When I started this project, I did not really think about how much work it would be. I did not think it would be hard to write about 500 words about one plant. I found that making it to even 300 was extremely challenging due to the lack of information on some of the plants discussed.
The purpose of this project was to inform average readers about native edible plants in New Jersey and what they can be used for. I was intending on having the writing style similar to a Buzzfeed article or one that you would find in National Geographic. Each article was intended to be a short excerpt on the native plant with some recipes attached for readers to try out.
After one or two articles into the project, not only did I notice that they were boring to write, but they were boring to read. At this point I paused writing to reflect on what I can change about each article to make them more interesting based on the little information I had. I chose to write each article in a different style that is reflective of the styles we learned about in the semester. I realized that writing like this would make it more interesting for a reader who may only expect a boring article about cattails or a tree they have never heard of. By mixing styles into each story, I felt as if I created interesting and unique articles that would keep a reader engaged through playful language or scientific jargon.
I also decided that in order to fully explain the importance of native plants, and in essence the importance of my project, I had to give some ecological background to native plants. In a few articles I decided to include information about ecology such as biodiverse islands, ecoregions and even poisonous plants. This strategy continued to make my project engaging while applying the knowledge about each plant to a greater understanding of the environment.
