Just Writing About Why I’m Redesigning The Site…

At the moment Michael-Island.com is an incomplete network of subsites. When I imagined doing it this way, the idea was to use different themes for different sections, but as usual I got distracted with other things before I could even finish it, much less keep it updated.

In the meantime I grew less satisfied with the idea of a network of smaller sites and decided it was best to integrate them into a storefront-style that featured each of my books, articles, illustrations, comics, 3D models and other media as digital products freely available for download via FileSonic. It seemed like the perfect idea because my products would be free and I’d make a little profit at the same time. All I had to do was repackage every serious product I’d ever created and published via Michael Island Works and then start making more.

Of course, this took a few months because I wanted to prepare for every possible kind of product I may create and I wanted the site to be more minimalist and accessible than it was before and I had to learn a lot about eBook formats and reading devices and HTML5 and CSS3 and more. So when I got bored one day and stepped back and looked at the bigger picture and all the time I’d put into it and all the time I had left before I’d be finished and ready to relaunch, I realized I didn’t really care about my smaller products enough to make it all worthwhile.

That’s when I started thinking more about a bigger project I’ve been conceptualizing for a few years now. It’s going be a series of graphic novels, so I’ve always known it will be very involving when I finally start working on it in earnest and I won’t have much time for anything else. Really, the whole point in doing all these smaller products (and also a few other websites I used to run) was to make enough money to fund the bigger project.

Well, what I finally realized was that the new format and monetization method I was spending so much time implementing for my primary site and all my smaller products would also work for my bigger product and its site. I realized I didn’t need to work on my smaller products anymore and what I felt was relief. I was at the point of frustration and vividly remembering all I really wanted to do was the bigger product. So, after a few weeks of fantasizing about the idea, that’s what I decided to do.

Unfortunately, this meant all the work I’d done on my storefront-style theme was wasted, since I could never manage it while working on a series of graphic novels. But I also didn’t want to let Michael-Island.com go. I mean, at the very least I could use it for promotional purposes and financial support.

And that’s where I’m at right now. As I said in the first post, which no one has read yet because I’m still redesigning the site and haven’t posted anything, I’m making Michael Island Works a typical, personal blog and changing its name to “Just Writing.”

For Offline Viewing, Download PDF Versions Of All “Just Writing” Posts Here...

I’m still using WordPress as my CMS and I have just finished designing the style and layout of the Index, Archive and Single post pages. All I have left to do is to port it from plain HTML to a WordPress theme template.

I should be done some time tomorrow morning – and by morning I mean early, because it is 12:00 PM and I’m just now finishing writing this post in my NoteEverything app on my Motorola Xoom before I fall into a deep sleep from which I’ll wake around 8:00 PM and get back to work…

Thursday, December 22nd, 2011

Michael Island