Membership, activity, and fresh life

Author: Jim Stitzel

I dabble a little in a lot of things — writing, webcomics, gaming, photography, web design, music, and more. I write code full-time and words in the gaps in between.

I know, I know. I've been away from Ficlatté for a while tending to personal business and getting my life in order. I apologize for my absence, but honestly, it's been good for me, and I'm in a better place now than I have been in a long time.

That said, I've noticed upon my return that general activity around here has decreased quite a bit and many long-standing members are somewhat absent, as well. I know life calls some of us to move on to other things, but I would love to see a little life restored to these walls we have so lovingly built over the last few years. The last couple of challenges have been spread out over two or three years and have gone unmet. Prompts have been hit-and-miss, and the writers that I have seen active are either relatively new (or redubbed with fresh pen names) or old hands who have been around forever.

I'd love to launch another challenge, but I don't want to do so if there isn't any interest. And I'd love to see some fresh blood in here again. Would it be possible to start a membership drive to bring some new writers into our fold? If some of us launched challenges, are there any who would step up to meet them? How about prompts?

Let's open the windows and air the ol' place out a bit. Dust the cobwebs from the corners. Throw open the doors. Make some coffee and welcome some new folks to come in for a visit. Let's make this place what it used to be -- a community of people who love words, stories, poetry, and the craft of writing. It takes a community to make a community.

Comments (9 so far!)

ScrawlersSecret

I once tried to drum up interest by sharing the website in the forums of NaNoWriMo. In the forum described as for sharing Writing Websites. It got flagged for spam. I entirely support a membership drive but I am unsure how to help. I have minimal social media. Though I did just generate a Pin for this site on Pinterest if anyone wants to try to share it around. https://pin.it/igylgj2av5hyim

#4346 Posted 5 years ago
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Jim Stitzel

It's funny, isn't it, how a group that promotes writing calls out promoting other groups that write as spam? It's a shame, really, because all these little communities could certainly use more visibility. Thanks for trying. We just need to continue with word of mouth and try to encourage any other writer friends we have to bring themselves over here.

#4347 Posted 5 years ago
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HSAR

I think that this style of writing has always been very niche, and it is accordingly difficult to find new members that are passionate enough about the format to stay around in the long term. Pile on top of that our standards for the "long term" - I am by no means the eldest author around here and am shortly reaching my tenth anniversary - and I suspect that things will always be a bit on the quiet side.

#4351 Posted 5 years ago
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PrincessLapis

Yeah, I've noticed there's very little activity. I've been meaning to write more here, but I've been doing a bit more writing on Yarny, mostly because my brain has been calling for longer stories. I've posted a few of them up here, but some of them are too much longer, so it gets a little silly. I might just share a snippet and the link to the writing. It's not quite the same, but it's still writing?

I've been having fun making prompts, though, and should really participate in more of them. I think I'll try to get around to it more now that the holidays are over. They left me feeling pretty drained a lot, and my sleep schedule got way out of whack somehow. I'd definitely try to participate in any challenges or prompts that catch my interest, however!

#4352 Posted 5 years ago
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Jim Stitzel

I've enjoyed your prompts, and I want to start up a challenge again, but I'm afraid if I do that we don't have enough active members to make it worth the effort.

#4353 Posted 5 years ago
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ElshaHawk LoA

I sent an old ficly person Reagan Dauterive and a new Twitter Friend @IreneDreams over this way.

Ficlatte deserves a revamp, a new fresh start.

I can use Twitter. Who is the Twitter admin? A new bunch of Tweets asking the #WritingCommunity some prompt type questions would be a huge boost. My followers are genuine writers.

It needs a social aspect and that is what is lacking.

#4362 Posted 5 years ago
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Jim Stitzel

I'd like to get back to developing for Ficlatté. I was starting to work on some social features before I had to take my hiatus. I'm ready to get back to those ideas.

#4365 Posted 5 years ago
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PrincessLapis

I'm glad my prompts have been receiving some attention. I've been meaning to write for them myself, but tired. At least prompts are fun, and not technically too different from challenges!

As for new features, I know a friend a while back mentioned an RSS feed would be good for the site. It would also be nice to have some sort of ping/mention system, so it's easier to reply to people and let them know you replied.

#4369 Posted 5 years ago
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ethelthefrog

Yeah... life is very busy and we all have many things doing. I am aware that I haven't been around much either.

Thank you, Jim, for your words, your encouragement and for making a blog post to keep the place fresh.

#4378 Posted 5 years ago
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