had a few punchlines, I did create humorous scenarios, and I do believe that to be at least half the battle. I still have much to learn about this type of writing, but I’m grateful I’ve had this opportunity to learn how to properly develop, structure, and format a Webisode/Web Series.

 I do believe editing will still be my main focus, in terms of my long-term career goals. However, as I build more confidence and skills to improve my writing, I am finding myself wanting, more and more, to continue writing. Who knows, maybe writing will become a career for me, as well! I’m open to the possibilities, and am glad that, in the meantime, I will still (hopefully) have a career as an editor. This is why I am so grateful that my classes, including Episodic and Serial Writing, have incorporated giving feedback, right into the class curriculum! It gives me so much opportunity to sharpen my editing skills. The feedback process also helps me learn more about how to be a better writer, as the feedback I’ve gotten has been helpful, and giving feedback has helped me notice common errors in writing and formatting that I am also susceptible to. So far, this program has simultaneously humbled me and built my confidence. I know I still have a lot to learn, but, thanks to Full Sail University, I feel I am becoming a more creative, polished, professional, and authentic person, which will help me with whatever career path I may embark on.

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These are the visual reminders to accompany my Discussion: 1.0 Mastery - Writing Experience post.

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This is my meme post for my Art of Visual Storytelling class, for my Creative Writing MFA program through Full Sail University. References:     (n.d.). Retrieved August 27, 2017, from http://www.postsmaster.com/post/creativity-is-intelligence-having-fun     J. (n.d.). Clipart - Albert Einstein. Retrieved August 27, 2017, from https://openclipart.org/detail/285689/albert-einstein

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I saw both the John Locke quote and the "Do epic things" poster in different parts of the same doctor's office, and thought that they actually work pretty nicely together. After all, to do epic things, one must have a sound mind and sound body (as much as possible for each person on an individual level, of course). Many artists think that they can only be creative if they are living in pain. However, physical and mental pain are, by their nature, meant to bring us down. Whereas, doing epic things, by its nature, means soaring high. Pain can actually hinder creativity. It is better, in my opinion, to be inspired by the human ability and drive to overcome pain, rather than be inspired by the pain itself. Happiness is relative, it presents itself differently for different people-- but, it is something to strive for. Sometimes taking care of one's physical, mental, and emotional state of being can actually give way for greater creativity than one has ever experienced before, because it eliminates distractions that existed previously and allows one to focus on higher needs beyond basic forms of health. Therefore, I will do my best to take care of myself physically, mentally, and emotionally, for my sake and for the sake of others who could benefit from what I'm able to put out into the world when I am at my best. I genuinely hope that those of you who are reading this post, in some way, are striving to do the same thing, for the sake of both yourself and others. We are all worth it.