I started a science-fiction with my friends in 9 grade when I got inspired by a show called Avatar: The Last Airbender, yet I was never able to finish it due to schoolwork such as homework or because I would have writer’s block and wasn’t sure how to transition from one point to another, sometimes I wasn’t able to focus on writing the book. This is why my goal for my Personal Project is to finish a science-fiction book that I started but was never able to finish.
A SMART goal is also known as a Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely goal, it’s a clear, challenging yet realistic goal that helps me successfully complete the personal project. My goal is a SMART goal because I was able to explain each letter for my goal. I was specific with my goal as I explained what my motives were and explained my goal that I want to complete in my personal project. My goal was measurable since I was able to know that my goal was over when the book is complete, in other words when the ending is satisfying. My goal is attainable since if I sit down and tend to even write 250 words per week I would be done with it quickly due to inspiration taking over me and I would probably write more than 250 words. My goal is relevant to me since the book is about me and my friends, another reason why it’s relevant is that finishing this book is one of my wishes so finishing it would make me very happy and I would feel more productive and proud of myself. Lastly, my goal is timely, I plan to finish the book around January 1st, 2021 to be able to maybe finish a second book.
For my global context, I choose the “Personal and Cultural Expression” because the connection between the two is about how I personally express myself with creativity, feelings, ideas, and more. I believe that when writing a book it has a lot to do with the creativity and expression of the author which is why I believe this global context is perfect when writing a story.
My prior learning is book clubs and essay writing activities, this helps me out when writing a book because essay writing skills are useful to knowing a wider vocabulary and better grammar which will be a useful tool when writing a book. While a book club has helped me understand many different authors and their many different styles for writing, it helps me understand the writing and how authors think of such plots as well as what they were thinking while writing the book. An example would be “Great Expectations” by Charles Dickens, in my opinion, it’s amazing how he was able to write the plot and the original ending is just amazing. While the MYP subject skill and knowledge is Language and Literature because literature is mostly about reading and understanding the meaning, while language is about proper language and vocabulary that helps you make the reader feel like they are in your world. They both play a big role due to their importance when writing a book.
My research varied on a lot of different topics yet due to my ultimate goal being finishing a book I already started on, I researched topics based on science fiction and tips on finishing already started books. I would try to find mostly tips and information I should keep in mind while writing my story. An article that was really helpful was “How to Finish Writing a Book: 8 Actionable Steps to Finish Your First Draft,” written by Hannah Lee Kidder. In this article, it gave a lot of different pointers and tips I should keep in mind. It explains a lot of key points such as organizing your time to have a better writing schedule as well as encouraging us to not have a burnout.
Another great article I found was “How to Write a Good Science Fiction Novel: A 10-Point Plan” written by Brandon Cornett. Mostly talks about what should be done in a science fiction novel as I believe the story I want to finish has the genre of science fiction. The authors tell me a lot about controlling my characters and the story arc that I would go with. It’s great information to have and helps me understand the genre better.
As grammar is another important thing I found a book called “The Elements Of Style” by Strunk And White, talks mostly about grammar and finding your own writing style, it also talks about language and breaks it down into rules of use, principles of composition, and matters of form. It explores a lot of misspelled words.
Mostly I have been doing research by reading other writer’s books and seeing their writing techniques/style and seeing what I could learn from it. For example Charles Dickens’s “Great Expectations” was a delight to read by, noticing each detail and understanding what the author was thinking when writing the book. It helps me develop my own style and change my way of thinking to write in a more effective way. In general, the media helps me find more successful ways into creating a better masterpiece.