Mini Catch Up

 Welcome back to the blog! It's been a little bit since we've sat down and had a chat, what with all the snow days and breaks in-between. I think this is a good time, however, to catch you up a bit more on how my idea has been changing. 

Although I adore the idea of being able to do a Zine for a project...this project is just a little too big for that. There's almost too much content for the medium, and my big fear was that I wouldn't be able to do it justice. While I could go the photo book route, that was almost a bit too visual and it would be really hard to get you to care about what I'm doing. So, after consulting both Laura (and ChatGPT with permission I could), I ended up finding something that I could fit the project into. 

A Travel Memoir is a recollection of a trip that is built around a central theme or message. It can be various topics such as how did the trip change you, what did you discover about yourself, what did you learn. This theme is then meant to be carried throughout the entire writing itself, acting like the glue of the entire project. While I usually don't like to do this, finding a label to put behind this project has definitely helped clear up some confusion. It helps give me more direction to find resources that actually are hitting what I want to do, rather than some weird amalgamation. Do I think this might be a little bit more artsy compared to literary travel memoirs? Maybe just a tad. 

One of the advantages of doing something more literary is being able to work on it outside of the Mac Labs. Not having to pray there isn't some type of class there to worry about. Both of the following resources have been super helpful so far with creating a balance with the writing aspect. One of the bigger issues that kept emerging when I started was that the writing sounded a little too...academia. You could tell I was trying to still be "professional" and that I wasn't writing like I usually would. While I was a bit hesitant to "go all the way" with the writing, a lot of writing resources really push you to! A lot of the appeal of a Travel Memoir stems from an author's unique writing voice; it's what sets them apart from each other! Upon learning that, I ended up completely changing the style I was writing in. While there are still some included educational blurbs/sections, most of the stories have been more geared towards creating a cultural/story connection. Experiencing another country-- let alone another culture-- goes so far to appreciating diversity and understanding of the world, and realizing that is what I want to showcase has vastly helped me feel more sure in this project. 

Resources: 

LinkedIn Resource: [ https://www.linkedin.com/advice/0/how-do-you-craft-compelling-narrative-voice-your?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&utm_campaign=copy ]

NY Book Editors: [ https://nybookeditors.com/2017/08/tips-writing-travel-memoir/