Quick progress update

The original plan was to have the new Write Wise, embodying our new approach, out by the end of this month. This isn't going to be possible, unfortunately.

I've made some great progress, but the code is taking longer than I anticipated. This is both due to me being busier than expected and also due to the new development approach itself (whereby I write Unit and Functional tests before the code itself) taking some getting used to.

The code for Write Wise is some of the best web-based code I've ever written, however. So even if it takes a little longer, the product should be extensible, stable and (hopefully) without any major bugs.

Hold tight!

Write Wise's next iteration

I think the Write Wise has been a great thing. It's allowed us to write stories and share them amongst friends, in a manner that encourages those friends to read and leave feedback. That's a privileged thing. Many writers only benefit from feedback either by being published or by forming writing clubs/meetups.

We have hit a lot of issues lately, however. The current structure of the site, which has been on the go since its formation in 2011, which encourages us to write towards deadlines ('challenges'), is incompatible with how we now live.

We are all busy. Challenges have imposed on us deadlines which had resulted in challenges with missing entries or, even worse, rushed entries. I love writing. I always will, I imagine, but the Write Wise has felt more like a chore than an opportunity lately.

So it's time for a change of system.

In the coming month or two, a new Write Wise will be unveiled. This site will be much simpler than the current one, with control placed firmly in your hands, the readers.

There will be no challenges. Instead, you will post stories at your own pace. The site will allow you to advertise to the community that there is a new story, as the current system does, and you will still have the benefits of a clean profile, comments and so on -- but you will not post to a challenge. You will post when you are ready.

Hopefully, this keeps our writing-club style community, but removes the pressure.

Let me know what you all think. This is your site, and soon it will become even more so.