Mastery Journal

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:

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

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/

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.