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Story Lab: Creative Style

I chose to do a Story Lab over creative style. 
The power of creative constraints- This video truly spoke to me. I work at Lindsey+Asp as an art director, and I loathe being handed a loose creative brief with no guidance. For my creative process to develop properly, I need some form of guidance to achieve what a client wants. I have come to love copywriters because their copy will give me some constraints to produce good work.  
What makes a hero?- This particular Ted Talk started off being a little over-dramatic to me, but in the end, I found it helpful. I am constantly doubting myself and running away from adventures, even though I've been offered several fun opportunities recently. Maybe I'll take this as a sign to face those head-on. 
How to build a fictional world- This video reminded me I really need to watch the Matrix. This one is slightly over-dramatic as well. Of course, imagination is vital to developing a good story and an alternate universe.

  

Caption: Spongebob summarizing how to be creative. Obtained from tenor.com

What Orwellian Really means- I've never read 1984 but I remember Animal Farm was kind of trippy. This entire video is trippy. 
What makes something "Kafkaeque"- This video was very dull, in my opinion. 
How to write descriptively- There are several books that frustrate me because they are only visual engagment. They don't involve all my senses, and they never dig deep with any of the characters emotions. A lot of stories leave me asking for more. It's funny too. Before I was an advertising major I started in journalism. I've take numerous journalism classes where we are trained to write at an eighth-grade level. They trained us to not write too descriptively, unless it was a feature piece, as we would not want to come off as bias. I was always nixed on my descriptive writing. 
Beware of Nominalizations (AKA zombie nouns)- I like the graphics in this one very engaging. This video reminds me of two phrases K.I.S.S. (keep it simple, stupid) and omit needless words. Both I think can improve writing without drying it out. 
The poetic pattern- I'm not really into poetry. I always feel they try too hard in a weird sense. My friend I a have this joke where something lowkey sappy and cinematic happens we turn to each other and say "POETIC MOMENT." This video just covers the basic of poetry structure. 

Reading B Notes

I finished up Women Saints today. The stories followed along with the stories from part A. Each story was dedicated to a certain female saint, who deserves a little more notoriety. The language was archaic, and still hard to follow, but I pushed through and found a couple stories I liked. 
The first being Saint Cecilia. 

Caption: Saint Cecilia obtained from deviantart.com

Saint Cecilia is the patron saint of music. As stated in my introduction, I am obsessed with music, so this story immediately jumped out to me. However, maybe I misinterpreted the story because her plotline dealt with her virginity and remaining celibate. I like her story, but it was not what I expected to read. There was a lot of detail in this particular one, too.
The next one I found intriguing was Saint Eugenia. She basically pulled a Mulan and dressed as a man to join a monastery. Surprisingly this one had a bit of a happier than most. She was able to convert her father and avoid death until she was killed by a sword. I thought the plot was entertaining, but the story could've been longer.
Bibliography: The Golden Legend edited by F. S. Ellis (1900).

Week 4 Reading Notes

This week I decided to read about the Women Saints. Although raised Catholic I feel I do not consider myself devout. I wish I knew the less well known biblical stories and not the most popular ones I remember from Bible Study. Thus, this week I chose to divulge into the religious saints, who are lesser known. I noticed a rather consistent pattern of these women being tortured and in arguably gruesome fashions. Of these poor women's stories I read these were the few that stuck out to me:
Saint Juliana
Saint Juliana was a devout Christian. She refused to marry a man who didn't recognize her God and Jesus Christ, even if it meant she had to be tortured. She has a run-in with the devil disguised as an angel, where her strength is tested once again. She suffered martyrdom for the Lord and is now celebrated on the 14th of March. 
I liked her story, but I feel it would've resonated with me more if I was more religious. I am not a fan of the way it was written, overall. Maybe if I do my story this week over it I will reimagine it in more of a modern setting. 
Saint Juliet:
Saint Juliet's story is a true testament to a mother's love. She refused to sacrifice her child and was tortured by the city officials. Her child was then taken from her and killed.

Caption: Saint Juliet obtained from mythfolklore.blogspot.com

I really enjoyed Saint Juliet's story. I think it would be interesting to maybe write another version of this, or maybe relate it back to my own life. 
Overall, I enjoyed learning about all these martyred women who felt so compelled by the word of God they were willing to sacrifice everything for it.

 

Caption: Nike Ad obtained from reuters.com
Bibliography: The Golden Legend edited by F. S. Ellis (1900).