STORYSPACE: Different Approaches to Hypertext
I had to laugh when I went to read some of the hypertext fiction available and studied their maps. Very often it was the Russian Doll syndrome, otherwise know as Nesting, with a single box showing in the window. I’m sure their chart views, on the other hand, look quite beautifully symmetrical or asymmetrically balanced.
Me, I like working in an open area of Mapview where the damn story sprawls out like skeletal inkblotches. I understand the hierarchy system, only I can’t seem to apply it to whatever I’m writing. Even in Paths which was about as obvious a set a groupings as I’ve come across, and even before severe restructuring for more interesting (albeit author-guided) reading, looked dopey in a tucked-in-for-the-night setup.
I suppose it will be different for each story, but the creative freedom of an open field of Map is likely akin to the blank page/screen of a traditionally written narrative. The borders of the mapview being alterable as it is moved around within the window to provide for all to exist without borders; the borders of an 8-1/2 x 11 page or screen setup being breached by its ability to spill naturally onto another page.
The Storyspace environment, and the knowledge of hypertext linking of information to make it an enjoyable experience changes the story not only in the end result(s) for the reader, but for the writer most of all
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The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology