Collaborative Creative Writing Community

Love StoryMash. But like all the other sites where I put up creative content (photos, music, cartoons), I always feel like I'm writing for writers or posting pics for photographers or writing music for musicians. I never get a clear sense of "audience".

So, I'd like to see, in the future, the ability to sign up as a writer, reader or both and have that visible as something like 10 votes: (4 readers, 5 writers, 1 reader/writer).

Maybe have reader-only perks, like if one votes and leaves a comment (and this would need to be flaggable for abuse) then for every 10 chapters you get a nickle or something....
And I pine for alerts. Profile alerts, preferably, especially for comments: it drives me crazy looking for any new ones ;o)

Excellent job on the site, btw: keep up the great work!

I like to write for fun but all the new changes now makes it hard to search for stories I'm on page 35 and I just wrote it now but because now it's listed by score and not date of when it was written nobody will find it to score it or read it and comment. We might have just cut our nose off to spite our face.

Philly1 is right about the stories getting buried and I think the issue can be solved with a few more links on the home page. A link for Stories (in order of ranking), a link for new Chapters (in order of date) and a link for continuation Chapters (chapters added to existing chapters). It might help.

I can't wait for the comment required voting since I seem to have some invisible enemy hell bent on voting my stuff down every time it gets anywhere near the top 3.
Alerts and Faves are something I'm really exited about too. There are so many great writers here it's hard to keep track. And, when people take the time to comment (on your stories or your comments) it's nice to get back to them, but with the volume it's hard to keep track.
Keep up the good work! This site is really awesome and I for one love it!
Thanks!

Welcome to my world. I watched my last (already wounded) submission take a torpedo yesterday. It was listing strongly to port and had sunk to the depths of page 3 last time I checked. I've stopped submitting until the voting system is fixed. I still read, vote and comment, but that's about it.

Hello, Id like to know how I can delete my work off of the site or how I may cancel my account/registration. The site is awesome, I just got a little PO'd at the fact I can't edit or delete my work when I want to or delete my account whenever I want to. I also can't seem to find any email addresses where I could contact the admin so Im sorry for ranting all of this here. Please get back to me as soon as you can. Thanks.

I can see the irritation at seeing your story so far back on the pages, but its impossible to make everything perfect. It seems like only the best chapters will get read, and thus, will stay the best chapters, and thus, no new chapters will ever get to the first page. This might turn out to be true, but I'd say let's be patient and see what happens.

Anyways, I like all of the ideas about being alerted, it'd help to keep me up to date on whats happening with my own and other's stories.

I think the story tree is really awesome.
Up-coming releases also sound great.
Ranked according to my opinion of importance:
1- Allow authors to opt out of contests.
2- Allow authors to require readers to comment before they may vote.
3- Favorite authors.
4- Subscribe to a chapter
5- Get alerted (an email?) when your chapter's are commented on.

Would also like to see the contest reward first chapters as well as MASHs.

Thanks SM. I’m a junkie.

I really like your responsiveness to your writing members. Thank you, very much. I like the changes you hope to have in the next release and among the future releases, the most important to me is the favorite authors change.
I'd also like to have some way of deleting a story that I had previously published here. Do you think that is a possibility?
Thanks, again. This is a great website and could quickly become even greater!!

The only concern I have is that during a contest, the author should not need to make a requirement for readers to leave comments when they vote, it should already be required, period. If the writer makes it required, some readers will just pass the chapter by and not vote, comment or anything else. Giving the writer the ability to opt out of a contest is fine, but contests should require comments with every vote.

I really enjoy StoryMash and would love to continue to participate. It's great that you have taken the time to ask the users how to improve things. I like the ideas of alerting someone when their chapter is commented on, and when a chapter is added to. There are a number of good writers here and I, personally, value their opinions and input.

In the future it seems something needs to be done on how new material is listed. I, too, have noticed that the new material is submitted, it goes to the end of the list. Not many folks seem to venture beyond the first few pages of the rating list. I'm not sure what can be done about this one, but I can see that a number of pretty good chapters will get "lost" in the list and never see the light of day. It's also understandable that you cannot give everyones' material top billing.

Keep up the great work, and thanks again for allowing us to make these comments.

Cool ideas all around, with one hesitation...

The "no comment no vote" feature is fine with me, since people can opt out of it. HOWEVER, I think it will create more unhappiness than it's worth. People who want to give a chapter a low rating will have to explain why, or at least say something, and that will scratch some of the fragile egos around here. It will also discourage voting by people who can't think of something to say (and yes, I have an alternative to propose).

Maybe have a better rating system instead of forcing people to leave comments? Some game review sites break things down so the game gets a score for graphics, sound, gameplay, reaplay value, etc. Then the scores are normed into a scalar value. Such a system is good because it forces people to really think about what they're rating. They have to consider multiple aspects of the story, not just an overall, knee-jerk reaction.

People could then have some idea why their work is getting rated low (or high). And it would be easier for voters than having to leave a comment. It would also create less friction between members and less hurt feelings. I think getting a numerical rating is more emotionally neutral than reading words someone chose to describe the crappiness of your work :)

Of course in the best of all possible worlds, no one would take offense at constructive feedback and no one would leave harsh, unhelpful comments. Sadly, I've seen both (not on my work, so it's not a personal issue for me, just a matter of principle).

So then it becomes a matter of choosing catergories for rating...

characterization/dialogue- does the author show the characters as unique and interesting or are they boring, generic names?

plot- is this going somewhere? Does it make me want to read more so I can find out what happens? (Or does it tie up the story in a satisfying way, if it's an ending or a stand alone.)

pacing- does it keep me absorbed throughout the whole thing, or are there bits I want to skim because they don't seem important or interesting? Conversely, does it feel rushed, like I'm not being told enough, left out of the loop?

style- does the author choose vocabulary, sentence structure, analogies, similies, and metaphors appropriate to the piece? Is the piece easily readable so that I don't get hung up deciphering run on sentences or puzzling at bizare word choices?

technicals (as in grammar and spelling)- self-explanatory

I'm not saying those are the greatest categories... the idea would need refinement, of course.

I think that's a well-thought-out idea! I've brought Ethan's attention to it and am curious to see what he thinks.

I like "must comment to rate" plan, but I would settle for something simpler. I do think the username of the voter should at least appear beside their vote, even if they don't have the courage to comment.

Do you mean the user who voted should be recorded as having made that vote, or do you mean that data should be posted?

I personally don't mind having my name next to anything I vote on. (I have a different issue with voting, but I digress...)

But there is a good reason for "secret ballots" so to speak. There's money involved in these contests. To some of us, it's not a lot, but I can sure remember back to a time when $300 would have been a lot to me. If people know their vote is being recorded and posted, and that their input might cause a friend to lose out on money, it might motivate them not to vote.

And of course if someone gets flamed or "retaliated" against for voting something down, then they might just feel it isn't worth it to participate in voting.

Now, I am with you 100% on the data being collected! If you see your work being treated unfairly, you could report it to the webmaster, who could find the offending voter and ban them.

I understand what you are saying, but in my opinion if they don't feel capable of rendering an honest vote then they really should abstain. I'd rather have a few honest votes than a large but indeterminate mishmash of honesty, favoritism, contempt and gamesmanship. To ask the SM team to routinely review the voting process on an individual story level might create more work than they should have to bear.

Sorry - I didn't answer your question. I think the vote information should be published for everyone to see. Critiques -- even at the voting level -- are part of the craft of writing. It's patently unfair to the author not to identify his critic. In order for numeric criticism to be constructive, you, the author, should have some indication of the source. This allows you to weigh the vote based on who submitted it. Without actual written comments to view, the only thing left to do is review the voting critic (through his own writings or comments on other works) and decide if you want to accept or dismiss his vote. For example, if some nitwit votes your story a 2 you can dismiss his opinion -- as long as you know he is a nitwit.

Here's my issue with voting- I don't feel it's fair to vote if you haven't read all (or at least several) of the entries. As it is, we tend to read certain writers over and over again. That's fine, except that it puts new writers at a real disadvantage in the contest. They don't get voted down, they just don't get voted on.

That's why I hate voting. I don't want to read everything, but I hate giving an endorsement (or vote of no confidence) to one person when I haven't read all the competition.

Maybe there should be some minuimum number of different writers you have to vote on in order for ANY of your votes to count? Of course no one has time to read anyone, but if you at least read, say, a smample of five, that's better than getting on and reading one or two people.

Oooh! It just dawned on me... (maybe someone pointed this out... I'm slow)... if you track who voted for what (with or without publishing that info) then you could do a "people who liked chapter x also liked chapter y". You know, Amazon's itemwise comaprison algorithm? That would help people find new stuff they like to read based on what they already like.

This is a feature we have thought about and think would help our writing community. In fact I recently purchased (sorry for long url) http://www.amazon.com/Programming-Collective-Intelligence-Building-Applications/dp/0596529325/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208504178&sr=1-1 which is a book about that very subject!

Something like your suggestion will hopefully be arriving soonish, 1-2mo.

[In reply to several comments at once]

Thanks for all your great feedback! It's encouraging and exciting to hear from the reading and writing community, even the criticisms.

I wanted to address chapters not being findable.

- From our front page there is link to Search and link to Stories. From either of those there is a link to Chapters(all published).

- Most chapter lists (Search results, Chapters, Stories) are sortable by many criteria a reader may use to find chapters. During the fix mentioned in this blog the *default* order for chapters and stories became "most recently published", search results *default* is "highest ranked".

- The new chapter tree will help readers to be exposed to a greater breadth of chapters.

- We want readers to find your chapters and do what we can but some of the best methods are under your control. Writing a compelling preview, using appropriate tags, attracting new readers to your chapter by linking to it on other sites.

Just to be clear this isn't our "final answer". We are still listening to your ideas, mulling over features that may improve findability. We believe this is an area StoryMash can and will improve with future releases.

OriginalSim, "I never get a clear sense of "audience"."

We don't really believe in a reader/writer divide. I hope the collaborative environment encourages readers to become writers and certainly don't want to put any barriers in the way of that.

We're considering more details on votes such as breaking out home many 5 star, 4 star, etc. There's a times viewed in the chapter statistics. An anonymous number but it does capture people who just read and don't vote or comment. Can you think of other information we could provide that would help you fell your audience?

I also want alerts, to know when people comment on my blogs :) They're coming, along with some sort of favs...

I just had a thought about contest entries. This could help to sidestep some problems regarding retaliation and whatnot. Why not, when stories are submitted to the contest, keep them anonymous? Have the author name available to the author and SM, but not have it posted on the general feed? Then you have no idea who wrote what, so you can't focus on a particular favorite author. Then, after that particular contest is over, you can just reveal the names.
I realize that is probably a lot of work and programming time. But it might be a way around some of the voting discrepancies.
Also, just overall, perhaps a "Random Chapter" kind of thing would be good. I do like the comparison idea, but being a StumpleUpon user (which is how I found SM), I like being able to push a button and being completely surprised. It would expose readers to every kind of author, plus you could make a smaller version for contest entries, thereby getting that sample that Raven was talking about. Just some ideas. I don't know how much programming effort that would require (probably a lot) but those are just some thoughts.

I should have read this blog before adding the comment to the other blog...all of the above features sound great and I think that te email and comment alerts should be a pretty high priority, considering that the only way to communicate with each other as of now is in comments and that gets tiresome sometimes because you have to trasck comments and try to remember which chapter had how many and so forth...

I've noticed a couple of things lately that I want to bring to your attention. Nothing major, just some minor programming glitches I've noticed. 1) The 'times read' indicator on the stories seems to be hit and miss. I've seen stories with 10 votes and 0 times read, which makes no sense. 2) 'Last login date' does not appear to be accurate either, as I just read a story published today (April 21) by someone who (apparently) hasn't logged in since April 12th. This isn't a complaint, just a note from one programmer to another. Without looking at the code, I don't know if this is indicative of a larger problem or not.

I think one of the biggest things storymash is missing is a "community" outside of each individual story or storyline. Many stories get lost in the shuffle of things, and I never feel like I latch on to any one genre or group.

Why doesn't storymash have forums? Authors could gain exposure, collaborate better, talk about upcoming projects, market, talk about the craft of writing outside a particular story or storyline, etc.

I also think commenting before voting should be mandatory. I had a vote that was way out of left field, with no explanation or anything of what went wrong for that particular reader. It was frustrating, because as a writer, you want and need to connect with any reader who crosses your path.

Just a few suggestions. Keep it up.

FEEDBACK ON THE STORY TREE - I like it, the hover text makes it easy to select the next chapter to review. The only thing I would change is the different icons for the different story lengths. The chapters here are short enough that it really doesn't matter, and I'd rather have structure uniformity in the tree to make it easier to see the number of additions to each branch.

Though your words describe that there are certain improvements required to better the functionality of your site,sir,I find that it is many times better than many other sites which are simply befooling the people by directing the people from one place to another.For a person like me from an underdeveloped country like Nepal,it is really a whole world open to me through you,where I can express my view openly to be read by innumerable people.Hats off to you.
with regards,
Raja Sir.

pretty good site

that's all u can say!

I luv this site

I don't think there is any other site that matches Storymash,and I am not saying this to flatter or to be in good books.I have been writing on many other sites but Storymash is a kind of resort for me,where I pause and reflect alongwith enjoying the work of many other writers.The beauty of the site is that it gives you very clear and straight guidelines and everything runs smoothly.
Bless you,
Rajasir.

The features suggested in the next release are ok, but I'd rather see a systematic numbering for the story tree. It would eliminate confusion in the current contest. You could have the unique address of each chapter viewable when you put the mouse over that chapter on the story tree. People could still write their own titles.

I am a first timer and I have got to say that this communtiy writting thing is pretty frigging cool. I really like the fact that you are so free to imput into other stories.

Well, I've read most of all the comments here and I am brand new to Story Mash. From what I see here, there seems to be a looming cloud of "we're not getting noticed" or "we're getting our work lost on here" type of an attitude.
But like others have said, it is GREAT that you guys have this area for members to TELL their opinions of what is needed to enhance the site.
The way I see it is...writers want to get one thing. NOTICED! And next to that...they want another thing...TO GET PUBLISHED! And next to that, they want one other thing...PROFITS! Am I right? Least most of us do. For some, it's just for fun but, for most...it's for being seen, published and how so cool if even paid for your time and efforts. The ultimate dream for any writer is to contacted by a publisher and THAT publisher telling the author...WE LOVE YOUR WORK! WE WANT TO WORK WITH YOU! WE WANT TO PAY YOU! ARE YOU GAME?
Cause honestly, THAT is why I write publically. To get seen. And to get read and to land that dream job of being a paid writer. So far, this is as close to that dream I can seem to get. I've tried blogs, I've tried websites, I've tried forums and I've contacted pay your own way publishers.
Although sadly, there is a lot of scamming apparently going on in the publishing industry or so I've read. Would be nice to see a NEW WAVE of HONEST publishing companies out to profit not just themselves but also to give credit where it is due. To the writers. After all, they are the ones doing the work.
Since the sight can't seem to completely fill this gap for as many as there are writers and stories...although StoryMash is trying their best it seems, may I suggest that more is done in the effort of StoryMash to advertise to LEGIT PUBLISHERS to lead them here. Places that are in dire need of writers and stories!
In otherwards, not stop what you are doing in trying to reward the best stories on here, but also...TO MAKE ALL THIS WORTH WHILE FOR ALL THE WRITERS HERE...to offer ways to get the stacks of others to be seen, read and reviewed by professional, published authors, editors, publishers, movie production studios that need stories for scripts, and make it to where any of these people HAVE TO give all their contact information on the sight PUBLICALLY before they can even read ONE piece. And show publically WHERE they have been, what they have reviewed and what their own words are. This makes it known to all what professional companies or people have been looking at. That they can't secretly browse people's work and if they are here, they are here to find talent. Not steal. And that these guys have to agree to an agreement NOT to take in part or in whole any one or more stories for their own business. That they are here to scout for talent that they really need? To scout for writers who aren't getting noticed or read and or shoved into the stack. Companies that aren't out to be paid by writers to get published, but who are willing to pay the writers to write for THEM!
To offer such companies or professionals stories AND authors who desire to be read, reviewed, edited and maybe even hired on as freelance or inhouse writers. THIS WAY...THEIR EFFORTS HERE DO NOT GET LOST IN THE ABYSS.
Some writers don't need much help, some need a little help and some...well, need a LOT of help. I personally can't say which I am. But pros can immediately pick up on this. And while one may not like say my work, maybe another may love it. While my story may get shoved to the back or lost in the stack of others here and not make the cut,...now comes along a publishing house that DOES notice it. Or an editor or another published author who notices it.
Maybe, just maybe...there is a way that people on here will be even MORE motivated to write that they just KNOW they are going to get reviewed and not just voted on or commented on once or twice and that's it...but they know that even if they begin to get lost in the shuffle, that they still have a GREAT CHANCE on now...being seen by a list of others who are standing in line, waiting to read their work and review it?
Clap clap clap clap. Now THAT is what I like to hear! Anyone agree? Hopefully so. I'm Storm42 and my story is Operation "Vanish" Sorry, had to throw that out there. grin.

Storm's comments reminded me of another great site TriggerStreet.com that has created an interesting system of reviews and posts. I'm not saying this system would be perfect for StoryMash, but it would be interesting to think about. On TriggerStreet one must be request assignments, read them, rate and comment with constructive criticism in order to gain points. It takes something like three reviews to be able to post one of your own stories. It really stimulates the community. I think that would have to be modified , but even if there was just a request system that found buried stories, that could really make a difference in raising some stories from the unread dead.

Storm42~
What you say makes absolutely sense. I will pass this suggestion along--you make valid points!

Welcome to SM, and happy writing!

I am brand spanking new hear and love the idea of StoryMash. In the past hour or so I've noticed some things that make it a bit daunting to get into the site. More than anything I think it would be nice to see a brief summary next to each story title. If it's a root then it would be the general idea of the first chapter, and if it was a continuation it would be nice to know a little bit about the next author's direction. I also had a brief thought about the Story Tree. I noticed that in the story tree for "October Chill" there's one storyline that is connected by red lines instead of black. I'm not sure if that's intentional, but it made me think that it would be cool to follow the original author's "favorite path" and possibly the "favorite path" of other contributers and/or readers. Thanks, I'm really enjoying the site.

portionsforfoxes~
Welcome, welcome! It's great to see new faces (or names, more appropriately) in the StoryMash community :)

As you browse through the stories, you'll notice that some of the titles are followed by "(preview)." If you click on "(preview)," then you'll be given a summary of the story itself. I do like your suggestion of having a summary for each chapter--I plan on addressing this in a blog in the future to get more feedback about this. I think it's a great ideas.

The red lines that you see in the story tree represents the story path that has the highest ranking. I do love your idea about having an "Original Author's Favorite"--I think that could be interesting.

I hope this helps! Again, welcome, and feel free to contact me at katrina@storymash.com if you have any further questions.

I think that there needs to be a spell check in the text box. There are a lot of spelling errors that would be picked up with a simple spell check addition...

I love the idea of the readers only option as well. While there is a good community here, it seems that it is mostly writers. There isn't anyone here just reading stuff. It seems that this would make the site more fun for writers, and also get the whole point of the storymash out there more!

Hi there!
Thank you so much for taking the time to comment. There has been some talk about spell check recently in the blogs, so I'm going to pass this suggestion on to the developers of the site.

Great thoughts re: attracting more readers to the site so that there are more readers versus writers/readers.

Thanks again for your thoughts!

I think step one should be admin providing some way of contacting in case of complaints or suggestions.

"Thou shall not kill Honor Thy mother and Father"
Very well written descriptive language holds the reader's interest! Good use use of metaphors and similes.Ending was a cliff hanger piquing reader's curiosity.... what will happen next ???who's the fiqure?

I am new to this site. I feel some of the commentary is outstanding, and I will recommend the site to other writers. Thank you one and all for your robust participation.

What are the numbers and arrows next to everyone's comments? Also, is there a way to search for questions in the community, in case someone has already asked this? Thanks.

Hello everyone, I'd just like to say I'm new to this site and have posted two chapters on the horror mashes. Comments and votes would be appreciated. I'd also like to say well done to all the admin, the writers and website designers keep up the good work.

I was just wondering if it would be possible for a few people to rate and comment my work. Critism is welcomed, as is praise and encouragement (obviously lol). If anyone could do this it would be greatly appreciated.
I also think there should be some sort of messaging or friends service that could be used (just an idea but the site is awesome so far).

Hey there, new too. I agree that there should be some way we can communicate with each other while we're on here. As a new person, I'm not quite sure what is the accetable way to go through all the info. I have made comments on others, but am intimidated by not knowing the proper way to go about commenting, or adding chapters. If I could talk to others while I'm on, it would help to adjust and feel more at home and part of a commuity. Also, you might try genres so you can read in different areas of interest. It may make getting lost in the shuffle a little less heavy. Thanks!!!

ARE YOU GUYS AND GIRLS AWARE THAT YOUR SITE, COOL AS IT IS IN CONCEPT, SUCKS IN TECHNOLOGY. WE ARE PROMPTED TO CLICK ON A STORY, THEN READ IT THEN MABE ADD TO IT . BUT................EVERY TIME I CLICK ON A STORY, YOR SITE TAKES DIRCTLY TO VOTING AND ASKS, DO YOU WANT TO ADD TO THIS STORY.
SINCE I CAN NEVER READ A STORY, HOW CAN I ADD. I WOULD LOVE TO BUT..........
ANYWAY, THANKS 4 LISTENING

In "The Squable" (a title I may wish to revise if that is even possible) I have set up a context in which up to 10,000 participants can tell their story in a fairly independent way; but the idea here is that at some point because of the plot-constraint, each individual will no longer be able to speak.

This idea merely came to me, thanks to the very unsettling recent political history of Argentina, and the housing of all the Hurricane Katrina victims at The Stadium in New Orleans, not to mention the smear tactics and propaganda McCain has employed at the tail end of the 2008 Presidential Election.

GroundsKeeper08