Shared Creation Projects

There is something that I intend to look into during the coming weeks. That is the rise of online publishing amongst the more digitally aware members of the mainstream entertainment community. I’m not talking about Radio 1 or Radio 2 DJ updating a blog - the current BBC policy seems to be about giving as many of their shows and staff as possible a blog (thought that is interesting in itself). No I’m talking about true individual forays into the online world by serious writers, actors and presenters.

Here are a couple of the leaders in this area.

Stephen Fry

Robert Llewellyn (Also the currently in Alpha llewtube.com)

This is a simple post.

It is high time that the long spun out series about writing online was joined together by a single round up page. In other words a table of contents.

• Part 1 : Getting Started.
• Part 2: Useful Tools
• Part 3: Publishing Platforms

It’s a simple guide. How to start, what to use to write and top tools for publishing your words. That’s the impetus and technical side covered. Now for an important word of advice.

Don’t expect a lot to happen at once. So whilst you are waiting make sure that you write for yourself and with passion. Write what you need to write.

Don’t write to get noticed or to try and make money; that rarely works out. If you’re trying to create commercial looking work,then that’s how it will look. You may think that is ok. However the chances are that people will take a quick cynical look and move on. The web is full of original content and that is what people want. The best way to be original is to write for yourself and with passion.

If you do that then people will come.

Idea play from putting together films about a world where the dead have started to walk the earth. You’ll learn more details in the future, for now though here are ideas.

The TV was muted, and showed another graveyard being burned. Something moved under the ground. Soldiers fired heavy machine guns from the backs armoured cars; the things in the ground were going to stay there and burn. 

A quick fade to the news reader, statistics of todays latest burnings and the death toll and..

There was scuffling outside the door. The door to the outside world that was luckily three floors above ground level. The door that by hard work and intent was barricaded with as much furniture as possible.

Still the sound of them outside, shuffling around could be heard.

He watched the news and listened to their noises.

Sweating in layers of clothes and coats. Trying his best to be bite proof.

They scratched the door again. Scratching and pushing. It was the tenth time today.

My apologies to regular readers for taking a very long time to complete this series of articles.

Writing online requires some where to put your work. These days that almost always means some form of content management system. Typically this means something tailored for blogging. This is why.

A content management system divorces content from design. In other words you design the web site once and focus entirely on the content from that point on. This is how so many web sites can be updated very quickly.

Blogging means writing in a serial form. One entry at a time. Building up a stream of articles - the out put of your consciousness if you like. Its not just a one way stream though. Blog entries can be grouped, categorised and cross referenced - in other words your torrent of writing reorganised into something cohesive.

Blogging is not your only option, but it is the easiest to recommend. Other options include content management system such as Joomla or Drupal , or even creating a custom web page of your own - this final option is very satisfying and with a modern editing system like Contribute quite easy. Even though I’d still recommend a blogging engine - it focuses on writing and in the long run gives you a lot of control over your work.

The big name in Blogging is Wordpress. This really the most powerful and easy to use system out there. Its highly extendable and just about all writing tools work with it. Worpress has two forms. The software that you can install into your own hosting arrangement, or a free to use install at http://wordpress.com/. This second option is free and gets you started in no time.

Of course Google also has a hand in writing online and its service Blogger is a major player - offering a free and stable means to put your work on into the Internet,

By now you’ve realised that Blogging and Content Management systems are software. As with most software there is choice. That’s good -as even the best systems don’t suit everyone. So here is a list of good options.

One more thing. If you want to write, but only have times for thoughts, ideas and things that pop into your head then you may want to consider Micro Blogging. Simply put these are very simple methods of putting short pieces online.  I have favourites in this category and these are

• Tumblr
• Twitter
• Friendfeed

The short form is powerful. It leads to conversation and conversation is good.

So there it is - in short and long form. Ways of putting your thoughts on line.

Most of all though write.

That’s the most important thing.

I’ve recently been involved in the creation of a new website.

It’s called Larpbook and although at an early stage you may find it a worthwhile look.

The purpose of Larpbook is to provide a place for people involved in the LARP hobby to share information. To exchange news, pictures and videos.  In effect it is a social networking project.

It is build out of easily available components.

Its a proof that anyone with a bit of skill can create a social networking site.

Have a look. I hope you enjoy watching its development.

You can find Larpbook at http://www.larpbook.com.

I’m going to mention a project right at the very start of its life and I’m wishing it the very best of luck.

It’s called the Mindmunity and it is a blog dedicated to the creation of a community of like minded individuals sharing and improving ideas.

The Mindmunity team have put together a fun video to explain their concept. You can see it here

There is a kinship here with Shared Creation. SC shares news, ideas and projects to help out with creative projects. Whilst Mindmunity openly publishes and refines ideas. I think in a way I was bound to like this idea.

Taking a look at the website the MindMunity team are making full use of the current wave of online communities. This is a good idea. If you want to talk you need to go where the people are.

There have been ideas communities in the past, but the ones I can remember seeing have taken the form of a forum. I think blogs, micro-blogs and social networks area good modern take on this idea. Not just because these are the way of doing things right now, but because it raises accessability. Future readers and contributors of Mindmunity can work from their comfort zone, and probably create better output as a result.

Good luck Mindmunity.

Technorati Tags: idea, share, community

It’s time to cover an excellent piece of Internet writing. This time it is Photoboxr - a discovery of photography. It’s run by Gregory Noblin, a junior at The Art Institute of Atlanta. His goal is to dig into the photography industry in order to explore the a greater understanding of what is happening.

We live in a time of great photographic change. A time when more photographs than ever are being created and displayed. Photography lets of talk visually. The aim of understanding what is going on in photography is a good one. So far it seems to be a combination camera news, and talking about photographers and exhibitions. Its a personal piece. One man working out his view on a complex subject.

Its worth a mention