This semester helped me understand storytelling as something that extends far beyond writing alone. Across the course, I learned how meaning is shaped differently through visual design, sound, video, and written narrative and how powerful it is when those forms are combined intentionally. Working with images, audio-only storytelling, and multimodal blog-style projects pushed me to think less about “explaining” a story and more about “building” it through experience. I also learned how much design choices, layout, pacing, sound layering, and visual framing affect how an audience interprets a narrative. One of the biggest shifts for me was realizing that media isn’t just supporting the story; it is the story.
If I had to take the class again, I would give myself more time to experiment in early drafts instead of trying to perfect ideas too quickly. Some of my strongest work came from testing different formats first, then refining, so I’d lean into that process earlier. The most exciting project for me was the sound-only story because it forced me to rely entirely on atmosphere and pacing instead of dialogue or visuals, which made me think differently about how stories are constructed. It was also the clearest example of how emotion can be built through nontraditional storytelling tools.
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