Overwhelmed and Excited

I've been having a bit of an overwhelming experience all of a sudden. My class is working on an Ebook together about literature in the digital age. Specifically, using the Amazon, Goodreads, and Kindle platforms. I felt all was going well, and then today I found out that my chapters pretty much need to be done (or at least in rough draft form) in the next couple of weeks. Uhhh what? At that news my brain shut down, and all my ideas for my chapters scattered at the thought of actually being used.

I guess in my mind writing my chapters has been a far off experience. Something I could do later.
Yet here it is.
Now.

So today I took a nap, drank some hot chocolate, and decided to pull myself together and figure this thing out. And to figure it out, I delved more into the academic side of what I'm working on. The personal aspect of it is always the easiest, so why not start with the hardest part first?

So I'm working on two chapters, and I've actually chosen to use a different book for each. And doing research for them is quite a contrasting experience!

My first chapter I'm working on is about how to write a good review for each different platform, as well as the impact that these reviews have and how they work differently. And for this, I'm using the book "The Goose Girl" by Shannon Hale. I'm comparing the way there's different "languages" in the book (animal speaking, people speaking, element speaking) to the way different people use reviews, as well as the different "reviews" of her life that the main character receives when she's a princess as well as when she's under cover so to say. Now this was a bit more difficult research for me as this isn't a super well known book, or fairy tale that it's based upon. I was able to find a lot of information on the author herself (who's an amazing woman who you should definitely check out), but not much on the book itself or why it matters. Which to me, makes this sort of a fun project because I actually get to create something myself!

And then my other chapter I'm working on is finding a way to make our online presence of worth, as well as finding our place and becoming more comfortable in this strange world we're referring to as the digiliteracy world. And guess what? Surprise! I'm actually using a whole series to help me along in this topic, one that many people already feel at home in. And that's the "Harry Potter" series by J.K. Rowling. And doing research for this one was VASTLY different because Harry Potter is so well known that there's pretty much something out there comparing this series to almost anything. While this means it's very relevant for the point I'm trying to make, it also created a new level of anxiety because there's so much information I just don't even know where to start, or what is actually relevant to my cause, as well as the overall cause of our Ebook..

Both "The Goose Girl" and "Harry Potter" are pretty personal books for me that I grew up with, and thus at the age of 21 this also means that these books grew up while the internet has also been growing up. There's been a lot of growing up in the digital age, and the literary age, and I'm sure there's a lot more growing up to be. Which is why I'm actually getting pretty excited (although intimidated) about doing my portion for these things because I've grown up with all these changes, and I'm excited to see the way that what I know and the knowledge I've gained will affect the digiliterature world in the future.

It may be bold to say that my ideas will change the world, but hey, you never know.

Changes and Beginnings

If you aren't aware, this blog is actually a premise to prepare us (the students) to create a semester long project of a collaborative eBook about using literature in the digital age. If you'd like a basic summary of our goals, go here.

So in an earlier blog post about Harry Potter I was talking about how near and dear that series is to me, and it was my original plan to use that as my book to relate to my adventures into the digiliterary (yes, I did just create that word..) world. BUT I actually decided to take a bit of a different route, and use another book that's been highly personal to me called "The Goose Girl" by Shannon Hale.

Although I've changed directions, that doesn't mean I wouldn't love to write about dear Harry! Literally everything in my life can be compared to "Harry Potter."

Quick summary of "The Goose Girl:" There's a quiet crowned princess named Ani who's father dies and her mom decided to give her crown to one of her siblings instead and send Ani off to another kingdom to wed their prince. Oh, and she can talk to animals. Which apparently isn't normal. On her trip to the kingdom her lady in waiting overthrows her and then runs to the prince pretending to be Ani. Ani takes a job as a goose girl trying to figure out how to get back her position, and she sits back quietly until she finds out her own kingdom is going to be under attack and so she rushes in to save the day. And there's a prince disguised as a guard who falls in love with goose girl Ani thrown into the midst. 

I didn't do the plot justice at all, but I'll tell you that you need to read it!

And if this sounds like a fairy tale, it's because it's actually an adaptation of a fairy tale called, go figure, The Goose Girl. 

So what ways can I tie this book my digiliterary immersion? Well so far I just have a couple of ideas, but I'm always open for suggestions!

1: The digiliterary age is (for many) a new and strange land, sort of like Ani going to the foreign land to wed a prince. While most of us won't be using the digiliterary land to wed a prince, it is hard to find a way to feel comfortable and find our place within and how to make our presence of worth. This is like Ani finding her place in a new land and finding a way to become her best self through this. Side note, this was also Hale's debut novel, so it's like she was finding her way through a new land. As well as this became a comforting book for me that came to feel like another home.

2. The main platforms we've been working with is Goodreads and Amazon. Through my own experiences, I've been seeing the way that different reviews work between these two platforms, as well as makes a good review. As a princess, Ani has different "reviews" coming from people from all walks of life. When she's under cover as a goose girl, she ends up hearing a very different side of these reviews. I'm not sure exactly how to tie this together, but I think I'm onto something!

3. Okay, when I said a couple of idea, I literally meant a couple. So now we're here. I'm going to try to keep brainstorming, but it's a start!

So pray tell, thoughts on these ideas? Any different thoughts?