Essays

What do you think?

I would like a place to post essays.

Read only, no comments allowed.

Some kind of open voting system should direct readers to the best ones.

The authors of the best ones could debate them in the debate threads or on dedicated threads with all members. Some type of essay contest could also be devised.

There are some knowledgeable people on this board. I think I could learn a lot more on a topic reading a well-written essay, than by trying to piece things together from hundreds of posts on myriad threads.

P.S.
Yes, I am aware of the blogs. Most of them I would qualify as diary or journal entries. I�m looking for more serious treatment of political, economic and social issues.

Could this work?

Your blog can be whatever you want it to be. It could be used in this manner. I'd be interested in seeing your work.

Originally posted by intrepid
Your blog can be whatever you want it to be.

Yeah and that's what I see as the "problem" (no offence intended to the bloggers).

Also, I believe that the blogs get mush less traffic and attention than the rest of the site? They do not appear on the threads page. I could be mistaken on this point, but it is the impression I have.

Writting an essay is not worth the time and effort if it is not going to be read. The fiction stories appear on the threads page, why not have some good non-fiction material as well?

Some people, including myself, practically post thesis driven essays in our new threads only to go one day at a time without a single reply....kinda makes you angry - I saw a thread once that addressed this issue - the author said they were upset and wanted to know why no one responded to their threads - a member with the member status of "writer" replied that it was "just too much to read" - Haha...ain't that sad....

I think you have a good idea....but like intrepid suggested, we have blogs for that....and the length of the blogs may very well be the reason for the decreased amount of viewers.....

My solution to this was to decide to extend on my ability to write fiction in the short stories forum.....make each "chapter" brief enough to read and enjoyable for the reader....an essay section should be on ATS, but I don't think there are enough serious-minded and willing members to take make it worth the effort.