In thinking more in terms of hypertext in planning any writing, I find that while any story will lend itself to the form, some are more natural to it than others. I have one complete (Paths) that is set out to suit the medium (subject to drastic rewriting when it actually progresses through the process). Another (Few) is still in the opening stages, having formed itself from one story that is linear and opening it up by asking What if? to evolve into several possibilities that have started to grow on their own.
But there is one more that has been bouncing around in my mind, and it’s a perfect base for hypertext. What has been holding me back is the sensitivity with which it must be handled, for it relates to Alzheimers; an extreme example of the human mind thinking in nonlinear progression when time is turned around so that the present becomes today, or sixty years ago.
In having dealt with my mom’s journey into the disease, I have some knowledge of its awful progress. Still, I cannot help but say that I found it fascinating as well; and this is one of its mysteries and what makes it hard to those who must learn to adjust to the one afflicted. I wasn’t ready to tell about it from this angle before, but it’s a story that should be told from the patient’s point of view and handled properly, can be a powerful insight into the human mind.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology