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Writer's Block - The Monthly Story Writing Magazine: April Edition!
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 31-12-2013 15:39
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Tour de France Champion
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+1 me too  |
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| Shonak |
Posted on 31-12-2013 18:06
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Tour de France Champion
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Looking forward to read this with a massive hangover tomorrow. 
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 01-01-2014 09:28
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Tour de France Champion
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Edited by Ian Butler on 01-01-2014 09:42
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| Cycleman123 |
Posted on 01-01-2014 09:46
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Grand Tour Specialist
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Great edition
EDIT: Could've mentioned me when you talked about losing time by celebrating  Don't mind though of course
Edited by Cycleman123 on 01-01-2014 09:57
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 22-11-2024 00:32
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| Jakstar22 |
Posted on 01-01-2014 09:55
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Team Leader
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Great writing here Ian. I loved the bit about my stories too thanks for including me in this magazine.
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 01-01-2014 10:17
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Directeur Sportif
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And glory! Thanks for that Dark Dog-special, sometimes i miss this good old times..
Nice edition again, some interesting stuff about Nerzego and a very nice screen of the month!
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| Mresuperstar |
Posted on 01-01-2014 14:10
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Grand Tour Champion
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Another great edition.  Keep it up Ian these are so fun to read.
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| Selwink |
Posted on 01-01-2014 14:50
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Grand Tour Champion
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Nice write-up
And thanks for the screenshot!
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 01-01-2014 15:05
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 34654
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Another nice read mate, keep it up |
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 01-01-2014 15:13
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Took me some time to figure this out today, but i can now tell what exactly bothers me so much about the layout.
Page 1 is very nice. 3 Simple columns, evenly spaced out and with equal sized images scattered at semi-regular intervals. It's pretty simple, flows pretty well and is easy to follow and read. Only recommendation is to drop the second image (Lampre-ISD) so that the top line of that image is matched with the bottom line of the first image (Nerz). Then add in an extra line space underneath the article title and before the text begins. From there drop the third image (stats) so that the top line matches the bottom line of the second image, or so that there are 4-5 lines of full width text in between the images. Would just make the whole column much crisper and really lift it to an new level of style and look.
The other two columns are great, perhaps an extra line space at the top of column two could be put in.
Page 2 however is still a mess. Way too much stuff happening in terms of images that the text is very hard to follow with real flow and it all just kind of merges and blurs into a mess of colors with no sense of defining focus. But then it's pretty much just the Forgotten Treasures section that suffers.
It needs a focus point. This i imagine should be the text about the story, but it is so lost under the images! Of the images again there is little flow or focus to them. Less really is more here. Just 2-3 images that really relate to the immediate text is all that is needed. Mendoza Preview, Pic(k) of the Day and Huez images are unnecessary. While they might have been nice features they have no relation to the text around them. You can take them out and it would make no difference to the article content meaning.
More coherent text that is regularly spaced. Less images that have more relation to the text immediately around them. And a clear focus point for the eye.
The Ian Butler section could use some slightly better spacing. Too many images again squashes the space and the text. One of the images is so small you can barely tell whats happening in it. Take that out and space the Velasquez-Double writing out and instantly that section would be better.
These are all visual and layout issues. The content itself is great again and has no problems. But just a few changes to the layout would really lift the whole idea up a level. More regularity, more natural flow, and more clear focus points.
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 01-01-2014 15:31
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Tour de France Champion
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Thanks everyone! I'm glad you're enjoying it
@TMM: Thanks for the feedback once again. As long as every edition gets a bit better, it's good news for me. Though in my defence, it's hard to work with the lay-out when you get the text back from the interview and then have to put that in size 14.
Anyway, I agree with most of the things that you say. The spacing in Ian Butler section was a problem, but I decided this is a one-time thing so it mattered little how it looked.
I do not agree, however, with the Forgotten Treasure section. While I get what you mean, I want to explain this story both in words (the text) and in images. Because I have limited space, I like having screenshots telling additional information that I don't mention in the text, see what I mean? |
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| Dippofix |
Posted on 01-01-2014 15:44
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Really nice read, and thanks for including Jack in it.
Edited by Dippofix on 01-01-2014 15:45
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| sammyt93 |
Posted on 01-01-2014 16:19
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The content is again of a really high quality and there's no doubt that's where this shines however I've got a few ideas on how to improve the layout.
As TMM said I'd make the screenshots on the first page line up with bottom of the previous one in the first column but apart from that it already looks really professional. The second page looks cluttered and like you are trying to cram too much into it, mainly down to the amount of screnshots in the forgotten treasure section, and also in your writer's block special.
A third page would be a real benefit as then you could expand the Forgotten Treasure to a whole page, which would mean you can space out the images better to make it feel less cluttered and it would probably give you room to expand the text to cover more of them if you feel the need to.
Then for the next issue I'd put the Story of the Month and New Story of the Month as 1 column each, on the left and right hand sides of a new third page with the screenshot of the month on the bottom centre of it, with What's New on the Block above it.
Or if What's New on the Block wouldn't fill that whole space then I'd add a spot under the screenshot of the month where you can give a small preview of what's in the next edition, who The Looking Glass is focussed on and what story will be the Forogtten Treasure, if you've already got those things planned that is.
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| Marcovdw |
Posted on 01-01-2014 16:37
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Yay, I'm mentioned 
Nice read
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| Shonak |
Posted on 01-01-2014 16:39
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 15615
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Very nice issue, Ian Butler. Once again. I really liked the interview with Cunego.
Will be tough though to wait for the next one an entire month now. 
Thanks for including Gora Euskadi as well.
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
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| The Rider |
Posted on 01-01-2014 18:39
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Congrats Ian on another issue.
It all looks great but I have to disagree on the screenshot choice! In my opinion I'm pretty sure there are...100s... which had a better claim to that award this past month.
Maybe in future additions people can vote on something? |
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 02-01-2014 09:23
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 21854
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sammyt93 wrote:
Spoiler The content is again of a really high quality and there's no doubt that's where this shines however I've got a few ideas on how to improve the layout.
As TMM said I'd make the screenshots on the first page line up with bottom of the previous one in the first column but apart from that it already looks really professional. The second page looks cluttered and like you are trying to cram too much into it, mainly down to the amount of screnshots in the forgotten treasure section, and also in your writer's block special.
A third page would be a real benefit as then you could expand the Forgotten Treasure to a whole page, which would mean you can space out the images better to make it feel less cluttered and it would probably give you room to expand the text to cover more of them if you feel the need to.
Then for the next issue I'd put the Story of the Month and New Story of the Month as 1 column each, on the left and right hand sides of a new third page with the screenshot of the month on the bottom centre of it, with What's New on the Block above it.
Or if What's New on the Block wouldn't fill that whole space then I'd add a spot under the screenshot of the month where you can give a small preview of what's in the next edition, who The Looking Glass is focussed on and what story will be the Forogtten Treasure, if you've already got those things planned that is.
I get your point. A third page would space things out immensely. But the "problem" is, I kind of like things together. It makes it more... cozy, warm, I think. But I'll think about it
Shonak wrote:
Very nice issue, Ian Butler. Once again. I really liked the interview with Cunego.
Will be tough though to wait for the next one an entire month now.
Thanks for including Gora Euskadi as well.
Yeah, I have to wait a month now, too 
The Rider wrote:
Congrats Ian on another issue.
It all looks great but I have to disagree on the screenshot choice! In my opinion I'm pretty sure there are...100s... which had a better claim to that award this past month.
Maybe in future additions people can vote on something?
Well, screenshots are always subjectively. I don't know, to be honest, I'm not up to organizing a vote each month. For now I'm just choosing it myself (or taking suggestions send in by pm).
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Thanks for all the support, guys! I've already found a story writer for the next Looking Glass |
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| Cycleman123 |
Posted on 02-01-2014 09:33
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Posts: 4478
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Maybe you could have more than one screenshot of the month. Also, if you ever run out (I'm probably towards the bottom of the list ) of people to interview I'm here
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 02-01-2014 09:39
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 21854
Joined: 01-05-2012
PCM$: 400.00
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Cycleman123 wrote:
Maybe you could have more than one screenshot of the month. Also, if you ever run out (I'm probably towards the bottom of the list ) of people to interview I'm here
I'll keep it in mind
I don't have a list, though
After releasing an edition, I just look around the story section.
It can be anybody, but there are certain qualifications, though. I can't interview someone who only has one story of 10 pages, for example |
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| Cycleman123 |
Posted on 02-01-2014 09:40
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4478
Joined: 30-07-2012
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Good, I have one with 29
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![imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg](https://imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg)
