Figment

March 28, 2011
Stacey Mason/Mark Bernstein

Figment is a new fiction-sharing website aimed at teens. According to its CEO, Jacob Lewis, membership has reached 28,000 and the site holds more than 55,000 contributed stories.

Who says the internet is ruining our children? Some of the stories are commissioned features, but browsing the shelves at random suggests that some of the writing is not without promise. Here’s a snippet from Kyla Denae’s historical romance, “Sea Winds”:

Ann was finding that the Titanic lived up to her expectations splendidly. In fact, it far exceeded them in many ways.  The third class berths were luxurious to a fault, and there were so many things to do and see, not to mention the people one might meet. At luncheon, Ann was seated next to a prodigiously chatty young woman named Enya Dougal and her very quiet husband, Malachy. He spoke not a word during the whole meal, but seemed content enough to let Mrs. Dougal do all the talking for him.

There’s plenty of opportunity to use your red pencil here(splendidly? to a fault? ) but it’s by no means intolerable.

The writers also design images for their book cover, and here their talents and effort truly shine. Some of these covers are superb, whatever lies behind them.

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