HYPERTEXT: Forcing Prose
Okay, so I wandered off into spring cleaning once the potato salad was done…
In reading K’s piece in Hypertextopia, and after reading a short story she’d written in traditional form, I see the same sense of short sentence structure that punctuates her style and yet in the hypertext the sentences are statements, self contained and complete. In the linear format, they are emphasizing an idea or event in staccato repetition.
The hypertext statements are separated by a decision on the reader’s part to go a step further, sometimes being given a choice in direction. This separation based on reader choice would seem to ask for as much information and direction to make an informed decision. Yet, the opposite appears to be more effective; the less information obtained, the further the reader wishes to travel, even with an amount of risk involved of losing the trail.
Interesting concept. One that would ask something more than trust from the reader; rather, one that would request abandonment of the bookmark.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology