Does anyone else have no idea what they're doing for their MW? (1 Viewer)

joscat

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I had my first lesson yesterday and realised that I have absolutely no idea what I want to do for my Major Work. All I know is it'll be a narrative. Anyone else in this same boat, or do you know what you're doing already? XDDD
 

phy6au

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Yeah, I'm in the same boat but I'm not even 100% sure of what medium I'm gonna do. I think it will be a script though.
 

hope14

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Argh, me too! I was thinking short story but my teacher seems pretty keen for me to do a critical response and now I'm confused about what I want!
And idea-wise, I don't know if my preliminary idea is too cliched / not intelligent enough for an EX2 course.
 

joscat

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@phy6au - a script! That's interesting :D Will it be just a written one, or will you record it as well? I'm too scared to do a script because I've never really written one before :D

@hope14- xDD I have the same problem with worrying about being cliched/too preachy. Good luck with yours! Are you generally better at critical or creative writing?
 

hope14

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@hope14- xDD I have the same problem with worrying about being cliched/too preachy. Good luck with yours! Are you generally better at critical or creative writing?
@joscat: Um... the only critical responses I have really written are essays for English about texts and I have received good marks, admittedly, I just don't think they were sophisticated (e.g. idea/technique/effect etc.) and aren't EX2 majors overly sophisticated? Generally I get slightly lower marks in creative writing, but not significantly. Have you formed an initial idea since you created this thread?
 

joscat

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@hope14- Yeah.... maybe read some examples of past critical MW's to see how deep and meaningful they have to be? So have you decided to go critical or creative? :)

Yup! I've got an idea to do with Hamlet. It's kind of all over the place at the moment, but it's centred around the idea of life being a like a chessboard with peoples' morals/values dictating which way they can move. I'm not sure if I'll appropriate Hamlet into a new context or set it during one of the 'missing' scenes of the play... still kinda vague but I'm working on it :3
 

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Just start with any idea, even if it's a bit cliched, and go with it! Throughout the researching/writing process, you'll get more of an idea about what you want to write about.

It's fairly usual for people to start off with one idea, and end up in a completely different place. When I did ext 2, I wrote three separate stories and it was a LOT of work, but I was happy with my end result and learnt something more about what I wanted to do through each attempt :)
 

hope14

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@joscat: your idea sounds great even if you still think it is a bit vague at the moment. This is what I mean about all EX2 works being clever. :D I think I'll just go creative... maybe... :S I have a semi-idea for that at least, even if it isn't very good. Hopefully, as Blue Suede just said, the idea will develop into something better as I go. Good luck with yours.
 

joscat

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@Blue Suede- Thanks for the advice! :)

@hope14- Thank you! ^^ And that's cool... mind sharing your idea or is it still developing? :)
 

joscat

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Oh! So I did xD *is bad at recognising usernames on the sidebar* Your idea is really interesting! How's your journal going?
 

hope14

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Haha... that's fine :D I didn't notice either until I went back to copy the URL.

On the journal... is badly an option? I haven't done very much research just writing about some Board stuff, little bit on initial idea and mindmapping favourite texts for inspiration etc. Is freaking me a bit but its not really marked so I hope to get it up to a point I am happy with (some research etc.) and then do heaps of research / writing over the holidays... What about you??? Also what type / method are you using for the journal??
 

joscat

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Ahaha that doesn't sound like it's going too badly, at least you have texts for inspiration and stuff :) I've just written ramblings on possible ideas and then expanded on the one I liked; I did some research yesterday and found some Hamlet essays that I'm gonna print out and highlight and annotate xD

I've got a sort of hardcover book and I'm doing it half by hand, the other half I'll print out and paste in :) What about you?
 

nerdasdasd

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I have major works, who wants the link ?
 

hope14

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I think I'll use a lever arch folder then one of those A3 art diaries to paste my drafts in.
How neat do you think yours will be by the end? haha
 

joscat

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@nerdasdasd- what do you mean? :) I've read some old ones already, as well as some of the ones from the 2008 showcase book.

@hope14- Sounds good! xD I'm hopeless at keeping folders organised so it was always gonna be a book for me xD and LOL mine's already getting messy and my handwriting is sort of terrible. I'm gonna try find inspiring pictures at least, to keep it interesting :D Are you still working on the idea/themes in your story or have you started thinking about plot and characters? From the other thread your idea sounded like it was already pretty solid.
 

teganjoyy

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Argh, me too! I was thinking short story but my teacher seems pretty keen for me to do a critical response and now I'm confused about what I want!
And idea-wise, I don't know if my preliminary idea is too cliched / not intelligent enough for an EX2 course.
You want to do something that you will enjoy, SO much work goes into it. Even if seems cliched you can always take those idea's and develop them :)
 

hope14

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@joscat: I want to use pictures but I don't really know what kind of pictures will be relevent to my idea. I'm kinda OCD so hope to keep mine fairly neat (doubt it will work though). Does my idea really sound solid? :D That's ... reassuring. I have some thoughts for plot so hope to develop them some more this week. What about you?

@teganjoyy: so you don't think it will matter if some are overused?
 

teganjoyy

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It depends what you want out of your major work I guess, whether you want something you are absolutely proud of and honestly enjoyed working on, or something that is going to ultimately score amazingly. In a perfect world you want a combination of both, but I know I'll be so proud of mine no matter how it scores, the most rewarding thing I have ever done and the only thing that got me through year 12. If you look through the showcase books they are all super original with multiple perspectives and so much stuff crammed into them, but that's not to say people don't do just as well, the purpose of those books is to show off the range of ways you can do language and what people have done within the course.

Look, as my advanced teacher says, 'don't look for a perfect idea, look for a idea to perfect.' You can write it all out and then pick up the bits you think are overused and think how you can give them a new edge. I know people who wrote out their whole story then thought a script would suit it beter and changed it to that, added letters instead of normal narration, changed their whole thing from first to third person, you can always manipulate it! If you do that you will be right. If you'd like, I can email you my major work to read, just to get an idea? I obviously don't have my marks back yet though. :)

I think, the most important thing, is to enjoy it and have something you are proud of. That is just me though. I think if you put too much pressure on yourself to get an amazing mark you automatically are hindering yourself.
 

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