***email chain started by LC

For my last writing assignment I did Sharing credit, Which is chatting with a person telling a story. 4 Star

I decided to text one of my good friends Z to see what she was up to. This conversation was actually quiet interesting. We asked each other about their weekend plans. Z definitely has different types of hobbies that she does and I guess comet watching is one them.

I decided to do some research on comets in the 80’s. I actually found out that many people were interested in watching comets in the 80’s. Especially this one gentleman who listed all the comets he saw in the 80’s. This man was very knowledgeable about the different comets he saw and he also photographed them. I dug more about the astronomy happening in the 80’s. There were many things happening in the 80’s like launches of satellites to various parts in the sky. A probe named Venera 13 and Venera 14 landed on Venus. Through all those missions in the 80’s we gained a lot of information about different planets and other parts of the solar system. We today still use the information from the 80’s to keep learning about our solar system.

Doing this assignment wasn’t that complicated. Once we started our conversation it kind of just kept flowing. However relating this to the 80’s was a little more tricky. Then I thought about why not research about comets! When I did I found out a lot of information I didn’t know before.

References: https://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/heasarc/headates/1980.html http://www.phys.ttu.edu/~ozprof/c1980.htm

I decided to create a story with my roommate Tala. Tala would email me one line of the story and I would respond with another line. We did not discuss the plot of the story before writing. Therefore, the story we came up with is very random. You have been warned…

The way to read this story is from the bottom and up. Therefore, start reading at the bottom of the email screenshots. If you scroll down far enough there should be a red rectangle with words, directing you where to start reading! Enjoy the story!

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

START READING HERE

Or just read the story in this paragraph:

Once upon a time,
there was a rabbit. The rabbit had a cousin named Charles. For some odd reason,
Charles was a cat. Charles was the first EVER cat carpenter. His talent
surpassed that of George, his rabbit cousin. One day George made a wooden
masterpiece! But Charles made a better version. George was in awe of Charles’
creation, but as he looked more closely, jealousy hardened his heart. After
constant trial and error, George knew that he couldn’t compete with his cousin.
There was only one way for George to surpass Charles. And that was to erase him
from the competition completely. MURDER WAS THE ONLY OPTION! Within that week,
Charles was gone. He was found in his wood shop, blood everywhere, his creation
over top his cat body. With Charles out of the way, George became the best
carpenter. The best Rabbit carpenter this world had ever seen. The end. R.I.P.
Charles the cat

Sharing Credit

As soon as I saw this post, I got super excited. I loved the idea of creating a story with someone else. Writing is something I enjoy doing in my pass time, and I thought this would be a great way to spend time with my suite-mate, who is also in this class.

When I first talked to my suite-mate about the assignment, she funnily found the same one and wanted to talk to me about it to. So we decided to work on it together. My suite-mate and I did this in one sitting (if you can’t tell by the times the emails were sent), and once we started emailing each other, I was in a constant ball of laughing fits. She would let out her frustrated scream every time my lines didn’t go the way she wanted. Even though I didn’t want to make the story difficult for her to do, I thought her reactions were hilarious. She would steer the story one way, I would another, but we eventually came to a consensus about the ending of our short story.

Honestly, I think this story is funny, even though the ending was very dark. If we had the energy or want to write an intense, long story, I know we would’ve done it. We both wanted to write longer than 8 lines, but we didn’t want to create a full out novel. I feel like the reason why I like it so much is the fact that my suite-mate and I got to do something together, and it was genuinely fun to do with her. Her reactions made it so much funnier too. I hope you enjoy our story!

Sharing Credit

Description: “This is an assignment for two or more people.
It’s very simple: Take turns writing a collaborative story via email, each writing a minimum of 4 times. 
Have fun with!”

The Emails: I know this is confusing, but you need to read from 1 -> 5, bottom-up. Emails are formatted this way-

Completed story:

Once upon a time, there was a rabbit. The rabbit had a cousin named Charles. For some odd reason, Charles was a cat. Charles was the first EVER cat carpenter. His talent surpassed that of George, his rabbit cousin. One day George made a wooden masterpiece! But Charles made a better version. George was in awe of Charles’ creation, but as he looked more closely, jealousy hardened his heart. After constant trial and error, George knew that he couldn’t compete with his cousin. There was only one way for George to surpass Charles. And that was to erase him from the competition completely. MURDER WAS THE ONLY OPTION! Within that week, Charles was gone. He was found in his wood shop, blood everywhere, his creation over top his cat body. With Charles out of the way, George became the best carpenter. The best Rabbit carpenter this world had ever seen. The end. R.I.P. Charles the cat

For this assignment, we needed to get a partner and interact with them via a means of communication. I chose to use Facebook messenger because it was easiest to screenshot. Each person had to say at least four lines. I did this with my boyfriend, Jay, and below I have attached a screenshot from our conversation. Let me know in the comments if you completed this assignment!

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Subject: Where are they now?

Howdy Danny,

It’s Sally here on this new thing called a computer. I’m sending you this e-mail because I don’t know where the heck I am. I ended up in the north in a place called Virginia and I have been told the year is 2016. Remember that crazy scientist who kept saying he was going “back to the future”?! Well, I somehow ended up on his crazy train and am now in 2016! I thought I saw you the other day at a bar I went to but it just happened to be a stranger. I hope you get this at some point in time. How is everyone back in Tombstone? Especially after Johnny’s passing, I knw that took a toll on most of the town. Keep me updated!

• Sally Winderson

 

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Subject: Re: Where are they now?

Hello, Sally!

How on earth did you get to 2016? I received your note from some bird that flew in, and it’s sitting here now I think waiting for a response. I don’t know how you could possibly be writing to me, but it’s good to hear from you. I wasn’t sure where you’d gone out of nowhere! People have been asking, too. They’re mighty worried about losing you so soon after Johnny. Here’s hoping you have a quick journey back.

Everyone is quiet here, maybe a bit more chipper than when you left, but it’s still almost unbearable. I started working for Riza recently, but I think I’m going to head out of town soon. Her saloon is lovely, but just not the same as before. Hopefully the town brightens up again in time for the local festivals, but it’s a long way until then.

Anyway, Riza’s been busy as ever. I don’t know what it is about you saloon types but you don’t seem to sit still. She was kind to let me work for her after everything. I hear Bonnie Sue and Agnus and the sheriffs officially locked up the one who got Johnny. Still hard to believe it was that crazy woman all along. Talie comes by pretty often to make sure we are taken care of, always offering help. She’s been asking for you like crazy, too. I’ll be glad to give her something next time she comes around!

Will you be back soon? Are you with that crazy scientist? What is 2016 like? (I keep checking to see if you really went that far forward; part of me still thinks you’re pulling my leg, Sally. This is crazy.)

Best wishes,

Danny

 

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Subject: Where are they now?

Danny,

I am most definitely in 2016. There are all these fancy automobiles on roads covered with what looks like hard, black soot. And like I said before, I’m on this fancy letter-writing device called a computer. I don’t understand how these are getting to you by bird but the “internet” (I still don’t understand what it is) is really big so who knows! They also have small versions called cell phones, not quite sure how those work either… But besides all of that, last I remember of Tombstone was being at the bar with my good friend Meg. She had just returned from a trip to the North the day after Johnny passed. We went to the bar when I didn’t have to work and decided to celebrate her birthday late. All I remember was Riza pouring more shots for me and Meg trying to get me to go back north with her. I kept refusing because Tombstone is my home! Last I remember was a train at the most random hour carrying me off into the night with the conductor being some man with wild, grey hair and Meg asleep next to me. Since I arrived to this year I haven’t been able to find either of them. I do have a lead as to where I could find them though. There’s a bar, just happens to be down the street from this little house I am staying in. It’s called the Conductor. I’m hoping to find the conductor of the train I ended up on and see if he can take me home. It’s a shame to hear you wanting to leave! I do hope you’ll stay until the festivals are over! And tell Tallie I went on a trip to clear my mind and that I’ll be back soon! I’ll send more information as I figure out what to do!

• Sally

 

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Subject: Re: Where are they now?

Dear Sally,

I know you’re not one to spin stories, but I am still rather perplexed. I suppose you really did get my letter in your computer if you actually responded. Well, I decided to stick around until we figure out what happened to you at least, maybe until the festivals. My next destination hasn’t been quite mapped out yet, and I haven’t really told anyone else about it, either, so we will see.

Talie seems satisfied with your answer, although she seemed upset that you were sending me letters and not her, but I don’t know what I could do for her on that front. At any rate, I’ve been looking around here as well to see if there’s any way to find out what happened. I think I saw that scientist in Riza’s saloon the other night, talking to someone else about his crazy ideas, but I didn’t get the chance to approach him before he was gone and away. He seems to only exist within the saloons, which is unfortunate — lately the only time I’ve been in one is for work. It’s my night off, though, so I’m going to see if I can find that sneaky fellow. I might also ask around the train station if there’s anything about trains passing at unscheduled hours or anything similarly peculiar. I will let you know as soon as I can if something comes up. In the meantime, please let me know if you find anything out yourself.

Best wishes,

Danny

 

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Subject: Where are they now?

Danny,

Good news!!! I found Meg at a nearby store. She knows where the crazy conductor is and we’re going to meet him tonight to see if he can get us home. Turns out she had one too many of Riza’s shots and mistook his experiment train for her train to Boston! I hopefully will be home in the next two days, if not, please split up all of my stuff in Tombstone between all the Gals of the West. I’m hoping the end result is not that and that I will arrive safely at the station on the 10th platform but at this point I don’t have a clue. I will write you right before we leave so you know when to expect me home!

• Sally

 

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Subject: Re: Where are they now?

Dear Sally,

I’m glad to hear this! I hadn’t found anything on my end, so I had been extremely worried. I was just about to write you and find something else when your letter came. Everyone will be happy to know you will be returning soon and in good health. I will let everyone know tonight of your plans! Please let me know if there is anything you need on my end for your travels. I hope everything goes well. I’m sure you will have some wonderful stories to tell upon your return, too. I simply cannot wait to hear them!

Best wishes,

Danny

 

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Subject: Where are they now?

Danny,

Well, I’m leaving for home today. The crazy conductor, his name is Doc, he promised to take us back in his “time traveling train”. It sounds crazy but if you go to the 10th platform at the train station we should arrive around 10:30 a.m. I promise I’m not making this up! If for some reason I’m not back by high noon call it quits and just divvy all my stuff up. Hope to see you real soon. Also when I get back, remind me to never had Riza’s shots anymore.

• Sally

 

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Subject: Re: Where are they now?

Dear Sally,

I’m not sure if you’ll get this letter, but I hope your return is safe and comfortable! I will be waiting when you return, as will half the town most likely. Hopefully it doesn’t come to divvying up your belongings, but I’ll honor your word. You’ll have to let Riza know that old Shot can’t handle her shots, though. Ha!

See you tomorrow,

Danny

____________________________________

This letter was written in collaboration with Tierra in accordance with an assignment that asked us to co-write a story via email. The email part was more or less up for interpretation, so we decided to have our two characters email each other. Since we worked together on our radio show, we decided to pick up the story from where the show left off, after the murder. Of course, we had to justify these old-timey westerners using email, so the twist in this story is that Sally, Tierra’s character, got caught on a curious time train that shot her to present-day. While Danny is still in his time, her emails are still reaching him. A new mystery of its own! Will it be resolved?

At any rate, this collaboration was lots of fun. Tierra is a really good partner to work with, and we got the whole assignment done in one day. Then we opted to post the same story onto both of our blogs. So, while it’s the same story, you can read Tierra’s perspective on the making of it here. We used Google Docs instead of email to write the story instead of emailing back and forth (although email was our primary form of communication throughout the process). Hope you enjoyed the final product.

 

  4 Stars

The first Collaborative Character Media Assignments I completed this week was actually created by our very own Spencer. Mostly because we wanted to do our own version of an existing assignment, and didn’t want to bend the rules THAT greatly. So he just created his own assignment for us to complete.

The assignment was called, “Sharing Credit” and the directions were to, “Take turns writing a collaborative story via email, each writing a minimum of 4 times.” Since this week we had to complete collaborative assignments based around our noir characters, this was perfect. We emailed each other back and forth pretending to be them.

This was the result: [Worth 4 stars]

This was a really fun assignment complete but did take a considerable amount of time to do. We also had to do a lot of outside messaging back and forth to make sure we kept the story going on the right path.