So the trimester is coming to a close and finals are closer than they may appear. With the end of the trimester approaching., I thought I would come on here and update you guys on my progress with the genius project and my goals for the future. After discussing with my illustrator/partner Addie I am aiming to get a rough draft of my book completed by December. The professionals I met with last week enlightened me on how I should begin the writing process. After speaking with Mr. Trask he gave me a clearer vision on how I should manage my time in order to make progress on the writing process. I will start over the Thanksgiving break by just writing my thoughts down without any sort of filter or editing. Then from there I will be able to cut things out and find the gems within my messy rough draft. Once I have a solid forst draft I will transfer this to a soft version of my book. In order to see how I want my pages to be layed out the soft copy of my book will allow me to get a better visual of the end product. Once I have everything finalized I will later meet with Addie to discuss illustrations. For my current progress I have constructed a brainstorming document that has all of my ideas down for characters and plot ideas.. I have decided on elephants as my main characters and want to feature myself as an elephant along with my brother. Illustarting my brother as an elephant without tusks and a little red cape will highlight his unique qualities from the rest. I want my book to showcase my journey with my older brother and touch on the value of acceptace. Along with a page of research regarding autistic tendencies I have a greater understanding of how I can portray some of my brothers habits while keeping it relatively understandable for a younger audience.. With the research and people I have made connections with I am now equipped with all the tools necessary to begin a successful first draft. Wish me luck, and next time I come back to blog hopefully I will have made significant progress with my writing process..
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After having a few meetings with some professionals in class I have a clearer path of how I should be executing my project. Talking with these professionals have given me greater clarity and a new sense of inspiration to get going on my project. I met with Scott Runner a few weeks ago and we discussed some logistics of how I should go about publishing my book. He gave me the idea of first writing a storyboard so that I can layout the content of my story and get an idea of how I want the pages/spread to look like. After I have the story board completed Mr. Runner told me that it would be a good idea to get a "soft" version of the book printed so I can have an initial copy of the book before I begin the publishing process. Creating a soft version of my book will first allow me to see how I want the pages to look and where the illustrations should fall. Mr. Runner then concluded our meeting by handing me his business card and informing me of one of his friends who is a self published author and could be helpful if I ever had any questions pertaining to publishing. This contact information will be excellent help when I begin the process of publishing. Having a mentor or someone who is knowledgeable about the workforce and getting projects started is such a great help when trying to start a project from scratch!
Senior year has definitely been kicking me in the butt. With college apps, a rigorous course load, and dance practice I have kept myself pretty busy. In class we have been working on our genius project, and since the last time I blogged I have made significant progress! One of my fellow classmates has agreed to partner with me as an illustrator and we have been researching and brainstorming for a few weeks now. We have decided on characters and have started developing a story line that supports my vision. Along with this I have been researching autistic tendencies and how I could portray certain concepts in my book while still making it appealing to a younger crowd. On another note I had someone reach out to me online with important information regarding the publishing process. She gave me the contacts for local authors in my area and gave her own knowledge on how to be a self published author. This information was so helpful and inspired me to get going on writing so I can begin my publishing journey. I hope to finish my writing before this year is over and create a soft copy of what my book will look like. From there I will work towards getting my book published and in a physical form so I can present my work to a local elementary school and spread more awareness to the autistic community. The future is looking bright and I'm excited for the end result!
Hey everybody! This blog post will kickoff my senior year journey with the genius project! I have definitely hit a dry spell with my project, but am eager to get it underway. 2019 is sneaking up on me, and I will need to kick my project into gear if I wish to see a final product. Since my last genius blog post, my project has not changed and I am still aiming to write a children’s book describing what autism is and how to interact with those who have it. I plan to get my finished book printed by an online company, published would be the ultimate goal, however, that is an entire project on its own. Over summer I brainstormed different topic ideas and characters that I vision this book to incorporate. Some of my ideas include focusing the plot around a certain type of animal and the characteristics that pertain to that animal. I want this book to be appealing to children, and by researching various children's books majority of them feature an animal as the main character. Maybe the different spots on a giraffe or cheetah for example. Additionally, as a way to help me along this process I wish to reach out to the mentor that I was presented with last year. Regarding illustrations I am researching more into how to create electronic images that can be uploaded and printed onto my book. I may reach out to a fellow student to execute my ideas for illustrations, as I am not very talented in the art department. Hopefully the next time I publish a genius blog I will have made some progress on my book. Wish me luck!
*To see a closer look into my project here is the link to my pitch... https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ImlsuTZ3yPuJwbD2fIHodB-IVjBQCktBrc4p75rasiQ/edit?usp=sharing. Hey guys! School has just started an I am already feeling the pressures of senior year. With studying for the SAT, drafting college essays, and my busy dance schedule these past couple of weeks have been anything but calm. Dance company has been keeping my hands full with the numerous of pieces we have been learning just a week into school. Upon completion of our first day of school pep rally dance this past Wednesday we just conquered another performance yesterday. One of Sage Creek's alumni, Caiya Miller, put together a fundraiser to raise money to help those in the dangerous conditions of Nicaragua. Hearing this news dance company volunteered to perform a piece that I had choreographed over summer. I was a little wary at first not having too much experience with the process of teaching and crafting an entire dance by myself, but with the help of my dance coach I was able to put together a powerful piece that conveyed a sense of emotion to the audience. I was intimidated to showcase my choreography in front of an audience in case it didn't reflect the hours of time put I had put into it, but all was well and we were able to execute the dance pretty well. I love choreographing dances to songs I like and free styling whenever I get the chance to, but actually constructing a dance to perform is a whole different ball game. This was definitely a challenge for me, but I am so glad I was given the opportunity to do it as it taught me critical skills and ultimately bettered me as a dancer. I feel more confident in my abilities now and am eager to tackle on new challenges! Somebody call 911 cause Sage Creek Dance Company is burning on the dance floor.
Hey everyone! Wow. It has been quite a while since I last posted. With AP tests coming to a close and my classes gearing up for the end of the year I thought I would pop on and inform you guys on my progress. A couple of weeks ago I participated in the genius project forum in which I shared my project idea with a group of fellow Sage Creek students. Being the first to go I was a little shaky in my presentation, but overall it went very well and I was given excellent feedback. A few of my peers suggested that I use an online publishing website to get my book printed and into a tangible form. Many people were excited to see that I had a timeline of projected due dates for my project to ensure that I have a completed and printed book by next April. Last night I had the honor of attending the genius project symposium that was put on by my high school, Sage Creek. A group of elite seniors were selected to present their Ted Talks at the symposium where their projects were showcased for the community to marvel in awe. It was such an inspiring experience to see my peers up on the big stage presenting their passions in front of the community and placing themselves in a vulnerable situation. I was blown away by the seniors presentations and it was a huge wake up call for me to get started on my project ASAP. After seeing the seniors reflect on their journeys, I noticed that the summer before senior year is a major chunk of time that can easily be wasted if it is not spent wisely. Acknowledging that my project could easily fall through the cracks if I do not begin the process soon really sparked a new passion in me to get my project finished. I am excited for my journey and am looking forward to what is to come in the future. I will keep you guys updated as I go, wish me luck!!
Hello everybody! In my last post I talked about the basics of my project and the direction I am hoping to go in. So far I have made some progress(junior year has been rough) in researching more about my idea. To my surprise, my English teacher approached me with some exciting information regarding a mentor for my genius project. I was a bit nervous about finding someone who would guide me through this process and allow me to brainstorm ideas with, but fortunately enough someone reached out and was looking for an individual who was planning on creating a storybook. I have not contacted this professional yet, but I hope to reach out sometime in the next few weeks and begin to discuss my ideas and goals. I have also planned to conduct further research on pre-existing stories that tackle a similar message and begin to brainstorm potential storylines. In our last genius session I was able to research a little on different authors and books that dealt with autism awareness, and I was surprised to find that there were limited platforms that were targeted to a younger age group. I hope to differentiate my story and have it take on a more creative route in order to engage kids and keep them aware of what they will be reading about. I know that this can be quite difficult when dealing with a younger audience, but I am ready to take on this challenge! While pitching my idea to some of my peers I found that I started to elaborate more on my project than what I had initially done before. This really opened up my eyes and allowed me to see a more complete picture of what I am trying to accomplish. I stumbled upon the idea of reading the story aloud to an elementary class or a group of kids in effort to animate my story and bring more attention to the issue. I was also approached with the idea to create a diary styled narrative that detailed the struggles I faced growing up with an autistic brother and target it toward a teen audience. This idea is definitely one that I am not opposed to, however, it will be quite the challenge and force me to put myself in a very vulnerable position. As of now I will put that idea in my pocket and who knows maybe I will create a series!
Narrowing down my ideas into a single project was a bit of a challenge for me, but I knew that the right project idea would eventually land in my mind. Out of love for my oldest brother and as an answer to all of my worries growing up as a child, I decided to center my genius project around autism awareness. I knew that I wanted to make an impact on our society, but not in a traditional way, so I stumbled upon the idea of creating kid friendly stories that approached the topic of autism in a friendly and engaging way. The heart of my passion for this project lies in my oldest brother Ryder, who has opened my eyes and allowed me to look at things from a different perspective. Growing up I never understood why people would stare or be afraid of my brother, because to me he was never "different" I just knew that he was my brother and not being able to talk or walk just made him who he was. Through children's books I wish to teach young minds about kids with autism in effort to make them more aware of their surroundings and teach them that although someone may appear to be different they are just like the rest of us. If I was given the chance to brainstorm my idea with anyone I would choose Eric Carle the author of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, one of my favorite childhood books. I would go to his creative studio and brainstorm ideas for how to approach crafting a children's story. I think Eric Carle would be intrigued by this idea and would offer his insight on how to create illustrations along with creative ideas on how to craft a storyline.
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AuthorHi I'm Jordyn Turner, a student at Sage Creek High School! Welcome to my BLOG! Archives
September 2018
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