A Journey to Mastery

Natalia Faenza (MFA Student) ............................................... Previously Earned Degrees: Game Art (BS), TV/Film (AA) Digital Game Sim & Dev (AA) ............................................... This blog serves to represent a documentation of my own personal and developmental journey to mastery, as both a creative writer and video game environment artist. ................................................ Find my art on FaenzArt.com ................................................ Or visit faenzart.tumblr.com ................................................ And linkedin.com/in/faenzart

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Here is a link to my Pinterest board for my current course in Character Creation and Development...

https://www.pinterest.com/faenza0890/assignment-1-protagonist-pinterest-board/

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Here is a quick inspirational doodle that I made, since I find myself fighting the clock more often than not.

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This video was shown to me several years ago, by one of my professors, as an example of a successful story told without dialogue. For my upcoming course in the Art of Visual Storytelling, this short animation serves as lasting inspiration! Kudos to the creators! This story is beautiful, comical, and tragic. I have remembered and loved it for all these years. 

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A Journey Through Time...

Over the next year, I will be attending Full Sail University online for the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing degree. This is the first step in a path to mastering the art of creative writing, as well as using games, film, books, and other media to convey my thoughts to the world. I wish to follow several goals each month, along with each course in my study program, in order to stay on track and in constant refinement of my skills. To be able to pursue such a task assiduously, an igneous passion must be present to overcome any obstacles that arise with resolution. Over the eleven remaining courses throughout the upcoming year, I have outlined several goals to achieve each month that may be worthy of keeping me on my toes and in constant flux of creativity. 

March 2015

Create a story through the use of non-animated pictures and transitions that coincides with a song. 

Find two examples of compelling stories within any form of media that are told without dialogue, only sound. 

Illustrate a scene that shows emotion and suggests a story through elements of design.

April 2015

Read a portion of a script from one of my favorite movies, then rewrite it to entirely affect the portrayal of a character within it without affecting the story itself.

Research famous scriptwriters and their first big breaks in the industry.

Have a friend or family member tell a story from their past, then emphasize and exaggerate upon it by writing a short scripted dialogue.

May 2015

Research elements of character development through online resources, such as Lynda, and come up with a character that is influential in a good cause. 

Illustrate the character with skills learned from my previous art degrees and experience to fulfill a striking appearance that won't easily be forgotten.

Post the character with dialogue supporting the good cause, in hopes to support movement in that cause.

June 2015

Study elements of comedic episodes of shows that survive, despite having no permanent chronological basis to closely follow. 

Study comic or manga series that are written in volumes and decipher what makes the most popular ones survive.

Attempt to write and illustrate a few short comics that catch attention, without following a permanent chronological time basis. 

July 2015

Read the entire original script of a favorite movie. 

Decipher how much the script differs from the actual movie.

Ponder the outcome of the films ratings and if they may have been different with the exact following of the script.

August 2015

Choose a favorite video game and study its storyline existence and the need for it. 

If that game has a compelling story, compare it with a popular game with barely any story existence, or vise versa.

Write a detailed story for the game that has none, or build upon the little story it might portray.

September 2015

Find a detailed storyboard to a favorite film, and practice replicating it.

Change several shots and dialogues within the storyboard without affecting the story at all.

Change several shots and dialogues that would significantly change the outcome of the story in the film. 

October 2015

Choose a favorite movie and research into the changes that might have undergone its screenwriting process.

If more than one person contributed to the script, research into the different roles of each person within the film.

Theorize what may have been different if only one person had edited the script.

November and December 2015

Write a short story, using the skills learned over the course thus far.

Turn the short story into a script.

Develop illustrations for the characters that would match their attributes and personalities.

Storyboard the script, and then animate the storyboard, adding in components of draft voices.

Develop the entire thing into a small and compelling animation.

January 2016

Research several possible publishing companies to submit work to once completed.

Complete my first novel and investigate companies that could possibly publish it.

Develop the cover art for my first novel and pursue publication and copyright. 

The above timeline would allow for me to stretch myself to my fullest potential while attending Full Sail. Throughout my journey to mastery, I hope to challenge myself and grow from each obstacle I overcome. Once I have enough experience under my belt, I would love to mentor others in hopes to cultivate creativity in future generations. All of it will simply take time...

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Writing in Games: It’s Much More Than Narrative - IGN

This article really brought an edge to my way of thinking when it comes to writing within games. The immersive dialogue that occurs while you're in the middle of a mission, for instance, need not be explicitly specific or long-winded. As long as the point comes across effectively and the player remains immersed in terms of believability, the story should move along and form a bond with the player as it does so. 

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For the Love of PLNs...

Sometimes, it helps to know what you're doing before trying to master something. The whole process is a learning experience, of course, butgoing into the game with an idea of how it's played is key. After all, nobodywants to listen to a public speaker that can't speak, and nobody wants to readsomething from a writer that can't really write. Grasping fundamentals is mostimportant before you begin your journey to mastery. You are expected to be ableto produce results worthy of an experienced and learned person by the time youtruly begin mastering an art. However, a master is constantly refining his or her fundamentals, so that they are never forgotten. Though basics may become second nature to masters, they will become stale unless used frequently. Therefore, mastery is a constant process, a never-ending journey. 

What really becomes useful within a master’s journey is in knowing how to achieve a level of freshness in your work. Finding inspiration, performing in-depth research, and looking for new ways to do something that you already know how to do... these tactics will keep a master the best of company within their journey. The research behind keeping one up-to-par within their field is called a Personal Learning Network, or PLN. A number of tools help make this really easy in the digital world. Diigo, Feedly, EBSCOhost, Google and other search engines, Pinterest, and online textbook resources, such as Safari Books Online, all go hand-in-hand to keep your research organized and constant. The digital world provides today’s users with a plethora of information. If you know how to weed out the reliable sources, you’ll be set to learn how to do almost anything existent on the Internet or within other media. Compiling articles, blogs, informative videos, and insights from other people currently in your field can be refreshing and inspirational enough to knock down any height of a writer’s block.

I happened to start following quite a number of blogs and saving some articles for later reading. These things help build up my PLN to be something I can always refer to when stumped or in need of refreshment. Take a look at some of my PLNs below.

Diigo is a useful Internet tool that is supported by many browsers. I save a lot of my websites here in bookmarks that are organized with the option of highlighting and adding sticky notes. Here’s a link to mine: https://www.diigo.com/user/faenza/%22Creative%20Writing%22?type=all&sort=updated

Feedly can be a quick go-to for reading blogs based on what you want, when you want. Mine looks something like this:

  There are a lot of tools and medias out there that can help you grow your own PLN.  Avidly research and save as much as you can for later reference. Inspiration can come in many forms also. Pinterest is what I sometimes look at for ideas. There is a phenomenal amount of really interesting things from all over the Internet on there. Magazines are also great. If you can’t get them subscribed to your home, take a look at the digital versions on the latest tablets and smart phones. You won’t be sorry when you come across a speed bump in your journey to mastery, since you'll have an arsenal of useful information and inspiration to overcome it! Refine your skills and learn new ones along the way. Most of all, enjoy yourself while doing so!

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This video is so inspirational to me. I would feel embarrassed when I shed tears over World of Warcraft and the thought of one day working for Blizzard Entertainment, but this video only supports that emotion welling deep within. The common ground between millions of players and creators that can be felt so universally is almost inexplicable. I would love to be a part of their team, driven by such a primal passion and love for the games and worlds they’ve created together and shared with millions.

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Check my art out at www.FaenzArt.com

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To Mastery ...and Beyond!

Life is a journey. We may not know where or when it will end, but we do know that it’s finite. Mastery doesn’t have to be. The path to mastery is an infinite one… one that will continue long past your own demise, as long as you leave something lasting behind you. As Mozart, whose compositional masterpieces lived on as his legacy, or Van Gogh, whose artistic creations became priceless and put under the utmost careful restoration procedures to survive throughout time… these masters continue living on through their work, even after their lives’ came to end.

 The work that many masters leave behind can be passed down to new and upcoming students. These students, on paths to mastery, will revisit and renew the teachings of previous masters with their own fresh refinements. I want to take lead from past masters, and do just that. I want to continue on my own path to mastery, learning from every source imaginable, and creating in any way possible. I want to be a perpetual student, in constant search of ways to refine my skills. I plan to constantly work to improve upon my current basic abilities. And ultimately, I hope to become a master worthy of sharing my methods and creations with generations to come. Because I, too, want to live on, just to make this world worth living in.

 Over the next year, my path to mastering more than just the art of creative writing will hopefully ignite potentials inside me that I hadn’t known existed. I hope to become a more pronounced writer, one that teaches and shares her experiences through the beauty of language. Wishing to further share my virtual environments with the world to play in, I also plan to share my words. With these words, I want to bring others to environments that could instead jump from my pages and straight into their minds. To make one feel as if they’re immersed in my written or modeled environments is a dream I hope to achieve. I also wish to teach lessons through my written works that will coincide with the places I bring those reading them. Overall, my journey will optimistically be one in which I constantly find new things about the world, as well as myself.