The Do's and Dont's of Mibba Story Layouts

Now, before I begin, I must make it clear that this is merely my opinion. I am sure some will agree with me, and I am also sure some won't. And now that that is cleared up, we can begin.

Mibba layouts. They come in all shapes, colors, font sizes, and background colors. Mibba does have premade layouts, but many people prefer to make their own layouts. Everyone has a different eye for layouts, but I think we can all agree on one thing.

A story layout should enhance the story, not overshadow it or even detract from the story's value.

So here are a few things you can do to make your story layout enhance your story.

The Do's:

1. Do have your title visible and easy to read somewhere on the layout. This may be on a banner or not, but the title is a pretty important thing so make sure people can see it.

2. Be creative. White background, black text, black title, black links. Classy? Maybe. Interesting? No way.

3. Do separate your background from the actual story. Put the story on a white background that way the text can be easily read instead of trying to read it over a picture.

4. Do use pictures. Whether it be icons or a banner, it's nice to have something pretty on a layout.

5. Do keep it simple. Remember people want to read the story, not stare at a dozen different colors.

The Don'ts

(yes, there are more of these)

1. Don't use neon colors. It strains eyes and no one wants to stare at neon green for twelve chapters.

2. Don't use unreadable font. Sure it may be a gothic story, but it is really hard to read 8pt. gothic script font.

3. Don't use small font. People want to be able to read it.

4. Don't use to large of font. People don't want to have to scroll every two words.

5. Don't use six different backgrounds. You don't need a main background, a background behind the title, a background behind the chapter title, a background behind the main story, etc. Keep it simple.

6. Don't make the background for your story content red, pink, blue, black, green, purple, actually any other color than white and off white. You don't pick up a book and the pages are green, so just cause it's the Internet doesn't mean your pages should be green.

7. Don't use pictures of people as the background. A scrolling image of a person is distracting.

8. Don't make the area for story content super thin, once again people do not want to have to be scrolling all the time.

9. Don't use an overly large picture for your banner. This ties into people not wanting to scroll and also a huge picture dominates the story and what are people there to do? See a picture or read a story?

The Jist of it All

If I could sum it all up in one word it would be simplicity. People want to read your story, so make sure they can with ease. If someone stumbles upon a layout where the font is too small and the layout is too busy, they will turn away. No matter how good your writing is you need to present it well. The things I listed were only just my opinion and I'm sure there are numerous things you can do to make an attractive layout.

Hope some of these helped if you are new to making a layout or if you just wanted someones opinion.