Thing 13 is REFLECTION. Write a post reflecting on your 13 Things for Writers experience. Please write a meaty post--multimedia if possible--reflecting on the following questions:
Did this turn out to be what you expected when you started?
Were you already familiar with any of these "things"? For example, did you already have an online bookmarking account? Or were they mostly new?
Did your Wordle of your blog give you any insights?
Which was your favorite post?
Did you discover anything new that could be helpful in your day-to-day activities?
Did you discover anything new that you think you might use in your Life After Coe?
How did you feel about "self-discovering" as opposed to having specific due dates created by the professor?
You've probably seen word clouds on various websites. They make a visual image of the words that are used--on a particular website or in a particular document. Words that are used most often become more visually prominent--they're BIGGER. This can help you see which themes are repeated most often.
Often, we can get some great insights from looking at word clouds. For example, look at these cool word clouds of presidential inaugural speeches.
Word clouds can be made using the website Wordle. Luckily, you don't have to create an account or pay to use it. You'll just need to save it to the "public gallery," where your word cloud will get its own URL and embed code. Here's the word cloud for 13 Things for Writers:
(Sadly, these images don't have very good resolution. They'll look MUCH better for you when you make yours on the website!)
You can also make a word cloud of any document. Here's Gorgias's "Helen" speech (if you've taken Rhetorical Theory, you may remember it!) I just copied the text from a website and pasted it into the Wordle box.
I couldn't resist comparing this speech with Socrates' long discourse on "rhetoric" and "flattery" from the dialogue we read in Rhetorical Theory.
Isn't it interesting how "Body" is bigger in Socrates' explanation? "Soul" is in both. And the word "persuasion" never comes up in Socrates. Hmm. This helps me see the two rhetoricians in a clearer way.
If you haven't taken Rhetorical Theory yet, it's offered this fall!
Here's another word cloud of this blog, an interactive one, made with a different site, Tagxedo.
Watch what happens when you scroll over the cloud. For your 13Things blog:
Create a word cloud of your 13 things blog and embed the code into the blog. Just put the URL of your blogspot address in the box on the Wordle or Tagxedo site. Save (or "share" for Tagxedo) and copy the html code (i-code for Tagxedo) and embed on your blog's Thing 12 post.*
Then copy and paste the text of something else into the site's text box--something you've written, or a text you've become familiar with recently. When you get the word cloud, save it, and embed the code for that into your blog, too.
Now reflect: Did these word clouds give you any insight about the documents/sites? Which words are most prominent? Did this visual representation of words bring any thoughts that you didn't get from reading? How might you use this in professional life? Or is it just a fun toy?
*Don't forget to switch to HTML before you copy in the embed code--that's little rectangular button at the top of your blogger post.
The word is right there on the tip of your tongue...but you just can't make it come out! You've got lots of other words that mean something close...but just not the right word.
You need a visual thesaurus. A visual thesaurus shows you all the synonyms to your word, plus, with a click of the mouse allows you to drill deeper into one of the related words, and then see all of the synonyms to THAT word. Somewhere in that exercise, you'll find the perfect word.
The Thinkmap Visual Thesaurus is actually a commercial tool, with a limited free interface. Even with it's limitations (you'll have to click "try" when you first start, and you'll be limited to a handful of drill downs) the tool is rich. Enter a word you'd like to explore, and you'll get a pop up application with all the related words, plus definitions of your original word. It totally appeals to my inner word nerd.
Click any of the related words, and get a new view. You can print with the free trial, but you won't be able to save your word searches or share them. A membership will cost $19.95/year. Also worth noting is the information included on the main website: a word of the day section, a blog feed written by writers talking about writing, featured word lists, lesson plans and more.
Other visual thesuarus tools to try:
Visiwords: very similar to The Visual Thesaurus, but not quite as robust: you don't get the drill-down functions, and you'll have to decode the color codes to determine meanings based on word type (nouns have a purple background)
Lexipedia: again, very similar in visuals, but this one, in my humble opinion, is a bit easier to read than Visiwords. I like this one the best. Mouse-over tips help you decipher color coding, and you can show or hide different word forms (keep nouns, hide verbs when applicable).
The benefit that both Visiwords and Lexipedia have over The Visual Thesaurus is that they are free (open source).
Post on your 13Things blog:
Choose a word or two from a recent post, and enter them into the visual thesaurus of your choice. Do you come up with any useful alternatives? List the words you like best, along with their definitions.
In general, do you use a thesaurus when writing? Have you ever had any problems using one (for example, you found out later that the word you chose wasn't exactly what you had in mind . . . )
Play around with the thesaurus for a while and see if you discover--or rediscover--any great words. Sometimes simple ones are the best. Try: say, play, word, table, time . . . Share a couple words you searched and a couple synonyms you found. And/or comment on the connections between words.
Have you ever found a great photo on the Web and used it in your own PowerPoint, on your blog, or even in a print publication you were making?
Did you feel guilty about it?
We're not technically supposed to use someone's work without their permission, but getting permission can be time consuming, and besides, what if the creators don't mind?
The people at Creative Commons have given creators of original works an option to give their works a Creative Commons license. This license allows people to use their works, always with attribution, sometimes with other optional stipulations.
Watch the videos below:
Now visit the Creative Commons website for an overview of the CC philosophy and the different licenses creators may choose for their works. Also, CC licenses aren't just for photos: they can be used with video, music, writing, scientific research, anything that would normally be covered under a copyright license!
I've been amazed at how often I see the Creative Commons license now that I'm aware of it.
Post your thoughts about Creative Commons. Does CC seem like a good idea? Think about projects you've created while here at Coe . . . and your blog. What projects--or aspects of those projects--would you LIKE to share with other writers--for them to "remix and reuse"? Are there any writing projects you've created that you would NOT want to share?
Next time I have a large writing project to work on, I'm going to use Scrivener. It's an online word processing program and helps writers manage and organize writing projects.
For Thing 9, I'd like you to have a look at this powerful tool for writers. I don't usually promote tools that cost money--it costs $40 for a subscription to Scrivener--but this tool has some interesting ways for writers to organize their work. It also has an awesome 30-day trial. It's 30 days of use, so if you use it every day, you can use it free for 30 days. If you use it twice a week, it'll last 15 weeks.
That could be very useful for students working on a project during a semester.
Some of you may be working on a big writing project for this class or another class. Would Scrivener be helpful for you?
First, take a look at the video overview of Scrivener. The examples used are fiction, but you can picture how you might use it for a class paper, an extended essay, or even a long journalism piece. I have a good friend who uses it to write plays.
This is the Scrivener Video for those of you who use Windows:
Nulla dies sin linea: Never a day without writing--Horace
If you want to be a good runner, run. If you want to be a good writer, write. Writing is like athletics in that it requires practice to attain competence.
I can feel when I'm out of shape, writing-wise: it will take me MUCH too long to get words on the page, or the words that do come to me seem flat and lifeless.
But if I'm "in training," so to speak, the words flow out, organizational patterns bloom in my mind, and new concepts flash and spark.
How does a writer get in shape, though?
Daily writing practice is a staple in the lives of many people who write. And while writers used to carry around a notebook for this practice, today there are digital tools that make daily writing easier--and more fun.
A blog is a great place for daily writing. But writers sometimes need to write in private. That's when online notebooks come in handy.
There are several sites where you can establish a private journal or diary.
I use Penzu. With a free Penzu account, I can keep a private writer's notebook/diary on a site that has military-grade encryption, so I can feel safe about your privacy. If I write something you do want to share, I can do that, too. Penzu sends me reminders to write via email.
I don't use the Penzu mobile app, but if I had a smart phone, I might.
Take a look at this video about Penzu.
One trick about writing discipline and daily writing is . . . thinking of things to write about. If you're sometimes at a loss of what to write about on your Penzu, you can click on the little lightbulb on the Penzu page--it will provide you with a question to answer. They're usually fun.
If you're looking elsewhere for writing prompts, you can also try Plinky, which will email you prompts, and provide you with a place to write and share daily writing. These also make great conversation-starters!
For Thing 8: Explore some options for keeping an online Writer's Notebook.
1. Set up a free account on Penzu, Plinky, or on another online notebook/diary app. (Both Android and App Store have several; I have one called "Notebooks" on my Kindle Fire.) You can create your notebook on a computer, on your phone, or on a tablet. Or you can create several notebooks--that's what I did.
2. Set up your account to send you reminders to post.
3. Write your first post, using your own idea, the light bulb prompt, or a Plinky prompt.
4. Write on your blog:
Which type of Writer's Notebook did you choose: Penzu.com, Plinky, or an app for your smartphone/tablet? Why did you choose this one?
Have you ever kept a daily (or semi-daily) writer's notebook? Was it for a class, or on your own?
If you haven't (or aren't now doing it), what have been the reasons for not keeping one? Would these new digital tools address those reasons?
So now that you're on Twitter, you can see that a 140 character post can be useful. And the immediacy of tweets can draw in readers who want to know what's happening NOW.
But let's say you're following a particular topic: say last week's big winter storm Nemo (that name keeps making me think about a fish). There may be lots of tweets tagged with #Nemo, but I'm guessing not all of them are that interesting. And what if you want to look at pictures? or read longer comments--on blogs, for example?
If you want a full picture of the storm, you might want to look at many different media sources. And maybe you'd like to make your own story about it and share it. Like one news channel did here!
Storify is one way to sort out the most meaningful material from social media and put it together yourself, creating a story that's a mosaic of tweets, images, and commentary on a particular trend. It's a way for writers to create multi-media stories by collaborating with social media creators all across the web. News outlets uses it, and ordinary people use it, too. Here's a brief tour on one web page.
Or if you'd rather look at quick video, here's the official Storify intro video.
Thing 7:
Explore and try out Storify
1. Go to Storify and explore the trending stories. Look at the multi-media, collaborative stories created with this digital tool. The most recent ones are linked on the home page; you can search for others. Choose three stories about topics that interest you, and look at them. On your blog, describe one of the Storify stories you viewed/read.
2. Create your own story. First get a free Storify account. Think of a recent topic that people are buzzing about in social media: could be in national or international news, arts, sports, entertainment, even weather! Then click on "create a new story." Follow the instructions to choose tweets, blog posts, images, and other media to your story about a recent topic. You can add your own text, too. It doesn't have to be long, but do try to include various types of social media.
3. After you've created a Storify story, embed it in your blog and share your reflections about the process:
what did Storify allow you to do that you might not have been able to do were you writing a news story in the old-fashioned way (interviews and local research)?
If you're tweeting, would you like your tweets to be shared in someone's Storify story?
What are the limitations to writing stories this way?
If you're like me, you search the web every day to find useful sites and information. Sometimes you find a site that's amazing, and you bookmark it so you can come back to it.
But what if you want to share it with someone from your tablet--or what if you found it when you were hanging out at the library computer lab?
And what if you were reading the information and you wanted to write a note to yourself about the text?
Social bookmarking tools can help writers use web information more intelligently. Not only do they help you revisit great websites from any device, they also can allow you to annotate the information on the site. As a big fan of Marking on Books, I love this.
Watch this video from one social bookmarking site, diigo, to see what a social bookmarking and annotating site can do.
There are many other social bookmarking sites, too--I've used Delicious and Scoop.it. You can check them out, too. I like Diigo because of the annotating abilities it has.
For Thing 6, create a Diigo account for yourself. Be sure to add a diigolet to your most-used computer--it allows you to quickly add sites to your Diigo library.
Then practice bookmarking and annotating two items:
Of course no study of digital tools for writers would be complete without a brief look at Twitter.
Maybe you're already a Twitter fan and you tweet regularly. Or maybe you aren't part of the twitterverse. Either way, Thing 5 will look more closely at Twitter as a tool for writers, and give you a chance to try it out if you haven't yet. Thing 5: Twitter
Read the article "Twittering, Not Frittering, Professional Development in 140 Characters" from Edutopia. Then create a Twitter account for yourself. If you're comfortable sharing with the world, set your account as "Public" (that way we can all find you on Twitter). If not, then you have to approve individual people to be your followers. Do a few Internet searches to find leaders in your area, and chances are that they will have a Twitter account. "Follow" at least three of them, post your Twitter name to your blog (mine is jcnesmith), and then let us know who you're following.
If you're interested in a particular topic, you can look for who's tweeting about it. Check out the "trends" box on the right side of twitter. If you tweet about a particular topic and want to make sure people interested in that topic find it, you can add a hash tag, like #writing or #oscars.
To post a link, use tinyurl to create a smaller version of the URL--so you won't use up those 140 characters. I like to follow other writers . . . and some funny tweeters. Here is an example of some of the people I'm following:
Wired magazine, which posts updates about tech (@wiredmag)
Stephen Fry, the British actor and word nerd (@stephenfry)
essayist Susan Orlean (@susanorlean)
Local journalist Christophe Trappe (@CTrappe)
children's book author Sarah Prineas (@SPrineas)
and The Onion (nice to have 140 character laughs!) (@TheOnion)
I have to admit I don't tweet much. I used to use it for posting updates about my writing, but I'm not doing that now--I just enjoy reading others' posts, and I've learned about some cool stories that way. Plus I get a laugh from The Onion.
If you want, you can have your twitter posts automatically posted to facebook. Just include the hash tag #fb at the end of your post. You probably already knew that . . .
Discovery Exercise
Create a Twitter account if you don't have one yet.
Find at least 3 people to follow--or 3 new people if you already have an account.
Post a tweet about some writing project you're working on
Retweet a post or two from someone you're following
Post a link with a brief comment (use tinyurl)
Add Twitter to your blog with a Twitter gadget. This allows blog readers to quickly catch up on your tweets. Just go to "layout" from your dashboard and look for a twitter gadget.
In your blog: Tell us who you're following
Reflect on your experience using/reading about Twitter. How do you see professionals using it? How do you see writers or PR people using it? Will you keep tweeting this term?
Let's move from blogging on to some other digital tools for writers.
Bubbl.us is an online tool for brainstorming or mind mapping. You remember brainstorming from your earlier education days, right? You start with a concept, usually in a bubble in the middle of a page. Then you start thinking of all of the other related concepts (in bubbles surrounding the initial concept).
Brainstorming helped you look at all angles of the concept, to sort out related items and visualize connections. Mind mapping is similar, except the concepts are things you know or you are studying, and you are connecting them to other things you know (or are studying). It's a great visual technique for getting many many ideas and seeing how they link together.
Here's a mind map I made during break:
I've also used mind maps to get ideas for what to write on my blogs. It's kind of boring to write "this is what I did today" posts . . . every day. One great thing about Bubbl.us is that, like many tools out there for writers, it's free. You can just start working on the mind map, and sign up later.
Your Thing 4 assignment:
Try out a mind map for some writing project you have to brainstorm for: an upcoming paper? ideas for a blog you'd like to write? See if you can get several layers of bubbles out there. Move them around to make the map pleasing to your eye.
If you have no upcoming writing projects, mind map what you need to do this week.
In your blog, post your mind map (just export it as a jpg and post it on your blog as a picture).
Then write about the experience of using another visual brainstorming tool. How did this work for you? . . can you imagine situations in which you could use it? Do you like the computer version, or would you rather draw your mind map with pen and paper?
Now it's time to move out into the wider blogosphere.
I'd like you to find 2-3 additional blogs that you'd like to read--maybe about a topic you're interested in, or someone you're interested in. You can find them through Technorati, an aggregator and indexer of blogs, or on your favorite news site.
You might also check out Technorati's Top 100 Blogs. You might choose some blogs to follow from there, too! You can also find out "rising" and "falling" blogs on Technorati's home page.
Now that you've found some great blogs, you might want to check in on them now and then . . . and you may also want to see what the blog writers in this class are doing, too.
But sometimes it's hard to remember to check on websites or blogs--or know when there's something new to read.
What if you could check for updates of all your favorite blogs, online newspapers and other regularly-updated sites by visiting one simple page? That's the beauty of RSS, which stands for Really Simple Syndication. You may have noticed that some of your favorite websites have little orange icons that look like this:
This orange RSS icon lets you know that you can subscribe to the website using a news reader such as Google Reader. That's what we're going to use to keep track of blogs for this project. Watch this Common Craft video to learn more about RSS feeds and Google Reader:
Your job for Thing 3
Is to get your Google Reader account going, add the blogs of your classmates, plus at least 3 other blogs, online newspapers, or websites to your reader. Chances are, some of the websites you already visit a lot and the blogs you just discovered have RSS feeds available.
Here's how to set it up:
Open the email account you use most often. Look across the top for "Reader."
If it's not there, click on the "more" drop down on the left-hand top of the page, and select "Reader"
Now, go to your favorite, regularly-updated website (see some suggestions below) and find the RSS feed icon (shown above...usually orange, but not always). Click it. You'll be asked if you want to add the feed to your Google Reader or your Google Homepage. Choose Reader.
Repeat step 3 for other newsfeeds/blogs/sites.
If there's no RSS icon, you can also add blogs by clicking on "add a subscription" at the top left corner and copying in the URL of the blog.
Add this blog, 13 Things for 2013--so you can see when I post an update. And add your classmates' blogs.
Leave a friendly comment on at at least 3 of your classmates' blogs.
Now instead of going to all these sites daily to read what's new, you go to Google reader--it's right there on your gmail account.
Here are some sites with RSS feeds to get you started: Cedar Rapids Gazette (look for the RSS icon on the right-hand side column, about half-way down--you can also get news delivered to your phone, etc. The New York Times RSS index--Tons of different RSS feeds for every interest! NPR's RSS index
Write on your blog:
After you have your Google reader set up, write a post reflecting on your experience with RSS feeds and news readers. How might it be useful professionally?
Which blogs are you following with RSS and Google Reader? Have you used Google Reader before?
Also, write about commenting--why do you think commenting is important in online communities? How might professional blog writers (someone writing a blog for an organization, for example) view comments--as helpful or annoyances?
Now that we have our blogs established, it's time to get them looking good.
For Thing 2, you'll be adding media, customizing your blogs with gadgets and labeling the posts.
First, add some media to your blog. It's easy to add links
and images--you can see the icons above. To add a link, just highlight
the word you want to be a link and click on link. For example, I might
want to include a link to my teaching website.
The "add image" icon is next to the Link icon. It's very easy to add images, like this rare photo of me teaching.
You
can add a movie, too, from your camera, phone, or YouTube. Here's a
video feature story I made a while ago about an Easter Island statue in
Iowa.
Say something about the media you chose, too. I chose these items to give you a sense of how you can use the blog to promote yourself as a competent and digital-savvy person.
Next, add some gadgets to your blog to give your readers more information about you. Gadgets that share information and make your blog easier to use are available on the layout page of Blogger. Go to your dashboard and find the Layout icon on the left-hand side. When you click it, you get a schematic of your blog.
You can see that there are many places to customize your blog. Along the top, you can create your own favicon to replace the orange blogger one. You can customize what your navigation bar looks like.
Throughout the blog--at the top, along the side, and at the bottom, are places for you to add gadgets. To do so, just click on "add gadget." You can choose from the various gadgets available. This blog, 13 Things for 2013, has a blogroll (your blogs) and an email notification gadget. Choose gadgets and customize your blog.
Finally, make it easier for people to enjoy your blog posts:
Labeling categorizes your posts, which is really helpful if you blog
regularly. To "label" your posts, use the "label" function that's to
the right of the edit box. Think of words--labels--that describe what
you're writing about. For example, you might label this post with
"labels" and "gadgets." Your first post might have "social media" --and
some other labels.
You can also
add labels to your first post. Go to your dashboard and click on the
title--that allows you to edit. Add your labels. As you start to
create labels, you can click "show all" if you have trouble remembering
the name of your labels. Note: I am really bad about tagging. Please
be better than I am.
When you're done, write on your blog a bit about your customization and labeling. What will you have to consider when adding media to a blog? How did you choose what to add? And which gadgets did you find most useful? And how did you choose the labels you did?
Welcome to 13 Things for writers. This project will provide you an overview of how you, as a writer, can make the best use of Web 2.0. Some of you have a good idea (you're probably tweeting about it right now!), but you're looking for some new insights. Some of you would rather go check your facebook than actually create something on the web. That's OK. There will be something for everyone here.
Throughout this project, I hope you gain a better understanding of how Web 2.0--the social web--is changing the way we write.
As a Gen Y writer, you are expected to have a good handle on how Web 2.0 works. Author Marc Prensky ("Digital Natives/Digital Immigrants") calls you a "digital native"--you were practically born with a cell phone in your hand, and you learned keyboarding when people of my generation were learning cursive.
However, I've found that while many "digital natives" are great users of Web 2.0--you have facebook accounts and shop online--you're not necessarily in the drivers' seat. What about you? Do you keep a blog? Do you have a Twitter or Delicious account? Have you participated in the creation of a Wiki?
Maybe you have, and maybe you haven't, but one thing is sure: when you graduate, employers will expect you to be savvy about digital communication of all kinds. This project will help you reach toward that goal--and develop your own digital footprint. It will also give you a chance to play around with tools on the web that writers of all kinds can use--either socially, or on their own.
Now that we've got some background and insight, let's get started. You're going to complete this project over the course of several weeks, and record your reflections--and links to your online projects--on a blog. So your first step is to build your blog.
THING 1: Building Your BlogYou'll use your blog to record your discoveries as you progress through the 13 Things. I recommend you use Blogger*, a popular free online blog hosting service that is easy to use.
Creating a blog using Blogger is easy:
Create a gmail account. Unfortunately, the Coe email address won't work to set up a blog. But that's OK. You'll need another address once you graduate anyway--to send out employment materials, etc. You can set up a gmail account right on the blogger site. Keep in mind that you probably don't want to send out resumes from an account called "hotmama@gmail.com." How embarrassing. Use your first and last name, or something similar.
Set up your blog. Just follow the instructions. The "Display Name" is your name on the blog. You can use your first name, or an alias. Keep in mind you might want to share this blog with potential employers--to show off your mad digital skills.
Name your blog. Blogger will tell you if the name is available.
Select your template. This is very similar to selecting a template in Google Sites.
Once you've created your blog here are two important things to know:
To add posts: the interface you will use to add posts, edit or change the set-up of your blog is "blogger.com," accessed at http://www.blogger.com. Be sure to email yourself your login and password.
To view your blog: To read the blog, use the "blogspot.com" address. Be sure to email yourself your blog address.
Once you have your blog set up:
Create a post called "Thing One" (you can also give it a subtitle if you want). Address these two questions:
1) So far, how have you been using Web 2.0? Have you created any content for Web 2.0? Are you active on social media (besides facebook)?
2) What interests you about Web 2.0--what would you like to learn about?
Finally: Tell me where you are! Add a comment to this blog that has YOUR blog's URL. Just copy and paste it in.
