My story scrolled off the front page today. It is still part of Short Story Month - February 2012,, which ends soon. I did not put a teaser on the story, which means it does not show up there, and when I looked on the Stories it is deeply buried.
This is not a complaint, as I knew it would happen, but basically it is gone, out of sight. For those who did not read it can be found End of the World, as We Knew It.
I got much better reviews than I expected, loads of Kuddos and some good comments. Things like teasers could be made easier (for first time writers), but that is to be expected as part of the learning curve. I am familiar with other formats such as VB Bulletin, but I never really learned HTML, I looked up how to hyperlink as I typed this. I am a fast typist, I have written tech article for 30 years, still run a BBS, and have typed for 40+ years.
It was my first story, but it won't be my last. I still have a lot to learn about this sites layout, and how it works. Basically I suspect I'll do a few stories a year, I have a life big time, so I'm spread thin. I'm not sure where I grew it, but between a job, working with kids as an advisor for a youth group, moderating a popular electronics site, reading here all the time, helping drawing and editing, writing takes a distant back seat. It suits my style anyhow, as stories germinate in the back of my head until they are ready, then come spilling out my fingertips.
I had a second thing on my mind, but rather than lay it out as another blog I'll let it out here.
To those whose stories I have not read yet I apologize. Really! There is a lot of high quality stuff here, and it keeps being released faster than I can read. I will get caught up eventually, but it will probably take a car wreck, so until then I'll just keep muddling through. I promise to comment on every story I enjoy, Angharad taught me that.
Of course I blame Angharad for my current predicament. I am currently at chapter 712, with just under 1,000 chapters left to go on her "Easy as Falling off a Bike Series". I have never seen anything like it in writing, but soaps come close. Since she talked me into leaving comments that really slows things down. :D
But don't stop on my account, as I am both addicted and hooked.
Comments
It was a pretty good first story
I remember when I published my first one here, it was such a trip.
You do not have to know html to use a teaser
Several years ago, with so,e help from Sephrena, I created a template that lets you put your title on a first line;
If you have a chapter number, it can go in a second line
Then the next line gives your name
Following that, you can type in a synopsis which will be centered and italisized, and finally, it adds the break to make that the part the reader will see.
My instructions inclou\de how to use various fonts that most readers can see .. they will get either New Times Roman or Courier if they do not have the font loaded.
It also lets you set different colors for the text, and suggests colors that most people can see, ( Some colors do not show up well on some displays, and BCTS readers use many different devices.)
It also includes a line for copyright, but that will not be in the splash, but above your story as Erin requires
I'd be glad to send it to you if you can give me an email address, even a throw away one. I cannot send it via private message, as it includes the html you will need, and instead of the coding, you will get whatever I send as post-html text.
Here is what the completed 'splash will look like:
CHAPTER 12 This is just a test
by YOUR NAME
SYNOPSIS GOES HERE
© PUT COPYRIGHT DATE HERE, FOLLOWED BY YOUR NAME
It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice.
Holly
It's never too late...
...to edit a story. Login and open the story as normal. Near the top of the page, you will see an Edit tab. When you have clicked on it, you can edit the story, as well as adding a teaser and a picture, if you wish. At the bottom you will find Preview and Save buttons.
I've PM Erin
Back and forth, she straightened me out. Any misunderstandings were all mine. I'm still catching up on the features for this site though, lots to learn. I almost never use the forums, but they are what I'm most used to.