Inspiration
When Danny began trying to write poetry, he found it really useful to keep track of the number of syllables per line to give the poem flow and structure. Microsoft Word just wasn't cutting it.
What it does
It's essentially a specialized word processor for poets - providing dynamic feedback on the syllable breakdown and rhyme scheme of the poem as you write it. This can help you quickly and easily determine the overall structure of the poem at a glance, without providing so much data as to disrupt the natural and inherent beauty of the poem itself.
How we built it
We knew from the start that we wanted to experiment in web development, and considering that none of us were particularly experienced in the field, such a project seemed to be the perfect fit: a balance between practical applicability and something that actually served a meaningful purpose to us, while also being something that was feasible and would allow us to learn the basics of JavaScript, incorporating third party open source libraries, and more.
Challenges we ran into
We originally planned to use React for the front end and a Python library as part of the back end, but ultimately incorporating all of the disparate pieces served far too difficult and unnecessary given what we were trying to accomplish. As such, much of our time was spent just trying to figure out what was even possible, what tools would be best for the job, and what was reasonable to learn in the limited time we had.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
We were particularly proud of the final product's aesthetic, for which we put a lot of effort into making the design as minimalist as possible. We had a lot of features in mind that we ultimately decided not to implement so as not to clutter the simple UI, such as a breakdown of stressed/unstressed syllables and allowing users to choose a pre-designed format such as a haiku or limerick before writing. We were also proud of the intuitive design of the webpage - even though input is broken down into individual lines for editing purposes, it is displayed as a single text box, with the intent of giving the user an unbroken poem-writing experience.
What we learned
Although we gained a lot of valuable experience working in JavaScript and actually setting up a website, arguably the most valuable experience we gained was learning about which libraries/systems to use and when to do things ourselves. Much of it came down to ease of implementation - many of the potentially more helpful systems available were simply too difficult to set up and learn given how little time we had.
What's next for PoetryVisualizer
If we were to continue, we'd definitely want to create some sort of sharing system - possibly linking it with a public database and allowing for anonymous sharing of poems in a small community. This would ultimately foster growth of the product and provide a safe space for creative writing.
Log in or sign up for Devpost to join the conversation.