Ooh, I like that idea. I don't care about the DT, personally, but things like pictures and inspirations like you said would probably be nice. When someone created a storybook, there could be a storybook thread created, and also a page for such things, that would show up on the storybook thread (or the author would copy and paste the link, either way). Then, it would help with story continuation and interest, but mostly with continuity, which is also a problem... maybe?
There should be a tab to separate the new and already started Storybooks, or like a side bar that has Storybooks that still need writers. I have seen SB's that were just posted and pushed down half of the page because of multiple active SB's.
"we'll fasten it with some safety pins and tape and a dream, and you're good to go, honey."
This other site I roleplay at, some people will do "Interest Checks." Whether it's a mass PM or just a general thread, the GM (game mod/mods) would give a detailed plot, character sheets, rules, etc., and see just how many people would be interested before they actually made the game itself.
Could try that here. Worth a shot.
“I can't go back to yesterday because I was a different person then." - Lewis Carroll
That's also a good idea! Maybe what we need is just more sections in the Storybook forum. We could have one for "checks", and then I still think that having different genres for the storybooks is a good idea, so those could each have their own tab....(it wouldn't need to be a ton of genres, just a few, like Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Romance, Realistic or something like that). What do you think?
Having been on YWS for nearly 2 years now, I can honestly say that I have not really participated in SB's nor have I posted a lot. However I was pleased when I saw this forum as I could voice my opinion.
The problem I find with SB's is that: 1) There is too little genre difference (all I ever seem to see is fantasy/teen fiction) 2) The moderators (not all of them) seem to create good SB's but then make them private. This seems to elitist and, while yes I can see why they do that, it does prevent new and "veteran" (for want of a better word) writers from joining.
What can we do about this? Nothing. It is all subjective and down to peoples personal tastes so, I feel, it is a waste of time talking about what we can do to promote other genres. Yet, another problem is that if you want to create a SB, if you're new or unheard of, one of two things happen: Either you don't get enough people interested (even though you posted an idea through the DT) or you get people who stay for about 5 minutes then cannot be bothered. While I can admit, when SBing, that I don't post frequently, I do still post and attempt to keep the SB alive.
I'm not really going to bother with the survey, as I haven't joined a lot of SB's in the past 6 months (or whatever timezone it was and it was about 2-3 SB's if that) and none have hit 75 posts as of yet.
Now onto my top 5 favourite writers (actually I'm gonna make it 6):
DarkNecrosisX (For sticking to a SB, well created characters and sticking to its personality)
Crow29 (Once again, well created characters and a uncanny talent for writing in that characters perspective)
WartyFingleBlaster (Despite constant skepticism, he has proved that he is capable of writing good posts and creating likeable characters)
LouisCypher (Although him and I didn't see eye to eye, I can still appreciate his talent at writing)
The thing about Sbs is that they take a lot of patience---you need to wait for the others to respond if you hope to get anywhere.
Our revised forum plan so far: 1. Create a forum for mentor/mentee threads (We have a club for this, but it doesn't seem as though very many people are paying attention.)
2. Separate the current SB forum into two: Section one is for new/starting/accepting SBs, and section two is for started, ongoing SBs. Maybe there should be a time frame of a month or so before a new SB is bumped into the ongoing SB forum. This would be a lot of work for the mods, but it would solve the issue crazycraz mentioned, clear up the board, and improve SB quality. (Dead SBs will simply wither away in the "new" forum, and their respective carcasses won't litter or distract the forum in general
3. Somehow, someway, specify genres. I'm not able to visualize this though so... you guys help me. What are your ideas on how this could work out?
4. For story book starters: This is something you can start right now: Make your clubs and DT threads easily accessible and up to date for your SB members.
5. For SBers in general: This is also something you can start right now. LouisCypher has mentioned a Chit-Chat revival. RP with your characters, get to know them well and smooth out ticks, before submitting to an SB. And come up with new characters! Don't use the same ones over and over again.
Now, this is something I personally think we should do: Bring back the cost to post new SBs. Now, this doesn't have to be exorbitant---maybe 300 points, but I think that this would be a huge help in bringing quality SBs back. I don't think we should have to submit ideas to Mods for approval, but I think if SBs actually cost something people would be more hesitant to post willy-nilly and hither-and-yon without actually defining their idea or showing commitment.
That being said, we would need to revive/promote the thread where you post ideas and receive feedback for potential SB ideas.
What do you guys think?
No more countin' dollars... we'll be countin' stars.
Chiridawn wrote:Restrict the length of posts to less than a page/half a page? When it's too long it gets hard to read.
So, one conversation, with thoughts and descriptions to go with it, should last for ten posts?
Thoughts should be put into Storybook posts - though they most likely won't get published and you won't make money of it and whatnot, they should be given the attention they deserve, and be treated like novels written by many co-authors. Personally I love long posts, both reading them and writing them. Because one can put the character's thoughts in it, his/her actions, descriptions, dialogue, everything. Why rush the posts, why deny the characters and the overall story that just because some of the writers are too lazy to read?
Of course, posts could be short. But to make it a restriction?
This is a writers society. Not only that it means that writing is desired, the more the better (and I'm not saying everyone should ramble nonsense, so don't think of turning my words against me, lol), but also I find it quite fair to expect people to be used to, you know, reading.
One can always make an easy-going SB which would ask for nothing more, or even have such restriction, just as some others tend to have a minimum limit for the length.. I wouldn't join the former, you wouldn't join the latter. So I suppose everyone can suit themselves. Making either of those a rule, I dare to say, would surely result in some people leaving Storybooking once and for all.
• previously ChildOfNowhere - they/them - literary fantasy with a fairytale flavour
Thanks everyone for providing input, and thank you Dono for putting this together! A couple weeks ago, Dono was gracious enough to send me a summary of everything people said, and so I thought I'd provide input on the input
Badges & Achievements
Absolutely. I'm not sure if someone listed these in their message, but Dono provided the following list to me:
- Rookie Storybooker: Post your first character. - Casual Storybooker: Write 50 posts in any Plot Thread. (Unlocks Thread creation in Freel Storybook Forum) - Experienced Storybooker: Write 100 posts in any Plot Thread. (Unlocks Thread Creation in Casual Storybook Forum) - Veteran Storybooker: Write 200 posts in any Plot Thread. (Unlocks Thread Creation in Advanced Storybook Forum) - Storybook Savant: Write 1000 posts in any Plot Thread. - Participate in a Storybook whose Plot Thread totalled more than 50 posts. - Epic Storybook: Participate in a Storybook whose Plot Thread totalled more than 100 posts. - Legendary Storybook: Participate in a Storybook whose Plot Thread Totalled more than 200 posts. - Lead your first Storybook. - Create an Advanced Storybook. - Create 5 Storybooks. - Create 10 Storybooks.
Some of these badges I'm not sure about (YWS isn't quite large enough yet to support multiple storybook forums), but rewards for not only participating in a storybook but also participating in a substantive way sound like a good idea.
Storybook Tiers
At the moment, I don't think YWS is quite large enough to support multiple tiers. Plus, when we tried something similar in the past, it led to a substantial drop in activity in the storybook area.
Fortunately, I think the ability to have closed storybooks will solve the problem people were addressing when they proposed tiers.
Chat Changes
The proposal regarding chat changes was to create a specific chatroom to discuss storybooks. However, we already have this on the chatbar. At any time, any member can create a chatroom on any subject using the chatbar.
Also, the current chat doesn't lend itself very well to having more than one default chat room. At some point, YWS will upgrade back to the old 123flashchat, which easily allowed for multiple chat rooms.
Pay to post vs. reward type posting
Due to how often it's failed in the past, I'm strongly wary of pay-to-post (in this case, paying points to post a new storybook). I don't even like it in the Literary area all that much.
Reward type posting, though, I like very much. The badges go along with this, and that'll help substantially.
Sorting by Genre
I don't think this would work because there's really only two genres when it comes to storybooks: fantasy and everything else.
BUT, I think what people are getting at when this has been proposed is that it's difficult to sort through the storybooks. Something that could help a lot with this is to show storybooks you belong to in the sidebar of the storybooks tab. Once I get the new subscriptions system running, that won't be hard to set up.
Featured storybook area
The problem with doing this is that storybooks tend to be rather closed affairs, and if you aren't a member of one, they tend to be a rather dull read. I rather not feature something on the homepage that's only open to 10 people.
Buddy system & workshops & storybook guide
Sounds great to me! Especially because it doesn't involve me
Overall
So here's what will happen: - Badges / achievements for storybooks - A "My Storybooks" area in the sidebar - New chatrooms when I upgrade the chat (looking at present growth, I'll probably need to upgrade chat in either September or October)
The badges & achievements are quite tricky to do, and will require some time (40 hours minimum). In some ways, they're even more complicated than the Notifications system, which is by far the most complex set of code on YWS.
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