This week was higher in triumphs than challenges, and I am happy with the progress I have made this week. Friday afternoon (today), I have my first interview with Dr. Penny Kendall Reed at her office in Yorkville. I took the time to ask my main characters if they had any questions for her since she is a geneticist. Brittany, who studied genetics in school, had very few questions, but my other two main characters had a slew of questions (many of which were similar to mine). In an e-mail, Brittany sent me the results of her 23andMe test and gave me permission to use them on my multimedia website. She also explained everything to me in depth and told me what she was most worried about in terms of her results.
After my interview with Dr. Reed, I will have to decide whether I need more expert sources with different backgrounds and knowledge. As Asmaa pointed out in class a few weeks ago, it doesn’t sound natural to insert expert sources throughout the story just for the sake of it, so I will try to incorporate my expert source(s) as characters too.
Over reading week, I’m going to begin writing my story. At this point, I believe I have gathered enough information (for the first draft, at least) to begin writing. I want to start writing now because the sooner I notice gaps, the sooner I can address them with my sources. The first draft is due in about two months, so this should give me enough time to continue following up with my sources.
Over reading week, I am also going to decide what website service to use for my MRP. I have been leaning towards WordPress since I am already very familiar with its functions, but I will explore other options. It is also going to be a good time to start piecing together which visual/multimedia elements I want to include. Now that I have permission to use Brittany’s genetic testing results, I am thinking about including a short video that explains them in depth with her voiceover.