Project Choices: Storybook OR Portfolio

Each person will make their own choice for a type of project in this class: STORYBOOK or PORTFOLIO. I hope the information on this page will help you in making your choice!

Storybook. Back in the first week, you looked at some past Storybook projects, and then in Week 2 and Week 3 you did some brainstorming about a Storybook topic. For a Storybook, you plan the project in advance based on the topic you have chosen.

Portfolio. For the Portfolio, instead of working on one topic, you pick your favorite stories from your blog. Sometimes the stories have a theme or style in common, but sometimes they are all totally different. You don't plan that in advance; instead, you just pick your favorite blog stories as the semester goes along, putting your favorite stories in your Portfolio:

Now... how to decide? 

There is one situation in which the choice is 100% certain: if you are not happy with your Storybook progress in Weeks 2 and 3, then do the Portfolio. The main reason I started offering the Portfolio option was because sometimes people ended up not really happy with their Storybook topic, and instead they were more interested in doing new storytelling experiments every week at their blog. So, if you are not really excited about your Storybook plans right now, then go with the Portfolio.

As for other factors that could influence your choice, I've made a list below to help highlight the differences:

Storybook Advantages 

• Explore a topic of your choice in depth.
• Enjoy the continuity of working on the same topic every week. 
• Create an overarching framework to unite your stories.

Portfolio Advantages

• Revise and improve your weekly stories.
• Explore a wide variety of different storytelling styles.
• Focus on the class readings without extra research.

I hope that will help you in making your decision, and if you have any questions as you ponder your choice, just let me know. This is absolutely your choice, and both options have some good advantages, so you need to decide what will be best for you. A Storybook is good, a Portfolio is good — it's all good... which means that whatever you decide is good!