# Searching for a co-author or two?



## Tara (Feb 11, 2009)

[[If this thread doesn't belong here then please delete it/move it. Although I read through the announcements, and searched co-author in this forum I didn't see anything that lead me to believe that this type of forum topic wasn't permitted. But I could have very easily missed something, and well if I did I'm sorry for wasting your time.]]

But anywho onto what I wanted to ask y'all. :3

Back in '07 I started workin' on one of my stories with the help of two other folks on the website Gaiaonline, we worked on it for a while but then real life got in the way, mainly for me. And well I've been wanting to start working on it again, and neither of the folks from gaia really ever log onto gaiaonline anymore.. As do I to be honest. The link to the forum from gaiaonline is posted below but I just want you to realize that if you read my outline on the first page that you understand that there has been about 14 pages of revisions and background story added. And that I haven't updated my outline since, and I don't really plan on doing so unless someone shows some interest in it besides myself, haha.

I could go on and on about this story and my ideas and what Iâ€™d like to change, etc. but I've got to run right now 'cause I've got my History in Movies class to get to and I don't want to keep my Mother waiting. =3 I will be back online probably around 9 or 10pm est. I hope to hear from someone, haha. 

And if you have any sort of question what so ever please feel free to ask and I will do my best to answer it to the best of my ability. :]

http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/collaborative-works/write-with-meh-closed-well-kind-of/t.35497415/

Feel free to contact me here or e-mail me at either RainbowPancake30@yahoo.com or Kirpet07@gmail.com

Thanks for your time.
-Tara


----------



## GraemeLion (Feb 11, 2009)

ICK.

Colors are HORRIBLE.

First rule, second rule, third rule of writing.  Make it readable.


----------



## Tara (Feb 11, 2009)

Eh, don't read it then.
Color coding doesn't work for some, but for others it works just fine and unfortunately I can't pick and choose who reads this.
Also it's not that hard to copy and paste it into word and change the font color, but it'd be quite confusing if a person were to do that.


----------



## GraemeLion (Feb 12, 2009)

Tara said:


> Eh, don't read it then.
> Color coding doesn't work for some, but for others it works just fine and unfortunately I can't pick and choose who reads this.
> Also it's not that hard to copy and paste it into word and change the font color, but it'd be quite confusing if a person were to do that.



Good luck finding a co-author, then.

Color coding in writing is an abomination.


----------



## ScottyDM (Feb 12, 2009)

redcard said:


> Color coding in writing is an abomination.


True. But it looks like an experimental piece. It breaks the rules, but then it's supposed to break the rules.

The centered lines look nice, but they do make it slightly harder to read than left-justified lines.

*The colors used*, toward the brighter end of the color space, clash with the white background. I feel a bright white background can be hard on the eyes, so for text I like just a touch of color, such as the pale blue of these pages, but I'm partial to warm colors. Unfortunately, toward the darker end of the color space it's not easy to discern subtle differences in colored text. So the best bet for Tara's project would probably be brighter text on a black or dark gray background.

*The font can help* too. IMO the verdana font is the most readable of the onscreen fonts. I also like to go with a larger size, say 14 to 15px (in CSS terminology).

*The problem with multicolored text*, even where it's necessary, is that it _looks_ like the page was coded up by middle-schoolers. So the immediate reaction by most people is that they don't take the page seriously or they think it looks cluttered. A much cooler method to achieve the same result would be to use black text for the parts you read _now_, and gray text for everything else. And then some JavaScript buttons to control which reading phase you're in, and therefore which text is black and which is gray. Also it'd be easier on the reader 'cause they wouldn't have to remember color combinations.


*A general principle for everyone (not just Tara):*

*Web surfers are a nervous and twitchy bunch.* They land on a new page. Their eyes dart back and forth, they take in the header, the navigation widget, and they skim down the page contents--and their mouse pointer hovers over the back button. You've got about 5 seconds to grab them. And you can't give them _any_ excuse to hit that button. *I figure anything I can do to make it easier for my site visitors is time well spent.*

Don't believe me? Pay attention to how you behave when randomly surfing the Web.

Scotty


----------



## Tara (Feb 12, 2009)

redcard said:


> Good luck finding a co-author, then.
> 
> Color coding in writing is an abomination.



I found two before so it's not a hopeless search.

Once again it works for some but not for others, and unfortunately I can't pick and choose who reads this.

But thanks for the good luck, even if you didn't really mean it, haha. :]
-Tara.


----------



## Tara (Feb 12, 2009)

Thanks so much for your response Scotty, I really do appreciate the fact that you took the time to type all that out and well, not be a jerk about it. Thanks. It'll take me some time but I figure I'll go back and mess around with my old post, it's over a year old so it could use some modifications. I'll possibly try some the things that you suggested as well; at least the things that I know how to do, haha. Once again, thanks. 
-Tara.


----------



## VÃ¶lf (Feb 22, 2009)

Well I skimmed it. Color code was an interesting idea, I've tried stuff like that before. It's considerably difficult if you ask me though. Not saying that you were, I couldn't tell, but as a warning you have to be careful not to switch perspective too much because it gets confusing. There was a lot of writing and I don't have a lot of time with my own work and schoolwork... good luck anyway.


----------

