Creating My Website: Purpose and Objectives
Writing is not a simple thing for most people. It is daunting, complicated, and generally, avoided whenever possible. I know and want to change this. My name is Meagan Rogers, and I love to write! I work at the Writing Center of the university I attend training tutors to help students with their writing skills. Despite all the possible grammar and spelling mistakes out there, I have found that the greatest challenge when writing is building confidence. I want to build writers’ confidence in their own capabilities and creativity. To do this, I decided to create a website that provides writing tips and tricks.
While a big goal I had going into this project was helping others build writing confidence and skills, another even bigger goal I had was to somehow make it a fun experience. Writing well can mean using analogies, metaphors, and similes. Thus, my idea to compare writing tips to carnivals was born.
Throughout the course of my project, I continually found new ways to compare writing to the exciting facets of carnivals, festivals, fairs, and theme parks. I named my website: Rollercoaster Writing Tips. Then, I set out to create different types of helpful writing content.
Samples of My Site
The following images are some samples of the pages on my new website. If you would like to visit the site itself, click the link/image below!
Challenges and Obstacles
A challenge that I have found with creating websites is image creation and sizing. I have my background in writing, after all. The real challenge with creating a website about writing, however, is that I needed to decide what kind of imagery I wanted to use. What would be valuable and draw the reader in? I wanted my site to be inviting. This meant I needed a logo as well.
To create more than just a logo, I re-visited an old friend: Adobe Illustrator. I have learned how to create and manipulate vector graphics in the past, but I was in desperate need of a refresher. Through some trial and error, I was able to create some fun imagery for my site, as well as a whole new font. While they could still use a little more experimentation in the future, I am proud to share what I have created.
Despite my struggles with the topic, I have created and uploaded some solid and supportive images to my website. Another image I created was a style guide. Before inserting my work into my site, I created a consistent style guide to use for my “brand.”
Again, you are welcome to visit my site at the link listed previously and let me know what you think about my writing and visuals!
The Process
I started my website by first learning how to create a website through the WordPress plugin with help from a mentor. Creating a website takes knowledge of the workings of many little tools. It was difficult and new, but a very important skill to learn.
I then created some writing blurbs for my home page, contact page, and some others. I also wrote some long-form blog posts. My favorite so far is the one in which I compare comma rules to carnival foods. That one made me want to book a flight to Disneyland, which wasn’t helpful mid-project, but hey, if it inspires creativity, it wouldn’t hurt… Besides my random longings for churros, I did spend a good portion of this project creation process doing the very thing I was trying to teach: writing!
If you would like to see a little more of this writing, visit the link below to read my first blog post: Commas… Or Carnival Food?
Another part of the project process was reviewing and utilizing Adobe Illustrator tools for my imagery and font. I decided to create my own font because my website is all about writing! If I can design my website over time by implementing my font in quote blurbs and designs, it will make the site all the more original. This was a difficult and fun aspect of the project.
Above all, the most vital part of my project was all the writing I did for it. This included a good amount of editing so that I could build credibility on the topic. Each week, I picked a portion of the website I would focus on, and I devoted my energy and focus to that one piece. It has all come together like a beautiful puzzle!
The Experiences
Like I mentioned above, I love to write! I consulted a mentor on my writing. My mentor studied creative writing in graduate school, and he was able to give me some insights on how to really help my audience. He was very helpful in this process, and it gave me experience and knowledge I would not have had before.
I have also never created a vector graphic to use for a personal project. It was a real test to my skills and creativity. Just like writing, designing takes a certain level of encouraging imagination. This can be tricky because it can’t be forced. This project gave me the experience of creating a lot of my own content with ideas purely from me.
Insights and Moving Forward
If I were to start this project again, I would set clearer goals from the start. If I planned out my writing process ahead of time, I would have saved some time in the long-run. Moving forward with my website, I plan on making my goals and checkpoints clear and consistent. A website is a living creation. It can be changed, added to, and re-imagined. To do this when it’s needed, I have to keep a clear goal in mind: to help build writers’ confidence and enjoyment in writing.
Thank you for taking time to view my project! Keep writing.