JustGoat.com

Back in early May, or maybe it was late April, I found myself at Donut Connection, once again, with a good friend of mine, Mandy. As we do many times, we went there at about 2 am and stayed there for about an hour.

On this occassion, the conversation drifted toward YWS. Mandy wanted to know how it was going and was full of suggestions for the website. So I told her that someday I was going to add another website called The Writers Society, which would be geared toward the 18+ crowd.

Well, she liked the idea, but hated the name. "It's boring and it sucks" she told me. So for the next thirty minutes, we tried to come up with a name. Eventually we settled on JustGoat.com.

In any case, I think many of the older members know of my plan to eventually form a network of writing sites, all geared toward different ages. Someday there will be a kids writing website for ages 4 to 13, YWS will continue to be geared toward 11 to 21, and JustGoat.com will be geared toward 18+.

Right now, JustGoat.com has an opening date of October 1st, by which time I want it to be fully operational, unlike YWS which was in the construction stages for more than half of its existence. So what I need are ideas for JustGoat. What should it have? What should it look like? Should I advertise it as an 18+ writing website?

Ideas, comments, and suggestions are welcomed

You could say it was for 18+ or mature writers.

One lounge forum, one debate forum--everything else geared toward writing.

Post or points requirement for entering non-literary forums.

Moderators for each separate forum, specifically assigned to certain places, so that mods aren't worrying about the site as a whole but their own individual forums.

Encouragement of absolute honesty when critiquing another's work. Encouragement to not take criticism personally.

Poetry/Prose categories directly related to real categories. ie, Under Poetry: Free-verse/Prose, Ballad/Sonnet etc. Under Fiction: Science-Fiction/Fantasy, Teen Drama, Non-fiction/Essay.

Journals/Blogs--good for creativity.

Spelling and grammar check?

We'd lose a lot of our best critiquers, though, if we split the site in half. That's what I'm worried about.

Sam is right. While it would be more inclusive, would it really perform as well as YWS is performing now?

This may be the case, but it doesn't make sense to make another forum if YWS is doing the same thing already.

The idea is to create a site more geared towards writing than this one is, especially for older members who really want something more than "OMG it was so good!!!". I refer you to hatrack.com, the Orson Scott Card writing site. http://www.hatrack.com/forums/writers/cgi/Ultimate.cgi

How about a section specifically for novels? On a site like this, where there are none, it's difficult to find people who will read the entire thing, especially if you're posting it as it's being written, and the wait between chapters is long.

'The idea is to create a site more geared towards writing than this one is, especially for older members who really want something more than "OMG it was so good!!!". I refer you to hatrack.com, the Orson Scott Card writing site.'

That is what I NEED, though people besides Snoink and Bek will not give me anything but because 'it was really good for my age.' *bristles* Yeah, that's nice to hear, but this is my baby, I want you to make it better, not boost my ego.

'How about a section specifically for novels? On a site like this, where there are none, it's difficult to find people who will read the entire thing, especially if you're posting it as it's being written, and the wait between chapters is long.'

Yeah! That would be awesome! I lost a lot of my readers by the second post...

Being over the age of 18 and feeling out of place, I think a sister-site geared towards the older demographic is a great idea. I'm not sure about that name though. It says nothing about writing, unless I've been out of the loop for way too long and have missed something. Which is possible. I think a grammar check would be a great addition. Perhaps you could have contests, or assignments. "This month the challenge is to write mystery genre in the third person." Something to challenge the writers to try something different. Work out writer's block or artistic constipation. I am also a member of a photography site kinda like this one and they do weekly challenges like that. It gets people thinking. Just an idea.

As Nate said earlier, having random, nothing-to-do-at-all-with-the-subject-or-the-target-audience names are popular these days. Besides, goats are awesome!

Reichieru wrote:How about a section specifically for novels? On a site like this, where there are none, it's difficult to find people who will read the entire thing, especially if you're posting it as it's being written, and the wait between chapters is long.

That would be awsome.

Sam wrote:We'd lose a lot of our best critiquers, though, if we split the site in half. That's what I'm worried about.

Not necessarily. I'm 17 now, but I like critiquing younger people's work better. So I would probably stay here. And I'm still on TYWC. So... yeah. Don't count on me leaving.