Module 1: Introduction to Writing for New Media

WRITING FOR NEW MEDIA

Module 1
What is writing for new media?

Objectives

  • Introduce writing for new media as a concept.
  • Discuss the different forms of writing for new media.
  • Build awareness of audience.

Methods

Introduction

To start any discussion of this course, one must break it apart into two things: writing and new media.

“Writing” should be familiar to you as an activity that you’ve been doing since you started going to school. In this course, it is presumed that you have the basic skills needed to do clear, concise, grammatical writing in English or Tagalog. It also presumes that you are knowledgeable in the conventions of writing—what a complete sentence is, what words to capitalize, when to use all caps, or bold, or itals, among other things. If you are unsure about any of these, feel free to tell me so we can work on those on the side.

Suffice it to say that doing a spell-check and grammar-check never hurt anyone.

It goes without saying that you know plagiarism is a major offense and will not be tolerated anywhere in the academe, and certainly not in this class.

“New media” is the more interesting concept here. For this course we are using it to define the kind of writing you’ll be doing this term. Tied to the fact that you are multimedia arts majors, we also know that to some extent when we say “new media,” what we mean is “multimedia.” And since we are talking about something that’s “new,” then we are necessarily also talking about what is “old.”

Where “old media” would be about writing for print, i.e., newspapers and magazines, and broadcast media such as TV and radio, “new media” is a shift towards including writing that you will do for online and digital projects. As such, writing for new media doesn’t mean there will be no old media included—instead it means that you are learning about the breadth and scope of writing that is important to be skilled in at this particular historical moment.

For this course, writing and new media are two separate but interwoven concepts. Writing is about content—what it is you want to say, what you think, what you want to deliver to an audience. New media is about the form—what it looks like, where it’s going to appear, how the words look on the page.

Writing for new media brings those two together and see them as equally important towards delivering a message.

Analysis

Answer the following questions.

(1) Give three forms of writing that you currently consume.

(2) What are the platforms within which these writings exist?

(3) Who else is reading these texts that you are reading?

(4) How else are these platforms used other than to inform?

Take time to think about your answers, and note them down before going to the next section.

Forms of New Media Writing

An important point to be made about new media writing is that it changes as quickly as technology and platforms do. What might have been a form of writing that existed five years ago, might not exist anymore. What is “new” now, can become obsolete in a year or two.

For example, before Facebook, there was Friendster, where people were doing primarily testimonials for each other. When Friendster disappeared, so did the form of the testimonial for that particular platform. In the 2000s, people started blogging—these were long-form essays about everything from aspects of one’s personal life, to critical pieces on politics, or even a particular hobby like watching films. When social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter happened, it became the place to share one’s life and opinions, and the blog changed form.

These are just two examples of how new media changes what people actually write, and how they write. For this class, of course, this writing will be more deliberate and thoughtful—this is not about writing down what you think and calling it a day. This writing class has expectations of you as far as writing conventions, thoughtfulness, and analysis are concerned. Given new media forms, you are also expected to adjust your writing based on the form in which it will appear.

For this course, you will take part in discussions on, do exercises on, and / or write the following:

(1) A reflection essay

(2) An about page for a website

(3) A creative caption for a photo

(4) A feature essay

(5) A digital content set for an information campaign

(6) An audio-visual presentation script

(7) A screenplay

These forms mean that you will be doing the following kinds of writing:

  • (personal) essay writing
  • descriptive writing
  • feature writing
  • analytical writing
  • copywriting
  • process writing
  • writing for the ear / vernacular writing
  • AV scriptwriting
  • screenwriting

Across all these forms and kinds of writing, we are not just looking at content (what you’re saying) and form (how you’re saying it). We’re also using as basis for the kind of writing we’re doing your audience.

What does this mean? It means that you are never just writing for yourself here. New media writing means you are writing for an audience. And for this class, your peers and classmates are your audience, and so is the rest of the youth sector that you are part of.

Why is audience important? Because appealing to a specific audience, and successfully getting them to agree with you, whether it’s through buying a product, discussing an issue, or taking action, is what makes writing successful. We know you did good work, when your particular audience does exactly what you wanted her or him to do.

Reflection

Is there any product at all that you consume, in whatever media, that exists without words? What is it? Describe how it does not use or need words. ***