The Importance of Story Layouts

^ Actually white based layouts are harder on my eyes. They're too bright for me to be able to properly read. They give me headaches and make my eyes sore

loverfayce.:

^ Black-based layouts are so much harder on the eyes. I think white backgrounds with grey/black text should be a rule, to be honest.

This, except I wouldn't go as far as to make it a rule because there are many other lighter background colors/darker text color variations that can be easily read.Like, I don't mind if the background of the layout is dark, but I'd like the actual text area to be lighter with dark text. The white text on black story area gives me a migraine, and I'm not exaggerating.

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I kinda hate how much emphasis is placed on how brilliant a story's layout is. It just seems incredibly shallow to me. I mean, it's all fine and dandy that some people can spend all this time making these elaborate layouts, but not everyone is capable (or in my case, has the time) to do that. I don't think that that automatically makes the content of their story crap because they don't have perfect layouts.

I mean, I did a comment swap the other day on one of my older stories, and the comment I received basically focused solely on the layout and not on the actual writing at all.I was kinda like, "did you even read the story?" Personally, I don't bring up layouts in a comment (excluding reviews) unless they somehow hinder me from reading the piece.

I think the problem with layouts is some people find it easier to read darker layouts, and some people find brighter ones easier, but then neither type of person really ever chooses those in the middle to accommodate everyone.
Or something like that.
I mean, I'm pretty much in neither group, and I'm not going to sit and squint at the screen to work out what each word says. It can ruin what would be a very good, and very popular story, because no matter how good the writing itself is, let's face it; which of us is going to sit and squint at every word for 30 seconds?

Well, honestly when I see someone with a premade layout, the first thing I assume is that they're a new writer, or new to the site, and doesn't write really well. I must admit I tend not to read stories like that because of the above, plus usually when I read the summary, it proves my assumption as correct.

When I see an original layout, if it looks bad, I probably won't read it. If it looks nice, I'll read the summary. The summary makes all the difference in the world. If it's bad, I won't read it. It's kind of the same for the layout. Default layouts to me is fine. I mean, we don't read fancy paged books, so a default layout won't hurt me. It's better than a crappy layout.

Kurrsteee;:

I think the problem with layouts is some people find it easier to read darker layouts, and some people find brighter ones easier, but then neither type of person really ever chooses those in the middle to accommodate everyone.
Or something like that.
I mean, I'm pretty much in neither group, and I'm not going to sit and squint at the screen to work out what each word says. It can ruin what would be a very good, and very popular story, because no matter how good the writing itself is, let's face it; which of us is going to sit and squint at every word for 30 seconds?

I would agree, if you couldn't set the story to default layout. My eyes are really sensitive, so I'll do that anyway more than likely. Even my own layouts hurt my eyes after some time.

I'm actually a judgmental person, when I see a premade layout, it usually just turns me right off. Default layouts are easier to read than premade layouts but I still don't like the default one that much either, it's so blindingly..white. And I really hate seeing the Trebuchet MS font in stories, I just can't read stories with that font, I don't know why.

I like original layouts but if they're sloppily made or on the side, it also turns me off.

^ Same. I hate pre-made layouts, and I'll only read the story if it's particularly enticing or if I'm extremely bored.

though i don't get turned off by bad layouts or default/premade, I agree with ayanasioux that summaries make ALL the difference! If the summary sucks, I usually don't read much of it--if at all. the same with the summaries that are merely quoted text from the story that bothers me too.
tho i myself have several blk background stories with white text, both ways can be difficult to read. a nice middle ground is a good idea as long as it works with the story. sometimes a story just calls for a white on black or black on white. you know?

It's kind of obvious how many people will recommend a story based on the beauty of a story layout. Like, the layout could just be a couple of character links and people will recc that stuff out like no tomorrow. That being said, I'm guilty of this

I'd say a story layout is important though, while I think it's shallow to base a story off on how good the layout is, a nicely made layout draws people in and people are more likely to read the story. I've never read a well-received story on here that didn't have a nice layout (besides this one story, but I can't seem to find it)

This is a writing website, not a graphic design website, so layouts don't mean a damn thing to me as long as they don't hinder my ability to read the actual story. White text on a dark background is impossible for me to read without getting a migraine, gifs as banners/backgrounds make my browser crash, and if you have a gaziilion images going on in your layout, I'm sorry, but that's fucking distracting and there's no way I'm gonna be able to focus on the actual words unless I switch to default.

I think there's a good number of users on this site that spend more time on the layout than on the actual story, and it comes through in the writing. In my opinion, a pretty wrapper doesn't mean shit if the content is poorly-written.

Well, psychologically, environment is really important in setting a person's tone/mood, so layouts can be really important because of that. But that doesn't mean fancy~ layouts are more important than simple ones. It just means color, organization, and any messages being sent through the graphics tend to influence one's experience with the writing.

For me, I think a story with a complex layout causes me to lose focus on the actual story, whereas the lack of a layout altogether makes me lose interest with the work, because it automatically appears very generic. But that's just my personal preference. I like a good organized layout that balances with the text.

I think a layout is good for setting the mood. I read this story where the layout was quite bright and pretty, but it didn't set the mood of the story at all (the story itself was quite dark and sad) and it just threw me off a bit.

Honestly, I don't find layouts too important (although I'm a sucker for a gorgeous layout). I take a lot of time on my layouts, but I understand that not everyone can (or wants) to do that.

As long as it isn't blinking or consisting of entirely bright and obnoxious colors, I'll read it.

(This isn't entirely related to layouts as a whole, but I pretty much view banners as I would view a story cover, so if a story doesn't have a banner, I get pretty sad, not gonna lie, haha.)

I like to make simple layouts. maybe a simple color scheme with a picture or (slow) gif as a banner. I think it's important, simply because it adds a feel to the story in my opinion.

I think story layouts are very important. It sets the feel/mood of the story. I also like nice banners to go with it, but it's not a must. We're just naturally attracted to things that look better anyway. I also hate wide content boxes. I cannot stand the default layout or premade layouts.

i saw sparks:

This is a writing website, not a graphic design website, so layouts don't mean a damn thing to me as long as they don't hinder my ability to read the actual story. White text on a dark background is impossible for me to read without getting a migraine, gifs as banners/backgrounds make my browser crash, and if you have a gaziilion images going on in your layout, I'm sorry, but that's fucking distracting and there's no way I'm gonna be able to focus on the actual words unless I switch to default.

I think there's a good number of users on this site that spend more time on the layout than on the actual story, and it comes through in the writing. In my opinion, a pretty wrapper doesn't mean shit if the content is poorly-written.

I still very much feel the same way

I prefer simple layouts with just a banner and a color scheme that matches because then you get the banner that serves as the story's "cover" and a color scheme that sets the mood. I feel like all the layouts with fifty million patterns, avatars, and gifs going on is just a distraction to the reader.

It's sad that I feel like I have to make these elaborate layouts just to get people to read my friggin' story

I kind of almost resent layouts because I think a lot of users care too much about them. I find them overrated and unnecessary in a sense that what is most important is and should always be the writing. Plus, I actually like default layout because there is no distraction for me as a reader, and I like using default layout or the pre-made layouts when posting because it takes out the added headache of layout making or worrying whether the layout looks right, which sometimes makes me put off posting stories just so I can put off the aggravation. I mean, don't get me wrong a nice layout is a nice layout, and sometimes I go ahead and put in the effort to make a halfway decent one, but I just don't get the hype around them.
Most other writing websites don't even have them at all, are you guys who hate the default layout or won't read without a good layout telling me that you don't read on other websites? [/not trying to be argumentative here, I am genuinely curious.]

@ This.Useless.Heart.

I really agree with this, and I don't mean to offend anyone, but I've always kind of gotten the impression that a lot of the people on here that do care so much about a story's layout don't do a ton of reading on other sites because Mibba is pretty much one of the only sites that has that much layout customization for a story.

Admittedly, I do most of my reading on livejournal and FF.net, and I like the reading experience on those sites better because it allows the writing to speak for itself. On FF.net, the reader can adjust the size and font so it's readable, and there aren't a ton of images to serve as a distraction. On lj, the writer just has their entire profile customized, there isn't that level of customization on each individual story

I like that because it makes people put actual work into their summaries and drawing people in that way with the writing. I've seen a few stories on here that basically rely on the layout to get readers and have no real summary or anything to tell the reader what the story's about other than this elaborate layout.

@ i saw sparks
Sadly, you might be right. I do most of my reading on Archive of Our Own, and there are no layouts or customization on there. It's just a basic text format, and honestly I like reading on there a lot for that reason (and because they have so much variety, of course.) I've really been giving posting on there a lot of though because I feel like I would get more readers, and I would not have to be bothered with layouts.
I mean there are things I like about this site, of course, don't get me wrong, but the layouts issue can get very annoying and frustrating for me.

@ This.Useless.Heart.

I used to cross-post on AO3, but I wasn't really getting any feedback, so I stopped. I read a lot of Hunger Games stuff on there though. I like Mibba because there are more things you can do and post on here, but the downside is definitely the importance of layouts and the way that it's become about feedback here in that basically you're not going to get any unless you constantly do comment swaps or have a ton of friends on here.

I mean, kudos to people who are able to spend a ton of time on their layouts, but I know when I was in college and working, I was lucky that I still managed to find time to write, let alone worry about the layouts. It's sad that a pretty layout has become more of a requirement here than just a luxury.

I prefer custom layouts, only because the default layout really bugs me with the font and how wide the text section is. I prefer smaller margins, and not the default text. But, saying that, if I find a story I really like with custom layout I don't like / can't read, I will get over my grudge with the default layout and just read with that.

If done right, layouts can also be a visual representation of the story and such, give it a specific mood / feeling - much like a cover on a published book.

I also like it because I am a creative person naturally, and I see this as so much more than just simply a writing site. It's a site where you can show off your creativity, whether it be through signatures, avatars, story layouts, etc.