introduction to creative writing for media

Katrina Stuart Santiago

• RadikalChick.Lit

" rel="home">Katrina Stuart Santiago

Module 1: introduction to writing for new media.

WRITING FOR NEW MEDIA

Module 1 What is writing for new media?

• Introduce writing for new media as a concept.
• Discuss the different forms of writing for new media.
• Build awareness of audience.
• Analysis of platforms.
• Self-reflection.
• Video Lecture: Click here  and  here .

Introduction

To start any discussion of this course, one must break it apart into two things: writing and new media.

“Writing ” should be familiar to you as an activity that you’ve been doing since you started going to school. In this course, it is presumed that you have the basic skills needed to do clear, concise, grammatical writing in English or Tagalog. It also presumes that you are knowledgeable in the conventions of writing—what a complete sentence is, what words to capitalize, when to use all caps, or bold, or itals, among other things. If you are unsure about any of these, feel free to tell me so we can work on those on the side.

Suffice it to say that doing a spell-check and grammar-check never hurt anyone.

It goes without saying that you know plagiarism is a major offense and will not be tolerated anywhere in the academe, and certainly not in this class.

“ New media”  is the more interesting concept here. For this course we are using it to define the kind of writing you’ll be doing this term. Tied to the fact that you are multimedia arts majors, we also know that to some extent when we say “new media,” what we mean is “multimedia.” And since we are talking about something that’s “new,” then we are necessarily also talking about what is “old.”

Where “old media” would be about writing for print, i.e., newspapers and magazines, and broadcast media such as TV and radio, “new media” is a shift towards including writing that you will do for online and digital projects. As such, writing for new media doesn’t mean there will be no old media included—instead it means that you are learning about the breadth and scope of writing that is important to be skilled in at this particular historical moment.

For this course, writing and new media are two separate but interwoven concepts. Writing is about content—what it is you want to say, what you think, what you want to deliver to an audience. New media is about the form—what it looks like, where it’s going to appear, how the words look on the page.

Writing for new media brings those two together and see them as equally important towards delivering a message.

Answer the following questions.

(1) Give three forms of writing that you currently consume.

(2) What are the platforms within which these writings exist?

(3) Who else is reading these texts that  you  are reading?

(4) How else are these platforms used other than to inform?

Take time to think about your answers, and note them down before going to the next section.

Forms of New Media Writing

An important point to be made about new media writing is that it changes as quickly as technology and platforms do. What might have been a form of writing that existed five years ago, might not exist anymore. What is “new” now, can become obsolete in a year or two.

For example, before Facebook, there was Friendster, where people were doing primarily testimonials for each other. When Friendster disappeared, so did the form of the testimonial for that particular platform. In the 2000s, people started blogging—these were long-form essays about everything from aspects of one’s personal life, to critical pieces on politics, or even a particular hobby like watching films. When social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter happened, it became the place to share one’s life and opinions, and the blog changed form.

These are just two examples of how new media changes what people actually write, and how they write. For this class, of course, this writing will be more deliberate and thoughtful—this is not about writing down what you think and calling it a day. This writing class has expectations of you as far as writing conventions, thoughtfulness, and analysis are concerned. Given new media forms, you are also expected to adjust your writing based on the form in which it will appear.

For this course, you will take part in discussions on, do exercises on, and / or write the following:

(1) A reflection essay

(2) An about page for a website

(3) A creative caption for a photo

(4) A feature essay

(5) A digital content set for an information campaign

(6) An audio-visual presentation script

(7) A screenplay

These forms mean that you will be doing the following kinds of writing:

• (personal) essay writing
• descriptive writing
• feature writing
• analytical writing
• copywriting
• process writing
• writing for the ear / vernacular writing
• AV scriptwriting
• screenwriting

Across all these forms and kinds of writing, we are not just looking at content (what you’re saying) and form (how you’re saying it). We’re also using as basis for the kind of writing we’re doing  your audience .

What does this mean? It means that you are  never just writing for yourself here.  New media writing means you are writing for an audience. And for this class, your peers and classmates are your audience, and so is the rest of the youth sector that you are part of.

Why is audience important?  Because appealing to a specific audience, and successfully getting them to agree with you, whether it’s through buying a product, discussing an issue, or taking action, is what makes writing successful. We know you did good work, when your particular audience does exactly what you wanted her or him to do.

Is there any product at all that you consume, in whatever media, that exists without words? What is it? Describe how it does not use or need words. ***

Ask the publishers to restore access to 500,000+ books.

Internet Archive Audio

• Grateful Dead
• Old Time Radio
• 78 RPMs and Cylinder Recordings
• Audio Books & Poetry
• Computers, Technology and Science
• Music, Arts & Culture
• News & Public Affairs
• Spirituality & Religion
• Radio News Archive

• Flickr Commons
• Occupy Wall Street Flickr
• NASA Images
• Solar System Collection
• Ames Research Center

• All Software
• Old School Emulation
• MS-DOS Games
• Historical Software
• Classic PC Games
• Software Library
• Kodi Archive and Support File
• Vintage Software
• CD-ROM Software
• CD-ROM Software Library
• Software Sites
• Tucows Software Library
• Shareware CD-ROMs
• Software Capsules Compilation
• CD-ROM Images
• ZX Spectrum
• DOOM Level CD

• Smithsonian Libraries
• FEDLINK (US)
• Lincoln Collection
• American Libraries
• Canadian Libraries
• Universal Library
• Project Gutenberg
• Children's Library
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• Books by Language
• Additional Collections

• Prelinger Archives
• Democracy Now!
• Occupy Wall Street
• TV NSA Clip Library
• Animation & Cartoons
• Arts & Music
• Computers & Technology
• Cultural & Academic Films
• Ephemeral Films
• Sports Videos
• Videogame Videos
• Youth Media

Search the history of over 916 billion web pages on the Internet.

Mobile Apps

• Wayback Machine (iOS)
• Wayback Machine (Android)

Browser Extensions

Archive-it subscription.

• Explore the Collections
• Build Collections

Save Page Now

Capture a web page as it appears now for use as a trusted citation in the future.

Please enter a valid web address

• Donate Donate icon An illustration of a heart shape

The Bloomsbury introduction to creative writing

Bookreader item preview, share or embed this item, flag this item for.

• Graphic Violence
• Explicit Sexual Content
• Hate Speech
• Misinformation/Disinformation
• Marketing/Phishing/Advertising
• Misleading/Inaccurate/Missing Metadata

comment Reviews

11 Favorites

Better World Books

DOWNLOAD OPTIONS

No suitable files to display here.

IN COLLECTIONS

Uploaded by station31.cebu on June 29, 2022

SIMILAR ITEMS (based on metadata)

Writing for New and Traditional Media

Explore various styles and forms of media writing required in journalism, advertising, broadcasting, public relations and speech communication.

Register Now

What You'll Learn in Writing for New and Traditional Media

In this online course, you will receive extensive practice in preparing the common types of materials used in media writing as well as exposure to new forms of media.

Special emphasis is placed on:

• Communication perspectives
• Writing style and form
• Effective media writing in a variety of contexts

You can submit up to 3 items per week, taking a maximum of 9 months to complete the course.   Allow an additional 7-10 business days to process registration, and 3-5 days for the final grade to appear on your transcript. 

• For each lesson, you will search the internet to find an online example of the concepts presented in the lesson and then briefly explain how the example illustrates those concepts.
• Each lesson has a quiz includes a short Associated Press (AP) style or grammar exercise for each lesson and an extremely short discussion of topics related to each lesson.
• You will use information from interviews, media and your readings to write 12 assigned articles and other pieces, proof and edit those assignments, then turn them in.
• This course does not have exams. 

Course Materials

Required: News Reporting and Writing, The Missouri Group. ISBN-1457653540

Recommended: The Associated Press Stylebook, by The Associated Press. ISBN-091736063X

How will the course appear on my transcript?

You may enroll at any time and have up to 9 months to complete this online course. The credits earned will be recorded on your UND transcript based on the date you registered for the course. It will appear on your transcript in the same way as a course taken during a regular semester. There is no indication that the course was taken online or that you completed it at your own pace. 

Why Take Online Classes at UND?

Here are a few reasons why you should take an online enroll anytime course at UND:

• Great customer service – Our registration team is ready to answer questions quickly so you can focus on your coursework.
• Affordable – UND's enroll anytime courses are priced  at North Dakota's affordable, in-state tuition rate.
• Accredited – UND is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission .
• Easily transfer credits – Transferring credits is always at the discretion of the institution to which the credits are being transferred. In general, credits from schools/universities that are regionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission transfer to other regionally accredited institutions. UND's online courses appear on your UND transcript in the same way as other courses.

Flexible 100% Online Course

You'll take this online course at your own pace. Some students thrive in this environment, while other students may struggle with setting their own deadlines. If you have successfully taken an independent study or correspondence course previously, UND’s enroll anytime courses may be right for you. Still not sure? Take our online quiz to help determine if online enroll anytime courses are right for you.

Course information including tuition, technology requirements, textbooks, lessons and exams is subject to change without notice.

Complete your college degree with UND’s top ranked communication, social science or general studies programs. You can take classes 100% online with enroll anytime courses.

By clicking any link on this page you are giving your consent for us to set cookies, Privacy Information .