The Importance of Story Layouts

I've gotten into the habit of making custom layouts for all of my stories, even one-shots. For a story about some rock stars playing Scrabble, I found a picture of scrabble tiles and made it the background alongside the white strip for the text, for a Ger-Z one-shot I have a picture of the two together in the bottom right corner, for my current fic, No Man's Land, I have artistic representation of my character as a banner and part of the background, with black and red colors for the rest of the layout to match with his suit and red hair.

For me, it really just says wonders when an author goes the extra mile to make a custom layout that compliments their story, rather than picking a pre-made layout for it.

Jinxeh:

I've gotten into the habit of making custom layouts for all of my stories, even one-shots.

I do it for all stories, but I didn't realize it was less customary for oneshots.
To me they're even more important for oneshots because you only have one chance to make an impact.
With a chaptered story, you have more chances.

I pretty much fail at life when it comes to making layouts. Does anybody have some tips to make really pretty ones? I usually find myself just sticking to plain colors, but I wish I could make something better.

I think that layouts are important. It can draw in a reader and make the story nicer to look at (since you are staring at a screen to read the story.) I make my layouts and I think it shows that the author cares a little bit more about their story if they make a good one.

I like original layouts. They show creativity, and there aren't any others like it. But I don't know how to make them

Making story layouts calms me down, as weird as that sounds.
So, obviously, I absolutely love making them. I make one for every story I have and most of my actual stories have maybe five layouts I can switch out.
The story layout is really important to me, if it's a bad layout, I instantly have some issues with reading the story, but I'll tough it out if I like it enough, and it will eventually grow on me. ;D

And Bells. if you go to My Mibba and then scroll down to the Stories section, there's a button that says Layouts, click on that and it's self-explainatory from there.
(Hope that helped.)

Rose Red:

I pretty much fail at life when it comes to making layouts.

You and me both. :XD I made one today, but it's really boring. Black background, white font. I'm really new at making layouts, so I'm just practicing for now. I'm getting tired of using the pre-made layouts. I think if and when I actually post a chaptered story on here, I'll be better at it and have a pretty background. (At least, I hope.)

I'm a big fan of the black-on-white layouts.

I've used this on for two unposted ones so far...

Simple layouts are probably the best. Even if it's a pretty layout, if it's a little much or I have a hard time adjusting my eyes (white-on-black is bad for me) it's really rather annoying.

My whole view on layouts is that they basically encompass the personality of the story- if the story is bright and the layout is suitably bright as well, then it meshes. If a layout is obnoxiously different from the story it's on, though, people might turn away because of that.

I just think that the layout leaves just as much of an impression on the reader as the text does- the color is the first thing you see, in the summary. :) It's important to make a good one. I make my own, and that's the best part.

Just out of interest, but how does everyone choose what their layouts will look like for each story?

I generally always have a background picture that I'll find on deviantart or photobucket. I choose photos/pictures that relate to the theme of the story, a character or the title. For example, in my story Crazy Close, I searched 'chains.' My first idea was to use the chains to represent a strong relationship, but when I found the picture I used, the intention changed. In my perspective, the way I intended the picture to be read as my layout, was that the butterfly represents happiness, and the chains restraining the hands represent Frank's inability to attain it in the beginning of the story.

Sounds all symbolic and maybe like bull, but that was my thought.

Smashed Pumpkin:

Just out of interest, but how does everyone choose what their layouts will look like for each story?

For me, it depends on the mood of the story, or how I want the readers to see it when they read...if that makes sense.
Usually, I go onto DeviantArt to find photographs - or sometimes digital art - that matches the theme of the story.
I find that's easier with one shots, though, and with stories the pictures are more vague.

^
Yeah, same.
The mood in a chaptered story generally changes more than in a one-shot, so a picture can be hard to match.

Smashed Pumpkin:

Just out of interest, but how does everyone choose what their layouts will look like for each story?

I generally always have a background picture that I'll find on deviantart or photobucket. I choose photos/pictures that relate to the theme of the story, a character or the title. For example, in my story Crazy Close, I searched 'chains.' My first idea was to use the chains to represent a strong relationship, but when I found the picture I used, the intention changed. In my perspective, the way I intended the picture to be read as my layout, was that the butterfly represents happiness, and the chains restraining the hands represent Frank's inability to attain it in the beginning of the story.

Sounds all symbolic and maybe like bull, but that was my thought.

Depends on the feel of the story. If it's very dark, I use a dark layout. I chose the weird background for S/he because I thought the shatteredness of it matched Ryan a fair pit.

For The End of Days, I used the one streak of light in the background to symbolize Ryan's thoughts of the Apocalypse while he was being raped.

In A Closet Full of Dresses, Ryan has pictures of women all over the walls in the room where he keeps his dresses and these are the type of women he envies, pictures, wants to be like, classic pin-up girls. Beauty in one of it's finest forms, and so I used them as the background.

In varies between stories, but I usually just find a picture that matches how the story itself makes me feel, what it makes me think of.

I mainly get my 'header' images from photobucket.

I've come across some extremely distressing images. Don't search something unless the terms you use are specific. Typing in something like 'murder' will get you images you most likely don't want to see.

Which color of font works best with a black background? Some people say colored...others say plain white? I'm confused.

^ I like to use colors closer to white, but...light. Like light pink/blue or cream or light green and stuff like that. It's easy on the eyes, but not plain black and white. :XD

For my drabble Clumsy, I spent like...two minutes making the layout and maybe five on the banner, but it's one of my favourite layouts that I've made.
I don't know which is sadder, that it's my favourite or that I have a favourite.

Venomous.:

Which color of font works best with a black background? Some people say colored...others say plain white? I'm confused.

For me, it depends on the rest of my layout.
I'll usually use a lighter gray or a white.
Sometimes I'll use a creamier off-white.
I've used light blue, light green, light pink.
Pastels, whites, and grays are your best bet.

Jon Walker.:

For my drabble Clumsy, I spent like...two minutes making the layout and maybe five on the banner, but it's one of my favourite layouts that I've made.
I don't know which is sadder, that it's my favourite or that I have a favourite.

:tehe: My story Cold Blood. has my favorite layout.

I like to make them because I make it fit my stories personality; I guess you could say. I feel like I get better after making them over and over again. Haha.

SammySuicide:

I feel like I get better after making them over and over again. Haha.

Me, too.
And I have certain things I always do in my layouts now.
For instance, my spacing is always 160%.

I love making layouts, I like to capture the theme of the story in it, or make it interesting so it lures people in to read it.

And I find it difficult reading a story with a default layout, their just not apealling to me, no offence to the people who made them