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Story Crossroads
Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2006 8:00 pm
by BossTamsin (imported)
Ok folks, we've hit a crossroads.
Throughout the Archive's history, all stories have been reformatted so that they present a common, unified appearance.
When the new system was put online, I was still working on a way to get it to do this. In the interm, there are a number of stories posted that were not reformatted to match the old standard. As a result, I recieved a number of complaints from readers over how they preferred when the stories all presented a common, uniform look.
Well, now that the stories are again being reformatted to a common standard, some authors have mentioned how they would prefer to be allowed to format and style the stories themselves.
Since we can't have it both ways, and no solution is going to please everyone, I've decided to open it up to a vote. I will go with the majority decision, and either continue with the status quo, or open things up as you all decide.
Those who don't vote will be summarily ignored should they decide to complain later about how things aren't going the way they think it should.
Re: Story Crossroads
Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2006 8:34 pm
by I Worship Women (imported)
I didn't vote in the poll IEunuch, because it really doesn't matter to me either way about the format. When I go to the story archive I go there to enjoy the stories, the content of the stories is what's important. So long as the format is such that it fits on my computer screen in such a way that I can easily see and read it. Beyond that the content is what's important.
Who cares whether a book has a blue or a green cover, the important part is what is inside the book, the book's content. Same here.
Re: Story Crossroads
Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2006 8:35 pm
by Slammr (imported)
BossTamsin (imported) wrote: Tue Nov 21, 2006 8:00 pm
Ok folks, we've hit a crossroads.
Throughout the Archive's history, all stories have been reformatted so that they present a common, unified appearance.
When the new system was put online, I was still working on a way to get it to do this. In the interm, there are a number of stories posted that were not reformatted to match the old standard. As a result, I recieved a number of complaints from readers over how they preferred when the stories all presented a common, uniform look.
Well, now that the stories are again being reformatted to a common standard, some authors have mentioned how they would prefer to be allowed to format and style the stories themselves.
Since we can't have it both ways, and no solution is going to please everyone, I've decided to open it up to a vote. I will go with the majority decision, and either continue with the status quo, or open things up as you all decide.
Those who don't vote will be summarily ignored should they decide to complain later about how things aren't going the way they think it should.
Personally, I would prefer for the authors to be able to format and style their stories. It gives the author much more creative license. I can forsee possibilities where how the story is presented can be important, and taking that away from the author imposes unnecessary limitations on him. Certainly, there should be standards, but I'd hate to see us limited to center justified paragraphs.
I also find it ironic that readers can find time to complain about the formatting of a story, but they can't find time to give authors feedback on their stories. I might also mention that if the authors don't write and submit stories, the readers won't have formatting to complain about.
I guess what I'm saying is that only authors should have a vote in this poll.
Re: Story Crossroads
Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2006 9:43 pm
by Zoroaster (imported)
Personally, I prefer the uniform look. It just makes things easier to read, and I don't want to have to deal with somebody using huge fonts to scream something or whatever.
Re: Story Crossroads
Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2006 10:36 pm
by Dave (imported)
I think that a uniform look is better. Different formats make the stories seem like they don't belong to the EA
Re: Story Crossroads
Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2006 10:47 pm
by kristoff
I agree with Zoroaster and Dave. Makes it easier on shitty eyes like mine. Too many folks want to use stuff that is just too difficult to deal with. Keep it simple and clean.
I do understand where Slammr is coming from; notwithstanding issues of feedback to authors, it is the reader's need that has to be paramount. Without them, why write except for self enjoyment. But then without readers, why would a writer bother. Cater to the reader, and hope that they in turn will honor the writer by saying so.
Re: Story Crossroads
Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2006 12:58 am
by Christina (imported)
Although I don't read many of the stories here on the Archive, I would agree that they should be kept to a uniform style.
I do think Slammr has a good point in that letting the author have a creative flair can enhance the presentation of the story, but, if taken to an extreme it would not make for enjoyable read.
Re: Story Crossroads
Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2006 1:30 am
by colin (imported)
I read stories from a large number of archives, not just EA. A uniform format is better for presentation, but will not do anything for stories which contain large blocks of text with very little punctuation.
My solution is to copy the text into a word document and then reformat it to my own taste: Font, Times New Roman; Point, 14 (yes I am getting more short sighted); white text on a dark blue background.
This could also have something to do with the fact that I only have dial-up and so do not spend a lot of on-line time reading.
To all authors, thanks for trying.
Re: Story Crossroads
Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2006 5:11 am
by n3rf (imported)
I save the ones from EA in my NoteBook as a .txt message, but to do it in word I can see is better.
Just curious what other "
colin (imported) wrote: Wed Nov 22, 2006 1:30 am
I read stories from a large number of archives, not just EA
" You use COLIN , maybe You will share some "ideas" which one they are - and may I will read them also ??
I tried the WORD and I think this is the BETTER way to save good Threads - THANKS for the idea, Colin. N3RF
Re: Story Crossroads
Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2006 2:20 pm
by colin (imported)
n3rf (imported) wrote: Wed Nov 22, 2006 5:11 am
I save the ones from EA in my NoteBook as a .txt message, but to do it in word I can see is better.
Just curious what other "
colin (imported) wrote: Wed Nov 22, 2006 1:30 am
I read stories f
n3rf (imported) wrote: Wed Nov 22, 2006 5:11 am
rom a large number of archives, not just EA
" You use COLIN , maybe You will share some "ideas" which one they are - and may I will read them also ??
I tried the WORD and I think this is the BETTER way to
save good Threads - THANKS for the idea, Colin. N3RF
You have to understand that my orientation is GAY and that I do not solely read castration stories. That affects my choice of story sites, but here are some of my favourite ones: awesomedude.com; bdsmlibrary.com; crvboy.com; deweywriter.com; gayauthors.com; iomfats.org; juliangreg.com and Nifty.com. Many of these sites duplicate stories posted on Nifty, but I find that with the very large number of stories there it is sometimes easier to use the smaller sites.
Regards,