(Ancient Architecture Stock Photo provided by Pexels)
Hello, everyone, I am Erika and I am terrible at blogging! Just kidding, I am slowly getting the hang of it. I am an English Writing major who has been at OU forever (I am ancient compared to some of you). I only have 3 semesters left after this one (Fall '17)! I am getting a minor in anthropology, the combination of the two makes this class the perfect fit. The best class that I took last semester was called Day of the Living Dead and it was a class that studied zombies as they appear in literature, being an English major is awesome! My biggest accomplishment last semester was making through Logic with my sanity - it was a philosophy class that counted as a math credit - honestly, I would've been better off with "real" math, let's just say that studying logic is not for me. Most of my summer was spent toiling away at Lowe's but my friends and I took our annual float trip (to float the Illinois River) at the end of July, it was a great way to end the summer. T
Hello Erika! Your intro is amazing! This story is so vivid and detailed. The idea is so original, having a story be around of the point of view as a dragon, who is often an antagonist, and hardly ever a subject or main character. Having the dragon also be able to take human form is another fun element. I also love how you set up the story for your next character as well. You are extremely good with describing what is going on. Which stories did you get your inspiration from for this story? Is the main character a human who can turn into a dragon, or a dragon who can turn into a human?
ReplyDeleteI am actually taking characteristics from dragon lore in different cultures; Asian dragons - mainly Japanese and Chinese, dragon-like creatures from the Americas - like Quetzalcoatl, and European dragons - Celtic, Anglo-Saxon, and Slavic and combining them for these stories. The stories are my original ideas but I am taking elements from different dragon stories like "Beowulf and the Dragon," "The Celtic Dragon Myth," and "The Dragon and the Prince" from Slavic lore and using them in my stories.
DeleteErika,
ReplyDeleteYour home page is incredible! All I knew about your site was the title, but the initial image and the Spotify link added a lot of depth! I like that you have incorporated sound into each of your pages so far. This is the first project that I have seen with that type of media, so I like the creativity and depth!
I love the font because of the aesthetic appeal, but I do think it might be little difficult for some people to read. Just something to keep in mind with future revisions, so maybe you could experiment with different fonts to see what you like! I think you could maintain the same look while increasing the readability.
The images that you included in your introduction are fascinating. I can already tell that you have experience with creative storytelling, which is apparent through the vocabulary that you utilize as well as the manner in which the story flows. This looks great so far, and I am looking forward to keeping up with your project in future weeks to see how the plot progresses.
Formatting-wise, most of it looks awesome! Maybe you could do some editing so that the narrative is a little more spaced out, instead of utilizing paragraph form. That is something else that you could revise while investigating different fonts. You have a wonderful project, Erika!
Hey Erika! I think that you might have one of the most creative projects that I have seen yet! I think the fact that you add music to your pages is very original and sets a great mood for the reader. It is obvious you have put a lot of work into your project just from the layout of everything with such great images and even fonts to truly set an atomosphere for the reader. One thing I might suggest in your first story is separating the dialogue sections to add more of a dramatic effect. I think this would be easier for the reader to look at along with make the character’s words more powerful. I know it would make the page longer but I think the spacing wouldn’t make it too long. Overall, I really enjoyed your project because you truly make the reader want to imagine all of the events due to the scenery you create. Great Work!
ReplyDeleteHi Erika!
ReplyDeleteI can't believe that I've somehow missed your storybook before now. It is amazing! The concept is unique and creative. I love the idea of the maiden and the dragon being the same individual. Visually, your page is stunning. The pictures and the colors are fantastic. I had a little trouble reading the font a few times, but it's so pretty and matches the story so well that I decided I didn't care. The way you incorporated sound into your story was cool. I wanted to do something on my storybook to make it stand out like that, but it just felt too daunting, so I chickened out. I'm not the most technologically inclined. You might consider separating the dialogue into separate paragraphs to make it a bit easier to read and distinguish. Someone recommended the same thing on mine, and after I did it, it made a really big difference. I felt that it just made my page look cleaner. Anyway, you are doing an amazing job, I really impressed!
Erika,
ReplyDeleteI have never viewed your storybook project before, as I am in the Indian Epics course, but I am so glad that I got the chance to do so! Visually, your project looks amazing. I love the layout of your blog and the flow of it. I also love that you added a Spotify song on your homepage, this is such a great idea to give your project something extra. I saw this as a Tech Tip for one of our extra credit assignments but sadly never did it! All of your stories were excellent, but I think my favorite was ‘A Story of Blood and Fire.’ I loved the way this story flowed, it was just so well done. You wrote the perfect balance of dialogue and description. The only things about this story (and I do not know if it is different from my requirements) is that there is no photos to go along with it. I have found that using photos (and many of them!) adds such a fun element to your stories and really brings them to life. Great work on your project!!
Hello, Erika! I just got a chance to read your entries in your storybook collection and your writing was so impressive. I especially loved your introduction and the way that you let the readers get an inside look at the thoughts of the narrator through the perspective that you used. Additionally, I really loved your story titled "Worlds Collide." Your descriptive writing was really great and you also did a great job of using visual aspects that enhanced the piece altogether. The only suggestion that I would make as far as making your website just a little bit better is to look at some of the visual aspects. I don't know if it was just me or if anyone else had this problem, but I sometimes had a hard time reading the font that you used. The script was a little bit fancy and the coloring of the gold on the red made it a little bit difficult to read also. Overall, though, I was really impressed with your project thus far! Great job!
ReplyDeleteHey Erika, such a well laid out website, its really decorated well and the font is cool and different. The one main thing I could say about this project is that in my opinion the font could be a little bit hard to read at times, but also my eyesight is pretty terrible. First of all, I love that you included a Spotify link to your home page and story pages because it's a great way to further get the reader into the vibes of what you are writing. The introduction was really cool because all you say is "she" and "her" and it makes the reader really get into the writing because they are wondering just who "she" is. I also love how many pictures you used because it adds to the wonderful visual appeal of your project. The first story does a great job of introducing your characters, and after reading the author's note, I think it is really interesting that you have a significance to the number three in your stories. That will be fun to see where it goes. Overall, great job with your project, and hopefully I will be able to check back in on the progress and see how this thing ends!
ReplyDeleteHoly moly Erika your page is incredible! I love the you included a song, and your title font is super fitting for you theme! The picture and maroon background really set the scene! Your introduction is phenomenal! Your descriptions are vivid and paint a perfect picture of the castle, dragon, and the dragon's personality. This theme is one of my favorite so far. My favorite description was when you said, "the bones powdered under her enormous weight." What an image! At this point in the introduction I did not yet know that your point of view was from a dragon so this was a great depiction. For the page as a whole, I suggest you make your font a little bit bigger so that it is easier to read. I like the font you chose, but it is hard to read when it is smaller.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your first story! I was reading it, eagerly waiting for it to connect with you introduction! I was sad when I finished it that it did not connect, until I read your author's note which said you were using your story to introduce the rest of you characters. Your first story was great and did a nice job of displaying the 3 sister's personalities as well as their fathers. You can tell that he is a loving man who wants the best for his kids. I am excited to read the rest of your stories and see where these characters and your dragon meet!
Hi Erika!
ReplyDeleteFirst off, just like everyone else, I am really jealous of your page!! It looks amazing! I wish I had taken the time in the beginning to create a page like that! It must make it that much more satisfying to post a story to it jsut because it looks so good.
Also, providing a song for each story to create your projects own soundtrack was genius!! Again, I wish I would have thought of that myself as it could have made my project a thousand time better.
One issue was it is a little hard to read the words on the page since the font is a little small and faded. So maybe making the letters a little bigger and brighter would make a huge improvement.
The stories you posted are fantastic and really fun to read! They really kept me engaged the whole time!
Thanks for a great reading experience!
Hi Erika!
ReplyDeleteYour website is amazing! You went above and beyond and everything fits so well into your theme. I like how you included spotify because that also adds an extra element to your page. I did find the font a little hard to read when I was going through your stories, but it also goes really well with your story, so I just zoomed in and it was better. Maybe if you could increase the font size it would be easier. Your introduction had many details that gave just enough information to engage the reader and want them to invest more in the stories. I like how you included why you chose the character name in the first story, Rhiannon was a name that was Celtic, and it's also a Fleetwood Mac song. Great choice! I enjoyed your stories and I'm glad I got to read most of them towards the end of the semester because your almost-finished project is wonderful!
Erika,
ReplyDeleteI was definitely expecting a Game of Thrones type story when I saw the title of your Storybook, which is totally fine considering Game of Thrones is awesome. The musical pieces that you embedded into your pages provided an awesome background noise to read to, which is good considering I never like to read when it is quiet. The background of your story paired with the font and the color of the lettering was hard to read, but other than that, but it went with the aesthetic of the story and your entire blog as a whole, so if you'd like to keep it, then that's awesome. Rhiannon is such a beautiful name; I've actually named a character in some of the short stories I've written for fun that too. The meaning of the name, which you probably knew, is "great queen," which obviously fits with your Storybook nicely! Your writing was awesome, and your dialogue provided a great way to get to know the characters in your story so that we, the audience, are able to connect to each person (or creature, I guess) on a deeper level. Good job!
Cassidy
Hey Erika,
ReplyDeleteFirst off, I want to say how much I enjoyed the layout of your page1 You put a lot of effort into it to make it something special and you can tell you really enjoyed doing it. I loved the added touch of the music in each story to give it some noise. I love reading with music in the back ground so that made it a lot more fun to read. I really enjoyed your story "And So It Begins". You tell the story with such great detail and were able to really give me an image of my head of what was going on. I love that you switched genders from three males to three females because I feel like that made you more connected to your story book as a whole. This first story got me excited to keep reading and it did not disappoint. I felt like I could really feel the girls personalities coming out of the story and that was a good way for me to connect to them. I did not want to stop reading. Thank you for letting me read your writing! I enjoyed every second!
Hi Erika,
ReplyDeleteYou have a really cool project that you developed. This was my first visit to it this semester, and I was not disappointed! I love the title of "A Story of Blood and Fire" and that is the reason I clicked on yours to go to. The layout of your website is exactly what I had in mind when clicking your link, so great job! I also love the spotify link on the opening page. That's a class act right there. I really liked your story Worlds Collide pt. 1. You did a really great job with your characters and the way you developed them throughout the story was very good. You took the original story and made it into something way better and more interesting. Great work on your project this semester, I really enjoyed getting to look and comment on it.
Brooks
Hey Erika!
ReplyDeleteI'm looking at some projects for the last week of class, and I had to come check on yours! I really like the ending. I like that Andraste was willing to open herself up to the humans and explain that she was the same as the dragon. It's also nice that the fisherman and his daughters got to live with her, and hopefully learn a bit about healing. It seems to me that Andraste could use some help in that department. I hope that you do add more to the story, because I'm very curious about what happened to Morzana. I'm also really curious about the source of Andraste's power. She left to check on it. Was it okay, or is Rihannon going to go an an epic adventure with her to find it and save it?
Thanks for writing such a great story this semester! I’ve really enjoyed reading it!