Before taking the class that led me to this site, I had limited experience with multimedia writing. I'd practiced essays and solely text-based writing a ton before this, but none of my other classes focused on writing in this aspect. All of my digital writing was for personal projects (mainly fan-made) and it was pretty limited, though I've posted fiction on social media sites and worked briefly with graphic design for posters, flyers, and various software for a digital design class I'd attended previously. I always struggled to get as deep into it as I wanted. A lack of resources and time was holding me back. With dedicated time and resources provided by this class (and a ton of extensions), I felt I had enough breathing room to get into the groove.
I knew that writing digitally was different from my past experiences, but I gained a better perception of just how it differs. For one thing, the vast breadth of what form digital writing can take is a little intimidating. Digital writing can do so much, and I think it's my favorite way to write--you can target a more particular audience through the sheer number of people you can reach with digital writing. I'm still awful at the marketing aspect of everything, and I'm unsure if I'll ever come around to it. However, I can now acknowledge that there's a difference between soulless marketing and being confident in my skills. For all I've bashed Cara Miller's writing on this site, the way she talks about digital writing is incredibly informative for most people, but I think my unwillingness to blend in using her rules has its own perks online. Digital writing has provided me a unique space to shape and customize. Print writing has its own nuances, particularly with regard to the printing process itself. Things like color profiles and page design get extremely technical. As a comic fan, I was vaguely familiar with these technicalities because of how they interact with the medium, but it was fascinating to see how exactly they work from the publishing side of things. If digital writing made me more comfortable and confident in my skills and individuality, the information we learned about print writing enhanced my professionalism and gave me information I'll likely use in my career later.
Going forward, I'd like to update this website continuously with the skills I've gained from these assignments. I'm not sure it'll have a professional purpose, but I've used a lot of random skills in professional work before, so at the very least I'll be able to use them for something related. In general, I'll also keep in mind the fact that I'm better at things than I think I am. I really thought this website would collapse immediately, to be honest. The fact that I’m even here on this page is a minor miracle (especially in the wake of other finals)! On the other hand, I need to mind my limits. I very nearly crashed on this project (as I've said in other places), and I have to be conscious of how much work I'm taking on. If I can get better at gauging where I need to stop, I'll be able to do more overall than if I just pushed myself to the brink.