Happy Friday and Happy Spooky Month! These past two weeks have been a lot, as it was time for me to officially dive into the world of coding. The last time I remember properly learning about coding was in the 7th or 8th grade. If you were to ask me today, I wouldn’t even be able to recall anything from that class other than that I surprisingly got a good grade. Still, I tried to go into these tutorials with a clear mind and a hopeful attitude that I could quickly understand and create something great with what I learned.

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Jumping straight into things, I decided to spend the day focusing on the HTML tutorial provided by my professor. Usually, I am one to fully read through everything before experimenting, but I found it to be a much easier process to code as I went along. I also surprisingly found myself comfortable working on it as while it had been a minute, the familiarity was still there. Learning about how to code text colors, backgrounds, and exploring what colors HTML supports was something I particularly enjoyed. Since this part of the tutorial was something I gravitated toward, I spent some time messing around with HSLA color values (hue, saturation, lightness, alpha) and seeing what different shades I could create and the different styles to apply them. 

Following that, I did find myself more stuck when I reached the image map section. I was intimidated by having to find the specific coordinates for my chosen images and admittedly, I did not leave that part of the tutorial feeling 100% confident. Still, I believe it is something I would just need to work on more and can soon fully understand. Overall, when it came to the HTML lesson, it was not as bad as I thought. There were some parts I really enjoyed and others that I naturally had to work on more. 

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A couple of days later, I finally got around to the CSS tutorial. Seeing as the HTML one went much better than expected, I felt more confident that I would end the lesson having a good understanding of how things worked. Unlike HTML, because CSS is design-focused, it requires more specific codes which means more time spent figuring things out. The difference between working on both HTML and CSS is while I did find both to be enjoyable, HTML was somewhat more relaxing as CSS needed me to be very precise with what I typed. With that being said, even though it took longer it was much more rewarding to see what I could put together.

I ended these lessons not having any particular questions in mind. The tutorials went in great depth and I know that the more I practice the more prepared I’ll be when it comes to creating my final portfolio.

Another Wednesday and my research continues for my career aspirations. This week, my assignment was to look for portfolios created by people in the same field I aspire to be in. First before conducting my search, I again consulted Claude about the assignment. I began by asking questions about what a portfolio was. This was its reply:

From here, I wanted to know if portfolios looked the same for freelance writers compared to published authors. I thought this was important as when first beginning my career, I would more than likely be dabbling in a multitude of writing projects that provide me with more experience than my official creative works. So, after discussing this with Claude, this was his response: 

Portfolios for aspiring writers:

Portfolios for published authors:

As shown, while there were some similarities, there were differences such as the portfolio for aspiring writers focusing on including a variety of works and showcasing your skills and past work experience. I think asking these questions was great as I could see what type of portfolio I should create as I find my footing in the industry and how it will possibly evolve as I become more established. I was also able to learn of new opportunities that can help with my portfolio such as National November Writing Month. A holiday I previously had no knowledge of, but after a brief search, I learned it is an event hosted by a non-profit that challenges writers intending to complete a 50,000-word novel by the end of the month. They support writers through this process and have hosted authors drafting novels that I myself had previously read or plan to read. These include Marissa Meyer’s Cinder, Elizabeth Acevedo’s With the Fire on High, L. L. McKinney’s A Blade So Black, and a few more. It is an event that I would definitely be eager to participate in the future and showcase in my portfolio.

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After an engaging discussion with Claude, I started looking for writers whose portfolios stood out to me. I decided to go about this by doing a search through Google, as well as going to the websites of authors whose works I have previously read.

• https://www.akwaeke.com/
  • The first portfolio was by writer Akwaeke Emezi. An artist whose works focus on embodiment, ritual, and rememory; her portfolio first caught my eye because of her distinctive pictures featured when first going to her website. These pictures include her on the cover of TIME magazine as well as stills captured personally by her. As I was already compelled by this eye-catching introduction, it then led me to explore her page where I found her books with art equally captivating. I left her website wanting to look more into her work and I definitely plan to.
• https://jenniferhillierbooks.com/
  • Next was Jennifer Hiller, an author who I very recently found out about through her novel “Things We Do in The Dark”. When going to her website I immediately noticed that it matched the vibe that her overall works seem to convey. Matching the suspenseful tone of her books, it led me to look into her other stories. Her website also included features such as documents for each of her books with questions that she felt would be great for readers in book clubs. I personally loved this feature as I think as the writer of her stories, nobody knows her characters better than her. So naturally, she would be able to create great questions that have her readers truly analyzing already riveting novels.
• https://www.eliserpeterson.com/
  • Elise Peterson was the next writer whose portfolio I enjoyed. The first thing that stood out to me on her website was the handwritten signature in the top left corner of her page. It was something simple but brought a lot to the otherwise basic background information that is on her home page. Elise’s page provided something new that I had yet to see on any other writers’ pages. Not only was she a writer but her portfolio consisted of visual works, selected writing clips, and the standout: her Cool Moms podcast, founded in 2018. Each thing featured was connected in a way that added great depth to her work and sparked my curiosity to look into who she is as an artist.
• https://dorkdiaries.com/
  • Lastly, I revisited a portfolio that was probably the first author portfolio I had ever seen. Even if I had not known it at the time. Rachel Renee Russell was an author who shaped my childhood. Other than R.L. Stine, she was responsible for creating my love for reading, and seeing as I am interested in writing children’s novels, I wanted to revisit her page. As a children’s author, her portfolio was very engaging and stood out perfectly for her targeted audience. She not only included both reading and audio snippets of her works, but she also interactive features such as games, quizzes, and music. All related to her bestselling book series “Dork Diaries”. It was distinctive in a way that was very fitting for the genre she focuses on and provided a new perspective on how author’s portfolios can look.

Happy Thursday and wishing a great week to all reading this. This week in my Digital Writing and Publishing class, I had to complete the task of creating my own web hosting account. When going into the assignment I was quite intimidated as the more I learned of the different features, the more I could feel myself getting overwhelmed at how to get everything together. Regardless, I found it to be an assignment that provided me with information I previously had zero knowledge of.

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To get started, I first reached out to Claude AI to better understand domain names and the steps needed to acquire my own. Claude informed me of what the concept was and how it was a way to provide a unique identifier for a website or other internet services. It then went into details of the benefits of having a domain name such as marketability, ownership, security, and branding. All features that would personally be an advantage for me in my future career.

After my brief lesson on domain names, I turned to Reclaim Hosting where I registered to create my own web hosting account. When creating my account I made the decision to invest in a domain name. Reason being is, while I may not know the future of my website beyond this class, I wanted to be able to get the full experience and get as much insight into the benefits as possible. From then I would decide where to go with my page.

     Once creating my page, I then followed the YouTube link provided by my professor to learn about File Manager. This video gave me a basic understanding of how to use it and helped me feel a little more confident in exploring the site’s features.

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After getting familiar with the website and thinking of how I will use it this year to help me with the industry I want to be in, I think the digital objects I would need to make would be mainly creative works that showcase my writing skills. Since I am still finding my niche with what genres best suit me, I will be sure to create a variety of works that do not stick with one genre and instead focus on stepping out of my comfort zone to see how I can use my creativity to create interesting stories. I will also use the lessons I am following in my other classes to aid in this process as I have been learning many different tips in regard to fiction writing. And while I do not think this is a necessity, more so a personal pleasure, I think another digital object I could make could be occasional blog posts that discuss recent inspiration and obsessions. I think as a writer, I am constantly taking inspiration and fixating on many things whether it’s a recently watched TV show, movie, etc. This can influence the works I create and my perspective as a creative overall. Therefore I think in my field this would be a great thing to feature on my site as it gives more insight into who I am and how that translates to what I make.

While this week’s assignment was one that I was unsure about, I found myself completing it with a more approachable outlook on what it could open me to and what I am capable of producing with it. I look forward to the next few weeks as we delve deeper.

http://jaydamakenzie.com/