Chpater 5.2: Visual vs Linguistic

What's this? An actual blog post? Not just a video but one comprised of words? Yes, it's true, after a long quarter, I somehow find myself with a surplus of time on my hands. Believe me, I'm as shocked as you are. With finals drawing to a close, a laptop that won't work, and a book that is nearly finished, I figured now would be as good a time as any to dive into posting again.

Which brings me to the idea of art vs language, visual vs textual. Some people are brilliant artists, others are magicians with words. A select few fantastically talented people get to be masters of both.

The same kinds of ideas apply to learning. Some people learn visually. They can take a concept, create an image, and remember that the hypotenuse is the sum of the squares of the legs of a right triangle until they are old a senile (or maybe even longer). Other people are vastly articulate with their words. They can explain a concept seven different ways, each a little differently until someone understands what they're saying.

Now, this visual/linguistic learning style is a spectrum. Maybe you fall right in the middle and can use words and images to show what you're trying to say. Maybe you understand images, but feel more comfortable with words or vice versa.

I've used both words (with the text posts) and media (with the videos) on this blog. But I am definitely more oriented towards words. Don't get me wrong, I love images. And sometimes I can see something wonderfully in my head. But something happens between my mind and the translation to the page and I'm never really satisfied with it. Which is why I stick to writing usually.

But school doesn't let you stick in your comfort zone. In YA lit this quarter, we did a variety of projects that catered to both the visual learns and those who love writing out their thoughts. On of the projects we did (one I lamented over) was the digital scrapbook page. You had to use images to create a representation of the book we read. Which I really struggled with and was not really happy with my final product.

However, we also did a project that involved writing a fanfiction (you can see my in this post). I was much more in my element with this project. I understood how to make things work and I just had fun writing about Kearns.


The last project we did for the class was sort of a mix, though more visual than textual. We had to take a character from one of the books we'd read over the quarter and create a trading card (like baseball). The front was all visual deliberation and shockingly, I was happy with the result (well, mostly. Do you have any idea how impossible it is to cut in a straight line? Never thought I'd miss Mom's scrapbooking supplies). The back was facts about the character gleaned from reading. The whole thing was a great break from finals and a fun amalgamation of words and art (hint hint to anyone who wants to be a teacher).

On the other hand, I as a writer have felt a bit out of my depth for the project in Editing and Publishing, which was to create our own publishing press. Now, I am boss at whipping off plot blurbs and reviews. I can come up with ideas and crank out a plot summary no problem (and the best part is I don't have to know what my vaguely ominous wording leads to).


But we also have to have covers for our books. Uh-oh, here's where I start going down in flames. Because I happen to suck when it comes to creating the visual. This is why when Nano rolls around I always ask someone if they can make the book cover for me. So below are three book covers with their summaries, in order of when I made them.

Alice is a witch. An honest-to-god, fly-a-broomstick-at-midnight, dance-in-the-moonlight witch. Or she would be if her curfew wasn’t ten o’clock. Half human, she attends a normal high school, but riding that emotional rollercoaster called adolescence is harder when anger sets a small fire to the teacher’s desk and embarrassment makes you disappear. But when someone threatens to reveal her secret suddenly she has bigger worries than algebra. A witch hunt could send the delicate balance of her world into a complete tailspin. Especially when her best friend is the one leading the hunt.

Sienna has been branded by the demon that killed her family and tried to suck her into the underworld. Neither she nor the demon understand why pulling her in didn’t work, but unless she finds some way to get the seven pointed stars on her inner wrists removed, her days are numbered. So she enlists the help of Professor Gregory Anders, an expert in everything weird with a degree in demonology. But as time runs out, Sienna realizes the brands may be more help than harm, saving her from a fate darker than she could ever imagine. Which makes her ask, just why was she marked?

Hope has been laughed at many times over her career as a medium. Let’s face it: it’s part of the job description to be considered a charlatan. But she’s the real deal and she knows the ghosts of Chicago better than the route to her favorite bakery. So when the ghosts revolt and start stealing the bodies of the recently dead, Hope knows there must be someone outside helping them. Unfortunately she has two suspects and an attraction to both. So is it the charming Will, heartbroken over a sister’s death he’s sure he could have prevented? Or is it the devilishly handsome and charismatic Lewis, the new rival “medium” in town? Only one thing’s certain: if she doesn’t find out, she’ll join the ranks of those she communes with.

Now, they definitely get better has time goes on, but you should see some of the ones done one of the other girls in my group. She's a wizard with photoshop. But I can come up with ideas and writing no problem. This is why having a group for this project is a very good thing.

So, visual or linguistic? Artist savant or master wordsmith? Or are you somewhere in the middle?