Here is the google docs link to my proposal:

http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AYRbYReA-CShZGd3bXA1ZGJfMjFkOTZkMzNjNw&hl=en

Rough Draft - Collaborative Authorship

Caitlin Lewis

English 303

Rough Draft – Collaborative Authorship

Authorship has become the main topic of discussion and research in the English 303 Multimedia Writing course at West Virginia University. An author is a person who gives existence to thoughts in the form of words or gives existence to anything. Authorship is defined as what determines the responsibility for what is created. While both seem so easy to define, there are a number of different ways people view authorship and what it means to them. Delving further into this subject of authorship, I have chosen to look deeper into the form of authorship, collaborative authorship.

The act of co-creating something while consulting with a group of people to create the project can easily define collaborative authorship. What first came to mind when discussing collaborative authorship was the current New York Time’s best selling community art project, Post Secret. The Post Secret community art project can be defined within authorship as creative collaboration from millions of different people.

Frank Warren, the collaborator, created the Post Secret project in 2005. The idea for this project was very simple; for numerous people to embellish a post secret while portraying a secret that they had never revealed before. Frank Warren handed out hundreds of blank self-addressed post cards to his home in Maryland to strangers in the Washington D.C. area; there were no restrictions made regarding the content of the secret but that it must have never been spoken before. As the project soon received local, national, and international media coverage it grew bigger, becoming books, websites, and series of events. Frank Warren is viewed as the “author” of Post Secret as his name appears on the cover of all books, blogs, and special events or is he only the collaborator? This brought up many points between Post Secret and collaborative authorship.

The Fair Use Doctrine allows the limited use of copyrighted material without receiving permission from the rights holder. This doctrine helps to prove the point that Frank Warren is not stealing the work of the millions that send their artwork to Post Secret each week but he is sharing their artwork, anonymously, with the rest of the world.

The collaboration in Post Secret is so interesting and enticing to readers as it comes from strangers from all over the world, all of these people are interested in inserting themselves into the Post Secret community, anonymously. Self-insertion is a literary device where an author character appears within the work of fiction but in disguise. In this case, the author is not in disguise but is completely anonymous to Frank Warren, the public, and all readers.

Post Secret truly takes advantage of the creative process, which is found to be the social process involving new concepts and ideas also by making associations between the creative mind and existing ideas. The creative process is also a great example of the relationship between Post Secret and collaborative authorship.

Creative collaboration has been reviewed as such an interesting form of authorship because it allows everyone to get involved. While everyone is actually the author of their own post secret, they are submitting anonymously, which puts the rights to the artwork in Frank Warren’s hands. As all secrets come from different places around the world, it is unique that there is essentially, a secret for everyone, a secret that you will be able to relate to while finding comfort that there is someone out there just like yourself. That feeling people receive of comfort is why anonymous creative collaboration has gotten the Post Secret project as far as it has come.

Reflection: So far, I think that my introduction is the strongest asset to my rough draft so far. I think that the flow of my body paragraph ideas are in the right direction , but might need "something else" - just not sure what that something else is... Which brings me to what I believe needs some more work - small details, etc. Or it might be great how it is so far - which is what I hope to hear from you!

What I Think....

I think I am in the same place I was when we last blogged about our feelings on this project - I feel that I have a strong topic which focuses upon collaborative authorship in Post Secret. As far at the essay goes, I think that I am in need of a bit more direction for where I should currently be in the essay process and where we should be heading. Are we each writing our own essay - or - is the class putting together 1 essay as a whole? As far as my own research goes, I believe I am on the right track so far...

I do think that I have come a long way so far this semester in creating this topic into more of a concrete authorship example, not to mention I have been having some fun with it!

LINK TO MAP: http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AYRbYReA-CShZGd3bXA1ZGJfMjBmZzJiZHJqOA&hl=en

Post Secret Presentation - REVISED & FINAL CUT!

Reflection on Topic

From the research I have gathered regarding Post Secret and anonymous authorship, I feel somewhat confident. I feel confident that this a relevant topic to our class research. I also feel confident in what I have found thus far: how readers feel about secrets being anonymous, the different mediums used in producing Post Secret to the public, etc. What I worry, is that I am not finding enough different information to create into a lengthy research paper.

I am still very interested in the topic I have chosen. Actually, I must admit I am becoming even more excited as the latest book is releasing today! (10/6/09!!!) I will use this release as a part of my research, looking deeply into the reviews the new book will receive, how many copies will have been sold, the overall response of the newest edition to the Post Secret Community.

I am interested in looking more deep into the topic of art therapy + anonymous therapy that Post Secret provides many viewers. I would like to use that opportunity to possibly compare Post Secret anonymous art therapy to the infamous therapy of AA (Alchoholics Anonymous). But I am not sure how this would work with the topic of this project, if that would be on the right track.