Pat Francis’sWriting Workshop

The first task Pat set us was to answer a few questions or statements that concerned ourselves and how we write. These ranged from which writing implement we preferred, to our favourite writers/illustrators. I was confident when answering these questions, as I know how I write and what method I prefer to use, but as I got to the end of the sheet I found it harder to answer the questions because I have no current favourite writers or illustrators at this point.

The point of this exercise was to get us to look at how we write and what method we may use to brainstorm, research, jot down ideas etc. A lot of the time I check my work as I write for punctuation, grammar, spelling etc. However, Pat suggests to write everything down, let it all your ideas out and then go back and check spell-ings and grammar etc, as you may lose thought and won’t get down as much as you wanted to or forget a vital point or idea.

The second task was to look at the booklet Pat had made of quotes and bit of text she had extracted from books. The quotes showed that everyone has the skill to think of ideas but it takes someone with flair and skill to implement and development them. So, from this I took away that once I have an idea, I should brainstorm and research that idea to help me on my way to development. Otherwise that idea will become lost and possibly wont be developed and shown. The next sheet Pat explained was the step by step, for thinking and developing ideas for projects or dissertations. It goes from the panicing stage to the final product or sign off. It shows that you dont have to write things all at once or have ideas all in one go. You can take things step by step, for example write a section and then write another and then add, replace or remove bits that dont go or would go better.

One of the other things Pat advised us to do, was to write a blurb about our project or dissertation. This helped me focus my project a bit more, giving me a better understanding of what my intentions are for my project. Pat also advised us to make a timeline, which represents your ups and downs of the course each week. This would help me know what I am going wrong on and what I am doing well in.

After the workshop, I took a look at many of the books Pat brought along with her. They were all very inspiring and was helpful to see a range of books that could potentially help with future writing, ideas, ways of brainstorming and research.

From the collection Pat brought with her I picked out two books which I would love to get a copy of. These books were ‘No Brief : Graphic Designers’ personal projects’ by John O’Reily and ‘Portmanteau A- Z’ by Rebecca May. I will look them up and hopefully gain a copy of these and will help me in my future studies.

Thankyou Pat