# data[].attributes.headline
"I’m a word freak. I like words. I’ve always compared writing to music. That’s the way I feel about good paragraphs. When it really works, it’s like music" - Hunter S. Thompson

# data[].attributes.subject
"I’m a word freak. I like words. I’ve always compared writing to music. That’s the way I feel about good paragraphs. When it really works, it’s like music" - Hunter S. Thompson

# data[].attributes.body
This quote is meaningful as I feel that although the worth of writing is very much drawn from its content and authorial intent, it is also an art form nonetheless, and therefore should be entertaining or aesthetically admirable to some degree. Particularly when discussing creative writing, the meaning of the text is better receive when conveyed in a flowing, decorative and 'musical' way, as it exceeds mere language, and becomes an emotive, and artistic product.

# data[].attributes.body
I found the womin-djeka micro credential engaging particularly given that it was narrated and lead by first nations people, teaching kulin nation's language, and ultimately making it a genuine and unfiltered educational activity. Recently, I read a quote by first nations author Alexis Wright who said "we are becoming, bit by bit, the indoctrinated fools of the rhetoric, where we start to believe the stories we continually hear other people tell about us...", essentially conveying her concern with the lack of true indigenous voice in Australia. I feel her point can relate to this micro-credential in a positive way, as it is effective in educating Australia and RMIT students on undiluted Indigenous culture through using real indigenous voices.

# data[].attributes.body
I found some difficulties in this weeks 'what is editing focus'. This weeks' assignment task was to edit a peer's work. While it was fairly easy use micro editing techniques; Grammar, spelling, sentence structure and other forensics, I found it somewhat difficult to provide constructive criticism to significantly improve others work. In a way it seems wrong to impose your own ideas on someone else's work without fully understanding their creative intent; especially on a task that is so new and raw. I have since realised that in order to improve my editing I need to neutralise myself from this peer and personal taste, to best allow my constructive criticisms to come through.

# data[].attributes.body
In this weeks what is exegesis we completed a 25min pomodoro writing task on an abstract painting, to which we wrote a quick exegetical response to. I found this task very helpful in understanding my own writing and what it is wanting to say. By writing with this exegetical lens, my creative intent became clearer (not just somewhere in my head) as I put it into to words and read it back in a sort of intellectual way. I found that after doing this, I became unstuck (as i hit a wall by the 25min mark) and actually started adding to the piece with a refreshed understanding of what my creative intent was. I think it is important to at the very least, question and think about my creative writing with a an exegetical perspective going forward.

# data[].attributes.body
This week we did another pomodoro task, this time using the prompt of a photo we had taken that seemed interesting to us for whatever reason. While I think possessed strong concept, I feel as though my recent pomodoro task's have been failing to tell an effective story and narrative structure. That is, they are poetically descriptive with good metaphors, however, they do not drive a strong sense of narrative and plot. This idea came to light in this weeks study of 'what is story' where we looked narrative structure and common plot lines etc. I intend to create a stronger sense of narrative and plot in future pomodoro writing tasks.

# data[].attributes.body
I found Marsh’s essay called 'metaphor me' to be a helpful exercise in understanding my method of generating metaphors in writing. She encourages a step by step exercise which involves choosing and describing an object with several different words, before attaching 'i am' before this description. I felt as though it helped me understand what it is I like symbolically about a certain object as well as my attachment and authorial connection to it. Often when writing I feel compelled to use an object of some sort as a metaphor in my text, however am not completely sure of the specifics of its metaphorical value. This exercise is helpful for my method in writing as it forces me to articulate why and how a symbol is meaningful, and the better understanding I have of my own metaphors, the better readers will receive these metaphors.

# data[].attributes.body
This week we were set with the task to wander around the streets with the intention to 'eavesdrop' and transcribe somebody's conversation, before going back to class and developing it into a scene. While I was a little hesitant, I noted down a person ordering a croissant, then changing his mind to a muffin instead. I was surprised to find how easily this transcript developed into a scene, and then how naturally I began to work in a dystopian theme, with the waitress being robotic in her automated responses. It made me realise narrative ideas are always out there, and you do not have to wait to be struck with some extraordinary idea, rather you need to be looking and searching for your muse.

# data[].attributes.body
In the planning process for my narrative-folio assignment, I was stuck as to how i was going to convey an inner tension for my character and his ambitions in life. Though we were prompted in class to rewrite part of our story in a different genre. I experimented with letter/journal format. I wrote from the perspective of my protagonists' father urging his son to not make the same mistakes as he, and settle for simple life away from the precarious city. I found this gave my character depth and context in a demonstrative way, without having to make my narrator tell the readers everything. I have now decided to use this form in the narrative itself, and by forcing myself to experiment when unsure, i became unstuck creatively.

# data[].attributes.body
A key takeaway that I got from this week's 'What is culture' topic was the definitions of culture that were given in the lecture. Sree mentioned culture as a 'discursive construct' that 'moves through time and people', and additionally, that it is something 'you' do and is produced by 'you'. This account for culture spoke to me as someone who is of mixed race, and at times feels obliged to engage with traditional ideas of 'culture' more or less even if it feels unnatural. Understanding that culture is unique to me strangely assists me as a writer too, as it gives you faith in your uniqueness, and the idea that everyone as a story/meaning and something to say.

# data[].attributes.body
I feel I have progressed through the objectives of the Foundation Studio in my ability to write far more consistently and imperfectly than before. Before this semester I wrote when I was stuck with a potentially profound or exciting idea. I found that things would have to go perfectly for this idea to translate into something - I would have to ride its momentum. However, after being exposed to constant journaling and pomodoro writing, I can better formulate and workshop ideas from nothing, rather than having to be stuck with a some extraordinary idea. Constant writing tasks in Foundation Studio has taught me that ideas already exist, you just have to write your way into finding them, rather than waiting to be stuck with them.