Well, either none of my readers are into new media or those who may be chose to giggle in secret.
I was doing just fine with this book by Andrew Bonime and Ken Pohlmann, breezing through the basic introduction and looking forward to some suggestions as well as perhaps technical guidance promised in the title "Writing for New Media." I’m sure I still will learn much from it, but this sort of disappointed me, as fiction writing would be my main interest:
The adaptation of new technology to fiction writing, however, is not nearly so obvious. In fact, one could argue that traditional fiction does not truly benefit from interactivity. (p. 42)
Hmmm. Not looking good. I read on:
Fiction, by its very nature, is the product of the creative mind of the writer (…). Instead, it could be argued that the point of writing fiction is exactly to impose the writer’s organizational flow on the reader and not to allow deviation from it.
Good Grief Charlie Brown! Where’s Barthes when you need him! I try to remember the arguments of authorly versus writerly; writerly versus readerly–the ones I stubbornly fought against until I found new media and accepted it into my heart.
It remains to be seen whether interactive fiction will endure as have print, filmed, and performed fiction.
I looked back at the beginning pages of the book: First printing, 1998. And there is the lesson: In the world of technology, a book either becomes a classic within five years, or simply ends up as outdated information.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology
You’re just keeping the wrong company 🙂
First, put down _Writing for New Media_, which is not meant for you, and get Landow’s brand-new HYPERTEXT 3.0 .
http://www.eastgate.com/catalog/HT30.html
It’s got a much better survey of fiction and narrative in hypertext, and Landow’s always brimming with ideas.
Then, grab a bunch of classic hypertexts. Michael Joyce’s _afternoon_, of course, and Shelley Jackson’s _Patchwork Girl_. Moulthrop’s _Victory Garden_. And dip into Deena Larsen, and Ed Falco, and perhaps Kolb and Greco and Holeton and whatever catches your fancy.
There’s lots of good secondary literature, including fine books by Jane Douglas, Silvio Gaggi, Espen Aarseth, and Michael Joyce among others.
Just ordered Landow’s HYPERTEXT 3.0 and Jackson’s Patchwork Girl from ‘ya. I already have Joyce’s Afternoon.
Thank you for the recommendations; it’s hard to know what books in particular are best when there are so many to choose from and you’re just getting starting. (Writing for NM was a Library Sale $1 special!)
I’m going to save your list and slowly work my way through them. So thanks for this, Mark…and for not giggling in silence.