Creative Writers Online

A Brief History of Creative Writers (Online)

Where we came from and how we got here

Meet the Moderators

A quick introduction to our current management staff.

The history of the Creative Writers web site is really the history of the members. It’s the members who make the site work. It’s the members who post and reply to each other, offering help where they can and support when support is needed. The site really belongs to the members, and being a manager mostly means doing the housekeeping!

The story starts some time in 2000, when an Englishwoman, named Chris Coles, gave birth to Creative Writers on MSN's Groups site after a falling-out with an assistant manager at another writers’ site. Chris was a natural builder, and through her efforts the infant site grew and prospered. Chris was Manager, and Grant, Bladerunner and Bappy were Assistant Managers (AMs). Grant was very particular about his work, posting things that were letter perfect, and was quick to point out your errors, always trying to help. Bladerunner was posting his novel in segments, and it was very interesting. Bappy always had a good word for everyone, and his posts about his fishing misadventures were hilarious. Alan and CdP were there, too, posting poetry superior to much of what was appearing on the internet

But things change with time. Bappy and Grant resigned, the one to concentrate on the column he wrote for a local newspaper, and the other to focus on his real world business. Will applied for one of the AM positions, along with Ozzie Ian. They were both accepted. Ozzie had great enthusiasm, and used the group’s chat room to organize workshops.

Things went along a bit slowly in those days. It would take a week or more for any post to slip to the bottom of the first page, giving time for all members to read and reply as they saw fit. MSN, however, offered a function whereby a site could, if it was accepted, be declared "Cool" and advertised on the MSN main pages. Chris applied for this, and we were accepted. Little did we know how much impact this would have on our little site!

As soon as we were advertised as "Cool", we had literally scores of new members every day. As it was accepted that no post was allowed to slip off the front page without at least one reply, we were very busy indeed. It was almost too much for us to handle. If Ozzie Ian hadn’t been in Australia and Will in the Eastern United States, it would have been impossible.

Unfortunately, the new status of the community also attracted the attention of persons whose intent was less than honorable. It was during this time that we first experienced input from what are usually called "trolls", whose only intent is to disrupt and cause chaos. However, a more serious threat came from a hacker who broke into the community and deleted it. All the posts, going back to day one, were gone, along with the members’ list. The unknown hacker kept the group name, making it impossible for us to re-establish the site. Chris, with great foresight, had founded a sister site, and from there was able to contact some of the original members, who through email contacted some others. She also contacted MSN, and eventually got our name back.

When we finally got back up and running, it was with a lot more members and a higher profile than the original community. However, we soon ran into another set of problems. One of our AMs took offense at something posted, and resorted to creating another identity and posting things that bordered on flaming. When the truth was discovered, the membership rightly felt betrayed. Then another unknown hacker tried to attack the community. Since Chris was signed in at the site when it occurred, she detected and was able to stop it. However, many posts were again lost.

Chris, who was ill at the time, felt that it had all become too much for her to handle. She resigned from the site, making Will the new Manager. He did the best he could to restore calm, and held a meeting of all the members in the chat room, a very painful experience. It cost a lot of time and work, and some members decided they no longer wished to be affiliated with the community, a loss Will felt personally. In order to hold on to what was left, some current and former members had to be banned, another difficult and painful decision that he felt was nevertheless in the best interests of the site and the remaining members.

At this time, Will was the only manager. As the burden increased, he invited Stephen M (who had joined in early 2001 and who was later to take on a second, nonmanagerial ID as SparkyNachos) to become assistant manager. Stephen was reluctant to accept at first, fearing a lack of time. But he eventually agreed. Not long after, they invited Dave F, an Aussie with a sardonic sense of humor, to join them, followed soon after by John from Ireland.

In late 2002, members of Creative Writers decided to publish their own book. Inspired by the internet friendships formed in the community, "Facets of Friendship" was a collection of short stories, poems, essays and even a word puzzle. It was published by iUniverse in April, 2003.

Ironically, this book about friendships resulted in certain tensions within the group. This was coupled with sniping between some members who were used to an "edgier" approach to a writing group and others who wanted to maintain a traditional, conservative approach. In the resulting turmoil, John and Dave left managment (and, ultimately, the group) and went on to found another group of their own. Eventually, the tempest subsided, but not before other long-standing members also disappeared, taking with them valuable input and leaving the group all the poorer.

Will and Stephen cast about again to find other managers, and invited Nick (Lone Wolf) and Kimberleigh to join managment. Together, the four began rebuilding the trust and respect that had always been a foundational part of Creative Writers, encouraging writers of different styles and temperaments to learn from one another and find ways to coexist. The result has been a fine balance between the traditional and the avant-garde, a mix that has not always been easy for all members to understand, but which has encouraged many to expand their own boundaries.

Not long after, Julie (barefootgypsygirl) and Laura (LauraL) also joined managment. Susan (Dipps) briefly joined the team, but decided it wasn't what she wanted. Will scaled back his participation to attend to personal, career, and family obligations, regretfully resigning his managership and leaving Stephen to take up the role of the third principal manager in the history of the group, with Kimberleigh, LoneWolf, barefootgypsygirl and Laura as full comanagers.

In late 2008, MSN announced that they were closing their groups. Creative Writers would have to find another home. After some research and a vote, Webs became that home. However, the "Creative Writers" name had already been taken -- so we became "Creative Writers Online".

Creative Writers continues to change with each new challenge we face. But through it all, we have tried to keep sight of what Chris originally envisioned: a group of friends, all with the same interest, but with many and varied viewpoints. There have been some bumps along the way, of course. There are always bumps in the course of any friendship, and in a group as large and varied as Creative Writers, such are to be expected. Some folks have expressed the opinion that the site should focus strictly on writing, but of course there is a social aspect as well, as there must be when any group of people interacts. It would be accurate to say that the site has always benefited from folks who were willing to give more than they received.

--by Will Mullins and Stephen M. Larson

RETURN TO THE TOP

RETURN TO THE TOP