Publication History |
This brief essay is the tail end of a long journey. More than year ago, I gave
myself a mission: develop and publish my writer’s website within three months.
Simple? Well, yes and no. Here are ten critical lessons I learned developing my
site, www.SCBryce.com.
1. You Don’t Have to Know Anything About Web Design To Build a Site.
How do I know this? Because I had no experience with web design, marketing,
or computers generally (other than, of course, being a user). Yet I’ve designed,
built, and now maintain an award-winning website. It’s not perfect, but I’m
working on it.
2. Start Long Before You Intend to Publish the Site.
I began researching building a website with the idea that I would publish my
site within three months. This proved to be a crazy dream. I quickly revised my
estimate to give myself a year to complete the site. Still, I barely finished in
time.
Why does it take so long to develop a website? Well, if you’re like me, then you
have zero knowledge of web design. You have very few ideas about how your
site should look and function, or even what content should be included. It takes
a long time to figure these things out without the aid of a professional. It takes
an even longer time to complete the steps outlined below.
This should not deter you at all from building the site. You can do it! (Don’t
believe me? Go back to Lesson 1.) Besides, if you finish early, so much the
better. You can use all that extra time to do Lessons 8-10.
3. Start Long Before You Have Much Content.
I’ve discussed the appropriate moment to start a website with several writers.
Based on my experience and theirs, I believe that moment is “as soon as
possible.” It can take a lot of rearranging, shifting, revising, and reorganizing to
develop a website that (a) you like and can use, and (b) others like and can use.
Starting this process when there’s less information rather than more makes life
far easier because there’s simply less to move around.
Also, you might be pleasantly surprised about the amount of traffic your site
receives—I surely am.
4. Research Other Sites.
Look at all kinds of websites. Look at the good and the bad, the tasteful and the
gauche. Think about why certain sites succeed and others don’t.
The purpose of all this is to help you refine your own needs and tastes, as well
as to help avoid pitfalls. What colors and fonts work? What navigational tools
are most commonly used? Where are they placed? What are some of the pages
(for example, home, table of contents, and a site map) that are nearly universal
and why? What are some of the page elements and graphics (for example,
contact information, photos, menu bars, and dividers) that are nearly universal
and why? What are some of the particular needs of writers’ websites (for
example, a bibliography) that may not appear in other sites?
Don’t limit yourself to researching writers’ websites. Look at other genre sites,
commercial sites, and even sites that have no obvious relevance to your
planned site. “Why look at commercial sites?” you may ask. “I’m not selling
anything!” Ah, but you’re wrong! You are selling something: you and your
writing. Take tips on salesmanship from the pros.
Once you’ve done this research, you can think about how you can make your
site stand out. This research will also make the next step much easier...
myself a mission: develop and publish my writer’s website within three months.
Simple? Well, yes and no. Here are ten critical lessons I learned developing my
site, www.SCBryce.com.
1. You Don’t Have to Know Anything About Web Design To Build a Site.
How do I know this? Because I had no experience with web design, marketing,
or computers generally (other than, of course, being a user). Yet I’ve designed,
built, and now maintain an award-winning website. It’s not perfect, but I’m
working on it.
2. Start Long Before You Intend to Publish the Site.
I began researching building a website with the idea that I would publish my
site within three months. This proved to be a crazy dream. I quickly revised my
estimate to give myself a year to complete the site. Still, I barely finished in
time.
Why does it take so long to develop a website? Well, if you’re like me, then you
have zero knowledge of web design. You have very few ideas about how your
site should look and function, or even what content should be included. It takes
a long time to figure these things out without the aid of a professional. It takes
an even longer time to complete the steps outlined below.
This should not deter you at all from building the site. You can do it! (Don’t
believe me? Go back to Lesson 1.) Besides, if you finish early, so much the
better. You can use all that extra time to do Lessons 8-10.
3. Start Long Before You Have Much Content.
I’ve discussed the appropriate moment to start a website with several writers.
Based on my experience and theirs, I believe that moment is “as soon as
possible.” It can take a lot of rearranging, shifting, revising, and reorganizing to
develop a website that (a) you like and can use, and (b) others like and can use.
Starting this process when there’s less information rather than more makes life
far easier because there’s simply less to move around.
Also, you might be pleasantly surprised about the amount of traffic your site
receives—I surely am.
4. Research Other Sites.
Look at all kinds of websites. Look at the good and the bad, the tasteful and the
gauche. Think about why certain sites succeed and others don’t.
The purpose of all this is to help you refine your own needs and tastes, as well
as to help avoid pitfalls. What colors and fonts work? What navigational tools
are most commonly used? Where are they placed? What are some of the pages
(for example, home, table of contents, and a site map) that are nearly universal
and why? What are some of the page elements and graphics (for example,
contact information, photos, menu bars, and dividers) that are nearly universal
and why? What are some of the particular needs of writers’ websites (for
example, a bibliography) that may not appear in other sites?
Don’t limit yourself to researching writers’ websites. Look at other genre sites,
commercial sites, and even sites that have no obvious relevance to your
planned site. “Why look at commercial sites?” you may ask. “I’m not selling
anything!” Ah, but you’re wrong! You are selling something: you and your
writing. Take tips on salesmanship from the pros.
Once you’ve done this research, you can think about how you can make your
site stand out. This research will also make the next step much easier...
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| 10 Things I Learned Developing a Writer's Website By SC Bryce |
First Printing:
SFandFantasy Workshop
Newsletter, Vol. 25, No. 296,
Kathleen Dalton-Woodbury, ed.
(Jun. 2006).
SFandFantasy Workshop
Newsletter, Vol. 25, No. 296,
Kathleen Dalton-Woodbury, ed.
(Jun. 2006).
| Science Fiction and Fantasy Workshop Newsletter |
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