Reflection
When creating my Writing for Sports E-Portfolio, I thought about my layout ahead of time. I wanted to make my site as aesthetically pleasing as possible by implementing a theme of simplicity and organization. I aimed to make the portfolio easy to navigate, keeping the toolbar at the top with an About Me section, my writing samples, and of course, my reflection. Upon editing my writing pieces, I ensured that I made engaging rhetorical choices. I refined my papers by making sure that they all appealed to the senses and followed the correct progressions for each paper type. My goal with creating the portfolio is to appeal to my audience of sports enthusiasts and any other student interested by making the writing style upbeat. The material should convey that I am an avid sports enjoyer. Even though it does not relate to my major, I have some prior experience in journalism as I had an internship at a news station. Yet, sports writing is much different from the writing that I was more familiar with, such as political news writing.
This class allowed me to continue a creative outlet that I would not have in other aspects of my educational journey. I learned how to effectively tell stories in a way that is compelling and entertaining. Crafting my sports memoir was a fun experience; I reflected on an important memory in my athletic journey. Writing a sports press release was a great opportunity for creativity, as I came up with an imaginative idea based off of an athlete who I look up to. Finally, the sports feature article tied many pieces of sports writing together. I identified someone well-versed in the sports world. I reached out to her, developed questions, and conducted an interview. I took her answers and created a narrative that expresses who she is and what she does. Overall, the three major writing assignments in this class gave me variety in my writing skillset. Writing for sports is unlike other forms of writing, especially in the typical academic setting. In some ways it can be highly descriptive, but in others, such as quick press releases, sports writing can be brief and straight to the point.
In Writing for Sports, my biggest takeaway is that sports writing contains many aspects that can often be overlooked. The interviews, formatting, and overall cohesiveness of a story all play large roles in creating even the shortest article. In the future, I hope to continue sports writing, at least as a hobby. I truly enjoyed this course and immersed myself in the world of sports through a variety of writing projects. Beyond the major assignments, I expressed myself through class journals and reflections as well as discussions regarding assigned readings. Working in groups and conducting peer reviews afforded me meaningful feedback which enhanced my writing style. I found that working on multiple drafts for each project led me to become more skilled in the editing process. Lastly, the Adobe InDesign workshop gave me hands-on experience by creating appealing page layouts. Overall, I learned a lot throughout this semester in Writing for Sports.