Fear God, Honour the King.

[Leighbridge]

a

[Dragon]

Thank you for your reply but I don't understand your idea for illustrations with the story, the previous chapter posted is for a book, novel, paper back or preferably hard back…I don't see the necessity for illustrations.

Your remark about font is noted and I have increased the size of the posts in this one. You could of course use the zoom control on your computer to read the aforementioned work, I do when I read from other sites and I did apologise for the format.

As for a blog, I see no need for one, all I asked was for those who frequent this site to read and comment on what was posted ...

Please don't be patronising to me. When I commented on your previous extract, no-one else had bothered to say anything. I was trying to be helpful in suggesting that the format may have been a deterrent. You didn't need to be abrasive.

If you want people to read your material, you need to reach out to them, not expect them to accommodate you. It's no use posting an apology for the format well into the piece, when you could have done something about it yourself. Why should people have to adjust their computer's view to do you the favour of reading your stuff and commenting on it?

I have a fair amount of experience in writing text for the web, which is not the same as writing for paper publication. People read differently and certainly slower on the web and for a lot of people, reading on a screen is not pleasant. You have to make it attractive to them. Blocks of text are off-putting. Small fonts and wide lines (this text block is wide) make it hard to read. Verdana is usually seen as a web-friendly font. It is considered good practice to break up text, using shorter paragraphs, maybe with sparing use of illustrations or images. This isn't to reduce serious text to the level of a Ladybird book, but to prevent the page becoming dense.

Initially this went against the grain for me because of my particular background and experience of writing extended prose, but I have had to learn to do it as I want to draw people into my writing.

I suggested the blog area because it is more suitable for extended writing, which a message board format is not. People do not read word for word online and asking them to read in a forum a long extract of continuous prose intended as a book is not very considerate.

I hope you attract some readers.

Gwyn