3 – Make and Create

Before you start

The third stage of the FlashLab is about making something together. As you begin, take some time to:

What type of product are you making?
Is it a document, video, audio, visual, something else, or a combination of different things?
What is the size and format?
How many pages would be good? How long?
What knowledge or content is needed to begin?
Is research needed? More conversations? More ideas? More exploration?

What production skills are needed to complete your project?
Do you need writing, graphics, editing, filming, or something else?
Do you have these skills in your team?
Who else could you invite to help?

Discuss and let team members choose tasks/roles and work out how to do tasks they don’t usually do.
Expect to be stretched! Work with a partner to encourage and support each other.
Set progress deadlines and team expectations.
Break down the project into small steps with short deadlines.
How will you communicate? How often?
Are you face to face? Will you use Telegram / WhatsApp? Zoom for calls? What is most helpful for everyone? What time zone works for all?

Remember to have a tone of encouragement and support one other!

Get making!

Pray often. Commit the process to the Lord at every stage.
Make a quick and imperfect first draft of your project – if possible, within a few hours.
Have a fast feedback loop within your team where team members can give their thoughts to help develop the draft.
Allocate small tasks with short deadlines. Create parts of the project quickly and build them together.
Save your files with a version number and have some way of sharing your files easily (Google Drive or similar).
All resources need to be translatable. Share your files in an editable file format (like WORD) that will help translation, as well as providing “finished files” (like PDFs).
REMEMBER: It is okay to fail! [FAIL – First Attempt In Learning]
REMEMBER: It is okay not to be perfect perfection is God’s role.

Most projects will involve some writing. Here is what we have learned so far ...

It helps if your team has a production pipeline for example, a person writes a segment, and then passes it to someone else for editing. That person sends it to the next person to lay out the document. When writing is complete, it can be proofread for spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
Keep sentences clear and short to serve translation.
Avoid technical and localized terminology.
Make sure your language is consistent (for example, person and tense).
Tone of voice needs to match/suit the audience.

See these capacity building kits for help with writing:

An editor advocates for the end user and refines the ideas of the writing team.

Ensure you understand the vision and purpose of the resource.
Know the target audience and the intended context for the resource.
Rewrite sentences to make them simple and understandable. Change the order for better flow of ideas or learning design.
Check for consistency in words and concepts – is something described the same way throughout the document?
Check how the Bible is used in the resource.
Not all editors can proofread, and not all proofreaders are good editors.
An editor is ideally working in their first language.

See this capacity building kit for help with editing

Most projects will involve some aspect of design. Here are some learnings from previous FlashLabs.

Save time by using a template (FlashLabs have some already).
Stock images / footage save a lot of time – free options include pexels.com; unsplash.com; pixabay.com; gratisography.com; freeimages.com.
Free Christian images include: freelyphotos.com; creationswap.com.
Make sure your designs can be translated – do not embed text into pictures.
Use software / programs that are readily accessible (or free).
Keep designs simple.
Get help by asking experts.
Learn more by watching tutorials on YouTube.
Use fonts that are accessible and free to others (ie. Google fonts or similar).
Limit use of fonts to a maximum of two per resource.

Some projects will involve audio or video. Here are some learnings from previous FlashLabs.

Mobile phones are powerful tools to capture both video and audio.
Keep the camera steady (if possible, use a tripod or rest on something solid).
Limit camera movement – avoid zooming or panning. If you need to get closer, move your body.
Generally, shoot video with the light behind you, and with the light shining at an angle to the subject or person you are filming.

If recording audio, get as close as you can to the person speaking and move to a quiet place.