Writing Gooder

So every Friday I’m going to try to give you an update on where the new YWS is and how it’s coming along.  This is how it looked last Friday:

This is how it looks now:

So as you can tell, a lot of progress has been made.  Although what you see above is still not the final version, it is very similar to what the final version will look like.  Of course, you do need some imagination!

At the very top you have the header, which is pretty much the same except that the nav bar is now below the header instead of above.  After using it for a bit, I actually prefer it this way now.  It makes navigation just a little bit easier, and it looks better.

The featured works are displayed in that rectangle box on the left, and the quote/word of the week is next to that.  Below that will be a “Staff PIcks” area with items chosen by members of Big Brother.  Anything on the site (or even off the site) can be displayed there.

Below Staff PIcks are the two wide columns, which will feature the ten latest literary works.  Short summaries will be provided rather than the 250 word excerpts that you see now.  Personally, I think there are pluses and minuses to both approaches.  In the end, aesthetics and organization weigh in favor of short summaries.

In the sidebar area, that first long rectangle box is the user info area, which will display stuff like your avatar, how many posts since your last visit, new PM alerts, new friend alerts, etc.  Underneath that you have the Google Ads, and below that you have featured member.  Finally, at the very bottom will be the ten most recent topics.

So that’s the home page.  Random member is being tossed (with over 7000 members, it doesn’t make as much sense to have it anymore), and the top 5 point leaders box is being moved to the leaderboards area.  Beyond that, everything else on the front page is staying.

Next on my to-do list are the forums, and that’s going to take a while.  In fact, they’re proving to be so difficult to layout that I may just end up doing other areas of the site first.  However, things are moving along now so keep tuned for more updates every Friday.

From the Young Writers Society: Happy Halloween!

I’m going as Joe the Plumber for Halloween this year.  What are you going as?

damnant quod non intelligunt
They condemn what they do not understand

For those who don’t yet know, the main site of the Young Writers Society will be receiving a major update in early 2009.  A screenshot of the work I’ve done so far is to the left.  It’s not much and looks awful, but the general layout is in place.

The Internet is changing rapidly, and YWS needs to change along with it.  I remember back in 1992 how Prodigy was cool.  Everyone at the time used it, but people soon switched to America Online for two reasons: (1) Prodigy increased its prices, and (2) Prodigy wasn’t keeping pace.   Then by 1999, everyone was leaving America Online for the World Wide Web for two very similar reasons: (1) AOL was too expensive, and (2) AOL didn’t offer as much flexibility.

Like Prodigy and AOL, Web sites go boom and bust over and over.  They become big hits for one reason or another, but fall off because they don’t keep pace; they become outdated and stale.  If YWS fails to adjust, a similar situation will occur.  While I have no doubt that current members will pretty much stick on no matter what, the site will not be able to attract new blood.

Moreover, the coding behind YWS is old, and it’s getting to the point where it’s almost incompatible with the software that keeps the server running.  So not only is an update necessary to keep YWS alive and well, but it’s also literally necessary to keep it alive and well.

A lot is going to change with the update.  While very few “new” features will be added, a lot of current areas are going to be extremely different.  Take the “Will Review for Food” forum for instance.  Currently, a reviewer posts a thread offering their services.  Then authors ask them “will you review my story?”

The new “Will Review for Food” area will consist of a classifieds area.  Reviewers post their services, along with what they like and don’t like.  To request a review, an author will click a link that leads to a form.  They fill out the form, which then gets sent to the reviewer.  The reviewer can then either approve or deny the request.  If they approve, it gets added onto a “To Do” list along with a due date that is set by the reviewer.

But there will also be some new areas, such as YWS News.  This area will consist of news articles written by YWS members.  Once submitted, the article gets sent to the Editorial Board for approval.  If approved, the article is added onto YWS News, and the article can really be about anything.  Even opinion articles will be allowed, although those will be treated differently (think of the Op-Ed section of the newspaper).  The Editorial Board will have an editor-in-chief, the Junior Admins, and members of Big Brother, along with other qualified members.  By the way, I’ll only be involved on a purely advisory level.

Yet, the more things change, the more things stay the same.  You’ll still have the same community, and that’s 90% of why YWS is great.  The site is only getting a facelift, and after a month, you’ll be completely used to it.

And trust me, you’re going to love it.

Pretend you have a time machine and you have the ability to go ten years into the future.  When you land there, you find you are not visiting but rather you become yourself ten years from now and must live your life.  What is your life like?  Are you a famous author?  Are you a doctor?  A teacher?  All three?  Homeless? A billionaire? Married? Kids? Where are you living?  And all the other questions involved with living.

Lets say that you’re in fourth grade, and a few months ago, everyone thought Billy stole a cookie from the cookie jar.  All the evidence pointed to him, but after a trial, it was found that he did not steal the cookie from the cookie jar.

Now it’s almost the end of the school year, and the teacher has told each student to write a story for their end of the year project.  The student who writes the best story will get two free tickets to Six Flags (an amusement park).

Knowing that he’s not a good writer, Billy approaches you (you’re also a fourth grader in his class).  He wants you to write “If I did it.”  That is, if he did steal the cookie, how he stole it and why; he’s saying he didn’t do it, but if he did do it, he would’ve done it this way. In exchange for selling his story to you, Billy wants one of the tickets if you win.

Should you write “If I did it”?

One of the great things the Internet does is bring together the power of the masses.  Individually, we run amok.  Collectively, we act together to bring about the common good whether it be through capitalism, democracy, or Authonomy.

Authonomy is a new Web site from HarperCollins that works just like a dozen others.  You upload your novel to the site, which allows others to read and rate it.  What’s different, though, is that the powers that be at HarperCollins will read the top rated novels from each month. If they like it, you’ll get a contract.

So is this better than shopping your manuscript around to prospective agents?  I’m not quite sure.  For one, you’re restricting yourself to just HarperCollins, which is just one publishing house of hundreds.  For another, an agent can provide you with valuable advice and negotiate to get you a better contract.

However, it certainly provides a new and interesting way into the world of published authors, and lets be honest: your novel has a slim to nil chance of ever being published.  Authonomy can thus give you a forum for others to review your novel, and you can then use those critiques to write a better one.

Whenever I criticize someone as part of my job, when reviewing a story, or just in general, I try to do it as a critique sandwich.  You start out with something positive, then move into the negative, then finish off with something positive.  If the story is really bad, then the negative part can be very meaty, but people are more likely to take your advice if they know they are doing at least something right.

And sometimes that may mean being really diplomatic: http://www.inkygirl.com/critique-groups-revisited/