Comments on Strikethru: Keitai shosetsu showdown: Quillpill vs. Textnovel

Cool idea, except for those of us who have giganti...

2009-02-27T14:34:00.000-08:00

Cool idea, except for those of us who have gigantic hands. Damn these thumbs and their surface area over 1cm²!

Well, I've been known to go on a get-offa-my-lawn-...

2009-02-27T10:52:00.000-08:00

Well, I've been known to go on a get-offa-my-lawn-type rant about phones that do too much, and are too small, etc. (And yes, about the same age.)

Strip away the novelty factor (no pun intended) of writing a story on a phone, and I think it boils down to one of those writing aphorisms that we all tend to ignore because they're boring: to be a writer, you must write. If being able to do this on a phone while waiting in line for /whatever/ makes it happen, then hey! More power to 'ya. And I can understand the creative jumpstart of working within an arbitrary technical limitation -- NaNo on a typewriter, yes? I suppose one could have the same effect trying to write within the same 140-char limit as Twitter.

Personally, my rare writing outbursts require space, mostly because the language parts of my brain tend to be like a Labrador chasing butterflies in an overgrown field: random and hard to discern an overall pattern. For me, the blank page is almost liberating, because I know I've got space enough to ramble. Micro-noveling would make me want to edit on the fly: not a bad thing to have to think through your words as you go, but potentially stifling.

I'm all for more people tapping into their inner writer, even if it does literally involve tapping.

I've actually been seeing a decent amount of non-g...

2009-02-27T00:24:00.000-08:00

I've actually been seeing a decent amount of non-genre fiction on Quillpill. We certainly have quite a few genre authors, but there are a good number of books I can think of that aren't. I think we see the large amount of genre fiction just based on the type of people who are early adopters in tech. The broader the demographic that tries out the format, I think the broader range of works you'll see and I don't think the format is limited in its appeal to just the high-tech crowd.

I actually do quite a bit of my writing on the keyboard as well, but I also key in a lot of entries when I'm out of the house. It's slower going, but a lot of times the ideas I get down would probably have been forgotten or at least have lost some of their edge by the time I could get to a keyboard.

It's great for business trips too. I wrote most of one of my books in a series of airports a few months back.

Derek, I was surprised at how much I wrote yesterd...

2009-02-26T20:36:00.000-08:00

Derek, I was surprised at how much I wrote yesterday using Quillpill, after having not written any fiction in years. The 140 format made me change my style, which was an interesting exercise. I like the ability to insert posts in the middle of a narrative. Works very well for revisions.

Generally, I wonder if this format will take off for literary fiction. I hope so. I've noticed that nontraditional/digital writing/publishing seems to attract mostly genre writing. I hope more literary fiction writers learn to adapt to the format.

Dori, I am sending you an invitation to use the program now. You must join the quest!!!

MPC, aren't we pretty much exactly the same age? :-) As I mentioned, I didn't try writing text fiction with a cell phone, since mine is basically a brick that receives incoming calls, and nothing more. Funny, I love writing notes and letters by hand, but fiction is not something I could ever write out. From the very beginning I typed it, and I can't even think in a creative way unless I am hearing keys click, preferably loud ones! I have nothing in particular against writing on mobile devices or thumb typing (aside from the fact that I currently do little of either) but I LOATHE virtual keyboards like the one on the iPhone. Dear lord, save us from the virtual keyboard.

I think I'm simply of the wrong generation for cel...

2009-02-26T11:50:00.000-08:00

I think I'm simply of the wrong generation for cell-phone noveling -- I can barely peck out text messages, even with the predictive mode turned on. Actual sentences would mostly aggravate me. Proper noveling-on-the-go would require something with dedicated punctuation keys (not cycling through "1" or "#" or wherever the damn things are hidden.)

I'm surely being an old grump about this, but carrying a decent A7 pad and a pen around seems a much more approachable method of porta-micro-whatever-noveling.

Then again, I loves me my pens and paper, and my cell phone is the uber-cheap Virgin-mobile-$20-model, so you can see where my loyalties lie.

Wow! I think this is a great idea. It is appealing...

2009-02-26T11:41:00.000-08:00

Wow! I think this is a great idea. It is appealing to me as someone who is both long-winded and blank-page-phobic at the same time.

I was telling my husband about it, and his question was "Won't that destroy the continuity of the story?" I'd be interested to hear your thougts on that. I just ask, "Huh? What story?" but then plot has never been my forte either.

I'm glad you like the site! I think you're right ...

2009-02-26T11:21:00.000-08:00

I'm glad you like the site! I think you're right on with the future of fiction. Just like the paperback changed the literary landscape in 1935, the mobile platform is going to change both consumption and authoring in a major way. We've been really into playing with the form and format for both drafting and reading and have gotten a lot of great user feedback from authors on the site.

I think we're really getting a lot out the discussions we've been having with authors and readers and where people are going to go with this format. We don't have a lot of money behind us, but are developing the next version in the time we have. We wrote the prototype because it was something we wanted to use and people have really responded to it. As always, let us know your thoughts on both the site and mobile/micro literature in general, we're always happy to talk to fellow writers.

I don't think it's strange to be excited about such a major disruption in literature. The biggest side of this emerging form is not about how you read it but about how you write it. I really think this will put not only readership in the pockets of cellphone users, but let people find the precious moments throughout the day to create and help them feel empowered to do so. Your anxiety towards the blank page is something we hear from a lot of the authors working on Quillpill. This new format lets you use even a small minute to create and doesn't ask you for any more than you're ready to put down. Often, people get started and realize they've been writing a lot more than they expected, including us.

Derek Maune
Co-Founder
Quillpill

Stan,thanks for letting me know that Textnovel sup...

2009-02-26T09:56:00.000-08:00

Stan,thanks for letting me know that Textnovel supports the 140 format. Textnovel certainly has many user and reader friendly features, as I pointed out. I plan to give Textnovel a try as well to further my comparison, and hope to talk more people into giving the form a try. I'm (strangely in my case) rather enthusiastic about the cell phone fiction medium.

Hi, glad to see you are interested in the medium. ...

2009-02-26T08:04:00.000-08:00

Hi, glad to see you are interested in the medium. I do think Quillpill is an interesting website and they have done a great job with their artwork and design.

A couple of things you might have missed in the comparison though:

1) Textnovel also lets you write in 140 snippets -- the only difference is, Textnovel doesn't limit you to that format: you can also write longer additions if you prefer. For a story that follows this shorter format approach, see Twilight Journey, found at http://www.textnovel.com/stories_list_detail.php?story_id=346

2) Textnovel lets you text in new chapters using MMS texts or emails, and lets readers (fans) receive updates by MMS text and/or email -- last time I looked Quillpill didn't let authors or readers do either of those (it may have changed since then -- someone correct me if I'm wrong!)

3) Textnovel is designed to help authors get recognition, win money and get published -- our first prize winning writer is already under consideration for publication by a national publisher!

In any case, best of luck with your writing and thanks for taking the time to look at the options that are out there.

Stan
Founder
Textnovel.com