Ethics? What are Those?

I guess it's true when they say that there is always a first time for everything. While on the quest to launch this project off the ground, I decided to seek out help from one of my favorite professors and role model. Ellefson is his name, and he's the Poet-In-Residence at Champlain College, and also has help manage/run the Vermont Young Writers Conference for  several years now. I figured with someone of his expertise, he would have connections all over the place, so why not see what he thought about the whole idea?

I walked strolled into his office like usual, given as how we are on familiar terms, and proposed the idea of introducing the Twentyx3 project during his Intro to Poetry and creative writing classes. He loved the idea. That is, until he discovered that the general public would be voting writer's off the list-sort of like a Survivor-vote-them-off-the-island kind of deal. When he heard this, he told me to get out.

I told him I didn't like the idea of ranking writers over another anymore than he did, but it was what needed to be done for this project to accomplish it's goals. He just sat there and stared at me for a handful of moments. Then he looked me directly in the eyes and asked me if I was scared of my professor. He told me I wasn't afraid of anyone. Yes, that's true. Except in one case. He then put up his fists in a fighting stance and told me to imitate him. He told me conforming to an idea was not my style. This goes back to a long history: on the first day of Intro to Creative Writing class, I walked into the classroom and told him that I wrote my own way, so don't expect anything different. Naturally, at first, he was stunned, but then he accepted the idea. From then on, I've been known as Trouble and fearless is my own writing. After glaring at me, he tossed me out of his office.

Ellefson has never spoken a harsh word to me. Ever. I was stunned. What did I do wrong? Was he right? Was I compromising my own morals and ethics for sake of a project and to please someone else?  Just how far was I willing to go to compromise myself and my belief in writing for this project? Was it worth it?

What do you think, all? Is this a question of ethics? Should a writer compromise themselves and own sets of standards for the sake of the "greater" good or a future?


-Tee-

AND...Take off!

So, being the, for lack of a better word, head of this project is turning out to be quite a substantial amount of work. To be honest, it is more work than I initially thought it would be. But, it's a challenge, and who doesn't like a challenge, right? Though it's been a rocky start, I'm confident that TwentyX3 is actually going to develop into something pretty cool. I've got a great team working with me-Ian, in charge of building the website and technical stuff for the most part, and Julia, who is basically my right-hand woman. So, kudos to you guys. Just the notion that a group of college students-eighteen to twenty-something, is being given a chance to take something from its foundations and launch it into something that could be well-known, is actually very awesome. Julia and I are graduating Seniors this May, so this could be a potential boost for our careers.

We're still in the beginning stages of developing the website, forming databases, and establishing contacts and connections to make the transitions between the stages of this project a little easier, but I know it's going to shape up just fine. 

While developing this project, I have faced a few ethical dilemmas and questions that I have had to take a step back and analyze my own sense of ethics and morals and just how far I'm willing to compromise my own values for the sake of an internship, or even a job. I'll write more about that later.

So, here's to take off.

-Tee-

Major, we have a foundation!

The website is off to a sturdy start. Localized Wordpress installation is a go, and wireframing is going well. Drew up a logo idea today, but don't get too excited, nothing is final yet. It's hard to stop brainstorming, but I'm really close to having a finalized base structure for the final site.
Expect to see something on www.20x3Project.com in the next week!








-Ian

Website, success!

Well, to say we have a website is a bit premature. We have a domain name, though, and that's a major step. Hopefully we'll have a working site in the very near future. In anticipation of that, here's our address:

www.20x3Project.com

-J

Oh look! A blog!

At long last, we have a blog! Feel free to edit accordingly. I'm not super attached to the birds, and once we get a logo/color scheme I expect the aesthetic part of this to change. I've also begun the process of finding the names of the directors of creative writing programs for my half of the U.S. Do you have any idea how many creative writing programs are in California? A lot. Anyway, I should be emailing them in bit, and hopefully they'll respond with boatloads of great writing. I'll keep everyone posted. Also, we should be getting a domain name in the near future (like...tonight).

-J