New Website!
So... Things have changed a little bit. Where do we even start?
Firstly, this is one of two new posts to read on the new site. You can also check out the blog about Paranormal Accounts at Paige's Desk in the Lit Hall.
Secondly, you can access all of the old website stuff by clicking "Archive" at the top of this page.
Last blog post was about overcomplicating the vision for my website by reinventing the wheel. This time, I overcomplicated things by reinventing the wheel... but, like, in a cool exciting way. Here's the process I've been through in the past two weeks:
What's the point?
There isn't any point.
I had gotten so wrapped up in finding these grand stories to tell with big overarching themes. Yeah, none of that. It's a personal website, so it's about me. Sometimes there might be adventure and intrigue, because I like intrigue. But I just wanted to try to open up and make stuff.
I do still think that websites as a medium have a lot of untapped storytelling potential, but that's not what I'm going for in this project anymore.
Finding inspiration
The concept I was going for was, I realized, a guided experience very similar to a theme park or museum. Instead of a literal narrative, the "story" is the reader's understanding and experience, and it progresses naturally as they explore and discover new stuff to look at. Last time, I tried to analyze the structure of a personal website; this time, I have a different model to present:
- The entrance zone, which leads to other areas.
- Semi-independent sections that loop into themselves (I called these "trail loops" in my notes).
- Stopping points for resources, like information, and dead ends for special pieces of art.
It might not look all that different from the breakdown last time, but it made a world of difference to me!
What's it gonna look like?
At this point, I started thinking about themes, and writing words like "science-y" and "spooky" into my notes. Dark places, but ones that still felt inviting... or, at least, made you feel compelled to look inside. I kind of hit a creative block here, so I started thinking about what I wanted to add. I liked the idea of having a virtual "desk" where readers could look and comment on whatever writing work I was doing. Maybe I could post about website maintenance in, like, a boiler room or something.
Around this point, I realized I was kind of stuck in the blog-writing mindset. I wanted to do more than lecture at people-
Wait... lecturing?
That's how I got the college idea
From here... I honestly wish I had something more insightful to add. Pieces just started falling into place. I could build up a kayfabe as a professor, and organize my disconnected interests into zones based on fields of study. Wizard schools are already a pretty well-established idea (though, that might not be a strictly good thing), so there's a lot of ground to explore thematically.
Paige's Desk
If you know me in real life, you might notice my name isn't actually Paige. It's a character name. I could write a whole 'nother website's worth of blogs about online identity and character work, but suffice it to say it can be easier to write certain types of pieces when you're performing a different identity.
Paige is more or less an author stand-in, but this is my personal website, so all of the characters are going to represent me to some degree.
Ever since starting the site, I've been agonizing over reader-generated content. I always wanted to add some, but couldn't figure out the tools. Well, I have the tools now, but I'm still a little uncertain with what I want it to be. I have three good concepts:
- an advice column from the perspective of some kind of character - less about actual advice, more about being entertaining.
- A blog about what I'm writing, and/or the writing techniques I'm slowly (very slowly) learning about and developing in the process of writing more.
- Writing poems or short stories based on reader-submitted prompts; kind of like a collaborative writing exercise, incorporating more and more reader-written content
We're gonna try our best to merge these three concepts, but I expect most of these ideas to need major trimming. That's just how that goes. If it works out well, I had tons of other ideas, like holding virtual office hours where you could come and talk to me live. It's probably best to start small, though.
Closing thoughts (future process)
I still have some thoughts about this website structure:
- I do think making it possible for people to get lost isn't... necessarily a great idea.
- Using mixed media to create assets for the site isn't a cure-all for my chronic creative block, and it might be a bad plan more than it is a good plan.
- Making transitions between art pieces that might have very different moods is tricky, and something I want to be very conscious of going forward.
- If you made it here, you can probably tell that... well, everything's a door. I'm working slowly on making new assets, but it sure doesn't look very good right now. Hopefully, the written descriptions are enough temporarily.
I'm not going to make any promises about when or what I post next. It just doesn't ever turn out like how I expect it to.
Leave a comment if you found this blog post! I hope you enjoy exploring, even if most of the visual assets aren't ready yet!